Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n\n- Weed Man is a lawn care franchise that generates around $450 million in total annual revenue.<\/li>\n
- Terry and Andy Kurth, a father-son team, play a significant role in generating revenue for the franchise.<\/li>\n
- Terry is the founder of Epic3, Weed Man\u2019s largest multi-unit ownership group, which generated $103 million in sales last year.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n
Terry Kurth, 77, says that choosing the right life partner<\/a> is the most important decision an individual can make \u2014 and he knows the truth of this statement firsthand. Nearly 50 years ago, his wife was in labor. She was in the hospital lying on her side with severe back pain because their daughter, Amanda, was turned 180 degrees in the womb.<\/p>\nTerry was there for his wife \u2014\u00a0but he also didn\u2019t stop working.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI had one hand on the small of her back to relieve pain and the other on the phone calling prospects to sell lawn care,\u201d Terry tells Entrepreneur<\/em> in a new interview. \u201cShe didn\u2019t complain because she knew we were about to have another mouth to feed, and failure wasn\u2019t an option.\u201d<\/p>\nTerry entered the Weed Man system in 2000 after exiting his own lawn care ventures<\/a> and searching for his next chapter. He quickly saw an opportunity to expand the Canadian brand in the U.S. and founded Epic3, which would become Weed Man\u2019s largest multi-unit ownership group. Starting with a single territory in Madison, Wisconsin, Terry steadily scaled the operation into a nationwide footprint.<\/p>\nAndy Kurth\u2019s entry into the business was far less strategic<\/a>. As Terry\u2019s son, he joined while in college simply to earn extra cash, working in sales and as a lawn care technician. But what began as a temporary gig<\/a> evolved into a long-term career<\/a>. Over time, Andy took on increasing responsibility, eventually rising to become president and CEO of Epic3 and leading the continued expansion of the business his father helped build.<\/p>\nThe following interview with Terry and Andy has been lightly edited for clarity and concision.<\/p>\n![\"Terry](\"https:\/\/www.entrepreneur.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/07\/Andy-and-Terry-Kurth-1.jpg?w=1024\")
Terry (left) and Andy Kurth. Credit: Weed Man<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nEarly days<\/h2>\n
How did you end up in lawn care and franchising?<\/strong>
Terry: <\/strong>I was going to be an engineer<\/a> and went to the University of Wisconsin, graduating in 1975. While I was there, I started working at a golf course<\/a> and fell in love with being outside and working with turf. <\/p>\nI ended up getting a degree in agronomy, which is essentially plant science, and became a golf course superintendent right out of college. Later, I went to work for the Scotts Company in its professional turf division and traveled around the country giving educational seminars to golf course superintendents, landscape contractors and early lawn care operators. <\/p>\n
Eventually, I came into contact with a company called Barefoot Grass, became one of its first franchisees in 1978, built that up and ultimately sold when Barefoot Grass was acquired by TruGreen. It ended well, and I found myself gainfully unemployed in my mid\u201140s with the proceeds from that sale.<\/p>\n
What did you do after exiting Barefoot Grass?<\/strong>
Terry: <\/strong>After Barefoot Grass was sold and I completed that chapter, I became past president of what was then the Professional Lawn Care Association of America (PLCAA), which gave me a strong network of operators across the country. Weed Man<\/a> is headquartered in Toronto, and through that network, I got to know their leadership. They flew me up; I met the franchisor and a Canadian franchisee who had acquired the master rights to the United States, and together we came up with the idea of creating regional sub\u2011franchisors. My region included Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, North Dakota and South Dakota. I sold franchises there, kept the largest share of the royalties, and passed the remainder up to the master group in Toronto.<\/p>\nHow did you transition back into operating a lawn care franchise yourself?<\/strong>
Terry:<\/strong> When I sold to TruGreen, I had a three\u2011year non\u2011compete that restricted me from operating in the cities where I had locations \u2014 places like Madison, Appleton, Green Bay, Lexington and Peoria. Once that non\u2011compete expired in January 2001, I re\u2011entered the business as a Weed Man franchisee<\/a>. I started the Madison operation with one of my wife\u2019s nephews, and when he chose to pursue something else, we hired a manager. <\/p>\nThat\u2019s around the time Andy, who had been helping me sell during college, stepped in and ultimately became the manager in Madison. From there, Andy and I began working closely together, growing the business organically into new markets and then merging additional markets into our holding company over time. Our first billing year in Madison in 2001 was about $110,000 in revenue<\/a>; today, we\u2019re around $103 million, so it\u2019s been quite a run over roughly twenty\u2011five years.<\/p>\n![\"Terry](\"https:\/\/www.entrepreneur.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/07\/Weed-Man.jpg?w=1024\")
