The Day I Almost QUIT... & Shut Down Augusta Lawn Care

So I remember sitting there, this is, like, seven years ago, and just thinking, like, I was really, really close to giving up and just.

Kind of giving up on my dream of what I wanted to do with Augusta Lawn Care and owning my own business and thinking maybe I wasn't cut out for it. And I remember thinking. I remember making the decision to just go get another job. And I had applied for a place to work, 20 bucks an hour. And it's kind of a low spot because I tried the business for a year. I had about 30,000 in revenue, but it wasn't enough. Like, I wasn't really making money. And I was working part time at the gym as a trainer. And I had literally a year before that, decided not to go to medical school. I had started college when I was 13 years old. Now I'm 18.

And finished my undergrad degree and then literally decided not to go to medical school. And all of the expectations and what people thought I could do and then sitting there sinking, like, I still remember thinking, just, like, such a failure, and I made a wrong decision in terms of not keeping going with school and going the traditional route, going to medical school, and what I always thought I was going to do.

And it was low moment and having to think, like, look, if I'm gonna keep going, I have to borrow money here. And that was a really low moment. So I wanted to make this video for the person that might be in that spot and might be feeling like they want to give up. So right now I'm sitting. I just actually drove to the place where that moment happened, like, seven years ago, and just gotta spend a little time reflecting and thinking I'm not, like, super reflective or like, that way usually. But right now, it's this. We just finished the second day of franchisee training here at Augusta Lawn Care, just outside the studio here. It's the studio over there. It's 10:30 at night here. My little Honda Accord here. Good old Faithful. And.

Yeah, I get a little bit reflective usually. After the second night of franchisee training, we now have 37 locations at Augusta Lawn Care in North America. Trying to get to 90 in 2020, I think I'll probably hit more like 80.

But, man, I remember. I remember the days when it wasn't. It wasn't all sunshine and rainbows. And I remember what it was like and remembering, like, man, I remember I applied for several lawn care jobs. I applied for several of our local competitors that we have now. And I asked for $20 an hour because I really felt like I was Worth that, but they wouldn't pay me that because I was only 18. And.

The one guy who called me back, he was worried because I still had my Augusta Lawn Care website up that I just made on Weebly. And I told him, like, look, man, I'll close it down and take the website down if you hire me. And in my mind, I was like, if I get a job with this company, I'm not going to continue with Augusta Lawn Care. Literally, that one interview on the phone with that owner, local lawn care company, if he would have said that he would hire me, Augusta Lawn Care probably wouldn't exist right now. And I just wanted to make this video because I know there's people watching this, that they're in that spot. Like, that was my first year. I was part time, like I said, did 28,000 in revenue that first year. Didn't make anything because you got your storage, you got overhead and insurance and fuel, and you bought about all my equipment and my truck and all the rest of it. And.

Yeah, I was like, I'm gonna have to borrow money. I ended up borrowing $10,000 from my brother to basically keep the business afloat. And I went all in after that moment when I realized that, like, I had to. It's either that or go get, you know, get a job doing lawn care for who is now my competitor. And. And looking back seven years ago, and obviously, it was a good decision to keep going with Augusta, but I think the moments like that, you gotta really relish them. And if you're in that moment right now, don't be discouraged. Keep going. Know why you're doing what you're doing. Question it. See if there is a fault or an issue with the business model. But, like, don't give up because of the temporal pain. Sorry. If you hear the train, there's a train, like, right outside the studio, like, super loud. Yeah, that's the train. That's what I deal with all the time. It goes by. By the studio here. But, yeah, just don't give up at that moment. Like, it's not always easy. It's not always, like, selling franchises and conferences and podcasts and great videos. It's not always that way. Like, it's 10:30 at night. I'll go inside. We're completing a financial audit so that we can sell franchises up in B.C. tonight. I got to work with accountants on upwork and get that wrapped up. So got a few hours there. And then I'll, you know, have prayer and devotions and then call it a night. It's a lot of work. It's not always easy. But I know that even seven years ago, like, I was only 18, I can only imagine being in that position if I had a family or dependents or kids. Like, man, that pressure is tough. Is very, very difficult. And if you're watching this and you're a spouse or a loved one of an entrepreneur or a small business owner, like, that is a very, very tough place to be in when you're. It's scary. It is scary. And the self doubt and depression that can come with that is real. Very, very real. And as you kind of go along your entrepreneurial journey, you kind of almost kind of relish those moments of risk and feeling like you're putting everything on the line. Like, to be perfectly honest, like, we're doing that now with Augusta Lawn Care. We're starting three corporately owned locations in three completely different states. So that means, like, you know, I'm funding those. I have a reset project that we're putting money into to really help with mental health. It's something I'm very, very passionate about. And it's gonna take some money. It's gonna take some money.

And other things that I'm doing right now that are. We're trying to build a headquarters for Augusta Lawn Care because we have three different offices in Whatcom County. The studio here we. Sorry if I'm sweating. I had a. I did a workout and then went driving around.

