How This Landscaper Built AND Sold Two Companies Before 40

Ever thought about selling your landscape business—but figured it was years down the road? What if the perfect opportunity landed in your lap, sooner than expected? In this episode of Roots of Success, host Jason New of McFarland Stanford sits down with Andrew Gabries, who built not one, but two thriving companies—Andrew’s Lawn and Landscaping and Go Green Lawn and Pest Control—and exited both earlier than planned. From hustling alongside his mom in high school to managing 100+ employees and planning strategic sales, Andrew shares hard-won lessons about hiring, culture, scaling, and what it takes to make a company truly sellable. Whether you’re contemplating your exit or just want to grow a world-class team, Andrew’s journey is packed with actionable insight for landscape business leaders.

 

KEY MOMENTS:

[03:13] Andrew's Lawn Landscaping Beginnings
[08:07] Andrew's Landscaping: Residential to Commercial Shift
[12:50] GoGreen's Focus and Growth Strategy
[13:56] CEO's Dual Role Simplified
[19:28] Celebration-Focused Workplace Culture
[20:42] Unexpected Business Sale Decision
[24:42] Involving Team Pre-Intent Discussions
[28:40] "Seamless Transition at Go Green"
[33:09] Aspire Transforms Business Management

 

THE BIG IDEA: 

Build great teams; growth and success follow naturally.

 

QUESTIONS WE ANSWER

1. How do you start and grow a successful landscaping business?

2. What are the best strategies for scaling a landscaping or lawn care company?

3. How do you prepare a landscaping business for sale or acquisition?

4. What are effective ways to build a strong team and positive company culture in the green industry?

5. What is the role of software and technology in managing a landscaping company efficiently?

6. How do you transition from residential to commercial landscaping contracts?

7. What are tips for balancing business ownership with family life?

8. What’s involved in the due diligence process when selling a small business?

9. How do landscaping companies successfully retain long-term employees?

10. What are the key factors in choosing the right partner for selling your business?

Episode Transcript

(00:01):
Welcome to the Roots of Success, thePremier Landscapers podcast that brings
you the latest tips and strategiesfor successful landscape business.
I'm Jim Calli, one of the principlesand coaches of McFarland Stanford.
Jason New and I started McFarland Stanfordto coach landscape businesses after
years in the industry ourselves, now morethan 10 years since we began, McFarland
has a deep bench of coaches and subjectmatter experts who work with our clients

(00:22):
on very specific issues of business.
Whether you're struggling with people.
Profits or just day-to-day challengesOur coaches and guests have the
real world experience and practicaladvice to help you build a thriving
and profitable landscape business.

(00:43):
And a big part of what we do nowis working in ACE peer groups and
we lead ACE peer groups, which isgreen industry landscape business
owners who come together that we getto learn from each and every day.
And as we work together, we get to hostand work with people like Andrew, who is
owner of Andrew's Lawn and Landscapingand Go Green Lawn and Pest Control.
Who's joining us today forour Roots of Success podcast.

(01:05):
So we're happy to have Andrew here.
We're in a special time with histransition of what he's doing right now.
He has not, he has done what mostcompanies, um, go through at some
point in their career, but he'sdone it sooner than most of us.
He's exited both companies, notonly one, but two of your companies
you sold in the, in recent time.
And so we're here to learn aboutthat today and kind of your journey.

(01:27):
Yep.
So we're happy to have you here.
Thanks.
So, as we work through today, firstof all, first, where did it start?
How did you get into landscaping?
Where did it begin?
Started in.
High school.
I started cutting grass maybe beforehigh school, but I hired my mom to
drive me around when I was 15 and shewould drive me around to customer's

(01:50):
houses, and she would operate the walkbehind and weed whack, and we would
drive around and cut grass together.
And she worked for me for a coupleyears until I hired another employee,
one of my high school friends and.
And then we just keptgrowing from there and
yeah.
Kept going.
Heck yeah.

