Start with the customer in front of you
Chris's first customer was a neighbor and pastor who asked him to mow a yard. Chris reasoned that the payment could cover a good mower he also wanted for his own property. That is a modest beginning, and it is useful because it strips entrepreneurship down to its first test: will one real person pay for the work?
The next year, after a decade in manufacturing, Chris lost his job during the downturn and could not find another. The mowing side job became the available path. He liked the risk difference between one employer and many customers: losing one customer hurt, but it did not erase the whole paycheck. The early lesson is to earn proof before spending energy on the image of a company.
Survive the unglamorous middle
Chris described three or four hard years of mowing some days, landscaping other days, and trying to support his wife and three children. He added his first helper around 2012, then moved through retail and nursery locations as the business developed. None of that resembles the overnight-success story social media likes to sell.
This is where cash visibility and personal discipline matter most. Know the weekly break-even number, keep equipment purchases tied to work, and distinguish activity from contribution. A founder can work from dawn to dark and still avoid the pricing or service decision that would improve the business. Survival is not the final model, but it creates enough time to find one.
“It took 16 years to become an overnight success.”
Chris Vincent, episode timestamp 21:23
Specialize beyond easy-entry work
Mowing had almost no barrier to entry in Chris's market. Anyone with a mower could appear during a downturn, which held pressure on price. He began adding patios, landscapes, and hardscapes—work that required more planning and skill. Over time, full outdoor builds became the stronger specialty. Chris explains that move from mowing into hardscapes and outdoor builds at 7:31–8:40.
That shift does not mean recurring maintenance is worthless. It means the owner should know which service opens the relationship, which produces steady routes, and which creates differentiated value. Keep mowing if it supports the customer and schedule. Build a specialty when the market will pay for expertise that is harder to replace.
Learn fast enough to deserve the project
Chris was candid about selling his first patio before he knew exactly how to build it, then spending two weeks learning from YouTube. That story captures the resourcefulness of an early owner, but it should not become permission to gamble with a customer's property. The durable part was what followed: vendor training, industry events, coaching, and constant personal development.
Create a learning ladder for every added service. Study the installation standard, practice under supervision, understand drainage and failure modes, document the steps, and inspect finished work. The customer is not paying to finance random experimentation. They are paying for a professional who can solve the problem and stand behind the result.
“I'm not in the landscaping business. I'm in the problem-solving business. I just happen to landscape.”
Chris Vincent, episode timestamp 6:35
Improve one operating habit at a time
Chris's daily motto was to be one percent better than the day before. He applied that standard beyond the craft to business ownership, customer service, and field roles. The phrase becomes valuable when it names a behavior rather than an aspiration.
Pick one friction point each week: an estimate that takes too long, materials loaded twice, a callback nobody categorizes, or a handoff that surprises the crew. Make a small change, measure it, and keep it if it works. Compounding is not magic. It is the result of preserving useful improvements long enough for the next one to build on them.
“Be 1% better today than I was yesterday.”
Chris Vincent, episode timestamp 10:49
Price the professional result
Chris said Perfection was not the cheapest option and emphasized quality and standing behind the work. He also described increasing labor pricing during the year and not seeing the closing-rate collapse he feared. That was his episode-time experience, not a promise that every increase works in every market.
The useful practice is to calculate the price of the whole professional result: trained labor, design time, equipment, materials, travel, supervision, warranty risk, overhead, and profit. Then present the scope clearly enough that a customer can compare outcomes rather than hourly guesses. If the company looks improvised and communicates poorly, a premium price will feel disconnected from the experience.
Make the brand support the price
Wrapped trucks changed how often people believed they saw Perfection. Chris said a small fleet began producing comments that the company was everywhere. The vehicles did not create the craftsmanship, but they made the business easier to recognize and made a consistent first impression before an estimate.
Branding works when the operational details agree with it. Clean truck, readable wrap, tidy clothing, clear proposal, prompt communication, and a well-run job should tell the same story. A new logo cannot rescue missed appointments. It can give a disciplined company a recognizable flag that customers remember and neighbors notice.
Develop someone to take your seat
Chris said his goal had always been to work himself out of a job. He encouraged people in the company to develop someone who could take their current role so they could move to the next one. That is a practical answer to a growth problem: the business cannot create a new layer if every capable person remains the only person who can do the old work.
Not every dependable team member wants promotion, and that is fine. The owner still needs redundancy for critical responsibilities. Document the role, cross-train a backup, and define what readiness looks like. The visionary should understand the work without becoming the permanent bottleneck for scheduling, estimating, field decisions, or customer follow-up.
“My goal's always been to work myself out of a job.”
Chris Vincent, episode timestamp 16:55
From the episode
Frequently asked questions
How did Chris Vincent start his landscaping business?
Chris began with one paying lawn customer in 2008, then turned to the business full time after losing his manufacturing job in 2009. He described several lean years before adding an employee and retail locations.
Why did Perfection expand beyond lawn mowing?
Chris said he moved toward patios, hardscapes, and full outdoor builds because they required more skill, faced less low-barrier competition, and offered a stronger specialization than mowing alone.
How did Chris learn hardscaping and improve the business?
Chris said he learned through vendor training, industry events, coaching, personal study, and hands-on problem solving. He framed the habit as becoming one percent better each day.
Source trail
See the evidence behind this article
- Contractors' Stories episode on YouTube
Primary interview source for Chris Vincent's account of starting in 2008, adding services, learning the trade, pricing, branding, and developing his team.
- Perfection Lawn & Landscape
First-party company site confirming the business identity and its lawn, landscape, hardscape, and outdoor-living services in Kentucky.
