Mike Minutes Mastermind 02/07/2025

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, welcome to the edition of the Mike Minutes Mastermind.

Happy Friday. Let's go ahead and get started. We got nine questions. Today's the last day of training. A whole new group coming in for their test here in just a couple hours. So wish them some luck. We have another group coming in next week, a little smaller group so we can do all the recording and then I anticipate the following week to have all that training up on the dashboard. So let's go ahead and get this party started.

Boom. First question is from Matt. From Matt Bedelia from Dalton, bc. Hey Mike, I remember you mentioning a CoPilot feature for QuickBooks One way seat coming soon. Do you have any updates on an ETA or when that might be available?

Yeah, we were hoping by the end of February to be more realistic. I'm trying to now by the end of March. So end of Q1 we, we did it and then QuickBooks is a whole new update and we have, yeah, it got a little messy with some of the people who are testing it out. So we are kind of putting the brakes on it. So we're gonna get let them figure out their thing and intuit and then we will reconnect. So in terms of giving you a timeline, Matt, it's probably end of March. If I had to be conservative. If you wanted to do the one way sync, there's just so many problems with it, honestly. So a lot of it is because they built it with for the desktop version way back in the day and then we switched over to online. There's so many problems, the two way sync. But then the one way sync that we've been recently doing has some similar problems. So we're trying to figure it out and see if we can do like an RN fix there. The returns that are coming back to us bad. So all of that to say that's kind of like the timeline, I would say.

Hey Mike, I have a question about the Augusta Leeds program and our related follow up. Just to confirm, Canadian leads are currently priced at $79 USD. Will that be the case? The exchange rate is pretty rough right now, which makes it a tougher sell for us though we're still going to give it a shot. Yeah, I thought about this one, Matt. For now we got to keep it USD.

Just because like we get the money in USD, we split it with you in USD, we give it back to you in USD to keep it all the way the same. Otherwise I feel like what potentially could become a problem is by the time I Collect money and then give it to you. If there's a change in exchange rate there, we're gonna have issues and there can be problems when you do that. I think it's not money laundering, but it is a form of like having an issue with that. So to keep it like really straight across the line, I'm gonna try to just keep it all in USD. So yes, for now, I know that adds a little bit more in terms of the cost up there. We will monitor this though, especially if we go through the spring rush. So next week I expect a pretty good jump because every week we add the new partners in. So like this week there was probably at least 60 to 70 new partners that joined. So they'll all be put in the system next Monday. So I'm always watching what percentage of the leads that go to the Augusta leads are actually getting sold. So right now it's low, like 25, 30%. But a whole new chunk like doubling of the partners are coming next week on Monday because we have to redo all the service areas, et cetera. And so we do it every Monday. And so I expect to continue going higher. And if we get that about like 70, 80%, that's really my goal. It just comes down to getting more partners. And that's why like I'm running ads. We're, we're really doing everything we can on our end to make sure partners are set up. So. Mr. Anonymous, kind of embarrassing to ask this, but can command center work on large projects for us? I know in the perfect world I would call clients and upsell snow, winter service and other things instead of just an email or text. The fact of the matter is I think I have a phone phobia and I'm not going to do it myself. If I gave commandster the task of calling dozens or hundreds of people trying to upsell them on servers, could they assign their best salespeople to it and make it happen? Yes. This is the projects department. You can submit this to helpgustalongerservice.com I would actually recommend just booking a call with them and from there you can talk to the project's head and see if they can get you in this, this time of year, you're probably going to be able get in very quickly. Now in the middle of spring rush, you had this. That might not be the case, but you can always ask, like when we did our price increase, it took them maybe, I think it was like three or four days to do all the ones in my location. And it was a project. It's like, hey, here's all the prices. I want you to send them all. I want you to change all the prices inside of Copilot so you can ask for projects like this. I think that you maybe get some coaching with Nick or watch some of the training around. Coaching around follow up phone calls. I don't know if you've come for training or not yet, but we've added some more training around follow up phone calls into initial training as well. But yes, this is a task that command center can do for you. You're going to want very clear guidelines of what you want them to do in these projects. Like if you have a script specific thing you're wanting to sell a certain upsell, a certain service, I would recommend that and I would do that. Only I would only spend that kind of money. If you've already exhausted texting and email, which doesn't cost you any more incremental dollars in terms of upselling and the upsell feature, like I'd be exhausting those before I go spend a lot of time, money and energy to like go call every single customer which just is will work. You will get some leads from that. But I would exhaust the free resources first. Kyle Tarvin from Moore, Oklahoma. The other day I saw something that said debt service shouldn't be more than 3.5% of revenue. Curious. You think this is accurate? Well, depends who you talk to. The United States government is over 100% of revenue, annual revenue. So you know whether or not they're a successful organization. But I don't. You're saying debt service. Oh, I see what you're saying. You're saying debt service. I don't know if that is you were talking about interest or if you're talking about interest expense or if you're talking about.

