PODCAST · business
How to Hardscape
by Michael Pletz
A podcast dedicated to helping hardscapers start and grow their business. If you are a hardscaper, landscaper, or a contractor of any sort, this podcast is going to help you professionally. Landscaping companies and contractors alike will benefit from discussions with leading experts in the industry talking installation, tools, products, marketing, business, and so much more to help you grow your business.Whether you are a lawn care specialist, a contractor looking to add new services to grow your bottom line, or already active in the industry, there are topics covered that will help you.
Episodes
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Building Your Business to Sell with John Warrillow
Today we are joined by John Warrillow. He founded the Value Builder System where they believe owners deserve a fair shot when it comes time to sell their business by helping them realize the value of what they have built and giving them the tools they need to exit on their terms. He is also the...
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Lessons Learned After 25 Years in Business with Chris of The Great Canadian Landscaping Company
Today we are joined by Chris O'Donohue from The Great Canadian Landscaping Company to discuss what he has learned after 25 years in business through the ups and downs and the importance of networking with peers in the industry. Sponsors:...
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Future Outlook of Home Services Businesses with Greg Crabtree
Today we are joined by Greg Crabtree, he is the author of Simple Numbers and Simple Numbers 2.0. We talk about the current market and future outlook for home service businesses. Sponsors: Cycle...
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Round 2 with Mike Arnold of Creekside Outdoor Living
Today we are joined by Mike Arnold of Creekside Outdoor Living. After interviewing him on the podcast back in 2020, we have him back on the show to discuss his company structure, divisions, and much more. Sponsors: Cycle...
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Road Safety Masterclass
Today we have a Road Safety Masterclass discussing the safety of trailers and hauling as a hardscape contractor. Sponsors: Cycle...
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KPIs, Chart of Accounts, and Risk GREATEST HITS with Cycle CPA
Today we are joined by Cycle CPA for a Greatest Hits of their past episodes discussing Key Performance Indicators, Chart of Accounts, and Risk. Sponsors: Cycle...
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Geotextiles and Geogrids Masterclass
Today we have a Geotextiles and Geogrids Masterclass discussing the technical aspects, applications, and features of woven and non-woven geotextiles and uniaxial, biaxial, and triaxial geogrids. Sponsors: Cycle...
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Applications of A.I. in a Landscaping Business with Jeremy Gunness of KTC
Today we are joined by Jeremy Gunness of Knowledge Tree Consulting to discuss the different applications of A.I. in a landscaping business. Sponsors: Cycle...
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Selling Your Landscaping Business
Today we compile guests that have talked about selling their landscaping businesses to see commonalities, differences, project-based vs recurring, and what life is like after selling their business. Sponsors: Cycle...
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Profit First Featuring Mike Michalowicz and Shawn Van Dyke
Today we have authors Mike Michalowicz and Shawn Van Dyke talking about Profit First as a methodology for contractors among other topics. Sponsors: Cycle...
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Where Budgeting Can Fail You: Cost-Based vs Market Pricing
Today I talk about where budgeting can fail your pricing with Cost-Based vs Market Pricing. Sponsors: Cycle...
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The I Am a Hardscaper Story
Today I talk about my story from starting in the industry working for a supplier in 2007 to doing projects on the side to eventually starting Ever After Landscaping, How to Hardscape, and I Am a Hardscaper. Sponsors: Cycle...
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5 Years of Horror Stories
Today we round up the best of 5 years worth of hardscape business owner horror stories from not getting paid, to getting sued, to losing everything in a shop fire. This episode features all of that and much more. Sponsors: Cycle...
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Repeat Business Through Small Projects
Today we talk about repeat business by taking on small projects and increasing the quantity of clients you take on which can snowball word of mouth leads, repeat business, and your brand. Sponsors: Cycle...
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When Employees Ask for Raises with George Urvari of KTC
Today we are joined by George Urvari of Oriole Landscaping and Knowledge Tree Consulting to talk about giving raises to employees, when to do it, and how to handle certain circumstances when employees ask for raises. Sponsors: Cycle...
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One Thing You Know Now Mashup Episode
Today we have a mashup episode from past guests answering a question we ask every business owner that has been on the podcast. That question is, what is one thing you know now that you wish you knew from the very beginning? This can be personal or business related, so the answers vary from our…
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Selling and Installing Features Masterclass (Lighting, Fire, Water, Radiant Heating, and Artificial Turf)
Today we have a Selling and Installing Features Masterclass rounding up 5 past episodes on Lighting, Gas Fire Features, Water Features, Radiant Snow Melt Systems, and Artificial Turf. We talk about selling, installing, maintenance, and more in these episodes. Sponsors:...
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My ENTIRE Sales Process
Today we talk about my entire sales process from getting leads, to prequalifying, to educating, to the consultation, to the proposal, to accepting and completing the project. Sponsors: Cycle...