Terry and Andy Kurth, Credit: Weed Man<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nSecrets to scaling Weed Man<\/h2>\n
What are your secrets to growth? How do you scale from $110,000 to $103 million?<\/strong>
Terry: <\/strong>A big inflection point was when I met Roger Mongeon, who held the U.S. rights to Weed Man and is one of the smartest people I\u2019ve ever met, both in business and in general. He\u2019s a former chemical engineer, and we developed a deep mutual trust and respect. He showed me the systems Weed Man had built, and I quickly realized that to handle significant growth, you must have robust systems<\/a>. People talk about breaking through glass ceilings in their careers; growth in a business is similar \u2014 you can\u2019t get to the next level without systems that ensure nothing falls through the cracks as you add people and locations. You also need a relentless attitude \u2014 failure can\u2019t be an option.<\/p>\nTake me back 26 years. What did that very first Weed Man location look like day to day, and what convinced you both that it was worth betting your careers on?<\/strong>
Andy: <\/strong>From my perspective as a college kid at the time, I wasn\u2019t initially thinking of a long\u2011term career. I\u2019d show up on Saturdays to an almost vacant shell of an office and be the only person there selling lawn care. We used old\u2011school telemarketing to generate leads, and my cousin, who had started the business with my dad, was out treating lawns nearly by himself. <\/p>\nThat first year, revenue was around $100,000, so there simply weren\u2019t many people involved. Each year, as we added revenue<\/a>, we\u2019d bring in another technician, then another and eventually a senior technician, gradually building out the team.<\/p>\nSolving mistakes<\/h2>\n
Andy, can you share an instance when you made a mistake running the company and how you fixed it?<\/strong>
Andy:<\/strong> Early in my leadership<\/a> career, I was wearing 10 hats and constantly chasing people around. When we first introduced door\u2011knocking for lead generation, I found myself running after supervisors every morning because they kept forgetting door hangers. One day, I realized how unsustainable that was. Instead of continuing to chase people, I focused on developing better systems \u2014 start\u2011of\u2011day procedures, checklists and clearer role ownership \u2014 so that team members owned their responsibilities. That experience was a catalyst for me to shift from being a task\u2011oriented manager to a leader focused on developing other leaders.<\/p>\nHand-raising culture<\/h2>\n
Andy, you have described the organization as having a hand-raising culture. What does that mean?<\/strong>
Andy:<\/strong> Hand\u2011raising culture describes leaders inside our organization who literally raise their hands<\/a> to take on new challenges and uproot their lives. For example, a gentleman from Green Bay volunteered to move to Austin to start that branch, and another teammate from Madison, who had also worked in Milwaukee, raised his hand to move to Denver.<\/p>\nThose markets are now among our top performers \u2014 Denver, for example, grew<\/a> from around $250,000 in first\u2011year revenue to over $8 million. We keep building stables of leaders who breathe our mission \u2014 people, opportunity, community \u2014 in that order. They buy into that mission and carry it into their branches and departments, which creates new opportunities in new areas and truly changes lives. Many people in our company have careers they never imagined, and they, in turn, pass that mindset to the people they lead.<\/p>\nLong-term vision<\/h2>\n
What are your plans for growth and succession?<\/strong>
Andy: <\/strong>We plan to keep doing what we do best: changing people\u2019s lives for the better and building a culture<\/a> where people want to advance that mission of people, opportunity, community. If our people are taking care of each other and building something they can call their own, we\u2019ll be fine.<\/p>\nTerry: <\/strong>At the system level, Weed Man as a whole generates around $435 million to $450 million in annual revenue, and with Epic3 at around $103 million, we\u2019re a significant contributor. The broader goal is to become a billion\u2011dollar company<\/a>, and we want to help drive that by innovating and supporting other franchisees within the Weed Man family. Together, we intend to reach that billion\u2011dollar milestone while maintaining the culture and systems that got us here.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n\nKey Takeaways<\/h2>\n\n- Weed Man is a lawn care franchise that generates around $450 million in total annual revenue.<\/li>\n
