The Lawn Care CEO

Dan Ralphs and Aaron Suttenfield
  • 4.7 (20)
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Weekly

We believe that every college drop out, accidental entrepreneur and lawn mowing maven can become a wildly successful CEO.   Every week we will discuss how to increase profitability while simultaneously spending less time and having fewer headaches.  Join 7-figure business coach, Dan Ralphs and life long lawn care CEO, Aaron Suttenfield to chart your course to becoming a $1M lawn care CEO. 

  1. Oct 30

    The Lies Lawn Care Owners Tell Themselves

    Send us Fan Mail You’re not stuck because of the market. You’re not stuck because of your employees. You’re not stuck because you can’t find good help or afford marketing. You’re stuck because of what you believe. In this episode, Dan Ralphs calls out the seven lies lawn care owners tell themselves — the subconscious beliefs that feel like truth but quietly kill growth, drain cash, and keep businesses flatlined for years. If even one of these lands, this episode is for you. The 7 lies: Selling more will solve my money problemsMy clients won’t pay moreI’m making great money on that jobI can’t find good helpI don’t have time or money to fix my problemsI have to spend a lot to get a lot of clientsThe bottleneck isn’t me🔗 Follow Us! Facebook Instagram Tiktok Youtube

  2. Oct 16

    The Rhythms That Build Million-Dollar Companies

    Send us Fan Mail At the end of a three-day leadership conference, after hours of talk on finance, hiring, culture, and strategy, the CEO stood up and said: “If you only take two things home — install the vision. And follow the rhythm.” Most people get the vision part. Almost nobody gets the rhythm part. In this episode, Dan Ralphs breaks down the exact rhythms — annual, quarterly, monthly, weekly, and daily — that separate lawn care businesses that actually grow from the ones that stay busy but never get anywhere. This is the off-season episode. And it’s the work that builds million-dollar companies. You’ll learn: The two-day annual planning meeting every business needs — and why two days isn’t as crazy as it soundsWhat quarterly planning does for your brain every 90 days and why skipping it costs you focusThe exact weekly leadership meeting agenda that works whether you have a team or you’re flying soloThe daily 4D filter — delete, delegate, defer, do — and how to use it to end every day clearWhy consistency beats quality every single time in business and in lifeHow to habit-stack your planning so it actually happens instead of getting crowded outWhy the off-season is where businesses get built — and how to use it🔗 Follow Us! Facebook Instagram Tiktok Youtube

  3. Sep 25

    From Solo Operator to $10M — The Roadmap

    Send us Fan Mail 80% of lawn care businesses never break $200,000. Only 5% ever make it past $800,000. And most of the ones who get stuck aren't there because of their market, their equipment, or their competition. They're stuck because they're solving the wrong problems for the stage they're in — or trying to skip ahead to solutions their business isn't ready for. In this episode, Dan Ralphs and Sam Gustin break down the six stages of lawn care business growth — what each stage looks like, what the biggest challenge is at each level, and exactly what you should be focused on right now to move forward. You'll learn: The six stages of lawn care business growth and the revenue ranges for eachWhy stage two is the hardest — and what makes owners quit and go back to soloThe sell and sweat mindset that gets you through stage one fasterWhy pricing wrong in stage two costs you years of growthThe foundational stage that determines whether your business scales or stallsWhat the family break-even number is and why it matters more than revenueWhy getting a coach in stage three pays for itself in avoided bad decisions🔗 Follow Us! Facebook Instagram Tiktok Youtube

  4. Sep 18

    Program Planning to Grow 2027 Profits by Thousands

    Send us Fan Mail Most lawn care owners order chemicals when they need them, build programs on the fly, and wonder why they're always scrambling. The ones building $1 million, $2 million, $3 million fertilization and weed control companies don't do that. They plan in October. In this episode, Dan Ralphs sits down with the CEO of Lawn Care CEO to break down exactly how to build a fertilization and weed control program for 2027 — from the three building blocks of every great program, to the early order period that lets you collect money before you ever pay a bill, to the pricing range that works in virtually every market across the country. Get this right and it's worth $20,000, $30,000, even $40,000 to your business next year. Get it wrong and it costs you the inverse. You'll learn: The three building blocks of every profitable fert and weed control programWhy you should spend your budget on weed control before fertilizer — and what happens when you don'tThe $1.75 to $2.40 per thousand rule that applies in almost every marketHow the early order period works — and how to use it to collect money before you pay the billWhy your program should be designed around your employees' schedule, not just agronomyHow to build on-ramps for new clients during peak selling season without disrupting existing routesThe October 1st deadline you need to hit to be ready for 2027🔗 Follow Us! Facebook Instagram Tiktok Youtube

  5. Sep 4

    Does Your Team Know What Winning Looks Like?