(02:11):
So mom got in on the crew and y'all,y'all did the properties together?
Yep.
She loved it.
She got, uh, to be out in the sunand get exercise at the same time.
She just would not back the trailer up.
That was not in her job description.
We only went forward.
I love that.
So as you, as you started buildingthis and you started working through
high school, was it always the plan atthat point to say, I'm gonna turn this

(02:33):
into a bigger business for yourself?
There was never really
a plan until I would sayI got out of college.
I went to Penn State for landscapecontracting and had two crews working
for me remote while I was at college.
I would come home every weekend, workwith 'em, meet clients, do estimates,

(02:55):
take phone calls, and it really justkept growing and growing and growing.
After I got out of college, but therewas no plan to say build a large
successful landscaping business.
Just something to do to make money.
Nice.
And you kept this going during college?
Yes.
Yeah.
So like, so many business owners,they just can't let go, but

(03:17):
it's a great way to get started.
Momentum, cash flow.
And it sounds like you've done areally incredible job of keeping
that going over time as well.
Um, as we're jumping into some ofthe topics today, um, one of the
things I'd like to ask and just.
You know, tell us about theearly days as you're jumping into
Andrew's lawn and landscaping.
That's the first business you started,you know, talk to us about when

(03:39):
you left college and what some ofthe early days looked like for you.
The early days
were long, uh, sun up to sundown.
We would just work, and thiswas before I had any software
or technology or any real.
Profitability systems.

(03:59):
It was more just, Hey, let's go workand get as much work done as we could.
Um, mostly maintenance andmostly residential maintenance.
Just cutting grass and mulchingand trimming bushes for
residential clients within a fiveor 10 mile radius of my house.
And, and just for our
audience, what service area was that?
Like where were you located?

(04:20):
The suburbs of Philadelphia,Westchester, Pennsylvania.
Yeah.
Beautiful area.
Gone there.
Some of the best food,cheese steak sandwiches.
I've learned.
You can't call 'em Philly cheesesteak sandwich when you're in Philly.
So I learned that along the way.
Um, what were some key momentswhen you started seeing this really
starting to become a businessfor you that were turning points?

(04:42):
I
would say getting.
The strong team in place and seeing thatthings were not always reliant on myself.
Yeah.
So getting strong field operations,strong leadership people to pick up
the phone, do the bookkeeping, and thatreally helped our growth, and that's

(05:04):
one of the things that I could saymakes us so successful is the strong
team we had and picking up the phoneand doing what we say we're gonna do.
Yeah.
And
uh, I just for, just to get anunderstanding of how this looks, are
you doing this out of your house?
Do you have an office at
this time?
We worked outta my house for probablythree to five years after college and

(05:29):
then moved to a shop and then movedto a larger shop, and that's where the
landscaping company is still today.
That's awesome.
How quickly you made that up.
Um, when did it became real?
Like you realized you've gotsomething that you can grow with
beyond what you thought, you know,it was gonna be when it started.

(05:52):
When did people ask me if I was,when I was not gonna get a real job?
Yeah.
Um, that's the best way to do it.
Yeah.
I don't like, it's hard tosay when it became real.
I would say that some point after college.
When we knew that it was just,this is what I'm going to
do, is when it became real.
Um, and definitely when the lawn carecompany go Green Lawn and Pest started

(06:17):
was the, the starting of something real,which was probably about 10 years ago.
Okay.
So it was, there was still a longperiod of time where it was, is this.
A career?
Or is this just a way to make money?
Yeah.
It left hobby business to, we'vegot something that's significant

(06:38):
here that can take care of family.
Mm-hmm.
And that can grow with,
yeah.
At one point in time we were with,both businesses were combined.
Before either of them had exited,we had over a hundred employees.
What?
And.
What would you say are some ofthe things you did at that time
when you brought that together?
You realized it was real, that you put inplace so that you could become scalable.

