Today we’d like to introduce you to Sam Gustin.
Hi Sam, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
After serving six years in the United States Army (Active Duty) as a Staff Sergeant, my wife and I had an opportunity to move to Round Rock, TX for her job as a Physician Assistant. At that time, I decided to pursue a career in sales here in Austin, TX while mowing a few of my neighbor’s lawns in the early morning for some extra cash. Fast forward six months, my wife and I were planted in an amazing church, I gave my life to Christ and God’s blessings in my life began immediately.
A few days after I was baptized on Easter Sunday, 2021, a lady came up to me and told me (as vaguely as possibly) that she believed God was placing it on her heart to tell me to quit my job in sales and place my faith in God and pursue lawn care full time. After a few sleepless nights and prayer, I did just that. In April 2021, with my tiny 21″ push mower, a battery-powered string trimmer, and a broom in place of a leaf blower – I packed all of this into my wife’s 2011 Ford Focus trunk and hit the streets in pursuit of customers. Keep in mind that I quit my salary + commission sales job in exchange for what was basically $600/month in revenue from the few lawns I was already mowing.
In order to grow my company, I went to the internet to learn how to create a website and a Google Business Profile and continued learning how to optimize it so that Google’s algorithms would work hard for me on the back end to generate leads. I then used my sales know-how and started going door-to-door and passing out flyers. I began to pick up some traction, gaining customers, increasing in revenue, and re-investing my profits into upgrading my equipment. Within a few short months, I no longer was using my wife’s Ford Focus – I now bought a Toyota Tacoma, a cheap trailer, and finally a leaf blower! Throughout the remainder of 2021, I worked relentlessly to grow the business and create systems to propel future growth. By the end of 2021, I was servicing 100+ residential customers.
Heading into 2022, I knew that I wasn’t going to be able to grow this company alone and realized that I needed to rely on the strengths of others. By the grace of God, my sister and her husband moved to Hutto in December 2021 and I begged my brother-in-law, Dylan, to take some equity in the company and help my grow this into the best local lawn care company. Dylan is the kind of guy that everyone loves being around, he would give the shirt off his back to someone in need, he is such a hard worker, and he lightens up whatever room he walks into. With that being said, he is the PERFECT person to grow a business with and he is a critical component of the culture we are building here at Troops Mowing.
With the help of Dylan and the two amazing employees we have (Davey Buckets and Eddie 2-Cycle), we are currently servicing 240 residential customers, four commercial accounts and are continuing to grow each and every day.
While my story isn’t finished, I believe that my story is a perfect example of a verse in James 2. In summary, it mentions that faith without good works is dead.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
While there certainly has been some rough times, in the grand scheme of things, the road to where we are today has been a seamless process. I credit the seamless process to the culture we are building as a company. We take every opportunity presented to us at face value and learn throughout the journey.
For example, in the few situations where we have let our customers down, we first immediately correct whatever deficiencies there were and then we sit down and collectively talk about how we can learn from this situation. I am a firm believer that one-time mistakes are gold nuggets in business. They allow you to learn from them and become better collectively allowing growth.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
MISSION STATEMENT
Offering simple lawn care services while exceeding customer expectations.
VISION STATEMENT
Becoming the best lawn care provider by perfecting simple services and exceeding customer expectations in all facets.
We focus on mastering simple. This doesn’t necessarily mean that what we do is easy, this means that within the services we provide, we make the fulfillment aspect as simple as possible. This allows us to train employees in a matter that allows them to become profitably quickly.
I am most proud of our employees and their attitudes. In this labor market, it is not easy to find hard-working people who show up to work on time and with a good attitude. We take care of our employees, pay them according to the amount of revenue they bring into the company instead of strictly hourly, and we take them out to company-paid functions. We breathe life into our employees and in turn, they have turned into what feels like family.
I believe that the level of professionalism and customer service we provide is what sets us apart from others in our industry. We place an emphasis on communication, trust and transparency with our customers which yields dividends.
How do you think about happiness?
I love music! Playing the guitar and singing has always been a passion and a hobby of mine and it is my happy place. I currently serve on the worship team for my church (Celebration Church – Georgetown) and being able to use the talent that God has gifted me with to ultimately honor him brings me joy in life.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.troopsmowing.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/troopsmowingllc
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/troopsmowing
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/troops-mowing-veteran-owned-hutto-2