    Send us Fan Mail Dan walked into a $5 million lawn care company and asked every leader the same question. "What is winning for you?" Most of them couldn't answer it. They knew their tasks. They knew their responsibilities. But they couldn't define the scoreboard — the clear, unambiguous standard that would tell them at the end of the week whether they won or lost. In this episode, Dan Ralphs draws from the playbooks of the greatest coaches in college football, college basketball, and the NBA to teach the one leadership skill most lawn care executives are missing — the ability to define winning, identify what leads to winning, and hold a team to a standard that actually produces results. This is the executive leadership episode. And it changes the way you run your business. You'll learn: Why most leaders confuse activity with winning — and how to tell the differenceHow the best coaches in sports history set standards that create winning culturesThe three-metric system that predicts 80% of game outcomes — and your lawn care equivalentWhy culture and performance are equally important to winning — and how to build bothHow to define winning at every level of your organization from CEO to ops managerWhy your best people quit — and how a clear standard of winning prevents itHow to set a standard ambitious enough to grow toward but realistic enough to execute today🔗 Follow Us! Facebook Instagram Tiktok Youtube

  6. Aug 21

    Why Small Lawn Care Companies Stay Small — The Brutal Pricing Truth Nobody Wants to Hear

    Send us Fan Mail A garage door repairman showed up, fixed the spring, and charged $250. Dan Ralphs paid him — and then told him he should have charged double. Not because Dan wanted to pay more. Because the repairman had no idea how much his customer was actually willing to pay. His ceiling was $1,200. The repairman charged $250 and went home working 60-hour weeks, driving an old truck, and barely keeping the lights on — convinced the other guys were ripping people off. They weren't. He was just undercharging. In this episode, Dan Ralphs teaches the fundamental pricing framework that every lawn care owner needs to understand — not just to stop losing money, but to finally build a business that can grow, scale, and survive the hard seasons. This is the episode that explains why you're probably underpriced right now, how to calculate exactly what one hour of your labor actually costs, and why the 40/40/20 rule is the only pricing model that leads to a profitable, scalable lawn care business. You'll learn: The only three numbers you need to calculate your true cost per budgeted hourWhat the fully burdened labor rate is and why ignoring it is quietly killing your marginWhy labor efficiency is the missing variable in almost every lawn care pricing modelThe 40/40/20 rule — and why it's the line in the sand every owner needs to drawHow one company doubled their rates, sent the letter, and kept 93% of their clientsWhy charging more doesn't mean ripping people off — and why charging too little does more damage than you thinkThe doom loop that starts when you lose money for one month — and how to break out of it before it's too late🔗 Follow Us! Facebook Instagram Tiktok Youtube

  7. Aug 14

    Why Your Marketing Isn't Working — And It Has Nothing to Do With Facebook, Google, or Your Budget

    Send us Fan Mail You don't have a marketing problem. You have a conversion problem. And until you fix it, every dollar you spend on ads is half as effective as it should be. In this episode, Dan Ralphs introduces Jordan Richards — Lawn Care CEO's newest coach and founder of a seven-figure lawn care marketing agency — who breaks down exactly what's standing between your marketing budget and real results. From the four-question website test to response automation to the free strategies that build momentum before paid ads, Jordan gives you the clearest marketing blueprint available for lawn care owners at every stage of growth. If you're ready to stop guessing and start knowing whether your marketing is actually working — this is the episode. 🔗 Follow Us! Facebook Instagram Tiktok Youtube

  8. Jul 31

    His Employees Held a Secret Saturday Meeting

    Send us Fan Mail Four employees showed up to a restaurant on a Saturday night — on their own time, without being asked, without getting paid. They identified a problem with underperforming team members, debated solutions over lunch, built a system, and walked into the office Monday morning to present it to the ops manager. Dylan Warner didn't even know there was a problem. That's Troops Mowing. And in this episode, Dylan sits down with Dan Ralphs to break down exactly how a company that started with two guys in a truck and $90,000 in revenue has grown to $1.8 million — with a culture so strong that customers ask if there are job openings, employees turn down $500 to quit, and the crew self-corrects before leadership even notices something's off. If you've ever felt like managing your mowing crew is the hardest part of the business — this episode is the one that changes that. You'll learn: The exact onboarding system that gets new hires to full budgeted hours in two weeks instead of fourHow performance-based pay creates internal competition that raises everyone's standard without a single angry conversationThe contribution score system that publicly ranks employees every week — and why it builds culture instead of breaking itWhy leading from the front is the most underrated culture tool in the lawn care industryHow to be the boss and the friend — and why being clear about the difference is what makes both workThe hiring philosophy that turned Troops into a company people beg to work forWhy the employee who runs back to help another crew at the end of the day is the real proof that culture works🔗 Follow Us! Facebook Instagram Tiktok Youtube

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4.7
out of 5
20 Ratings

About

We believe that every college drop out, accidental entrepreneur and lawn mowing maven can become a wildly successful CEO.   Every week we will discuss how to increase profitability while simultaneously spending less time and having fewer headaches.  Join 7-figure business coach, Dan Ralphs and life long lawn care CEO, Aaron Suttenfield to chart your course to becoming a $1M lawn care CEO. 

Information

  • Creator
    Dan Ralphs and Aaron Suttenfield
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2026
  • Episodes
    64
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 The Lawn Care CEO
  • Show Website
    The Lawn Care CEO

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