(07:02):
As you're growing, you're like, Ihave to put these in things in place.
One of
the probably best roles was that helpedwith the people aspect was having
someone dedicated in HR who helped.
Manage the people and made sure wefollowed the rules hired and really

(07:22):
helped with culture at the company and wereally tried to take care of our people.
Um, also having strong leadershiproles within the general manager
of the lawn care department and thegeneral manager of the landscaping
department, not having to do.

(07:44):
Be the guy for everything
helps.
Alright, Andrew.
Um, we know that you have twocompanies, Andrew's Lawn Landscaping
Go, green, lawn and Pest Control.
I want to go through a little bit more ofbackground of like what each company does
[Mic bleed]
ideal clients, that type of thing.
So Andrew's lawnlandscaping, all residential.

(08:05):
Maybe you take us throughwhat your services are.
So Andrew's lawn and landscaping.
[Mic bleed]
started as a hundred percentresidential grass cutting
[Mic bleed]
and over time we added on additionalservices, enhancements, small construction
jobs, nothing like pools, no largepatios, like more of a homeowner,

(08:30):
construction enhancement company.
And then over time.
We started to grow into commercialand really started pushing
[Mic bleed]
Um, today the company is probablymore than 60% leading towards
that 70% commercial maintenance
[Mic bleed]
and we found that commercial isjust a much more scalable and

(08:53):
easier model than working for.
Hundreds, if not thousands of residential
[Mic bleed]
Um, and to the point of go green.
Go green was a split.
Andrews always did fertilization,but then we rebranded Go Green

(09:13):
as a fertilization only company.
Mm-hmm.
That was about 10 years ago andthat was a hundred percent single
family homes service to thehomeowner of lawn fertilization.
Aeration and overeating.
And then right around COVID timeis when we added on pest control,
um, and grew that business to

(09:35):
[Mic bleed]
couple thousand clients thatwe serviced their homes.
So at the time of Gore's exit,it was still a lawn care and
pest control company that was 90some percent residential service
[Mic bleed]
And did that get a start fromthe residential client base

(09:57):
from Andrew's Lawn Landscaping?
It did.
It got a start from Andrew's Landscaping,and then along the way I purchased a
couple smaller lawn care companies to helpus grow in certain regions and markets.
[Mic bleed]
Um, if you don't mind me asking,if you're going through the.
Andrew's long
[Mic bleed]
And you said 70% or sois around commercial

(10:19):
[Mic bleed]
Is there a segment, a typeof commercial maintenance?
Some people get into,
[Mic bleed]
large portfolio campus work, or
[Mic bleed]
it municipalities, is it HOA?
It's a mix of all commercial.
Um.
[Mic bleed]
Half the commercial is probably HOA.
Okay,
[Mic bleed]

(10:40):
the customer
[Mic bleed]
the culture that you're building.
Well, and it's a, we valuecustomers that value quality work.
We're not the lowestprice company out there.
We do a good job andwe follow through with.
What we
[Mic bleed]
Alright.
And go green.
How did you reach your client base there?
Like how did you get more clients and grow

(11:01):
[Mic bleed]
Go?
Green was very focused on marketing,and marketing was always a budget item
that we budgeted for every single year.
We had a. Inbound and outbound call team.
Mm-hmm.
And that is one of the things thatreally helped go green grow is

(11:22):
having a hundred percent dedicated
[Mic bleed]
It's, it's a definitely adifferent personality and mindset
than someone's who's out there
[Mic bleed]
field doing the
[Mic bleed]
Yep.
I, and I had a, an opportunity becauseof peer groups and working with you.
We got a chance to come seeyour offices and meet your team.

(11:42):
We get to see 'em much later,obviously, as you worked on this.
But I love the culture you have andthe people you have and how, um,
it seemed like they became greatfriends, as long as colleagues as well.
My favorite, one of the things is the, uh,swear jar, which was a fun, cool thing.
Mm-hmm.
It's a random deal that we don't run into.

(12:03):
How did that come about?
Uh, I don't know how some of the things,I'm not sure how they come about, but we
really do try and just have fun at work.
And I can say even still to this day, eventhough I'm not working day to day with
some of the employees at Go Green, likewe're still close friends and actually was
away with them on vacation this weekend.

