Most franchisees feel alone in their journey — Kevin and Seth prove that with the right system and support, your success is almost inevitable. Discover how Grassroots Turf, an emerging brand since 2019, is redefining franchise support — from centralized call centers that handle customer inquiries to hands-on coaching during your first months. Check out this 30-minute conversation for more on what it’s like to own this mobile franchise in the home services industry.
More about the GrassRoots Turf Franchise Opportunity
GrassRoots Turf is a lawn-care franchise that began franchising in 2019. With 23 franchise locations, this emerging franchise brand is growing strongly. They survey their franchisees yearly and consistently end up on our Bests list. Most recently, they were named one of the Top 200 Franchises of 2026.
If you’re interested in learning more about this home services, mobile franchise, reach out to George Rea at [email protected].
Transcript
Allison Dudas (00:00)
Hi, my name is Allison Dudas and I’m from the marketing team here at Franchise Business Review. One of my favorite things that I get to do is talk to franchisees and hear about what it’s like owning a franchise. So just a reminder, Franchise Business Review is a market research company. What we do is we survey franchisees every year. So just this last year, we surveyed 26,000 franchisees across 330 brands.
and we let them tell us all about what it’s like owning their franchise. And today I’m really happy to have a franchise that made our top 200 list this year. It’s called Grassroots Turf. It’s a lawn care company. And I’m pleased to have Kevin Dinkel and Seth Johnson here with me today. So thanks so much Seth and Kevin for joining us.
Kevin Dinkel (00:49)
Well, thanks for inviting us.
Seth Johnson (00:49)
Thank you.
Allison Dudas (00:52)
Absolutely. So Grassroots Turf has been franchising since 2019. And I think you guys have about 23 franchise locations. So this is really we could call Grassroots an emerging brand. So it’s so exciting to hear from you all and what it’s like being a part of the franchise. So how about Seth, let’s start with you. When did you invest in a Grassroots Turf franchise?
Seth Johnson (01:20)
I bought my franchise ⁓ late in 21 and we started in 22.
Allison Dudas (01:27)
And what about you, Kevin?
Kevin Dinkel (01:29)
I started mine, I think I purchased it in March of 22 and we started it in actually operation in October of that same year.
Allison Dudas (01:42)
in October. Yeah. And what originally attracted you to ⁓ grassroots?
Kevin Dinkel (01:52)
Well, I, oh, okay.
Allison Dudas (01:52)
Why don’t we start with you, Seth?
Now that’s fine, Kevin, go for it.
Kevin Dinkel (01:59)
okay. ⁓ I had a friend that was ⁓ telling me about the ⁓ lawn care business. I had a home inspection company and a pest control company and always looking to add home service type business to our companies. And so I didn’t know much about it. So I started looking into it and did some Google searches and grassroots showed up and I went out to visit and once I met
the owners and ⁓ the team up at the corporate office, ⁓ I was sold. I was ready to do it.
Allison Dudas (02:37)
So you are a franchise owner across other brands, it sounds like.
Kevin Dinkel (02:41)
No, this is my first franchise. The other two were companies I started on my own.
Allison Dudas (02:48)
wow, okay, that’s really interesting. So you kind of have the perspective of being a part of a franchise system and also going it alone.
Kevin Dinkel (02:55)
Yes.
Allison Dudas (02:58)
Yes, that’ll be interesting to hear from you about which one you think is easier. All right, Seth, what about you? What first attracted you to franchising, but also specifically to grassroots?
Seth Johnson (03:11)
I actually had a construction business that I’ve had for years. And one of my clients was really good friends with the guy, Josh, that started Grassroots. He went to college with his dad. And so he was always kind of telling me about it and telling me to meet him. So I kind of went into it looking at it as something that maybe I could use more like a retirement plan than anything. And then once I met him, you know, I was kind of like,
Yeah, let’s do this.
Allison Dudas (03:43)
I love that. So it sounds like both of you are pretty entrepreneurial, which is, think, a common thread that I see when speaking to franchisees. So it sounds like you know what running a business takes. You already had some good networks, it sounds like, with your construction business, Seth, and then, of course, with your two other businesses, Kevin.
