Subscribe & DownloadListen onApple PodcastsFollow us onSoundCloudListen on       Google PlayListen on       ​SpotifyGuest: ​​​​​​​​​​Gene CaballeroCompany / Business name: ​​​Greenpal Inc.Business web site​​​ |​​​ ​​​Facebook   | Twitter​​Gene Caballero is the Co founder of GreenPal Inc. GreenPal has been described as Uber for lawn care. Saw a need for this type of service due to my background in landscaping. We started by going door-to-door to see if homeowners would use a product like this and once we had that positive reinforcement, we decided to move forward with a company to start building it.Books/Tools/resourcesBook: The Lean Startup by Eric RiesTools: Gmail, Xero for accounting, and Intercom as a CRMShow Notes: Greenpal is ‘Uber’ for lawncare connecting lawncare providers and landscaping professionals with consumers. Greenpal handles demand creation, scheduling, route optimization and payment processing. In return, Greenpal takes 5% commission. Gene and his co-founder Zach Hendrix started Greenpal in 2012. Gene has been taking care of lawncare since high school and when he saw Uber & Lyft take off, he saw a similar model for lawncare as well. Gene and Zach spent $125,000 for someone else to initially build a platform but after that company went broke, Gene decided to bring the development in-house and have a technical co-founder to take on this task. After 2 years or so, starting in 2014, Greenpal started accepting customers and have been profitable since 2016. Gene and Zach cashed out their 401K money to start the initial investment and took the risk. The initial risk started paying off in 2016 but initially it was like rolling the dice.Greenpal used Facebook creatively to start local FB groups to recruit homeowners and also used creative ways such as pet owners to grow affinity towards Greenpal. Greenpal is currently in 40 states in the US. Greenpak assesses the target markets based on local weather, landscaping habits etc. to decide if they should go after a market.Gene gives the following advice. There is never enough money and enough time. Best thing is to get started now. Be passionate about your ideas. And talk to strangers about your ideas and not your family or friends to get an unbiased opinion.​Episode Transcript (Click to expand)00:02Ramesh: Hello everyone. Welcome to the agile entrepreneur podcast. This is your host Ramesh Dontha. This podcast is about starting and building your own business with purpose, passion, perseverance, and possibilities. Today we have a very exciting guest working in a very interesting business. His name is Gene Caballero. Gene is the co-founder of Green Pal Inc. And then the founders of Green Pal described the business Green Pal as the Uber for lawn care. I think now you get the picture hey Gene welcome.00:45Gene: Hey Ramesh, how are you? Glad to be on your podcast. Thank you so much.00:49Ramesh: So yeah, Green Pal just by the name, the way you guys described it, I think I clearly understand, but in your own words, we would like to know what Green Pal business all is about.01:01Gene: Yeah, so Green Pal has been described as Uber for lawn care and it's the easiest way for homeowners to find, schedule and pay their lawn guy. Also, we've kind of been coined as the first true operating system for landscaping professionals. So not only do we handle their demand creation, we also handle their scheduling, their route optimization and their payment processing.01:29Ramesh: So, if I understand your business correctly, that both the lawn care providers along with the customers, both of them will register on your platform. Is that right?01:40Gene: That is correct.01:42Ramesh: Okay. So, you're connecting them both and then in the process collecting some kind of accommodation or something like that?01:49Gene: Correct. Yes, we take 5% of everything that goes through the transaction. So, this industry is very antique when it comes to payment processing,