Upsides and downsides of hiring a summer helper?
I am thinking about hiring someone to help me in the busy season and the idea of a high school kid as a summer job sounds like a promising idea. I wouldn't have to pay them a crazy salary, they are like sponges with information and they are typically more physically full of energy. I wouldn't be able to send them on their own, but they could help me get a few more jobs done in a day. I am wondering if anyone has tried this and what would be the pros and cons of doing it?
Delegation & Hiring for a Maintenance-Heavy Landscaping Company Trying to Scale
I’ve been looking into accountability charts and delegation after listening to the Jobber podcast where they talked about this, but I’m not sure where to begin. Right now I’m still heavily involved in day-to-day residential maintenance landscaping operations—quoting, scheduling, managing crews, and even some marketing—which makes it hard to step back and focus on growing into larger/higher earning project work beyond maintenance. For those who’ve gone through this at a similar stage, what responsibilities did you delegate first—and to whom? Also, what was your first key hire that really helped free up your time to focus on growth? Any practical guidance would be great.Transitioning from Landscape Maintenance to Higher Earning / Project Work
For those who started in maintenance, how did you transition into larger projects like hardscaping and design? Did you train your existing crew or build a separate team? I’m trying to figure out the best path forward without disrupting our current operations. Any advice from those who’ve made that shift would be really helpful.Do You Train Your Team to Think or Just Work?
Every Monday, we hold a short training session with our team. We train on communication. leadership. & mindset. The reason being most tradespeople aren’t struggling because they can’t do the work. They’re struggling because they were never taught how to: Speak with clarity Handle conflict Lead a crew Represent the business professionally These tend to be the issues I see bottling up, either from our exit interviews or customer feed back or when things are misunderstood. Thats why I'm curious: Do you train soft skills with your crew?
Hiring the right person for growth
Hey everyone, I run a lawn care business that's been growing steadily. I work full time as a firefighter and have two part-time employees, but we’re pretty maxed out on what we can handle right now. I’m at a crossroads—I need someone I can trust to take on more responsibility, especially when I’m on shift. But I’m also not sure how to afford another employee unless we grow more, and I can’t grow much without that help. Bit of a catch-22. Any advice on finding someone who could help scale the business? Also open to creative compensation ideas beyond just hourly pay. Appreciate any input!