But we have three locations now, so we're building it. We're going to be building this brand new shop. It's a huge project, like $2 million. And it's a. That's a lot of money. And so putting everything on the line is something that I, I begin to realize is a good thing. It keeps me on my toes, it keeps me working, it keeps me engaged. And I remember that moment, though, seven years ago, $10,000 loan for my brother. That for me at that moment was putting everything on the line. And I can only imagine if you're in that moment and you have kids, a family, a wife, husband.

Mortgage debt, people that provide for family that you're providing for. For me, like I was younger. For me, it was thinking that I made wrong decisions in terms of quitting medical school, having all these expectations of, like, professors and teachers and my parents never put expectations on me. They get a lot of credit for that. My family didn't. But, like, you know, people, you know, you know, from church and, you know, past peers at school and professors just like, shocked. What was Happening like I, I stopped doing medical school to go mow lawns, and here I'm a year In, I did 28,000 in revenue. I'm sitting here pondering, going and getting a $20 an hour job like it was, it was not easy, man.

And it's, it's, it's amazing like here, you know, sitting just seven years later, seeing what's happened and knowing that now even every single attorney account that I've encountered when we were building Augusta, especially the first year in 2020, every single one of them said like, the business model won't work. You're not going to be able to fund and support franchisees at twelve hundred dollars a month at Augusta. And I told every single one, I'm preview wrong. We're going to run the most lean franchise model you've ever seen. And we will make this work. And we'll be able to support the franchisees better than any one of our competitors. We will be able to give them the resources to serve their customers better than anybody else. And yeah, I remember literally the week before, like seven years ago, the week before I applied for a job. My other lifeline was literally talking to the grounds guys franchise and seeing like maybe they could help me. And I'm so glad that didn't work out. Now, literally that's, you know, a competitor of ours, obviously at Augusta, and I don't want to see them fail or anything, but it's definitely a model that I feel is bloated in terms of the franchise world. And that's who we're like competing against in terms of being efficient and we'll support our franchisees for a fraction of what they, it cost them to. So it's just really interesting. But I just wanted, I just want to hop on here now it's kind of late. I'm gonna go inside here, the studio. But if you're in that moment, whether you're 18, 38, 48, however old you are, it's so inspiring even seeing this weekend, like the franchisees that come here. We have a 16 year old that came here, not necessarily under easy circumstances, at home and family. He didn't have people cheering him on or parents supporting him necessarily. And he's here and he's gonna kill it. We got people that moved across the country to join Augusta Nation and become a general manager and really looking to reset their financial and personal life. And I'm inspired by that. I think business is obviously about making money. We gotta provide for our families. We have to, you know, put food on the table, etc. But man, I think it's just such a great catalyst for us to be able to work on ourselves as human beings. And there is nothing like owning a business to really work on your skills and your mindset and your character and your ability to communicate, your ability to lead, become a leader, your community for your employees, your family. So I just wanted to encourage you. If you're in that moment where you're like, man, I'm going to give up or I'm going to have to throw in the towel or, or you're in that moment of being very, very embarrassed or humiliated by the decisions you make and the potential failure you're going to have.

I just hope this encourages you just a little bit to keep pushing through. Obviously question your business model. It's not easy. It's not like, oh, just keep going and going and going, doing the same thing. Like that's insane. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. I don't believe in that. But I do believe that perseverance, dedication, hard work, and constantly showing up every single day leads to good things down the road. I just wanted to encourage you. If you're in that moment, regardless of how old you are, regardless of your circumstance, regardless of what business or industry you're in, keep pushing through. It's not gonna be easy or necessarily. There's always gonna be hurdles and obstacles. There's any moments like I'm in right now, you just continue to put everything on the line. You continue to put everything at risk. You've continue to live in conditions that are sub optimal. Like.

There'S so many different ways you could have taken your life. You could have gone to college, you could have gone the traditional route and what everyone else was telling you should have done or what everyone else thought you should do. And now you're second guessing yourself because circumstances aren't that great. It's not easy, right? I didn't take it. I live here. This is, this is my room. This is literally where I sleep. Like it's, it's not like, like fancy, it's not all jets and, and Lamborghinis. Like it's a humble grind. And people will, I guarantee you in five, 10 years, look at me and be like, oh, look at him, he's got, he's so lucky. Well, you, you live in a six by six little room for a few years on the floor in a mattress and you tell me how lucky and fancy and all that good stuff, but it's not always that way. And so if you're in that moment and you're feeling like, man, I should have Lamborghinis, I should have jets, it should be easy. I should be rolling in the money, you're looking at the finish line. You're looking, you're comparing yourself to people who have ran the race for 20, 30 years, and now they're ringing the bell at the NASDAQ. Now they're, you know, they're reaping the, the rewards of the hard work they put in. And so don't shy away from that. Don't shy away from the hard work. Don't shy away from the grind, the hustle. And what gets you to the finish line, which is running, running fast and running hard when you don't feel like it. All right, everyone just wanted to give that little moment of kind of reflection and hope you all have a fantastic rest of your week.