From Franchise to Growth: Daryl Turner of Grounds Guys Boiling Springs

0:02Hi, and welcome to this week's episode of the Epic Entrepreneurs Podcast, where we are all about helping business owners just like you achieve success. So we don't do fancy smancy. We don't do flashing lights. We don't do a lot of things that a lot of podcasts will do. These are just real stories about real people and their entrepreneurial and business experiences. as we go into their wins, their challenges, and their learnings. So we hope you enjoy it. All right, welcome everyone to this week's episode of Epic Entrepreneurs. I am Cliff McRae with Action Coach Business Growth Partners, where we work with local business owners to turn big ideas into real scalable growth.

0:47Today, I'm excited to be joined by Daryl Turner, Grounds Guys of Boiling Springs, South Carolina. So Daryl, thanks for being here. How are you doing today? Doing pretty good. Yeah, doing great. All right, perfect. So let's go ahead and jump right in. So, yeah, for those of you who may not know it yet, who is Daryl Turner and what is Grounds Guys of Boiling Springs, South Carolina? I was born in the upstate here and we started. We're part of a franchise, 250 locations nationwide. nationwide. And I'm over this owner of this local location that covers pretty much all of Spartanburg County and a couple of zip codes of Greenville County.

1:33And what we try to do is give the best experience to our customers. And we like to say we're a one-stop shop. We can do everything from small jobs, big jobs, commercial, residential, whether it be regular lawn maintenance, hardscape, irrigation, pretty much anything yard related. Okay. Love it. Love it. So take us back to the very beginning. What made you say, you know, yep, I'm doing this. I'm starting this business. Well, I did a little bit of research in the beginning. I didn't know that I was going to go the ground guys route. And pretty much I'm probably sometimes an overthinker. um i just uh i knew kind of a couple of areas i wanted to go and uh what drove me to the grounds guys was the quality and the participation um not only with us you know you get our ethics and our quality and value but the corporate if there's something we get stuck on or need a little help on, they're always step right in and guide us with the right direction.

2:47And we're pretty much a family. If I get, say, if we're on a new job or we run into a problem we haven't encountered before, I reach out to one of our coaches at the grounds guys and they will tell us one of those 200 locations that may have encountered that same problem or did that, does that type thing on a real regular basis and they kind of walk us through it. So it's just like a big family. Okay, okay. So what exactly is it that your company does? We help customers beautify their homes, their yards, whether it be routine maintenance from the MoBlow Edge and Go, or if they need fresh sod, if they need an irrigation system installed, or if they have one that's got problems, we'll do the repairs.

3:47Fire pits, hardscape patios, pretty much everything yard related. Okay, okay. So let's just say hypothetically, if you had to start again from absolute scratch, you know, no brand, no clients, no franchise, Would you do anything differently the second time around running your business? She's sick. Could you repeat that one more time? No, I was asking. So, you know, and this is all hypothetical. If you had to start again from absolute scratch with no brand, no clients, no safety net, would you do anything differently the second time around running your business?

4:29That's kind of a tough question. Probably not, because, again, being with the franchise, they guide us in the right direction. As far as employees, we do background checks on them. We train them instead of just throwing them in the field. We just try to do it right. We try to give the customer the best experience, not only in quality, but experience from start to finish. And then on the employee side, same deal. We try to be the go-to place that the employees want to come work for with as little drama as possible. Okay. So what would you say is a lesson you learned the hard way as a business owner that no one really prepares you for?

5:21I guess the length of time it takes to get in the green. I mean, it takes a little bit more time to get into that profit or margin. Okay. So it's really just about getting it from being a loss to being green to coming out positively. That's kind of the biggest thing. So what's one common myth you would say people believe about running a business that makes you laugh now when you hear it? I've heard people think just because you've got a business that's running successfully, which I feel like we are, they just automatically think you're i guess rich think you're bringing home big money when that's not the case until maybe many years down the road yeah that's you're driving that lamborghini and you're you're doing great right taking vacations every week and right a lot of people don't realize the overhead involved you know they just think they just see the end what they're paying for a project or they don't encounter that, you know, you may only be making 15 or 20 percent of the money collected.

6:33So, you know, be honest. Are you naturally more of an entrepreneur or an employee at heart?

6:43A little bit of both. I would call myself an entrepreneur, but I will get in there, especially if we're backed up on a job or something, I will get hands on and help the guys, you know, get the work completed. Okay. So how do you personally handle stepping away from the business? Like, you know, taking a vacation? Uh, that's still a little, still a little tough. Um, we just train the guys. I kind of, I have the schedules ready for them, uh, for the whole week before we leave and I'm even on vacation I'm still on call I mean I've got my phone there I still have a meeting in the morning with them at start time by phone and I've only had them had to call a couple times so that's that's been good but if there's an emergency or a question they don't understand I'm usually you know I may not answer as soon as they call but I'll try to get back to them pretty quick.