Kevin Dinkel (04:03)
Yeah, my entire, I made 69 this year and my entire work life, only two years was I working for a company. The rest of my time I’ve been self-employed.
Seth Johnson (04:04)
Yes, ma’am.
Allison Dudas (04:04)
That’s really
great.
You’ve been self-employed, yeah. That’s great. That’s really great. So, all right, Kevin, let’s start with you. Walk us through your onboarding experience with Grassroots Turf. From signing the agreement to kind of opening your doors, ⁓ what did that process look like?
Kevin Dinkel (04:32)
Okay.
Well, when we signed the initial agreement, like I said, was in March and it was a time ⁓ during the COVID mess. So there was a difficulty getting the truck.
So we signed in March and we didn’t get our delivery of our truck until October. So that was the biggest problem, but I didn’t have a lot of, you know, I mowed my grass and put fertilizer out, but I really didn’t have a lot of knowledge in treatments of lawns and taking care of shrubs and all that. And so ⁓ the, was one of the main reasons I chose a franchise because I knew that I would get the education and the support I
from them and grassroots has been fantastic as far as the support we get from corporate in ⁓ our training and developing our programs and everything.
Allison Dudas (05:32)
Yeah, that’s such a good point because I think sometimes people think that if they’re going to invest in a franchise, they need to already be an expert in that field, in that industry. But to your point, Kevin, if you’re signing on with the right franchise, they should really equip you with training, but also equip you with their system so that you’re kind of on boarded and you know what you’re doing from the start.
Kevin Dinkel (05:57)
Right, and that was one thing as being that I was already self-employed, some of the things that grassroots ⁓ did, my initial thought was, you know, I would do it differently, but then I had to accept, we’re buying a franchise, they have already invented the wheel, I’m not gonna try to reinvent it, they have been successful, I’m gonna follow what they say and do what they say. And it’s been good.
Allison Dudas (06:24)
That’s great. That’s great. And that’s really the reason to buy a franchise, right? Is to follow that system. And I love that you had to have that moment with yourself. Like, hold on. They have a system. I gotta follow it. Because that is what makes a good franchisee is the willingness to follow the system. Among other qualities, of course. ⁓ Seth, what about you? Talk me through what the onboarding experience was like. Again, like the moment you signed the agreement and then when you actually started.
Seth Johnson (06:53)
Yeah, so kind of the same way I went in, signed the agreement. ⁓ It was still around that COVID time. ⁓ I did a lot of training in house with them. I went up probably. I don’t know, probably once every two weeks for a day or two and rode out with some of their guys and ⁓ you know they were willing to let me train as much as they much as I felt I needed. Because two I had never been in the green industry either, so I didn’t really understand any other. So. ⁓
And then once I got in the truck, it was pretty much off and running to anything. They’ve been more than willing to help you as much as you want them to or as little as you want them to. it’s kind of, you they don’t really push it down your throat, but at the same time, they got the recipe. You better follow it.
Allison Dudas (07:40)
Yeah, yeah, it’s like if you follow the recipe, that’s where you’re going to find that security that you’re after. ⁓ Did anything, and either one of you can answer this, did anything surprise you about the training?
Seth Johnson (07:43)
Yeah, exactly.
My biggest surprise about the whole thing was how willing they were to accept you in as like, you know, once you meet them or even Kevin, first time I met him, like the whole group is like, you feel like you’ve known everybody forever. So it’s like, you don’t mind asking questions. You don’t feel like somebody is going to knock you down if your opinion doesn’t matter. So, you know, that’s probably one of the biggest surprises.
Kevin Dinkel (07:56)
Not really.
Yeah, and that’s one of the actually the best parts of grassroots is it’s really a big family. And it’s one of those things I kind of worry about if we grow as big as we grow, will we always have that, you family feeling, you know, the bigger we get. But right now it’s great.
Seth Johnson (08:36)
Yeah. Yeah.
