Kid Contractor Podcast with Caleb Auman

Veteran contractor Tommy Cole shares a wealth of experience from decades in the landscape construction and civil engineering industries. Tommy recounts numerous job site mishaps, ranging from an accidental skid steer intrusion onto a protected prairie meadow to the astonishing coincidence of plastering the wrong pool on the exact same street. Through these humorous and challenging anecdotes, he emphasizes the critical importance of owning one's mistakes and never complaining about clients. The conversation highlights how vital clear communication and accessible data are for growing a successful contracting business. Connect with LeanScaper.

Key Takeaways:

• Take complete ownership of job site mistakes immediately rather than passing blame onto crew members or subcontractors.
• Minimize handling materials multiple times to eliminate unnecessary labor costs and boost overall operational efficiency.
• Move critical project details out of your head and into a shared system so your entire team has visibility into schedules and project expectations.
• Build client trust through transparency by acknowledging that human errors will occur while guaranteeing you will take responsibility to make things right.
• Refrain from complaining about difficult clients and instead view their feedback as essential insight for refining your business processes.

📺 YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@AumanLandscape

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📸 Instagram https://www.instagram.com/aumanlandscapellc/

👷 👷‍♂️ 👷‍♀️ The Hardsacpe Academy https://www.thehardscapeacademy.com/

👫 👩‍❤️‍👨 Together In The Trades https://www.togetherinthetrades.com/

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🧠 🎯 💡 FRWRD Coachinghttps://www.frwrdcoaching.com/

Finding deep fulfillment in sharing hands-on trade skills with others, and focusing on raising good humans is what motivates Caleb and Brittany. The couple emphasizes the importance of tracking financial numbers and understanding revenue per hour to make informed decisions and pivot when seasons are slow. They highlight the value of hands-on education through their Hardscape Academy and share personal anecdotes about learning HVAC systems while building their new home. The conversation also explores the concept of finding one's purpose through service, mentorship, and professional excellence.

Key Takeaways:

• Track your business numbers consistently so you can identify performance gaps early and make necessary strategic pivots.
• Calculate your revenue targets per employee and man-hour to build realistic growth plans and staffing budgets.
• Cultivate a broad foundation of knowledge across related disciplines in your industry to recognize quality work and manage projects effectively.
• Take every opportunity to learn directly from experienced mentors, even when acquiring skills outside your primary area of focus.
• Focus on sharing your practical knowledge to empower others rather than tying your sense of purpose to superficial milestones.

📺 YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@AumanLandscape

🌐 All Links https://linktr.ee/AumanLandscape

📸 Instagram https://www.instagram.com/aumanlandscapellc/

👷 👷‍♂️ 👷‍♀️ The Hardsacpe Academy https://www.thehardscapeacademy.com/

👫 👩‍❤️‍👨 Together In The Trades https://www.togetherinthetrades.com/

📸 CompanyCam – Get 50% off for 2 months https://companycam.com/auman

💰 Cycle CPA – Save $200 https://cyclecpa.com Use code: AUMAN

🛠 LMN Software – Save on onboarding https://golmn.com Use code: AUMAN

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🛠 Leanscaperhttps://leanscaper.com/

🚜 Equip https://www.equipexposition.com/Use code: AUMAN

💰 John Pajakhttps://johnpajak.com

🧠 🎯 💡 FRWRD Coachinghttps://www.frwrdcoaching.com/

Zach Taylor shares the realities of launching Milania Corp, taking the leap into solo entrepreneurship, managing cash flow, and leveraging past connections. He highlights the importance of leveraging professional networks to secure work while navigating the complexities of cash flow, equipment acquisition, and the multi-faceted role of a solo business owner. Taylor also shares his expertise in trench safety, detailing his efforts to educate the industry through presentations and his leadership role with the nonprofit Crew Collab. The conversation covers the practical difficulties of winter construction and the personal lessons learned from managing residential projects for friends.