(12:24):
So it's really, you know, making friendsand lifelong, you know, friends at work.
Absolutely.
Um, whenever you looked at Rore as apart of the relationship with Andrew's
Lawn Landscaping, um, how did, how didyour roles vary in those two things?

(12:44):
How does you spend time betweeneach company and, and how
that looks on a day to day?
So once I started Go Green, my focuswas more on Go Green because I saw that
avenue as more of a saleable and scalablebusiness because there was less reliant on

(13:08):
labor and it was something that we couldeasily market and grow that customer base.
Um, it definitely was a lot inthe early days until we got.
A larger footprint under us.
But even having strong leadership at GoGreen, it still was the primary focus.

(13:29):
It really was also seasonal.
Like we started a little bit earlier withthe fertilization business, so that spring
rush would almost be ending by the timethe landscaping Spring rush would start.
Yeah.
And then everythingwas on autopilot until.
The fall.
Pretty
much.
Yeah.
So how'd the, how'd the roles, I guessfor both sides you would attend meetings,

(13:51):
you ran it as CEO of both companies.
I
was, we called it visionary, butum, I was the CEO of both companies.
I would help in any aspect as needed.
I tried to rely on my day-to-dayoperations team to do what's needed,
but help in any ways they need help.
We did share an office space.

(14:13):
Up until the last two years, we hadto split because we didn't have enough
room, but it was consolidated in theoffice and I was there sitting next to,
you know, anybody who needed assistance.
So it was not necessarily twodifferent places I needed to be.
As you're going through, I guess, growth,we all go through obstacles, changes,

(14:35):
things that surprise us along the way.
Were there any setbacksor like near death?
Hmm.
I don't know if I want to do this anymore.
Moments in your career as you're goingthrough either of these companies?
Not necessarily.
We don't, there's nothingthat comes to mind.
There's definitelymistakes that were made.
Um, and there's always issues thatcome up, but we just take 'em and

(14:59):
learn from 'em and keep moving.
Yeah.
Like we learn by making mistakes.
Yeah.
I, I think that goes really handin hand with the culture you wanted
to build, is that you can takethings like that in stride, correct?
You, you have to.
It's something new every single day.
I remember us talking about how youcelebrated the Eagles winning their
Super Bowl a few years back and, um,you know, being a Cowboys fan, I wasn't

(15:23):
really excited to hear about this, butalthough I thought that was really cool.
You had an old, uh, fan.
Yeah,
we had one of our old vans thatwas wrapped and we spray painted
the side of it and took it tothe, uh, Eagles parade and.
It was just a great teambuilding experience.
I've seen the parades too.
Mm-hmm.
That's the rest, takinganything in those parades.
Yes.
But it survived, it, it was fun.
Yeah.
It's a ton of fun.

(15:43):
Um, how did, how did you balance the timeand energy it took to run two companies
with having a family, spending some time?
I know you're married, but howdid, how did you balance all that?
Well, the majority of the growthcame before I had a family.
Okay.
So that was, uh, the sun up to sundownwas not as much, um, of an issue, but

(16:05):
it was not as hard as you would think,really back to the point of just we
had great people and the entire thingis, would not be possible if it wasn't
for the great people that I have stillto this day working at both companies.
Yeah, I agree.
You do have some great people.

(16:26):
Um, and as you, I guess, working throughthe process of finding people, working
with people that you have right now,maybe you can talk to the tenure of like
how long some of the people that areyou've been working with throughout this.
Um, so at Andrew Salon andLandscaping, my enhancement manager
has been with me since high school.

(16:48):
So Incredible.
And there's some crewleaders that have been.
Working since we worked at my house.
So we really do try and take care of ourpeople and we want to grow with them.
Um, at GOG Green, my general managerstarted from day one as a sales person.
Yeah.
Went into sales manager and now isrunning the entire organization.