Allison Dudas (08:40)
I think that’s a fair question, right? And it sounds like you have a strong connection with Josh, the founder of the company, ⁓ and that his hand is really strongly in it. it’s, you know, we have a podcast with Franchise Business Review, and we just interviewed somebody from another emerging brand ⁓ in the real estate business. And I think that idea of it feels like such a close-knit group, especially in the early stages, and then…
working really hard to preserve that community. And I do talk to a lot of franchisees, as you both know, and one of the things I hear over and over again is the value of a franchisee community. it’s good, it’s really good, right? You have somebody that you can, ⁓ maybe there’s a Slack channel or maybe there’s a Facebook group and you can pose a question and somebody else is gonna be there to support you because as franchisees, you’re not competing with one another.
⁓ You are going through the same thing in a different territory. ⁓ so I hear that time and time again, right? You’re going into business ⁓ for yourself, but not by yourself.
Kevin Dinkel (09:52)
Yeah, and that’s something I’ve really enjoyed because like I said, you know, the majority of my work life, I’ve been self-employed. So a lot of times, even though I have employees and all, it’s kind of lonely because it, you know, I’m by myself and I don’t have peers ⁓ and that I can, you know, ask questions and all that. And so that’s, I’ve really enjoyed that with the grassroots I have and the, you know, the other partners to, ⁓ to just be able to share with.
Allison Dudas (10:21)
Yeah, business ownership can be really lonely. I used to own my own business and it can be really hard, second guessing and having to make all these big decisions all on your own. And it’s nice to have a corporate team behind you, but also other people who know exactly what you’re going through in it with you.
Kevin Dinkel (10:38)
Yeah,
it is.
Seth Johnson (10:39)
Yeah,
I agree with Kevin. So same way with me, I’ve been self-employed my whole adult life. So ⁓ even with the corporate side, like having somebody that you can like toss a question at before you make a decision is a big deal because when you own your own business, you know, the wrong decision can haunt you for years. So having somebody that actually has been through the same things and then with Josh and corporate, you know, they know how to run a business. That’s why they’re franchising it. So.
it makes it a lot easier.
Allison Dudas (11:12)
Now, once you got started, so once you had your trucks, once you just were kind of off to the races, how did the support from corporate, from Josh and the corporate team at Grassroots continue? What does that look like? Obviously you have a community, but do you have, ⁓ what kind of systems are in place to support you as you operate?
Kevin Dinkel (11:35)
Well, they actually, they have it set up to where ⁓ it’s ideal for like a one man operation to start out because they have the service center that ⁓ answers the phone for you, quotes the yards. so really a ⁓ one person can buy the franchise, just him and his truck and actually have a support staff. ⁓
from corporate that they don’t have to worry about who’s gonna answer the phone. Now in my situation, I already had an office and an office staff and all because of my other businesses. So that wasn’t as important, but it’s also something that I really have enjoyed having ⁓ them there ⁓ to take care of all that part of it.
Allison Dudas (12:25)
Yeah, I want to step in there because I didn’t realize that that was an aspect of grassroots turf. And that’s incredible. I think about as a homeowner and reaching out to subcontractors, one of the hardest things sometimes is getting a hold of somebody, getting an accurate quote, you know, all that stuff. And if you have that centralized and systematized, that’s a ⁓ load off the shoulders of the business owner.
Seth Johnson (12:51)
Yeah, that was one of the main reasons I bought the franchise is because I know what it is to have somebody in the office answering the phone or me having to answer all the calls. So that was a big sales point. Just, you know, just having that, not to mention that they kind of handle all, they kind of weed out, you know, all the tire kickers to say, you know, people are just, oh, I want to estimate from a hundred people. So they kind of weed all that out. And then once it becomes a potential owner,
Kevin Dinkel (12:51)
It is.
Seth Johnson (13:20)
or a potential customer or actual customer, that’s when you get involved. And you can be as involved in that as you want. Like I have a lot of customers that know me by name, call me personally, and then I have a lot of other customers that don’t even know I own the business.