- Terry and Andy Kurth, a father-son team, play a significant role in generating revenue for the franchise.<\/li>\n
- Terry is the founder of Epic3, Weed Man\u2019s largest multi-unit ownership group, which generated $103 million in sales last year.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n
Terry Kurth, 77, says that choosing the right life partner<\/a> is the most important decision an individual can make \u2014 and he knows the truth of this statement firsthand. Nearly 50 years ago, his wife was in labor. She was in the hospital lying on her side with severe back pain because their daughter, Amanda, was turned 180 degrees in the womb.<\/p>\n Terry was there for his wife \u2014\u00a0but he also didn\u2019t stop working.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI had one hand on the small of her back to relieve pain and the other on the phone calling prospects to sell lawn care,\u201d Terry tells Entrepreneur<\/em> in a new interview. \u201cShe didn\u2019t complain because she knew we were about to have another mouth to feed, and failure wasn\u2019t an option.\u201d<\/p>\n Terry entered the Weed Man system in 2000 after exiting his own lawn care ventures<\/a> and searching for his next chapter. He quickly saw an opportunity to expand the Canadian brand in the U.S. and founded Epic3, which would become Weed Man\u2019s largest multi-unit ownership group. Starting with a single territory in Madison, Wisconsin, Terry steadily scaled the operation into a nationwide footprint.<\/p>\n Andy Kurth\u2019s entry into the business was far less strategic<\/a>. As Terry\u2019s son, he joined while in college simply to earn extra cash, working in sales and as a lawn care technician. But what began as a temporary gig<\/a> evolved into a long-term career<\/a>. Over time, Andy took on increasing responsibility, eventually rising to become president and CEO of Epic3 and leading the continued expansion of the business his father helped build.<\/p>\n The following interview with Terry and Andy has been lightly edited for clarity and concision.<\/p>\n How did you end up in lawn care and franchising?<\/strong> I ended up getting a degree in agronomy, which is essentially plant science, and became a golf course superintendent right out of college. Later, I went to work for the Scotts Company in its professional turf division and traveled around the country giving educational seminars to golf course superintendents, landscape contractors and early lawn care operators. <\/p>\n Eventually, I came into contact with a company called Barefoot Grass, became one of its first franchisees in 1978, built that up and ultimately sold when Barefoot Grass was acquired by TruGreen. It ended well, and I found myself gainfully unemployed in my mid\u201140s with the proceeds from that sale.<\/p>\n What did you do after exiting Barefoot Grass?<\/strong> How did you transition back into operating a lawn care franchise yourself?<\/strong> That\u2019s around the time Andy, who had been helping me sell during college, stepped in and ultimately became the manager in Madison. From there, Andy and I began working closely together, growing the business organically into new markets and then merging additional markets into our holding company over time. Our first billing year in Madison in 2001 was about $110,000 in revenue<\/a>; today, we\u2019re around $103 million, so it\u2019s been quite a run over roughly twenty\u2011five years.<\/p>\n What are your secrets to growth? How do you scale from $110,000 to $103 million?<\/strong> Take me back 26 years. What did that very first Weed Man location look like day to day, and what convinced you both that it was worth betting your careers on?<\/strong> That first year, revenue was around $100,000, so there simply weren\u2019t many people involved. Each year, as we added revenue<\/a>, we\u2019d bring in another technician, then another and eventually a senior technician, gradually building out the team.<\/p>\n Andy, can you share an instance when you made a mistake running the company and how you fixed it?<\/strong> Andy, you have described the organization as having a hand-raising culture. What does that mean?<\/strong> Those markets are now among our top performers \u2014 Denver, for example, grew<\/a> from around $250,000 in first\u2011year revenue to over $8 million. We keep building stables of leaders who breathe our mission \u2014 people, opportunity, community \u2014 in that order. They buy into that mission and carry it into their branches and departments, which creates new opportunities in new areas and truly changes lives. Many people in our company have careers they never imagined, and they, in turn, pass that mindset to the people they lead.