Key Takeaways:

• Protect your cash flow by carefully managing project schedules and establishing strict, regular invoicing routines.
• Never compromise on jobsite safety, and always use engineered trench protection when working in deep excavations.
• Maintain standard professional protocols and formal contracts even when performing work for friends or family.
• Select machinery based on actual job specifications and financial math rather than brand loyalty or underpowered rentals.
• Build a reliable six-month backlog of profitable work before taking on the financial risk of hiring full-time employees.

📺 YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@AumanLandscape

🌐 All Links https://linktr.ee/AumanLandscape

📸 Instagram https://www.instagram.com/aumanlandscapellc/

👷 👷‍♂️ 👷‍♀️ The Hardsacpe Academy https://www.thehardscapeacademy.com/

👫 👩‍❤️‍👨 Together In The Trades https://www.togetherinthetrades.com/

📸 CompanyCam – Get 50% off for 2 months https://companycam.com/auman

💰 Cycle CPA – Save $200 https://cyclecpa.com Use code: AUMAN

🛠 LMN Software – Save on onboarding https://golmn.com Use code: AUMAN

🚜⚙️🛠️ Steelwrist https://linktr.ee/AumanLandscape

🛠 Leanscaperhttps://leanscaper.com/

🚜 Equip https://www.equipexposition.com/Use code: AUMAN

💰 John Pajakhttps://johnpajak.com

🧠 🎯 💡 FRWRD Coachinghttps://www.frwrdcoaching.com/

Why making a decision and being slightly wrong beats standing still. Caleb explores how the power of imagination directly shapes the trajectory of a business and personal life. Following a trip to Canada, Auman reflects on a conversation about limiting beliefs and how entrepreneurs often subconsciously cap their own potential. He shares personal anecdotes about manifesting his company's design-build facility while admitting that fear sometimes hindered him from dreaming even bigger. The short episode emphasizes that a current business is often the physical manifestation of past thoughts, urging listeners to expand their vision to reach the next level.

Key Takeaways:

• Expand your mental vision beyond your current circumstances because your business and personal life will always be capped by what you dare to imagine.
• Identify and dismantle limiting beliefs that hold you back from making high-impact investments in your future growth.
• Recognize that your employees report to work inside the vision you set, meaning your mental clarity directly shapes their daily environment and potential.
• Make decisive operational decisions early rather than letting fear or perfectionism delay the structural improvements your company needs to operate efficiently.
• Commit to continuous learning, open-mindedness, and putting your ego aside so you can break through growth plateaus and expand past past successes.

📺 YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@AumanLandscape

🌐 All Links https://linktr.ee/AumanLandscape

📸 Instagram https://www.instagram.com/aumanlandscapellc/

👷 👷‍♂️ 👷‍♀️ The Hardsacpe Academy https://www.thehardscapeacademy.com/

👫 👩‍❤️‍👨 Together In The Trades https://www.togetherinthetrades.com/

📸 CompanyCam – Get 50% off for 2 months https://companycam.com/auman

💰 Cycle CPA – Save $200 https://cyclecpa.com Use code: AUMAN

🛠 LMN Software – Save on onboarding https://golmn.com Use code: AUMAN

🚜⚙️🛠️ Steelwrist https://linktr.ee/AumanLandscape

🛠 Leanscaperhttps://leanscaper.com/

🚜 Equip https://www.equipexposition.com/Use code: AUMAN

💰 John Pajakhttps://johnpajak.com

🧠 🎯 💡 FRWRD Coachinghttps://www.frwrdcoaching.com/

Bookkeeper, CPA, or Fractional CFO: Who You Actually Need at $3M+ Caleb and Carla discuss the complexities of scaling a service business beyond the $3 million revenue mark. They emphasize that transitioning from a hands-on owner to a leader requires robust financial infrastructure, delegation, and the implementation of accountability systems. Carla highlights critical financial practices, such as capacity planning, divisional reporting, and monitoring gross profit margins to identify hidden waste. A significant portion of the conversation focuses on the value of sharing financial data with team members to foster a sense of ownership and align employee incentives with company goals.