Allison Dudas (13:36)
Yeah. that’s so interesting. you, so kind of going a little bit deeper. So obviously you’re getting a lot of regular support from corporate. ⁓ Can you share a specific example of a time when you reached out for help to corporate and also like what that support looked like in action?
Kevin Dinkel (13:57)
specifically from grassroots. ⁓ We I initially had a partner in the business and we had a ⁓ nasty divorce. And so that was a I needed a lot of help, a lot of support ⁓ navigating the separation basically. And they were there ⁓ to ⁓ to help any way they could. And it was very supportive to have them. It was very beneficial.
to ⁓ just to have someone to call to help get through a difficult time in business. And I think about my other businesses, I don’t have that, it’s just me.
Allison Dudas (14:40)
And that’s very real because certainly that happens in business ownership. You go in with a partner and then for whatever reason, you part ways.
Kevin Dinkel (14:43)
Mm-hmm.
Allison Dudas (14:48)
Seth, what about you? Anything specific ⁓ where you reached out to corporate for support?
Seth Johnson (14:54)
Yeah, so when I first started, I said, I wasn’t really in this industry. So in my territory, you know, I’m, farther away from corporate as so as far as our franchise. the, grassroots turf wasn’t really known in my area. So, you know, I’m having to build not based off somebody else’s reputation. So I, they actually sent Chris, Chris was just our franchise coach. comes out, he’s the guy that kind of helps you when you need something.
He actually come down and helped me run a truck and like meet customers and like just to try to give me that extra little foot in the door on how to do things when I first started.
Allison Dudas (15:33)
So you have a franchise coach that checks in regularly and even came to your territory and supported you. And I imagine that’s not just when you’re first onboarding, but it’s like, would they still be a… You talk to him once a week. I love that. That’s great. Franchise ⁓ coaches are really important. What about you, Kevin?
Seth Johnson (15:44)
I talk to him probably once a week. Yeah.
Kevin Dinkel (15:50)
Yeah, it’s ongoing.
I said it’s ongoing continuous support.
Allison Dudas (16:00)
That’s great. ⁓ How has the support, especially since you both have been franchisees in the system for several years, how has the support evolved? When you first started, what has sort of changed along the way? Technology, the role of the franchise coach, et cetera.
Seth Johnson (16:21)
I really feel like from my perspective, the only thing that’s really changed is how much I need the help. So like the basics are still there. They help you with your programs and your customers and if you have a problem, but I don’t need to call in on it as much. So like I’m not as involved as I was when I first started, but ⁓ the support hasn’t changed, just my need for it has.
Kevin Dinkel (16:51)
Yeah, and I would agree with that. You know, the availability of Chris is, you know, he’s always there. And it’s just we don’t need him as much as we did at first. And the other changes have more been just beneficial changes in the business as we’ve grown.
Seth Johnson (17:02)
That’s right.
Allison Dudas (17:11)
Yeah, and tell me about those. How has grassroots turf grown and changed?
Kevin Dinkel (17:17)
Well, they’re constantly trying to add systems that make our job easier. And whether it be through marketing or through ⁓ quoting the jobs or through the service center, they’re constantly looking for, and now with AI getting so prevalent, they’re looking at systems that just to make our job easier and ⁓ more efficient.
Seth Johnson (17:40)
Yeah, definitely. they, they’re always, we’re always on the front end of our, of our, you know, other people in the same business. You know, like they’re always there to make us stand out above the rest. Like, so we are actually what we say we are, you know? So we’re kind of a leader in the industry based on what they do, just because they’re always one step ahead of what’s going on in the industry.
Allison Dudas (18:06)
Yeah, and it’s nice as the franchisee not to have to have that spinning in your brain, right? To have to be steps ahead. can trust corporates doing that extra work. ⁓ So just thinking about your daily life as a grassroots turf franchisee, what does a good day look like now for you both?
Seth Johnson (18:15)
100 %
Kevin Dinkel (18:31)
⁓ well.
Seth Johnson (18:33)
⁓ Sunday?