Like the total debt amount. Like total total debt amount. I think the U.S. is like 125% of our GDP, but I think it's like 25% of our revenue goes to interest expense in the U.S. so you know, I don't know, 3.5%. Like they're probably basing this based upon like interest rates. But then if interest rates go up, does this change? So I don't know. I don't think that's a very good benchmark. It's just there are companies that are leveraged way, far, far more than that and are valuable, very profitable. But because they know how to leverage, they maybe have 10% as a debt service. However, the money that they got in that Debt is able to make them 20 or 30% annualized. So why in the world would I not take out more debt? So I don't think it's necessarily a great measure, indicator or measurement of whether or not debt should be had. Matt Slakely from Salem, Oregon. Hey Mike, I'm not expecting a fully formed answer to this, but I'm curious if you've given any thought to something like the following questions. You said that you framed some decisions for Augusta on a 100 year time horizon. Do you think the shift away from lawns will be a significant wave in the next 100 years that will make simple lawn care services in general a risky long term investment, especially in areas prone to drought like the Western U.S. do you see the lawn alternatives, artificial grass or replacement with native plants as a fad or something we should pivot towards? Thanks for all the dedication, effort. So first off, let's just assume that in 100 years, none of us do lawns, grass will still grow. That's the thing. Unless you put artificial turf in every single public area commons area, along sidewalks, like the grass will grow, the trees will grow. That will always happen. The second thing I would say is if climate change continues and like we get more.

Harsh winters, harsh summers, etc. It actually helps landscaping because it makes things die and have to be replaced. Now the alternative is like, what about artificial, like people start putting in things that are artificial. The artificial things will also need to replace just on a longer time horizon. And so you'll have to replace your artificial grass every 10 or 15 years instead of mowing it every week. But if you actually look at the lifetime value, it actually is relatively similar. So for example, if you take a artificial lawn, which is like, if you do really good quality turf, man, you like, you're looking at for a decent, like depending on the size of the lawn. It's also size dependent, right? Like the cost is so prohibitive. Once you go above a 2,000 square foot lawn to do artificial turf, it's insane. Like insane. And like, oh, it's going to get cheaper. Yeah, but what's not going to get cheaper is the excavation, the, the gravel itself hauling away all the material, the base layer, the drainage materials and the labor required to do it all. It's like the cost of that stuff is continually going up. It's not. Even though the turf might become more popular in smaller areas, more urban areas, this is very important. Places like El Paso, Arizona. When I say El Paso, that's one of our locations. Arizona though, California, parts of Texas. This is popular in urban areas. We tend to do really, really well in suburban. So suburban areas outside of town where the average lawn is at least 2000 square foot lawn, more like 4000, 5000. To replace a 5000 square foot lawn with high quality turf, you're looking at like tens of thousands of dollars. And so the vast majority of people would rather spend $50 per week and do it 30 times a week, a month. So that's 1500. So it would take them literally 15 years to pay off what would otherwise be artificial turf in just mowing. And the thing is, you're going to have to replace that turf in 15 years anyways.

So do I think there's a fad? No, I think it'll continue to grow. People replacing the lawn, etc. Especially the smaller areas. But the vast majority of us are not in urban areas. That's where it gets popular. That's also where you get the most media hype, articles, etc. The vast majority, almost 100% of us are in markets where the cost to install artificial turf for the entire lawn would literally cost people tens of thousands of dollars. And I don't think that's going down. Maybe the turf goes down a little bit with increased competition, but the labor, the materials that goes into it, the excavators, all that stuff is just going to get more expensive. So I don't believe this is a threat. And if it did happen over the course of 100 years, the amount of technological changes and innovations and like we would adapt and change the same way we adapted. Like, you know, people getting everyone very much used of paying online. So instant pricing, we will the same with software, the same thing as robotics, etc. So.

Mr. Anonymous, is there a reason that Max is on a different side of the logo for the full versus half wrap? See picture attached. It hurts my ocd. Yeah, there is a reason. Here, I'll show you. Share this tab instead. Yeah, so the reason is I'll show you here on the half wrap. This has to be a solid line.

It'S less likely to fray. So right where my cursor's at right now, that's a nice solid line where Max head is at. And so because of that, over the course of time, if this is jagged, like this one, see, this is jagged but it's full wrap, so it doesn't matter. But if this green, if this green was jagged and it was right here, it would begin to peel. So what we did, we put Max here. So his hat and his ear are much more of a straight line and less likely to peel off as time goes on. So that's why we did that.

Good question.