(17:10):
Um, and the HR person who I spokeabout earlier is still at Go Green
and she's running the whole showover there and the company has.
Tripled since, you know, we've exited.
Wow, that's incredible.
I mean, we, we measure, as partof Asymmetrics, we add new metrics

(17:31):
each and every year as a wayto track trace and see where.
Um, the ACEs are as a, as awhole and, uh, turnover was one
that came up many years ago.
The amount of turnover that cameup and yours was always extremely
low, which was a positive for you.
It just shows a strong culture.
Mm-hmm.
So that makes a difference.
Uh, how would you describe your leadership

(17:52):
style?
I would say it's fairly handsoff, day-to-day operations.
But there as needed for anybody who needsany assistance, my door's always open.
My phone's always on ring.
Anything you need, feel free to call.
But I'm not the kind of personwho's going to be telling you

(18:13):
how to do your job like that.
I expect.
The team to do the job that's neededand you know, come to me if there's
an issue and we'll solve it together.
Yeah.
And you always also have a goodpulse of what's on the business.
I mean, from our conversations andus knowing each other over time,
you tend to know where numbersare, what people are doing and, and

(18:34):
have a good pulse of the situation.
So I would
say some of that comes back to the, we ranEOS and having the weekly EOS meetings.
Gets everybody involved and you try andbring up your issues at that meeting
and solve things at that meeting,and everyone gets on the same page.
We also worked with sharing ourfinancials with the leadership team.

(18:55):
Like we were not hidingour success or failures.
We'd all work together to betransparent about how things were going.
Nice.
Um, as you're working throughkind of your philosophies on, on
the team and how you led that.
What do you say are some thingsto get a good culture started?
You know, for our audience, theremay be some that are struggling

(19:18):
with this who think they may havea good culture, but have turnover,
have challenges, have obstacles.
How do you feel like are some things thatwould help people build a good culture?
We always took care of ourpeople, meaning we paid them well.
We never missed a payroll.
We always celebrate wins.

(19:38):
We celebrate birthdays, wecelebrate anniversaries.
We have things on the calendar at thebeginning of the year that are going
to be celebrated throughout the year.
We had a field day, we haveend of the year parties.
We have 4th of Julyparties, labor Day parties.
So we really try and get the guys togetherat the end of the day or throughout
the day for a barbecue or a picnic andtry and get the whole team involved.

(20:03):
So you're not just going to work to work.
You have some friends at work.
I love
that.
That's what a great concept, youknow, where's, uh, uh, some of the
assessments I've seen over time andthe, uh, team member engagement.
One of the great questions that come outof that Andrew and I've learned over time
is the, um, do you have a friend at work?

(20:23):
And if your team members can actuallysay, I have a friend at work.
It's amazing how easy it is tocome back to work every day.
Yes.
So, totally.
I can hear that.
Um.
When did selling your company'sfirst enter your, enter the
picture or enter your thoughts?
I had always

(20:43):
thought that Go Green would be acompany I would sell at some point, but
definitely not at this point in my career.
My children are still young.
I definitely thought I'd beselling the company when they're.
Off in college, and then Icould sail off into the sunset.

(21:04):
But just the number of emailsand phone calls I received for
people looking to acquire us.
Mm-hmm.
I started talking to some of 'em and Ifound a partner that just seemed to make
sense and really liked what I heard,and that's kind of how it all started.

(21:24):
There was no plan to sell.
At, at, at this point intime or at any point in time?
In the near future?
Yeah.
So this, this was purely by, uh,an accidental meaning, or someone
reached out, reached out to you?
Yeah.
Cold call.
Cold call.
And it's, and I knowthat's happened to others.
Mm-hmm.
What was the, what was that like, whatwas the experience of going through

(21:47):
the initial process of meeting thisperson and going through that for you?
Um, it was exciting.
It was a, definitely was an opportunity.
It was.
Something that I would do again,like, it's not, not like I'm saying
this was horrible, like it was a goodexperience and I have nothing bad