Allison Dudas (18:35)
Sunday. ⁓
Kevin Dinkel (18:42)
You want me to go first? Okay. So mine, I’m a little different than Seth is because ⁓ I never was ⁓ intending to be a technician. ⁓ I knew when I purchased the franchise, I would hire a technician to actually do the spraying. And so ⁓ for me, my job is more,
geared towards the marketing, the organization, the management. And ⁓ I work some with the technicians, but not all the time. Now, usually when there’s a problem or a complaint, ⁓ I get involved, but usually it’s just because they want to talk to the owner. ⁓ Because actually my technician knows more than I do. And so I…
I rely on him and I was blessed with just a fantastic technician who is just, ⁓ I couldn’t run the business without him.
Seth Johnson (19:50)
Yeah, so my day to day’s evolving. So when I first started, like Kevin mentioned, I was the one guy in the one truck ⁓ for probably the first two years. So I’ve grown enough that I’ve got a full-time tech, I’ve got a second truck, I’ve got another tech starting this year. So I’m starting to learn the other side of the business, which is the running the day to day that keeps business coming in and keeps.
my customer’s happy, which is, you know, that’s a full-time job in itself. So that’s really where, you know, even grassroots then, you know, I call Josh personally all the time and asking like questions about like the management side of things and how, you know, because he’s done that and I’ve done it with employees, you know, in my construction business, but this is a whole different setup on how we work and what we do and what we expect out of our guys. ⁓
I lean on Josh personally a lot for that part of it, as I grow, I don’t necessarily want to be the guy in the truck all the time.
Allison Dudas (20:55)
True, right. And that’s kind the hope, I think, for most people who invest in a franchise, that eventually they can step back and not be the person actually in their operating. Whether they buy a food franchise, they don’t want to be the one making the sandwiches, right? Or lawn care, obviously, don’t want to be the person going out and doing the work, ⁓ but just kind of stepping back, hiring people you can trust.
Seth Johnson (21:15)
Well, that’s the angle. Yeah, to have
the business kind of running itself and you’re just overseeing.
Allison Dudas (21:22)
Exactly, exactly. So in general, how do you feel like franchise ownership? Now, I know you both have lots of business ownership experience, but specifically how has franchise ownership impacted your life, whether that’s flexibility or income or just general fulfillment? I’m curious to hear.
Seth Johnson (21:39)
To me, it’s way better going from running a business for years by myself. If I’d have known about franchising 20 years ago, I’d have probably franchised then. Yeah, it’s way easier. It’s not necessarily a 24-7 job where when you’re the one man owner of a business, you’re dealing with all the other stuff besides the business. Where I’m a franchise, they kind of take that out of the equation for you.
Kevin Dinkel (22:06)
Yeah, and also, you know, you’re not the one having to come up with, how are we going to generate more business, the advertising, the marketing? It’s like we just, you know, we just follow their recipe, like Seth said, or follow their plan. And if you follow the plan and do your part, it’s hard not to be successful.
Seth Johnson (22:29)
100%.
Allison Dudas (22:31)
Is there a moment or a milestone so far that made either one of you feel especially proud of what you’ve built with grassroots?
Kevin Dinkel (22:44)
I don’t know about ⁓ a, well, you know, when you start from scratch, I guess the point where you think, I need to buy another truck. And that’s, you know, when you go, okay, we’re really growing in it.
And you see when you when you get to the point to add that second point second truck you see okay We are gonna make some money in this business It’s not you know because at first you’re dealing you know anytime you’re dealing up in a base basically a home service business You don’t have any one customer that pays you a lot of money So you know you make a huge investment you buy expensive equipment and your customer pays you 40 bucks a month You know so it takes time to build up, but then when you start to see
Seth Johnson (23:07)
Yeah.
Yeah.
Kevin Dinkel (23:28)
you know, you kind of get over the hump and you start saying, okay, well, yeah, we can make money doing this. So it really ⁓ makes you realize, okay, yeah, this was a good choice.