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Finding, Hiring, and Keeping Great Employees with Tony Bass
Today we are joined by Tony Bass. He is the author of The E-Myth Landscape Contractor Edition and Finding, Hiring, and Keeping Great Employees. We get into the topic of finding, hiring, and keeping great employees on today's episode. Sponsors:...
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Exiting a $10M/Year Landscaping Business and Starting GreenPal with Bryan Clayton
Today we are joined by Bryan Clayton of GreenPal. Brian grew his landscaping business to over $10 million per year in revenue before selling it and eventually starting GreenPal, an Uber for lawn care. We talk about the build up and sale of his landscaping business and starting GreenPal. Sponsors:...
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5 Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace with Dr. Paul White
Today we are joined by Dr. Paul White. He is a psychologist, author, and speaker who "makes work relationships work." He co-authored the best-selling book, The 5 Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace alongside Dr. Gary Chapman. We talk about appreciation in the workplace and how these...
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Employee Bonus Programs
Today we publish an Employee Bonus Program talk with 7 past guests talking about what they do (or do not do) for their employees and how they have refined this program over the years. Sponsors: Cycle...
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Landscape Design Masterclass
Today we publish a Landscape Design Masterclass episode with 3 past guests including Water and Earth, Calumma Creative, and Randy Tumber. We get into starting a design business, subcontracting, and design principles with each guest. Sponsors:...
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Instagram LIVE: Season Progress, Leads, and HQ Updates
Today we were live on Instagram discussing how the season has started, projects we are targeting, leads coming in, and HQ updates including a much-improved Budgeting system. Sponsors: Cycle...
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Your Second in Command with Cameron Herold, Past COO of 1-800-GOT-JUNK?
Today we are joined by Cameron Herold. He is the CEO Whisperer founder of COO Alliance and the Second in Command Podcast. By the age of 42, he helped build two companies valued at $100+ million each and propelled 1-800-GOT-JUNK from $2 to $106 million in revenue and expanded its workforce to…
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Growth Challenges with Tyler Speirs of Eco Plant Creations
Today we are joined by Tyler Speirs of Eco Plant Creations to talk about challenges in growth among many other topics. Sponsors: Cycle...
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Building Trust with Bridge Media
Today we have Olivier Bridgeman from Bridge Media to discuss marketing, SEO and ranking on LLMs, and building trust and authority with your potential clients. Sponsors: Cycle...
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Bahler Brothers to Pave Tool with Phil Bahler
Today we are joined by Phil Bahler of Pave Tool. We talk about his beginnings in the industry starting Bahler Brothers with his brothers back in 1985 and lessons learned being in business. We then get into inventing tools for the industry and starting Pave Tool. Sponsors:...
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Lagging and Leading Indicators with Cycle CPA
Today we are joined by Joe Policastro of Cycle CPA to talk about lagging and leading indicators as well as financial and non-financial indicators that you can use to run a healthy business. Check out their article here. Sponsors: Cycle...
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HR Masterclass
Today we publish an HR Masterclass episode with 3 past guests including Tricia, Jason Taylor, and Jacki Hart. They discuss training and onboarding employees, behavioral reports and how you can us this in your business, and structure of a landscaping company. Sponsors:...
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Sales Masterclass
Today we publish a Sales Masterclass episode with 4 past guests including Sam Bauman, Shawn Van Dyke, Tom Reber, and Chris Lux. We get into presentation of designs, selling value not price, the client's budget, and an entire sales process dissection. Sponsors:...
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Budgeting and Overhead Recovery Workshop
Today we publish our Budgeting and Overhead Recovery Workshop that we did talking about budgeting for Cost of Goods Sold, Overhead, creating a Profit and Loss, Direct Labor and Management Labor Efficiency Ratio, and choosing an Overhead Recovery Method for your business. If you are interested in...
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Role Specialization and Meetings with George Urvari of KTC
Today we are joined by George Urvari of Oriole Landscaping and Knowledge Tree Consulting to role specialization for employees and meetings to improve communication in your business. Sponsors: Cycle...
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Qualifying Clients and the First Consultation with Marty Grunder
Today we have two past interviews with Marty Grunder on the podcast to discuss qualifying clients and the first consultation. He is the founder and CEO of GLC, founder and president of Grow Group, and host of The Grow Show. Sponsors: Cycle...
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Lessons Learned Navigating a Difficult Market with 6 Pasts Guests
Today we have clips from 6 past guests talk about how they were able to navigate a difficult market or recession from their time in business. Guests include: Jody Grunden, Stanley Genadek, George and Peter of Oriole Landscaping, Phil of PJE Lawn and Landscaping, Sam Bauman of Earthscapes, and…
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Employee Commits Fraud and Burns Shop Down with Jason Lee of SkyFrog Landscape
Today we talk with Jason Lee of SkyFrog Landscape and co-host of the Green Side Up Podcast. We talk about his experience working with other companies, starting his own company, how he overcame an employee committing fraud and burning down his shop. Check out The Landscape Rodeo. Sponsors:...
