My Best Advice 👈

Most home service owners are wearing the wrong leadership hat—and it’s killing their profit.

Here’s the truth no one tells you: the job of the owner changes every time you grow.

After 18+ years in the lawn care industry and scaling Augusta Lawn Care to 180+ locations, I’ve learned this:

Every business owner must grow through 4 leadership stages:

Solo Operator → Working GM → Full-Time GM → GM+ 

And each stage demands a completely different focus.

1. Solo Operator ($0–$200K)

You’re doing everything. The money’s decent—but if you get injured, the business dies.

Your only goal: maximize operational hours.

Cut admin. Automate sales. Work. Get paid.

2. Working GM ($200K–$750K)

You’ve hired 1–3 employees.

Now you’re juggling jobs, emails, estimates, and breakdowns.

Profit doesn’t increase because payroll eats your margin.

You feel stuck.

The fix? Delegate admin. Keep producing revenue in the field. That’s your $100K swing.

3. Full-Time GM ($750K–$1.5M)

You’re off the truck. Finally.

But now you’re overhead.

If you don’t own sales and lead the team well, your profits vanish.

Avoid hiring too many managers too early.

Simplify your services. Stay lean. Stay sharp.

4. GM+ ($1.5M–$5M+)

Now you need leaders under you: Sales Manager, Ops Manager, Admin Lead.

Your success depends on one thing: how well your leadership team executes.

If they’re weak or untrained, your business stalls—or bleeds profit.

Your job? Build systems, train leaders, and standardize everything.

Every stage has a ceiling.

The only way to break through is to change how you operate.

Ask yourself:

Which hat are you wearing today?

If your profit margin is lousy, don’t grow.

Optimize. Raise prices. Stack cash.

Use it to fund your next leap—without the stress.

– Mike Andes

Founder at Augusta Lawn Care
180+ Locations. Still growing.



PS - Watch this video for a full break down of these concepts. It is 25 minutes long and one of my best training lectures.