<\/p>\n What are your plans for growth and succession?<\/strong> Terry: <\/strong>At the system level, Weed Man as a whole generates around $435 million to $450 million in annual revenue, and with Epic3 at around $103 million, we\u2019re a significant contributor. The broader goal is to become a billion\u2011dollar company<\/a>, and we want to help drive that by innovating and supporting other franchisees within the Weed Man family. Together, we intend to reach that billion\u2011dollar milestone while maintaining the culture and systems that got us here.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\nEarly days<\/h2>\n
Terry: <\/strong>I was going to be an engineer<\/a> and went to the University of Wisconsin, graduating in 1975. While I was there, I started working at a golf course<\/a> and fell in love with being outside and working with turf. <\/p>\n
Terry: <\/strong>After Barefoot Grass was sold and I completed that chapter, I became past president of what was then the Professional Lawn Care Association of America (PLCAA), which gave me a strong network of operators across the country. Weed Man<\/a> is headquartered in Toronto, and through that network, I got to know their leadership. They flew me up; I met the franchisor and a Canadian franchisee who had acquired the master rights to the United States, and together we came up with the idea of creating regional sub\u2011franchisors. My region included Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, North Dakota and South Dakota. I sold franchises there, kept the largest share of the royalties, and passed the remainder up to the master group in Toronto.<\/p>\n
Terry:<\/strong> When I sold to TruGreen, I had a three\u2011year non\u2011compete that restricted me from operating in the cities where I had locations \u2014 places like Madison, Appleton, Green Bay, Lexington and Peoria. Once that non\u2011compete expired in January 2001, I re\u2011entered the business as a Weed Man franchisee<\/a>. I started the Madison operation with one of my wife\u2019s nephews, and when he chose to pursue something else, we hired a manager. <\/p>\nSecrets to scaling Weed Man<\/h2>\n
Terry: <\/strong>A big inflection point was when I met Roger Mongeon, who held the U.S. rights to Weed Man and is one of the smartest people I\u2019ve ever met, both in business and in general. He\u2019s a former chemical engineer, and we developed a deep mutual trust and respect. He showed me the systems Weed Man had built, and I quickly realized that to handle significant growth, you must have robust systems<\/a>. People talk about breaking through glass ceilings in their careers; growth in a business is similar \u2014 you can\u2019t get to the next level without systems that ensure nothing falls through the cracks as you add people and locations. You also need a relentless attitude \u2014 failure can\u2019t be an option.<\/p>\n
Andy: <\/strong>From my perspective as a college kid at the time, I wasn\u2019t initially thinking of a long\u2011term career. I\u2019d show up on Saturdays to an almost vacant shell of an office and be the only person there selling lawn care. We used old\u2011school telemarketing to generate leads, and my cousin, who had started the business with my dad, was out treating lawns nearly by himself. <\/p>\nSolving mistakes<\/h2>\n
Andy:<\/strong> Early in my leadership<\/a> career, I was wearing 10 hats and constantly chasing people around. When we first introduced door\u2011knocking for lead generation, I found myself running after supervisors every morning because they kept forgetting door hangers. One day, I realized how unsustainable that was. Instead of continuing to chase people, I focused on developing better systems \u2014 start\u2011of\u2011day procedures, checklists and clearer role ownership \u2014 so that team members owned their responsibilities. That experience was a catalyst for me to shift from being a task\u2011oriented manager to a leader focused on developing other leaders.<\/p>\nHand-raising culture<\/h2>\n
Andy:<\/strong> Hand\u2011raising culture describes leaders inside our organization who literally raise their hands<\/a> to take on new challenges and uproot their lives. For example, a gentleman from Green Bay volunteered to move to Austin to start that branch, and another teammate from Madison, who had also worked in Milwaukee, raised his hand to move to Denver.<\/p>\nLong-term vision<\/h2>\n
Andy: <\/strong>We plan to keep doing what we do best: changing people\u2019s lives for the better and building a culture<\/a> where people want to advance that mission of people, opportunity, community. If our people are taking care of each other and building something they can call their own, we\u2019ll be fine.<\/p>\nKey Takeaways<\/h2>\n
\n