I apologize for your OCD, Mr. Anonymous. I'm currently in solo model and working a full time job on top of my location. This will technically be my second spring rush. I came in a little late last year and got the tail end. I plan to take a $14,000 loan for my 401k to put into the business, mainly to spend on marketing, door hangers, Facebook ads, et cetera. My intention is to pay myself back from the business to offset what my 401k payment would be from my paycheck from my full time job at a minimum, so that on a personal level won't feel this financial impact. Perfect scenario. I pay myself back in a month or two and once the 401k loan is paid off, I would leave my full time job. Oh, that's a good plan. I'm 60 accounts away from being able to go good. You know your numbers. Okay, that was my next thing. Okay, I'm 60 accounts away from being able to go full time in Augusta. But if I can get 140 to 150 accounts, I could start a second route or crew this year. What are your thoughts? So this is where it comes down to how much cash in hand you have. If you're going to have to give this money back and you don't have sufficient cash, it would be a bad day to get the 60 accounts go into profit mode for the rest of the year. You being solo, making really good money, maybe having a helper. And then next spring go for the hun the additional hundred accounts. So, you know, I think you have plenty of capital, like $14,000. Even if you had $200 customer acquisition cost, that's 70 counts. So if you really poor job, $200 customer equity cost during the middle of spring, you'll be able to hit this. So that's good, that's good news. Make sure you have a good plan. Make sure you have coach to go over what you're going to be spending that $14,000 on and how you're going to track the door hangers, et cetera, make sure of that. But you will hit it assuming you do a very mediocre, if not poor job on marketing. So that's fine. I would not put like the 60 to this part. Now it's like, well now you're gonna be like $100 customer acquisition cost, which you might, you very plausibly could do. In the middle of spring rush, by the way. So I would just start marketing. If you spend five grand, you're like, man, I'm doing like 50, 60 customer acquisition costs. Everyone's buying it's middle of spring rush. Great. You might be able to hit this. I think you'll know pretty quickly. Within a matter of three weeks into this spring rush, you'll know which way you're going to based upon your customer acquisition cost because you basically have a certain amount of fuel. You know how many fuel units it takes to get a customer. Then I can then convert that into how many customers will I get with the full tank of gas. Right. So if I can spend five grand, I'll be able to determine, okay, if I spend two more of these units, how many more customers am I going to get? So I think you'll be able to know this within three weeks of spending the money and in the spring rush as to whether or not you're going for the 140 or the 150 or the 60, I think the 60 is extremely conservative given the fact that you have a 200 customer acquisition cost for the spring rush. But I would, you know, plan in that direction and conservatively know that you're going to take the rest this year in profit mode, staying at 60, 70 accounts by yourself, and then next spring go for the 140, 150, having a little more cash under your belt. Now if you have crushing it on customer equity cost and you're at 60, 70, 80 customer equipment cost, that's a different topic. You will speed to the 140. So I like your thought process. Just make sure you have a really good plan for that marketing those marketing dollars and you know what to track so that when you're not, when you're at the end of the 14 grand, but when you're at like 4, 5, 6,000 deep and you're the spring rush is ramping up still, you'll already kind of know, okay, I'm getting so many customers right now, I'm going to have to jump early from the job. I'm going right to 140, 150.

Kyle Freeze from Bloomington, Illinois. What would be a general strategy to find a fantastic and worthwhile coach and business mentor outside of your local business, even outside of your industry? Another way to ask, if you had to find another Dr. Kashi, how would you find about finding and vetting that person?

Oh, man, that's tough.

Okay. That makes it complicated by bringing Dr. Cash in, because I don't know if I'D have another coach, honestly, to be perfectly honest, like, if I. Yeah. So I don't think I have another coach outside Dr. Kashi, at least for this period of time. I know what needs to be done in terms of the businesses. So it's not like I'm lacking a skill. It is simply reps. Like is me getting into the businesses and just like making more and better. So like I don't need anything new right now.

But in terms of finding him, like, it wasn't like I was searching necessarily either. I had admired Alex from afar and when they had like a, you know, opportunity, fate, luck, whatever you want to call it, to be able to get in with Dr. Kashi. So. And now he doesn't take anyone. So how would I go about finding person? I wouldn't really be on the lookout necessarily. I'd probably just get in a lot of rooms that.

You know they're teaching and see if you know something that you jive with. But usually the people that are promoting this as a coach aren't great. Like, literally. That's my perspective on this. If you, if people, most people who promote themselves as a coach are not a great coach, I just. The honest truth, like, good luck trying to find Dr. Kashi coaching website because it doesn't exist. You gotta know someone to know someone. They'll get you on a call with his wife who will then vet you and then you hope and pray that you get in like, and. And now, now they don't even take those calls. So the best coaches are usually the people that you, you are going to work alongside. This is why I believe in franchising. This is why I believe in.

