Trying to scale your business, but still getting pulled back into the field?

This is what the Messy Middle looks like when the business has grown, but the owner is still the one customers, crews, and employees rely on to keep the work moving. The company may have demand, people, and opportunity, but growth gets limited when the owner is still the one selling, running production, training people, and solving the day-to-day problems.

In this episode of Self-Made Is a Myth, Coach Tim Campsall sits down with Crystal and Krista from Dynamic Landscaping and Lawn & Turf Landscaping. Their companies provide residential landscaping, commercial maintenance, lawn care, irrigation, design-build services, and snow services in Indiana.

Earlier in the business, Crystal was in the field working with crews because she believed she was the only one who could sell and run production. Krista was also staying too close administratively because she felt she had to be beside people instead of giving them room to do the work. Because of that, the business could only run one or two jobs at a time when it could have been running more.

They realized they were the bottleneck and started changing how they trained and delegated. They made training videos, documented work with pictures, gave people more room to learn, and began teaching team members to train the next person instead of staying stuck in one role themselves.

Today, Crystal and Krista are still working through the next version of that same challenge. Crystal is getting pulled back into flowers because someone had not been fully trained to own that work, while Krista is focused on building systems, numbers, and accountability so the team can follow a clear process instead of relying on what only the owners know.

This is what the Messy Middle looks like when the business is ready to grow, but the owners have to slow down long enough to train people, build systems, and get the work out of their heads so the team can carry more of it.

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What You’ll Learn:
• Why owners get pulled back into the field when no one else is trained
• How being the only person who can sell and run production limits growth
• Why hiring people without systems can pull owners back into the day-to-day
• How training videos and documentation help the next person learn faster
• Why growing leaders becomes the owner’s real work in the Messy Middle

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Timestamps:

00:00 Getting pulled back into the day-to-day
00:51 Being the only one who could sell and run production
02:28 Realizing the owners were the bottleneck
02:47 Using training videos to expand capacity
08:12 Getting pulled back into flowers and operations
09:50 Hiring people before systems were ready
12:55 Needing numbers to get out of the field
19:12 Staying stuck at $3 million for three years

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Crystal Knafel is a growth-focused entrepreneur and co-owner of Dynamic Landscaping and Lawn & Turf Landscaping. She specializes in building strong teams, scalable systems, and culture-driven companies throughout the landscaping industry. Known for her visionary mindset and high standards, she is focused on creating a Midwest landscaping platform that develops people, delivers exceptional service, and builds long-term enterprise value through accountability, teamwork, and continuous improvement.

Krista Bontrager is the integrator and co-owner. She brings structure, clarity, and organization to the day-to-day operations of both companies. She has a talent for taking what feels complex and making it simple, sustainable, and clear. Her leadership ensures that as the companies scale for growth, it carries alignment, accountability, and strong internal systems.

#MessyMiddle #ScalingBusiness #LandscapingBusiness