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7 Office Tasks to do BEFORE Spring Rush
Today we talk about 7 things you can work on in the office for your landscaping business before the spring rush. These include: adding search engine optimized pages to your website, sending out emails to past potential clients, getting Google Reviews, auditing your sales process, getting your...
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Using dLER and mLER to Create a Salary Cap for Your Team
Today we talk about creating a Budget in your business, choosing an Overhead Recovery Method to markup Cost of Goods Sold to recover overhead in every estimate, finding your rates for employees and equipment based on an Overhead Recovery Method and how they differ, and using Direct Labor…
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Video Calls Save Drive Time with Call Nelson Landscaping
Today we talk with Nelson of Call Nelson Landscaping. He talks about working for others to starting his own business, using Zoom to video call clients in the qualification to design process, and how others have helped throughout his time in business. Sponsors:...
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Forecasting Revenue and Overhead with Cycle CPA
Today we are joined by Carla and Joe Policastro of Cycle CPA to talk about forecasting revenue and overhead from their 2-day virtual event that they held. Sponsors: Cycle...
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LIVE Interviews with 9 Guests at LO Congress
Today we have 9 guests on the show LIVE at LO Congress Trade Show. We get into topics like products that stood out at the show, struggles from last year, improvements in their business for this year, and marketing. Sponsors: Cycle...
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The Chart of Accounts Every Landscaping Business Needs with George Urvari of KTC
Today we are joined by George Urvari of Oriole Landscaping and Knowledge Tree Consulting to discuss the Chart of Accounts every landscaping business needs and how to read it. We get into why it is important and what it will tell you when comparing year-over-year. Sponsors:...
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2025 End of Year Episode
Today we talk about the end of 2025, what I will be working on in my business for 2026, and a look back on our past year of amazing guests and topics! Sponsors: Cycle...
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Lessons from 35+ Years in Business with Neil Pond of Urban Landscaping
Today we talk with Neil Pond who is the President, Owner, and Founder of Urban Landscaping. With more than 35 years in business, Neil has a lot of experience to share with us. We talk about getting a college degree in Horticulture and how that helped, starting his business just before a recession...
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Fine Tuning Your Marketing Strategy with Rob Murray
Today we have Rob Murray from Intrigue Media on the show to discuss marketing topics including websites, email, A.I., and leadership. Sponsors: Cycle...
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Planning for 2026 with KTC, UBL Group, and Quiet Nature
Today we interview 4 guests during the Knowledge Tree Consulting event to discuss a variety of topics including budgeting, production rates, diversifying services, sales, coaching employees, and how the past year has been along with what you are looking forward to in 2026. Sponsors:...
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Building a Sales Team with Marty Grunder
Today we have Marty Grunder on the podcast to discuss building a sales team. He is the founder and CEO of GLC, founder and president of Grow Group, and host of The Grow Show. We talk about hiring sales people, budgeting for sales, roles and responsibilities, and much more. Sponsors:...
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End of Year and Client Sales Process
Today we have an Instagram Live where we talked about end of the year and our client sales process. Sponsors: Cycle...
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Estimating, Managing, and Being Competitive in Commercial Landscaping with Hamilton's Group
Today we talk with Jack Hamilton of Hamilton's Group about commercial landscaping. We get into identifying projects your company can be most competitive at, the workflow of bidding on commercial work, and what commonalities companies have that lead them to be more efficient and profitable....
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Solving THESE Problems with the Headquarters Software
Today we talk about the problems that we focused on solving when developing and continuing to develop the How to Hardscape Headquarters Software! How to Hardscape Headquarters
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
A podcast dedicated to helping hardscapers start and grow their business. If you are a hardscaper, landscaper, or a contractor of any sort, this podcast is going to help you professionally. Landscaping companies and contractors alike will benefit from discussions with leading experts in the industry talking installation, tools, products, marketing, business, and so much more to help you grow your business.Whether you are a lawn care specialist, a contractor looking to add new services to grow your bottom line, or already active in the industry, there are topics covered that will help you.
HOSTED BY
Michael Pletz
CATEGORIES
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does How to Hardscape have?
How to Hardscape currently has 386 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is How to Hardscape about?
A podcast dedicated to helping hardscapers start and grow their business. If you are a hardscaper, landscaper, or a contractor of any sort, this podcast is going to help you professionally. Landscaping companies and contractors alike will benefit from discussions with leading experts in the...
How often does How to Hardscape release new episodes?
How to Hardscape publishes regularly with 386 episodes available. Check the episode list for the typical release schedule.
Where can I listen to How to Hardscape?
You can listen to How to Hardscape on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts How to Hardscape?
How to Hardscape is created and hosted by Michael Pletz.
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