7:44It just depends on if we're on the beach or what we're in the middle of when they call. Yeah, no, understood, understood. So how do you handle unplugging in the evening? Are you the kind of person, 6 p.m., you're done, go home for the day, and you're not thinking about work again, or are you working around the clock? How do you handle that? Still kind of working around the clock to a degree. If a customer calls in with a lead, a new fresh lead, what I'll usually try to do is respond to that lead and let them know that I got their message. And if it's urgent, I'll go ahead and call them. But if not, I'll call them the next morning.

8:28Okay. So if you get something at 8 p.m., you probably will wait until the next day to handle that. Correct. I'll usually let them know that I got the message just to keep the communication open unless it's just like an emergency. We'll touch base the next morning after that initial. Yeah, and I don't see there would be too many instances where it would be like an emergency where you have to drop everything and get out there, right? Correct. I mean, if it's an irrigation, a line busted and the water is just flowing, not stopping, but again, they could cut the water off, you know, Unless it's an older person that just don't know how to do that.

9:08Mm-hmm. Okay. So looking back, what do you attribute most to your growth in your business so far? Communication, really quality, listening to the customer. I think that's where a lot of people fail is not listening to the customer and staying fully communicative. If you're running behind on something, let the customer know. Don't just leave them hanging. When a customer calls for service or an estimate, you know, speed to lead, get back to them as quick as possible so they know that you're taking care of, you know, what they've called in about. Yeah. No, that's so important. You know, I don't know how many times I've worked in businesses and, you know, you don't hear anything and it's like, you know, you're chasing them down.

9:58And it's like, man, we have more ways nowadays, you know, in 2026, we have more ways to communicate than we ever have had. You know, you can shoot a simple text. I mean, you can email. You don't even have to call somebody anymore. And it's like we communicate less. We communicate less effectively, even though we have more ways to communicate. I guess that's what surprised me a lot is how many customers tell us that, you know, they've reached out and they either haven't heard anything back or heard something immediately. but then two weeks later, nothing. Yeah, yeah. It's very surprising how much that actually happened to me recently, but we'll get into that.

10:35But, you know, when you're building a team, you know, because I don't know if you have employees. We do. You do? Okay. How many employees do you have currently? Five in addition. Me and the wife does the office and the scheduling and a lot of the estimating, and then we've got five technicians. Okay, gotcha, gotcha. So let's say you're hiring for a technician, you know, you're building out your team. What traits matter more to you than what's on someone's resume?

11:07Reliability and communication. If somebody is going to show up and be willing to learn, I guess what's more frustrating is just someone not not being able to come to work on time. And sometimes if they're late, not even, you know, answering the phone, that's you can't if you can't depend on them, then the customers can't depend on us. Yeah, no, great. Great. So for those employees, what's one thing you do intentionally to keep your workplace positive, motivated and productive? Just reward them and give them praise. You know, if they do a good job, just tell them how good they're doing. and usually, you know, we put, sometimes we'll put a bonus in place if they show up on time and not out over a certain period of time.

11:59Okay. Okay. All right. So yeah, so I appreciate that. So we're going to head into what's called the quick fire round. So basically how this works is I'm going to, I'm going to give you one word and you just tell me the first idea or first thing that comes to your mind when you hear that word in regards to running your franchise business. Okay. Okay. First word is education. Training, constant training. Okay. And dig into that a little bit more in regards to running your business. What we do is, well, if we get an employee that already has experience, that's always good. Sometimes not the best because if they were trained wrong, then you're having to teach them the right way.

12:43but we as a company uh we will do some in-house training uh it can be hands-on but we do have some virtual training as well but as a on a corporate level uh they have trainings across the nation and usually once a year twice a year we'll pick one close it may be charlotte atlanta where i may take a couple of the guys um to do some hands-on training uh whether it be holiday lights, whether it be irrigation or artificial turf. But also, if it's something that, say, our guys are a little bit weak on, need a little advanced training, we could pick a location, say Greenville, and if they've got a job coming up, I may send them to help him to get some hands-on training there.

13:35Okay. Planning. Planning. We actually plan usually the week in advance or sometimes a month in advance, depending on the schedule. And we actually build a schedule. We have a CRM that builds the schedule for each day for weeks out. And it kind of basically, it's a two-part. I print the schedule out, and they get it on a sheet. but it also they have the app they run through in it they click in and out of each job as they go uh and when they leave each morning they know pretty much what's ahead of them for the day it gives them the directions how to get there and how long they should be on each job inspiration inspiration we always have a huddle every morning and basically we discussed yesterday We discuss today what's going on, and we give all the employees a chance to discuss anything personal in their life, whether it's a birthday, a childbirth, or an anniversary, anything that they're excited about.

14:48And then we also try to have at least quarterly cookouts or something to kind of keep it fun in the process, basically. Commitment. Commitment. Commitment is a two-part also. Commitment to the employees to give them a good work environment to make a living for their family and to help them grow. And a commitment on the customer side is a done right process, a done right promise. Commit to do the best quality and give them the best value for their money. Discipline. discipline is basically that falls back on the what we discussed earlier about showing up on time uh things come up you know if you've got to be out if you're sick you know communicate it um and and discipline is basically just staying steady and staying strong until you get the job done if there's anything safety wise you know communicate it we're never going to ask our guys to do anything unsafe, but it's up to them to let me know if they think there's a situation that's not safe.

