Let me be real blunt.
If you’ve been in the lawn or landscape business for more than a week, chances are you’ve got at least one good story about an employee who made you want to pull your hair out, close up shop, and go sell boiled peanuts on the side of the highway.
You ain’t alone.
In fact, some days it feels like landscapers don’t want to fix their employee problems—they just want someone to listen while they cuss and moan about ‘em. And hey—I get it. I’ve been there.
So today, in honor of all the business owners hangin’ on by a thread, I present to you:
Three True Tales of Employee Madness
(Names changed to protect the guilty… but Lord knows they don’t deserve it.)
🚽 Case #1: The Bush Pee-er and the Lost Contract
Picture this: It’s a sunny Tuesday. Your crew is out mowing at a high-end corporate property. The grass looks great, the stripes are straight, and the job is almost done.
Then BAM.
A manager from inside the office building sees one of your guys—pants down—taking a crap in the flower beds… clearly visible from a second-story conference room. Yep. Bushes.
The customer called, canceled the contract, and swore off “all landscapers” forever. It hurt!
Moral of the true story: one careless (or stupid) employee act can cost you tens of thousands in annual revenue.
🏚️ Case #2: The Copper Crook
Your crew just finished a landscape install at a high-end residential home. One of your guys notices a neat little pile of copper gutters the homeowner had removed.
Without asking, he throws ‘em in the truck and heads to the scrap yard.
What he didn’t know? The homeowner’s security camera caught it all. Cops got called. Charges filed. You spent more time apologizing (and being embarrassed) than you did installing plants.
True story!
🙏 Case #3: The Church Lady Thief
She was sweet. Kind. Wore floral dresses and prayed with the owner every Wednesday morning before they went to work together. She was the bookkeeper and office manager.
But when times got tight, the owner decided to brush up on budgeting by attending a training event. While reviewing his financials, he discovered a pattern of expenses that just didn’t make sense. Over the next few weeks he discovered hundreds of thousands of dollars missing.
Over three years, she’d siphoned off funds to pay for personal expenses—while smiling and praying the whole time.
Devastating. You bet!
True story…but he survived!
So Why In the World Would Anyone Be an Employer?
After you’ve been peed on, stolen from, and robbed blind by a churchgoer, it’s fair to ask the question:
Why would ANYONE want to be an employer?
Well, the team at Gallup just dropped a massive study called The Narrow Pathways to Wealth, and their conclusion couldn’t be clearer:
✅ The wealthiest, most satisfied people in the workforce today are employer business owners.
Let me give you the stats:
- 💰 Median net worth of owner-employers: $670,000
- 💸 Median net worth of non-employer business owners: $90,000
- 😐 Median net worth of employees only: $38,000
- 😎 71% of owner-employers say they’re “thriving in wellbeing”
Compare that to the 44% of self-employed folks who don’t hire—and you’ll see the pattern.
If you want real wealth, not just wages…
If you want freedom, not just frustration…
If you want to build a legacy, not just stay busy…
You MUST become—and stay—an employer.
But make no mistake. Being an employer ain’t easy. It’s the narrow road, not the easy path.
According to Gallup’s data, only 2% of working adults own a business with employees.
And one out of three of those will give up in less than a year.
So What’s the Solution?
Systems. Period.
That’s why I wrote the book:
The Landscaper’s Guide to Finding, Hiring and Keeping Great Employees
Inside, you’ll learn how to:
- Use videos to filter out the lazy & unmotivated
- Conduct powerful 10-minute phone interviews
- Assign pre-employment tasks that reveal true character
- Build systems so strong your team can’t break ‘em
You’ll get the tools. You’ll build the confidence. And you’ll stop losing sleep over crazy employee stories.
Because while employees can be your greatest burden…
They can also become your greatest blessing.
You’re the Backbone of the U.S. Economy
You, my friend, are not “just” a lawn guy.
You’re an employer.
You sign the checks.
You take the risks.
You support families.
You keep the gears of America turning.
Don’t let a few horror stories keep you from the wealth and freedom that employer ownership provides.
So if you’ve about had it with employees, focus on building better systems.
We’ve done most of the hard work for you…
📘 Order The Landscaper’s Guide to Finding, Hiring and Keeping Great Employees
👉 Buy Now at SuperLawnToolkit.com
✅ Satisfaction guaranteed
✅ $250 one-on-one bonus session with Tony included
✅ Built for lawn and landscape contractors just like you
Don’t quit. Don’t whine. Don’t settle.
Lead with a plan and build the team that builds your dream.
To your hiring success,
Tony Bass
Founder, Super Lawn Toolkit
Employer, Inventor, Coach… and Proud Member of the 2% Club
PS – When you get the print copy of the book, you’ll find a pile of magical QR codes that take you to online downloads including:
- Employer manual
- Job Descriptions
- Employee management tools
- Detailed job offers
- Step-by-step instructions to build your employee systems
- Plus – when you are ready, we meet on the phone and discuss your case…OR
- We can chit chat and share horror stories about employees 😭
PSS – The link to the Gallup Report we reference is to an outside organization. We can’t control how long the link works…but it’s a damn good read! Highly recommended!