Key Takeaways:

• Shift from pure hustle to systems and leadership to build the operational infrastructure required to scale beyond initial growth limits.
• Track monthly production capacity by calculating revenue per labor hour so you can spot and eliminate hidden waste early.
• Share project numbers with your team to foster crew buy-in, boost accountability, and align incentive structures with actual job margins.
• Replace bank balance accounting with dedicated ownership over cash management, accounts receivable, and accounts payable.
• Invest in personal self-development so that your leadership capacity grows in tandem with the demands of scaling the business.

📺 YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@AumanLandscape

🌐 All Links https://linktr.ee/AumanLandscape

📸 Instagram https://www.instagram.com/aumanlandscapellc/

👷 👷‍♂️ 👷‍♀️ The Hardsacpe Academy https://www.thehardscapeacademy.com/

👫 👩‍❤️‍👨 Together In The Trades https://www.togetherinthetrades.com/

📸 CompanyCam – Get 50% off for 2 months https://companycam.com/auman

💰 Cycle CPA – Save $200 https://cyclecpa.com Use code: AUMAN

🛠 LMN Software – Save on onboarding https://golmn.com Use code: AUMAN

🚜⚙️🛠️ Steelwrist https://linktr.ee/AumanLandscape

🛠 Leanscaperhttps://leanscaper.com/

🚜 Equip https://www.equipexposition.com/Use code: AUMAN

💰 John Pajakhttps://johnpajak.com

🧠 🎯 💡 FRWRD Coachinghttps://www.frwrdcoaching.com/

Naylor Taliaferro is a prominent figure in the green industry known as the Lawn Care Rookie. Taliaferro details his transition from retail management to owning a successful lawn maintenance business and founding LCR Media, a platform dedicated to community growth and industry events. He emphasizes the importance of route density, leadership, and specialized services as the primary drivers of profitability and time management. The discussion highlights his "brick by brick" philosophy, advocating for disciplined business growth and the use of budgeted hours to ensure financial success.

Key Takeaways:

• Build your goals one brick at a time instead of letting the massive scale of a project overwhelm and intimidate you.
• Let your pricing filter your clients so that your rates automatically turn away bargain-hunters and attract premium customers who value quality.
• Maximize schedule and route density to eliminate wasted travel time, protect your profit margins, and reclaim your personal life.
• Master a single, scalable specialty that you genuinely enjoy rather than spreading yourself thin and wasting money as a jack of all trades.
• Discipline yourself to say no to the wrong opportunities so that you always have the time, space, and energy to say yes to the ideal ones.

📺 YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@AumanLandscape

🌐 All Links https://linktr.ee/AumanLandscape

📸 Instagram https://www.instagram.com/aumanlandscapellc/

👷 👷‍♂️ 👷‍♀️ The Hardsacpe Academy https://www.thehardscapeacademy.com/

👫 👩‍❤️‍👨 Together In The Trades https://www.togetherinthetrades.com/

📸 CompanyCam – Get 50% off for 2 months https://companycam.com/auman

💰 Cycle CPA – Save $200 https://cyclecpa.com Use code: AUMAN

🛠 LMN Software – Save on onboarding https://golmn.com Use code: AUMAN

🚜⚙️🛠️ Steelwrist https://linktr.ee/AumanLandscape

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🚜 Equip https://www.equipexposition.com/Use code: AUMAN

💰 John Pajakhttps://johnpajak.com

🧠 🎯 💡 FRWRD Coachinghttps://www.frwrdcoaching.com/

Stop Buying Trucks, Start Hiring Office Staff: The "Easy Hard" Choice for Contractors.

Caleb talks with Kevin Scott, the founder of Muskoka Landscapers and The Wealthy Landscaper. The conversation centers on the professional evolution required to scale a landscaping business past the $3 million revenue mark. Scott emphasizes that business growth is primarily driven by shifting leadership mindsets, transitioning from a hands-on operator to a visionary leader who prioritizes team development over micromanagement. He details how implementing standard systems and nurturing strategic partnerships allowed his company to manage high-end, large-scale projects more efficiently.