16:02Risk. Risk. As far as doing the job, we don't want to take risks. You know, you know, don't want to do anything that's not safe. Sometimes there is a little risk in the business side of it as far as investment. I guess there was a risk when you started the franchise to a degree. But I'd like to say zero risk on anything that might be unsafe. Execution. Execution is just doing the job as expected and in a timely manner. Okay. All right. Perfect. Yeah. Appreciate that for the quickfire round. So for this next answer, I want you to be as honest and as candid as you possibly can. You know, let's say a small business owner was listening right now to the podcast episode today and feel stuck or overwhelmed.

16:59What's a piece of advice you'd give them if they hear you today? Just not to give up. I mean, sometimes it gets overwhelming, but you got to, you know, it's just like it's just like life. I mean, life's not easy. You know, you're going to get sick. You know, if you have a bad day in the business, it's just like being sick in your personal life. You just got to look and work your way through it and ask for help. I mean, if you're struggling with something, don't understand something, are ready to give up, you know, find a counterpart that can keep you accountable. Okay. Okay. And now for that same small business owner, you know, maybe they're looking to grow their business.

17:39Any wise words of advice you'd give them today? day? Huh? Probably, um, if it's a small business, um, probably get, uh, probably a coach, maybe like a business coach, somebody that could help them find the right directions they need to go and, and, and help them put the things in the right place. Okay. Do you, you currently have a business coach uh the franchise does offer um we we do have a dedicated coach um and then we have i mean and that's one thing i really liked and i found out in the research uh we have equipment coach when it's time to buy new equipment they tell us hey you know wait or yes it's about time uh we have a marketing coach that tells us kind of and some of that's advice they can't tell us yes you got to do this but it's still they they put a lot of time and effort in it knowing what works and what don't work so it's best to listen for the most part of it but they and i guess there's a couple locations in the past that have failed their locations have failed and that was the key thing when i would say well what was their problem they didn't they constantly didn't listen to their coach.

19:07Yeah. No, I mean, it's perfectly true. I mean, they can give you the advice, but you have to follow it and do the homework. I mean, otherwise there's no point, really. So, yeah, so what's next for Grounds Guys of Boiling Springs, South Carolina? What should people be excited about? What's coming up next for the company in your future? We're wanting to constantly expand to a degree. We want to grow every... Well, so far we have. This is our starting of our fourth season and the first three seasons we expanded a crew each season uh this year we haven't expanded another crew but we're spreading out in a couple different uh avenues with a little more advanced jobs if those take off like expected we may still expand before the year's out um we don't want to expand too fast we want to do it at a at a pace that we keep the quality up, but we do want to constantly grow and be the go-to company in the Spartanburg County.

20:11Yeah. So are you all currently hiring as of this moment? We are. I actually have two interviews tomorrow. Perfect. Perfect. So just in case you don't find somebody and this episode comes out and you're still looking for somebody, what are you looking for? I guess you could put it out there. We want someone that's willing to stay and grow in the company. We're not going to – if somebody comes up and says, hey, I'm going to college next year, I just want a seasonal job. I mean, if they're a fit, it's still a possibility. But ultimately, we want to build that core group of people that want to stay and grow.

20:50Because with us being a young company, as we grow, when we get another crew, we're probably going to have a project manager or a salesperson. So there will be other positions that open up that give them room for advancement. So as long as they're reliable, willing to learn, pretty much, I like to say to a degree, the sky's the limit. Okay, perfect. And finally, what's the best way for someone to connect with you or learn more about what you do? uh they can go to our corporate website at groundsguys.com um and it basically that's going to get them to the hub that you know they would have to put in our zip code or their current zip code and it would kind of get them to us um or they can always call if they're curious about either a job or uh work being done perfect what's that uh what's that number uh i like to give out My cell number, it's 864-4315-111.

21:55That way they can bypass, you know, just get straight to me and I'll be happy to answer any questions. All right. Perfect. Perfect. Yeah. Thank you so much. Yeah. It's been a fantastic gift. Thank you for sharing your story, your perspective, and the real behind the scenes of building your business. We really appreciate you coming on the podcast episode today. All right. You're very welcome. Yeah. Thank you. Hey, thanks for listening to the Epic Entrepreneurs podcast. Here's three things that you can do. Number one, remember to subscribe to the podcast. It takes very little effort on your part.

22:30It's going to help you and your fellow entrepreneurs. Plus, you guys know how it works. The more subscribers we get, the more cool things we can offer to you. Second, to learn more about growing your business, just download my book, The Coach Approach. it's free for you at gift from bill.com that's gift from bill.com hey and if you'd like more info about growing your business and what we can do to help you grow your business send me an email directly just send it to williamgilliland at actioncoach.com that's my personal email that i read no one else reads it first there's it's not screened it's my real email Just send it to me.

23:19I can't wait to talk to you. Hey, and until then, all the best.