Growth sucks ass.
Do you want to feel rich? Or build something that will actually make you rich?
Hi friend,
Growth sucks ass.
Sorry, growth sucks cash. Typo…
In 2025, our landscaping company, if I can say so myself, grew a good amount.
Revenue was up about 50%. Net profits increased around 35%.
On paper, that’s a great year.
And as the year comes to an end, we’ve sat down to plan what growth looks like in 2026.
And what we mostly discovered is that growth means spending a shit ton of money.
What do we spend money on?
Emergency fund.
Equipment.
Marketing.
Spring rush carrying costs.
Truck wraps (someone tell me why are they $5K per truck???).
How much do we spend? Pretty much everything.
It’s weird. You work all year. 50, 60, 80 hour weeks. You lay 20 yards of mulch in the blistering heat, do 4 quotes, invoice, run payroll, then can’t sleep because you’re worried about some customer leaving you a 1 star review for stepping on her Hostas.
For all this work, you expect, at least subconsciously, some kind of payout.
And you get your payout. It’s just not cash. It’s your truck thats out delivering service. Or the Facebook ads that just landed you 5 new customers. Or the emergency fund thats tucked away incase you can’t make payroll.
It exists, but it doesn’t feel like it exists.
It’s funny. I’ve always said I’m okay with delayed gratification, but when I’m faced with the actually decision, take cash now or reinvest so the business can grow, it’s not the no-brainer I thought it was going to be.
It’s easy to say you want growth. It’s hard to actually live with what growth requires.
Lately, the tradeoff feels like this:
I can feel rich. Or I can build something that will actually make me rich.
The uncomfy part is deciding what the business needs right now.
Is the business meant to pay us today? Or is it meant to make us wealthy later?
Do I want a high paying job? Or do I want to own something that cash flows without me there?
That’s the decision we’re sitting with.
It’s not exciting.
But it’s honest.
On repeat this week
For years, I’ve said that if I could play any song on piano, it would be this one.
One of my New Year’s resolutions is to play piano for 30 minutes a day. I started early this year, and I’ve spent the last week learning this song. I’ve made more progress than I expected.
Paul (McCartney, but we’re on a first name basis) has a gift for writing riffs that feel impossible and then singing melodies on top of them that have no business being sung on top of them.
Check it out.
Until next time, try not to take life too seriously.
Talk soon,
Devin