(22:09):
to say about, you know, the partnersI've chose and how things worked.
Mm-hmm.
I'm, I'm, we encouragepeople to go through this.
It's a great learning process.
You know, learn about yourbusiness and your team and what
people think are attractive.
If you were to ever dosomething like this, um.
And I would kind of say that likeI was not necessarily going into

(22:31):
the initial conversations as, oh,this is gonna come out with a sale.
It was like, Hey, let'stalk and see where it goes.
And then the, the numbers seemedto make sense and the partnership
seemed to make sense, butrealistically, working with the right.
Partners, mm-hmm.
That we've partnered with was moreimportant than the dollars because

(22:56):
I wanted to make sure my teamwas taken care of and they were
comfortable with the transition.
So like I had involved key leadershiproles in the initial discussions to
make sure that everybody was comfortablewith how things were moving as well.
I love that.
Which company, by the way, wasit, so Gore, gore was the first
company and Gore Partners with.

(23:17):
Ned's home.
Okay.
Um, we are their lawn care platform.
And that opportunity to be a platformwithin a platform really was something
that excited us and it really seemedlike a great company to work with.
And my leadership team is still in place.
They're still working there day to day.
I'm not necessarily involved there, buteverything is going well and everyone

(23:41):
is happy with how things are going.
Can you share with us some thingsof, um, how you approached making
sure your key team members weretaken care of in that process?
I involved my key teammembers in the discussions.
Yeah.
And I wanted them to feel comfortablewith the people, and that is kind of how

(24:05):
I made sure that we were both comfortable.
Before everything was done, becausethat is one of the biggest things.
I wanted the culture to stay and thepeople to stay, and I think that is one
of the reasons that we were successfuland are still successful is because
the team is still there and they're.
Leading the ship in the right direction.

(24:28):
So, uh, something that, you know, I getasked a lot, and you might remember this
or may not, but what's the, you know,when did you bring the team involved?
Like when was it a comfort level foryou to say, say, okay, I think the team
should be involved in this conversation.
I brought my
key two, three people in before.

(24:50):
The letter of intent, likeonce I had a letter of intent
that I was comfortable with.
Mm-hmm.
But wanted to make sure that wewere all on the same page and
understood where things were going.
Um, so it goes, you have theseconversations on the phone, you
talk and then you get a letter ofintent, and then from the letter

(25:14):
of intent due diligence starts.
And that could be anywhere from.
30 days to six months.
Um, I would say more like 90 days.
But within that 90 day period,I was bringing my key leadership
team into the conversations tomake sure they were comfortable
with everything that was going on.

(25:35):
And, um, how long wasthat process for you?
For the whole, for, from aletter of intent to closing?
Around 90 days.
Around 90 days.
Mm-hmm.
So I've seen some closelonger, or some that's mm-hmm.
You know, right in the middle.
Uh, how was that, like, can youexplain some of the feelings that
were going through that and, andsome of the decisions going on?

(25:56):
It was,
it was not as bad aspeople made it out to be.
Like, I had heard a lot of, oh,due diligence, financial due
diligence is going to be very tough.
It takes a lot of work like.
It was not as bad as I had heard,like it was, maybe it's because our
financials were pretty clean and in line.
Mm-hmm.

(26:16):
And we had systems and procedures, butit was more of a information sharing.
And they have accountants and financialpeople that review everything and
just make sure that the work you sayyou have is the work you have and the
numbers that you've put in the past arethe numbers that are actually there.

(26:38):
As you, um, I'm sure you're ha gonnahave plenty of people that know you and
ask questions of this, but what, whatadvice would you give other owners who are
starting this process, who are thinkingabout going through this themselves?
Make sure you
pick the
right partner.
I think that that is very importantto make sure you're partnering
with the company that you thinkwill take care of your team.