Seth Johnson (23:40)
Yeah, I agree with Kevin. I mean, that was kind of the biggest, you know, when you start us all hopes and dreams until rubber meets the road. And then once you realize, Hey, I’m, you know, I’m on the right track. And that’s the other good thing about corporate to me is they help you follow that. Like they’re gauging your progress, probably more so than you are. Like they give you reports and they tell you, Hey, this is how you’re doing this month. And this is how you’re doing this year, which are things I would
probably not gauge because I’m involved in the day to day. So yeah, those are big milestones for me just knowing, my first 100 customers was a big deal to me. I mean, when you hit 400, you’re like, hey, I’m doing something else.
Allison Dudas (24:24)
Yeah, it’s really exciting and it’s, I’m sure, fun to be able to measure it in tangible points like that. 400 customers, second truck, whatever it is. ⁓ So what would you say? So people watching this webinar might be considering investing in a franchise or investing specifically in a grassroots turf franchise. What would you say to them?
if they were worried about whether they could actually run this type of business, what would your response be if somebody said, I don’t know if I could do that, I don’t know anything about that.
Kevin Dinkel (25:02)
Okay, well I would say if you follow the plan, anybody can run a business. That if you follow the plan that the franchise puts to you. Now I don’t have a lot of experience with other franchises. I’ve looked at some other ones, but I would imagine they’re all fairly similar and they have the program. And if you follow the program, you should be successful.
And it’s to the franchise’s benefit that you are successful because they have to disclose. So if they have a failing franchise, it goes into the disclosure. that’s one of the beauties is ⁓ it’s as important for them for you to survive, ⁓ be successful it is for you.
Allison Dudas (25:28)
you
Seth Johnson (25:50)
Yeah, I agree. Like that’s how I feel about it. I feel like they have as much of a investment in it as I do because, you know, they’re successful enough that they’re selling franchises. Then, you know, if, if I’m going to invest my time and money, why would I not give them a hundred percent of my, you know, cooperation? You know, if I want to go off and start my own business, that would be one thing. But if I’m going to give you money and I’m going to invest time, then I feel like I should follow your rules and then really it.
I mean, you can’t fail really. It’s kind of a win-win all the way around.
Allison Dudas (26:25)
Mm, I love that. I love that. So last question for you both. What are you most excited about with regards to the future of grassroots turf?
Kevin Dinkel (26:38)
Well, I’m excited about all the systems that they’re adding to make it even more of a streamlined process. ⁓ I’m excited about the, ⁓ you know, I think, you know, the economy going through some of the ups and downs we’ve had that we’re, I think we’re on a good path. And I think that we’re geared to really see some growth this year in the next several years.
Seth Johnson (27:04)
Yeah, I agree. I feel like we’re in a spot that Josh has put grassroots in a spot where we’re, you know, we’re always trying to stay ahead of the game. And if AI or whatever technology comes in, we’re trying to implement it where we can to put us kind of ahead of everybody else where, you know, we’re kind of sitting out there ready for, know, whichever way it goes, we’re kind of set up to succeed either way.
Allison Dudas (27:33)
Well, I love that. think what came through the most for me is that you both really trust your franchisor, which I think is everything. And to feel like you trust corporate and that you feel like corporate really does have a vested interest in your success, which of course in any franchise system, that is true. Their success is intimately linked to yours.
Kevin Dinkel (27:52)
you
Allison Dudas (27:57)
And I just want to remind everybody that Grassroots Turf placed in the top 200 franchises for 2026. And we determine that data, we determine that ranking based on franchisee satisfaction data. So surveys completed by actual franchisees from franchises like Grassroots Turf. And no franchise brand can pay to be on these lists. They only get there because their franchisees rank them highly.
And as you can tell from grassroots, their franchisees feel pretty good about them. I want to thank Kevin and Seth so much for taking the time to talk to us about this franchise opportunity. Really appreciate your candor and I’m so grateful to have spoken with you. Thank you.
Kevin Dinkel (28:45)
Well, thank you.
Seth Johnson (28:45)
Thank you.
Allison Dudas (28:46)
All right, thanks, bye.
