Should I Collect a Down Payment?

Today, I want to talk to you about project payment terms. The number one question that I get asked is should I take a project deposit? And the answer to that question is, "Yes, Yes, Yes!" You should get a deposit on every job whether it's a $100, $1,000 or $10,000 job. You should definitely get a deposit on any job. The amount of the deposit is going to be somewhat dependent on a few different factors here. Anywhere from 10% to 50% down.  A lot of times you're going to be purchasing the materials upfront. A very common amount to take down would be a 10% deposit if the project is going to run longer than 30 days. If the first day of that job is longer than 30 days out, you might want to consider taking a 10% down payment or deposit. It's important that you don't spend it on anything except items related to that project. You should have an account at your bank strictly for deposits. Until that job starts to run, that money is not an asset....

Take Care of You

As business owners, we go to great lengths to carefully research the investments that we make. Whether it's in our employees, or the equipment that we use, the tools that we use, the materials that we purchase. And I want to tell you one of the smartest investments you can ever make is in investment in yourself. In taking care of yourself, in enjoying life and making sure that there is time set aside every day, every week, month and throughout the year, to give back to just you. I know that we all want to give back to our families, and to the people that work for us, and to our customers, and to our vendors, and that's great. And I'm not discounting any of that, but the number one person you need to fill up is yourself. That way you have the energy, you have the tools, you have the joy to start spreading around other people.

Training

Tonight I'm doing something that's just for me. I'm running a 13.1 half marathon. I kind of did it on a whim; now I'm training for an...

Week 1

We are about one week into a major renovation project and we are working on by far the most dangerous hillside we have ever worked on. I want to try to give you an idea of what we're working on. If you look at how steep the slope behind me is, so we've got a two-tier retaining wall.  We have our lower tier behind me that extends up about 6ft tall. This entire slope was very steep and covered in a rose or control plants that have large evergreen trees on it. We've created this middle level area which is 14ft deep and then we've built the second reinforced timber retaining wall. This middle terrace is going to go to the blue lines behind you. That is going to be a putting green.  This putting green is going to be a pretty awesome feature.  Around the outside of this putting green is going to be a rock or chipping area. This is the part that makes me nervous. Every time it comes down, I can't help but hold my breath. It's been in and out about 60 times.  But...

Breaking News

Breaking news right now a man is fighting for his life after a landscaping accident. The man had to be pulled from a pond after his mower tipped over into a pond with a rider on it. Stan: An incredible amount of people are injured or killed every year in lawnmower related accidents but let's find out how many accidents there are we're going to talk to somebody a whole lot smarter than me. Hello McFly, you're up. Three two one! Reporter: He rolled over an embankment into a creek and then that riding lawn mower he was on, fell on top of him. Stan: The sad truth is a lot of these accidents can be prevented. We're going to cover three simple steps to keep you safe. But before we get into that, how many accidents are there actually every year. Relax, calm, down breathe through your nose, not your mouth.

Accidents Happen

Stanley: Oh! Well, thank you Mr. Monkey, but you can actually call me Stanley. First off Mr. Monkey, I just want to say thank you for giving me the...

Why Boulder Retaining Walls Fail 

Many boulder retaining walls are in a state of failure because the contractor built it the wrong way.  We're going to talk about the fundamentals of building a boulder retaining wall and why these simple principles are usually ignored. The two main failure factors are the size of the boulders typically used and how those boulders actually get laid.

Boulders are Usually Good

In general, boulders make an absolutely phenomenal building material. They never suffer from weathering or erosion, salt degradation has absolutely no impact on them. The weight of the boulders allows them to tolerate massive amounts of earth movement without transmitting that through the wall. So let's start talking about how boulder retaining walls are typically built the wrong way. You cannot build a retaining wall like that, and I'm going to go right down and point at this boulder right here specifically. We've got this nice four footer laid the right way, the...

Stan: How do you eat an Elephant? This is a concept they use the especially when I'm bidding landscaping project. We are getting set to do a complete makeover project on this yard, strip everything out and regarded it and reinstall everything brand new and this is something that I want you guys to get I want burst straight in there and I don't want it to ever leave because you're going to use this concept how do you eat an elephant for almost everything that you have to do to build your business. You will be able to apply this concept of every component of your business especially when you're bidding landscaping. You get into these big projects you like ah man where do I even begin, to build a job like this you develop it the answer is one bite at a time now I want you to stop what you think about this concept because it's going to apply to everything you do. One bite at a time means you break down the job you break down the pit the very first thing if you feel that you're getting...

Host:

I'm taking you into a project today, where thinking outside of the box saved a customer twenty thousand dollars. We're going to be transforming your yard, aren’t we? We’re going to save you tens of thousands of dollars instead of rebuilding this retaining wall. We're going bring this slope in. Customer: And stop my patio and three season porch from falling into the woods. Host: Yeah, it's falling down. Too many times people automatically fall into this belief that they have to reinstall what is already in place. Oftentimes what is already there is a failed design or inadequate for their updated needs and their circumstances. I'm here with the customer, so now that we're done, what do you think about, from where we started the concept we started with, which is kind of unusual? We didn't rebuild the retaining wall, what we focused on was eliminating the need for retaining and cutting your budget by nearly half, by doing so.

Customer wife:

I absolutely love it, my...

HOW TO BUILD A RETAINING WALL

STEP BY STEP GUIDE

Today we're going to take you step-by-step so that you can build your own retaining wall. Covering some of the most vital parts in retaining wall construction.  Including the excavation and the initial sub-grade protection which will be the main component to the longevity of your wall being straight and perfectly flat-topped, or ending up years down the road having a wave in it. We're going to help you eliminate that. We will also be looking at the material used in your first course of block. How to base and level that most critical element: the very first block that goes in the ground Then we are going to show you how to construct a 90-degree corner in case you happen to have any of those on your site. Take your project from something that looks like this, to something that looks like this.

Step 1

The very first step we've got to do is remove the existing CMU (Concrete Masonry Unit) retaining wall and prep the sub-grade. Most of...

Today we're going to be doing a review of the ECHO2620T and here are the criteria’s:

• Is it durable?
• Is it going to make you money?

I'm not going to be very technical because I don't care if the engine displacement is 12.1 cc's or twelve 12.2 cc's what I care about is it going to last? Is that thing going to put money in my back pocket? A tool is a means to an end for me.

ECHO2620T

Let's talk about some of the specs on this 2620T. This is one of the largest and most powerful in the Echo line up. This machine was able to tackle some of the worst conditions I was able to throw at it, and it did it like a knife cutting through hot butter. Power and fuel increase leads to increased weight. Now the pro and the con.  The pro is if you’re going to buy one machine to do just about everything in your life, this is the machine for you. If you have tall grass, or you need to trim the ditch or something, you’re going to want something that is going to be able to cut...

ExMark Walk Behind vs Grandstand?

All right, a walk behind or a Grandstand, which mower is right for you? We have three simple criteria today. Number one: versatility; one lawn mower, can you do everything you need it to do on your accounts? Number two: operator comfort; at the end of the day are you ready to go again or do you just feel like you've been in a boxing match? Criteria number three is growth; eventually, as an owner or operator you‘re going to move out of that stage and you are going to hire someone to run your lawn mower. Which mower are you more comfortable putting a potentially inexperienced operator behind? Let's get started. Let's talk about versatility, I have found that the walk behind mower can do just about everything that a Grandstand can do, but it conquers the slope. They absolutely master the slope in comparison to a Grandstand. Now, what you're going to see in this clip is I'm going to be mowing about a twelve to maybe fifteen percent slope. I can do...