(27:01):
Um, don't just go with the highest bidder.
Um, I did not have a.Broker or sell side advisor.
It was, there were somany people coming to me.
I took the conversations and feltcomfortable with the partners I chose.
Um, the other thing I would say is,it's kind of like the old saying,

(27:23):
don't go to a bank when you need money.
Like go when you want it becauseyou're not, you're not, um, like
you don't want to be forced to sell.
Um, so both my companies weredoing well and it was never a need.
It was more of an opportunity that arose.
So having a strong leadershipteam and having strong financials

(27:46):
ensure that we were able to getthe best numbers on the exit.
That's great feedback.
Um, so many people don't know whereto start there, and I, you know,
initially you said just, you startedwith having a conversation to say
you liked working with that person.
And that sometimes is all it neededas you get through the rest of it.
Yeah.
To that point, like it was never, I didnot know what valuation I was, where,

(28:12):
where they were gonna come in at.
It was just a conversation andthen it really started to make
sense and it was very attractive.
And that's, you know, how wegot to where we are today.
Okay.
Any surprises along the way?
'cause as you go through this, Iimagine not only you're thinking
through all the questions, you know.
You've got team membersthat are asking questions.

(28:33):
You have family that's askingquestions, you know, what,
any surprises along the way.
Um, there was always surprises and duediligence of additional requests that
are needed and legal things that come upfrom the past that you need to clean up.
But to the team member and family aspect,I really waited until the latter half till

(28:55):
we knew we were pretty close to closing.
Um.
At GOG Green, we announced itto our team right at closing,
except for the leadership team.
Um, and the same with Andrews.
We had a rollout, uh, right at closing.
Mm-hmm.
The team at Andrews, there's very, verylittle, if any change that's happened.

(29:17):
And I think if we would nothave told them, they would not
have even known like it is.
There's almost, that's how little dayto day has changed for the team level.
Um, and go green, it was a little moreof a consolidation 'cause we're now
working under the Ned's home umbrella.
So we're cross-selling services togutter customers within our region.

(29:40):
'cause the company that we partneredwith does gutter cleaning, power
washing dryer, vent cleaning.
Mm-hmm.
And now they're offering lawn andpest control to their customer base.
So this is a learning curve morefor the team on the additional
services they're going through?
Yes.
And how, how Ned's works.
Correct.
Um, I guess going for the Andrew'swanna landscaping, he didn't ask you

(30:01):
about that, but the, was the processsimilar of finding a good partner
and you got a call from somebody?
Or was that, did that look different?
It
was a little bit different because I hada relationship with Jerry Shill, and Jerry
and I had chatted in the past and then.
Again, it was more of a warm outreach,but like the conversation came up and

(30:26):
I was not necessarily looking to sell.
It was more of a conversationand it turned into an LOI that
made sense for both of us.
Mm-hmm.
And that deal actually closed inApril of this year, so we're happy
with everything that's going on.
I'm still an employee at Andrew's onlandscaping, still leading the team.

(30:49):
And we're continuing to growin the Philadelphia region.
That's exciting.
And then that, that's, um, youknow, that's why you're saying
this team hasn't really seen a lotof changes there at this point.
Correct.
The team at Andrews Salon andLandscaping is still branded as
Andrews Lawn and Landscaping, andnothing has changed with anyone's pay.

(31:10):
Nothing has changedwith anyone's benefits.
Nothing has changedwith our customer base.
Everyone has been notified.
Everyone's happy.
We're just continuing toservice properties, um, and
work towards growing towards the
future.
Alright, so now with all the, theextra energy and strategic thought and
time, I know you're still working atfull-time at Andrew's Lawn Landscaping,

(31:34):
but you're not working two companies,
so
now you have some additionalthoughts and like, you know,
where do you spend your time?
What are you, you know,putting your effort towards?
So I
definitely have less.
To worry about, um, because now thatit's not the a hundred percent liability
of running a company is not on myshoulders, um, but the free time I spend

(31:57):
time with my family and continue to dowhat I need to at the company, but also
focus on my fitness and health and spendas much time as I can with my family.
Yeah, that's fun.
And you love travel?
Yes.
So have you traveled any anywherefun as of late for the summer?
Um, we travel most weekends and.

