Meet John Walters, co-owner of the newly launched Mister Bermuda in Georgetown, TX, and founder of several landscaping/mowing, lawn fertilizing, tree care, pest control, and snow removal businesses in New Jersey, Utah, Texas, and Alaska. 

Discussions and Insights

• Formal education is not for everyone (3:18)
• Starting businesses when you don’t know the business (4:34)
• All you need: “Third grade math and I don't know what grade work ethic.” (5:10)
• Starting businesses is a skill that can be learned through practice. (8:23)
• The challenges of life as a serial business starter. (8:40)
• “You can always take a client base and do something with it.” (10:15)
• The formula: “You show up when you say you’re gonna show up. You do what you said you were gonna do. You charge what you say you’re gonna charge.” (11:06)
• Manual labor and contemplation (22:59)
• How and why to build a network of friends in the business. (27:42)
• There’s a huge difference in clients from different areas. (33:58)
• Seeing the value where others can’t. (35:58)
• Just follow your instincts. (37:17)
• Mentoring: 14 guys in business. “You don't have to know everything to teach it. You just have to know what you know, and teach that.” (42:40), (53:13)
• Growing older while operating a small service business (47:42)
• Avoiding burnout: Spend your time where it’s most needed. (50:47)

Miscellaneous

• “Not that you're going to be the life of the party, but you go to a party and everybody's gonna have questions about the trees.” (19:13)
• How Ete got into the business: “You don’t have to pay him. Just take him and work him.” (20:48)
• “Two things overrated in this country: orthodontics and academia.” (46:11)
• Career Attention Deficit Disorder (52:17)