Key Takeaways:

• Flip your business priorities to focus on your team first, which will naturally drive better customer care and higher net profitability.
• Hire administrative or office support to take over routine tasks like invoicing and scheduling, freeing up your time to focus on high-level vision and client relationships.
• Transform your site visits into positive check-ins to build rapport with your crew, while saving critical, corrective feedback to deliver privately to your managers.
• Create standard operating procedures and use software templates so your team has clear targets, knows exactly what is expected, and can execute jobs without you.
• Get yourself into the right rooms by attending industry conferences, joining mastermind groups, and actively seeking mentors who have already successfully scaled past your current revenue ceiling.

📺 YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@AumanLandscape

🌐 All Links https://linktr.ee/AumanLandscape

📸 Instagram https://www.instagram.com/aumanlandscapellc/

👷 👷‍♂️ 👷‍♀️ The Hardsacpe Academy https://www.thehardscapeacademy.com/

👫 👩‍❤️‍👨 Together In The Trades https://www.togetherinthetrades.com/

📸 CompanyCam – Get 50% off for 2 months https://companycam.com/auman

💰 Cycle CPA – Save $200 https://cyclecpa.com Use code: AUMAN

🛠 LMN Software – Save on onboarding https://golmn.com Use code: AUMAN

🚜⚙️🛠️ Steelwrist https://linktr.ee/AumanLandscape

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🚜 Equip https://www.equipexposition.com/Use code: AUMAN

💰 John Pajakhttps://johnpajak.com

🧠 🎯 💡 FRWRD Coachinghttps://www.frwrdcoaching.com/

Challenging business owners to shift their mindset from running a daily job to building a valuable, sellable asset is covered in today's episode. Caleb and Brittney discuss the evolution of their landscaping and hardscaping business. They reflect on their twelve-year journey, highlighting how software automation and AI tools have streamlined operations and reduced their daily workloads. Much of the conversation focuses on the personal challenges of working with a spouse, specifically the struggle to feel valued as roles shift from manual labor to executive oversight.

Key Takeaways:

• Build your business with the ultimate goal of making it sellable, ensuring you are creating a valuable, independent asset rather than just working a stressful daily job.
• Stop letting stubbornness block your efficiency and immediately invest in the proper tools, software, or equipment that will save you from grueling, manual trial-and-error.
• Use AI and modern automation to offboard daily tasks, allowing you to step away from operational chaos and focus on higher-level strategy and relationships.
• Embrace constructive disagreement in your partnerships, understanding that if two business partners agree on absolutely everything, one of them is unnecessary.
• Anticipate that growth will not make your life easier, but will instead simply change the nature of the challenges and struggles you must face as you evolve.

📺 YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@AumanLandscape

🌐 All Links https://linktr.ee/AumanLandscape

📸 Instagram https://www.instagram.com/aumanlandscapellc/

👷 👷‍♂️ 👷‍♀️ The Hardsacpe Academy https://www.thehardscapeacademy.com/

👫 👩‍❤️‍👨 Together In The Trades https://www.togetherinthetrades.com/

📸 CompanyCam – Get 50% off for 2 months https://companycam.com/auman

💰 Cycle CPA – Save $200 https://cyclecpa.com Use code: AUMAN

🛠 LMN Software – Save on onboarding https://golmn.com Use code: AUMAN

🚜⚙️🛠️ Steelwrist https://linktr.ee/AumanLandscape

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🚜 Equip https://www.equipexposition.com/Use code: AUMAN

💰 John Pajakhttps://johnpajak.com

🧠 🎯 💡 FRWRD Coachinghttps://www.frwrdcoaching.com/

Cooper Leary is a Canadian entrepreneur who manages a multimillion-dollar enterprise encompassing landscape supply, construction, and snow removal companny. Based in Calgary, Leary shares his journey from starting the business during university to overseeing nearly 90 employees and generating $16 million in annual revenue. The discussion with Caleb highlights the transition from an owner-operator mindset to an enterprise-level leadership style, emphasizing the importance of systemization, data-driven decision-making, and high-level delegation. Leary attributes his success to being customer-obsessed, maintaining a growth mindset, and fostering a team culture defined by grit and lifelong learning.