(32:21):
Just get away for quick getaways.
That sounds great.
I'm getting to a point right now whereI've got, uh, a kid in high school
that's graduated and going to collegein the fall, and I have a kid that's
going into high school, and so I see alot more travel in my horizon, so I have
the ability to jump into some of that.
That was the point where I was.

(32:42):
Looking to sell when my children wereexiting high school, but my children
are still entering elementary schoolnow, so I've got a little ways away
Oh my gosh.
So much fun.
Yes.
Things, things are fun.
Things are going well.
Alright, so fun segment, breakinginto something interesting.
I'm gonna come back around ifthere's anything we've missed along
the way that you wanted to share.

(33:03):
Best tool you've ever bought?
what is your favoritetool you've ever bought?
Favorite
tool, hands down software for Go Green.
We started out with Real Green Softwareand would not have been able to grow
the business without that software.
And probably three years ago we went onAspire and Andrew's on In Landscaping.

(33:25):
And Aspire has changed the way we billand manage our company and we could not.
We would not be where we aretoday if we did not have Aspire.
So true, smart.
And I feel like so many companies outthere who are figuring this out, uh,
software has made such a difference.
So,
uh, a hundred percent.
It doesn't matter if we'rerunning Dodge trucks or Ford

(33:47):
trucks, like, or Xmark or Scag.
Like if you don't have the rightsoftware, you will not be anywhere.
Okay.
Most ridiculous client request.
Most ridiculous.
Alright.
Um.
I can think of one lady after we shoveledher sidewalk and put salt down, needed

(34:09):
us to come back with a leaf blower todry it off because she did not want
wet footprints inside of her building.
There.
Gonna snow event?
Yes, during a snow event.
Okay, good.
Does you We did.
Okay.
Yes, we that what we stand behindthe work we do and if a client
asks us to do something, we will.
Do what we're, and we'lldo what we need to do.

(34:31):
And that really is one of the reasonswe're so successful, is because
when somebody calls, we take therequest and we do what we need to do.
Mm-hmm.
Awesome.
Okay.
What advice would you give youryounger self in giving all the things
that you've learned along the way?

(34:52):
Keep going.
Hire the right people andtake care of your people.
And it might go back to that toolquestion of try and get on the
software as early as possible.
Yeah.
Smart.
It's much easier to getstarted when you're smaller.
Yeah.
That's great.
Nice.
Um, what's next for you?

(35:13):
Is there something new on thehorizon that you're considering or
are you looking at other things?
No plans.
Um, enjoying my current timeworking in Andrew's on landscaping,
working with the Shell team.
I'm not interested instarting another business.
I've enjoyed what I've done.
I'm having fun doing what I'm doing today.

(35:35):
More travel, more time withthe family, but no, no more
new startups, that's for sure.
And I know we, you've been invitedof course, to join us back at
ACE Connect again this year andbe a part of the alumni group.
So you planned on attendinganother event with us, so that's
always gonna be a great time.
Yep, that's correct.

(35:57):
And if there's a way for peopleto connect with you, and I'm sure
along the way they can find you onLinkedIn, that's probably the best way.
Yep.
LinkedIn.
Nice.
Andrew, thank you for being with us today.
All right.
I know this audience is learninga ton just by people, um, going
through this journey and learningthat, you know, you've gone
through this since high school.

(36:17):
You've exited and sold notonly one, but two companies.
And culture and software, and somegreat things I've learned from you
today that I've watched you do inperson, and it's been incredible
to see what you've accomplished.
Thanks.
So congratulations.
Thanks, and thank you for being here.
Thank you.
Thank you for listening to this episodeof Roots of Success, brought to you by

(36:38):
the subject matter Experts at McFarlandStanford have a question you want our
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You could [e-mail] slash podcast.
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(36:59):
We encourage you to joinus at Ace Discovery.
Just check out the [e-mail].
This is Jason New co-founder andprincipal at McFarland Stanford.
We'll see you next time.