Jv like joint ventures with other people. Because sometimes you will do a joint venture, you'll take a less of a deal just to learn from someone. This is why the coaching program exists. Because like people learn to be coaches and then learning how to be coached. Because down the road, when the once in a lifetime, potentially opportunity comes along that you are going to have someone that is like out of this world, amazing, that could coach you, you'll now recognize how to be coached, the ability. There's a. There's a skill in learning how to be coached and there's a skill in knowing how to humble yourself to be able to be coached. And the vast majority of people do not have that skill. And it takes a while to learn that muscle. And so if you can do that on your coaching calls and take that humility mindset and learn how to be a good student, it is likely that a coach will find you.

I don't know all the reasons why Dr. Kashi chose me, but like I'm going to guess it's that.

And, and it took a long time to like become a good student, I guess so like I would focus on being a good student. And when the, when a great coach comes along, they are looking for a great student because great coaches don't need the money. They'll charge abhorrent amounts of money to keep people out. That's why you charge money when it comes to good coaches. They charge money to keep the poor students out and people that are not serious out. That's why you charge. And so I would focus on becoming a great student and learning from all aspects of life and other people, people that make less than you and people that have nothing to do with your industry and people that you don't like. That's what a good student does. Matt from Delta, he might have a couple questions about the investment. Sorry if these have been answered. I watched a couple, watched the video a couple times but might have missed something. Can we invest as a corporation specifically can my company invest directly or does it need to be my name? In my name? I'm wondering if I could invest through Augusta Delta to use company profits without distributing them first. That's a good question because in Canada that matters.

You'd have to talk to your accountant to be honest like so how you, how you move the money like on our end doesn't matter. I will be talking to your accountant to make sure that that's allowed and whether or not that's considered. If it has to become owner's distributions and then you invest or if you can actually do it from the corporation, you'd have to ask them because from a bank account perspective, you can move the money from business bank account no problem. And just for everyone that's watching, listening to the US this is a Canada thing. They basically don't have the equivalent of US an S Corps, so there's a corporate tax rate. This is a really good question. Talk to your accountant because I'd be shooting, shooting in the dark on that one. Number two, I'm planning to invest but wondering does it make sense to wait as long as possible for funding? Should I complete the form application, set up now an account now or wait until funds are ready to go? So I would recommend if you plan on doing it, fill out the form and then as soon as it's available for you to be able to fund, we would let you know. And I Will if, if people are funding it like they are currently.

Saying they were going to, it's going to fill up quickly but I will give plenty of heads up. So I'm not, it's not going to be like hey, in two days it's going to be closed. I won't do that. I'll give you at least a couple weeks. So if there, if there is a crowding at the end that you can get money put together. But I will go do it on first come first serve if it's filling up like crazy fast. So it'll be a huge fill out the form. So I'd fill out the form and then it'll be based on who get, who's willing to fund it after that. So we still haven't opened up the funding aspect. Like I said, it'll be more towards end of February. If we invest 25k now, could we top up in 5k increments in the future before the window closes? I don't know if you're allowed to think it's 25 is the minimum. Yeah, no, it's going to be like to keep it simple, it has to be the, that the fund transfer has to be over 25. So if you could do 25 and then 25 but like you have to do 25, you could do 25 and like 5 and then a 5 and then 5. So also like I don't think you're gonna have much time like once we open up the funding it looks like there's quite a few people that are in line. But again I will give plenty of heads up. Please do not rush to move the money. I will give plenty of heads up and we will go based upon who has submitted the form. If there is a matter of too many and I do think it will be oversubscribed to be perfectly honest. So if you, if you're planning on it, please fill out the form and then as soon as open for funding I'll let everyone know and then we will make sure everyone can get in.

Number 10. Last one. If I know you can't give tax advice but how long, how low can we put a salary? As an S corp, I'm full time in the business and made 67k this year as an LLC. So.

I really recommend.

So I can't give tax advice. So.

Look up, look up case law around this. It's very, very infrequent that the IRS will go after business owners that don't pay themselves enough on S Corp. They'll go after people when they pay themselves zero or like, like literally in crazy low, but they're reasonable salary.

Like, go lower than you think. Don't pay yourself $67,000 as a salary. That's what I would say. But just look at case law. Look at. Look at what. What the courts have decided on when these have gone to court. And you'll see the ones that are. That do get in trouble are the ones that are literally paying themselves nothing or a dollar or something weird. And then they try to, like, argue about it. So, like, pay yourself a salary. I paid myself a salary from all the businesses that are S Corps and are profitable. I don't from copilot because we don't make money. So if you're unprofitable, you don't need to take a salary.

But I would say just go low.

Yeah. Depends who you talk to. Every accountant's gonna say it needs to be a reasonable salary. What would you reasonably pay this person? But I fail to see case law that indicates that it's going to be adjudicated and judged in that manner. All right, everyone, I hope you have a fantastic Friday, a fantastic weekend, and we'll see you all on Monday. Take care.

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