Key Takeaways:

• Optimize your crew sizes by keeping teams to a lean three-person setup and using equipment to maintain high productivity.
• Delegate key responsibilities early to competent people so you can step away from daily tasks and focus on strategic growth.
• Have ongoing conversations about performance with your team members so that a final, difficult talk never comes as a surprise.
• Establish core guiding principles and rely on solid business data to make your largest, most impactful decisions.
• Prioritize weekly one-on-one meetings to genuinely show up for your employees and help them develop professionally.

📺 YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@AumanLandscape

🌐 All Links https://linktr.ee/AumanLandscape

📸 Instagram https://www.instagram.com/aumanlandscapellc/

👷 👷‍♂️ 👷‍♀️ The Hardsacpe Academy https://www.thehardscapeacademy.com/

👫 👩‍❤️‍👨 Together In The Trades https://www.togetherinthetrades.com/

📸 CompanyCam – Get 50% off for 2 months https://companycam.com/auman

💰 Cycle CPA – Save $200 https://cyclecpa.com Use code: AUMAN

🛠 LMN Software – Save on onboarding https://golmn.com Use code: AUMAN

🚜⚙️🛠️ Steelwrist https://linktr.ee/AumanLandscape

🛠 Leanscaperhttps://leanscaper.com/

🚜 Equip https://www.equipexposition.com/Use code: AUMAN

💰 John Pajakhttps://johnpajak.com

🧠 🎯 💡 FRWRD Coachinghttps://www.frwrdcoaching.com/

Adam Coupe, owner of a New York-based landscaping company discusses the operational philosophies of running a high-volume service business, including how his single crew manages 150 weekly mowing properties through route density. Coupe shares his preference for staying in the field rather than focusing on administrative tasks, emphasizing that owners should build a business structure that aligns with their personal happiness. The conversation also covers the importance of client screening, using specific equipment for finished property work, and maintaining a debt-free financial model. Additionally, Coupe reflects on the economic lessons learned during the 2008 recession and the value of professional CRM systems for growth.

Key Takeaways:

• Focus on accumulating small, consistent wins to build your overall success instead of constantly chasing high-stress, high-risk projects.
• Learn to comfortably say "no" to opportunities that do not align with your geographic boundaries or target audience to keep your daily schedule highly efficient.
• Build your career or business around the day-to-day work you actually enjoy rather than forcing yourself into administrative roles just to follow standard industry advice.
• Adopt a rainy-day financial mindset by actively saving for future replacement costs and avoiding debt so you can start every workday with a completely clear mind.
• Recognize that running an organization and managing people are two completely different jobs that require entirely separate skill sets and mindsets to master.

📺 YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@AumanLandscape

🌐 All Links https://linktr.ee/AumanLandscape

📸 Instagram https://www.instagram.com/aumanlandscapellc/

👷 👷‍♂️ 👷‍♀️ The Hardsacpe Academy https://www.thehardscapeacademy.com/

👫 👩‍❤️‍👨 Together In The Trades https://www.togetherinthetrades.com/

📸 CompanyCam – Get 50% off for 2 months https://companycam.com/auman

💰 Cycle CPA – Save $200 https://cyclecpa.com Use code: AUMAN

🛠 LMN Software – Save on onboarding https://golmn.com Use code: AUMAN

🚜⚙️🛠️ Steelwrist https://linktr.ee/AumanLandscape

🛠 Leanscaperhttps://leanscaper.com/

🚜 Equip https://www.equipexposition.com/Use code: AUMAN

💰 John Pajakhttps://johnpajak.com

🧠 🎯 💡 FRWRD Coachinghttps://www.frwrdcoaching.com/