This Father-Son Duo Built a $103 Million Business From a Single Location: ‘It’s Been Quite a Run.’

Terry Kurth, 77, says that choosing the correct life partner is the astir important determination an individual tin make — and he knows the truth of this connection firsthand. Nearly 50 years ago, his woman was successful labor. She was successful the infirmary lying connected her broadside pinch terrible backmost symptom because their daughter, Amanda, was turned 180 degrees successful the womb.

Terry was location for his woman — but he besides didn’t extremity working. 

“I had 1 manus connected the mini of her backmost to relieve symptom and the different connected the telephone calling prospects to waste section care,” Terry tells Entrepreneur successful a caller interview. “She didn’t kick because she knew we were astir to person different rima to feed, and nonaccomplishment wasn’t an option.”

Terry entered the Weed Man strategy successful 2000 aft exiting his ain lawn attraction ventures and searching for his adjacent chapter. He quickly saw an opportunity to grow the Canadian marque successful the U.S. and founded Epic3, which would go Weed Man’s largest multi-unit ownership group. Starting pinch a azygous territory successful Madison, Wisconsin, Terry steadily scaled the cognition into a nationwide footprint.

Andy Kurth’s introduction into the business was far little strategic. As Terry’s son, he joined while successful assemblage simply to gain other cash, moving successful income and arsenic a section attraction technician. But what began arsenic a temporary gig evolved into a long-term career. Over time, Andy took connected expanding responsibility, yet rising to go president and CEO of Epic3 and starring the continued description of the business his begetter helped build.

The pursuing question and reply pinch Terry and Andy has been lightly edited for clarity and concision.

Terry (left) and Andy Kurth. Credit: Weed Man

Early days

How did you extremity up successful section attraction and franchising?
Terry: I was going to beryllium an engineer and went to the University of Wisconsin, graduating successful 1975. While I was there, I started working astatine a play course and fell successful emotion pinch being extracurricular and moving pinch turf.

I ended up getting a grade successful agronomy, which is fundamentally works science, and became a play people superintendent correct retired of college. Later, I went to activity for the Scotts Company successful its master turf section and traveled astir the state giving acquisition seminars to play people superintendents, scenery contractors and early section attraction operators.

Eventually, I came into interaction pinch a institution called Barefoot Grass, became 1 of its first franchisees successful 1978, built that up and yet sold erstwhile Barefoot Grass was acquired by TruGreen. It ended well, and I recovered myself gainfully unemployed successful my mid‑40s pinch the proceeds from that sale.

What did you do aft exiting Barefoot Grass?
Terry: After Barefoot Grass was sold and I completed that chapter, I became past president of what was past the Professional Lawn Care Association of America (PLCAA), which gave maine a beardown web of operators crossed the country. Weed Man is headquartered successful Toronto, and done that network, I sewage to cognize their leadership. They flew maine up; I met the franchisor and a Canadian franchisee who had acquired the maestro authorities to the United States, and together we came up pinch the thought of creating location sub‑franchisors. My region included Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, North Dakota and South Dakota. I sold franchises there, kept the largest stock of the royalties, and passed the remainder up to the maestro group successful Toronto.

How did you modulation backmost into operating a section attraction franchise yourself?
Terry: When I sold to TruGreen, I had a three‑year non‑compete that restricted maine from operating successful the cities wherever I had locations — places for illustration Madison, Appleton, Green Bay, Lexington and Peoria. Once that non‑compete expired successful January 2001, I re‑entered the business arsenic a Weed Man franchisee. I started the Madison cognition pinch 1 of my wife’s nephews, and erstwhile he chose to prosecute thing else, we hired a manager.

That’s astir the clip Andy, who had been helping maine waste during college, stepped successful and yet became the head successful Madison. From there, Andy and I began moving intimately together, increasing the business organically into caller markets and past merging further markets into our holding institution complete time. Our first billing twelvemonth successful Madison successful 2001 was astir $110,000 successful revenue; today, we’re astir $103 million, truthful it’s been rather a tally complete astir twenty‑five years.

Terry and Andy Kurth, Credit: Weed Man

Secrets to scaling Weed Man

What are your secrets to growth? How do you standard from $110,000 to $103 million?
Terry: A large inflection constituent was erstwhile I met Roger Mongeon, who held the U.S. authorities to Weed Man and is 1 of the smartest group I’ve ever met, some successful business and successful general. He’s a erstwhile chemic engineer, and we developed a heavy communal spot and respect. He showed maine the systems Weed Man had built, and I quickly realized that to grip important growth, you must person robust systems. People talk astir breaking done solid ceilings successful their careers; maturation successful a business is akin — you can’t get to the adjacent level without systems that guarantee thing falls done the cracks arsenic you adhd group and locations. You besides request a relentless cognition — nonaccomplishment can’t beryllium an option.

Take maine backmost 26 years. What did that very first Weed Man location look for illustration time to day, and what convinced you some that it was worthy betting your careers on?
Andy: From my position arsenic a assemblage kid astatine the time, I wasn’t initially reasoning of a long‑term career. I’d show up connected Saturdays to an almost vacant ammunition of an agency and beryllium the only personification location trading section care. We utilized old‑school telemarketing to make leads, and my cousin, who had started the business pinch my dad, was retired treating lawns astir by himself.

That first year, gross was astir $100,000, truthful location simply weren’t galore group involved. Each year, as we added revenue, we’d bring successful different technician, past different and yet a elder technician, gradually building retired the team.

Solving mistakes

Andy, tin you stock an lawsuit erstwhile you made a correction moving the institution and really you fixed it?
Andy: Early successful my leadership career, I was wearing 10 hats and perpetually chasing group around. When we first introduced door‑knocking for lead generation, I recovered myself moving aft supervisors each greeting because they kept forgetting doorway hangers. One day, I realized really unsustainable that was. Instead of continuing to pursuit people, I focused connected processing amended systems — start‑of‑day procedures, checklists and clearer domiciled ownership — truthful that squad members owned their responsibilities. That acquisition was a catalyst for maine to displacement from being a task‑oriented head to a leader focused connected processing different leaders.

Hand-raising culture

Andy, you person described the statement arsenic having a hand-raising culture. What does that mean?
Andy: Hand‑raising civilization describes leaders wrong our statement who virtually raise their hands to return connected caller challenges and uproot their lives. For example, a man from Green Bay volunteered to move to Austin to commencement that branch, and different teammate from Madison, who had besides worked successful Milwaukee, raised his manus to move to Denver.

Those markets are now among our apical performers — Denver, for example, grew from astir $250,000 successful first‑year gross to complete $8 million. We support building stables of leaders who respire our ngo — people, opportunity, organization — successful that order. They bargain into that ngo and transportation it into their branches and departments, which creates caller opportunities successful caller areas and genuinely changes lives. Many group successful our institution person careers they ne'er imagined, and they, successful turn, walk that mindset to the group they lead.

Long-term vision

What are your plans for maturation and succession?
Andy: We scheme to support doing what we do best: changing people’s lives for the amended and building a culture wherever group want to beforehand that ngo of people, opportunity, community. If our group are taking attraction of each different and building thing they tin telephone their own, we’ll beryllium fine.

Terry: At the strategy level, Weed Man arsenic a full generates astir $435 cardinal to $450 cardinal successful yearly revenue, and pinch Epic3 astatine astir $103 million, we’re a important contributor. The broader extremity is to go a billion‑dollar company, and we want to thief thrust that by innovating and supporting different franchisees wrong the Weed Man family. Together, we intend to scope that billion‑dollar milestone while maintaining the civilization and systems that sewage america here.