Stop Buying Leads: How This Turf Business Scaled to Multi-7 Figures Using Relationships
Stop Buying Leads: How This Turf Business Scaled to Multi-7 Figures Using Relationships
Most home service businesses compete on price.
Connor Sweeney chose a different path.
Instead of mowing lawns or installing standard landscaping, Connor built Epic Turf Group around high-end recreational spaces: $50,000 putting greens, $100,000 golf simulator builds, custom basketball and pickleball courts, and specialty synthetic turf installations.
Today, his company operates across Michigan, Florida, and is expanding into Illinois through acquisition.
This is the story of how he built it, what it really takes to scale from $1 to $3 million, and the operational challenges of pushing toward $10 million.
Starting With a Niche and Letting It Evolve
Epic Turf didn’t begin as a multi-division operation.
It started as a side business building high-end golf greens.
Then customers began asking for more.
Lawns.
Courts.
Simulators.
Full backyard transformations.
Indoor training facilities.
Today, Epic Turf Group includes multiple divisions:
- Epic Golf Sims
- Epic Courts
- Epic Outdoor Services
- Epic Turf Care
- Epic Turf Supply
What began as a niche service evolved into a premium recreation-focused construction company.
The key was staying inside a specific world: high-end recreational spaces. That positioning allowed expansion without losing brand identity.
Selling to the Top 1 to 3 Percent
When your average project is $50,000 to $100,000, everything changes.
Your customers:
- Are affluent
- Have high expectations
- Demand communication
- Expect responsiveness
Connor admits one of their biggest competitive advantages is simple but rare: availability.
He answers texts at 9 or 10 at night.
He responds quickly.
He communicates constantly.
In construction, that alone sets you apart.
Many contractors operate in chaos. Deposits fund the previous job. Communication drops. Deadlines slip without explanation.
Connor’s philosophy is straightforward:
People understand problems.
They do not understand silence.
Clear communication builds trust. And in high-ticket service businesses, trust is the product.
The Chaos of $1 to $3 Million
The most honest part of Connor’s journey is how he describes the $1 to $3 million phase.
“Extreme chaos.”
At that size:
- The owner is still selling.
- The owner is still problem-solving.
- Systems are incomplete.
- Leadership layers are thin.
- Data tracking is inconsistent.
Growth often depends on hustle rather than infrastructure.
Moving from $3 million to $5 million and beyond requires a shift:
- Real scorecards
- Data integrity
- Defined KPIs
- Leadership roles
- Operational structure
The next phase is less about hustle and more about elevation. Elevating yourself out of day-to-day sales. Elevating leaders into ownership roles. Elevating systems into predictable growth engines.
That transition is hard. Especially when the founder is the primary sales engine.
The Premium Customer Experience Challenge
Connor faces a common scaling dilemma:
His responsiveness drives sales.
But it is not scalable.
He does not expect his team to answer texts at 10 p.m.
He does not want burnout.
He does want premium experience.
The solution is not working harder. It is systemizing service.
That includes:
- Clear expectation setting
- Defined communication windows
- Automation tools
- AI support
- Documented sales conversations
- SOPs derived from real customer interactions
One tactic discussed: recording sales calls and using AI to convert them into training materials.
Scaling premium service means codifying what currently lives in the founder’s head.
The Expansion Into Florida
Florida was originally a seasonal solution.
Michigan winters slow outdoor construction. Florida allowed the team to stay working year-round.
But the execution was messy.
Crews driving trucks and trailers across states.
Equipment parked in random lots.
No local structure.
Wide service areas across the entire state.
Connor calls it being “half pregnant in Florida.”
Eventually, he committed.
- Bought a house as a crew base
- Promoted a local lead foreman
- Narrowed the service territory
- Focused on relationship building
It has been expensive.
It has been slow.
It has required patience.
But long term, it creates geographic stability and strategic optionality.
Expansion is rarely smooth. It is usually capital intensive and emotionally uncomfortable.
The Missed Opportunity Most Service Businesses Ignore
One of Connor’s most revealing stories:
A past customer spent $100,000 on a golf simulator.
With someone else.
He did not know Epic Turf offered them.
That is not a marketing failure. It is a communication failure.
In service businesses, customers often do not know all the services you provide.
The solution is proactive engagement:
- Monthly email newsletters
- Seasonal content calendars
- Cross-selling campaigns
- Shoulder-season outreach calls
- Retargeting past customers
When customer acquisition costs are high, maximizing lifetime value is essential.
Epic Turf recently launched Epic Turf Care, a dedicated maintenance division. With hundreds of past installations, recurring revenue now becomes viable.
Growth is not always new leads. Sometimes it is reactivating existing relationships.
The Power of B2B Partnerships
A significant portion of Epic Turf’s growth comes from partnerships:
- Landscapers
- Hardscapers
- Landscape supply houses
- Contractors
Sometimes they subcontract.
Sometimes they refer for a percentage.
Sometimes they buy turf wholesale through Epic Turf Supply.
The synthetic turf niche creates natural collaboration.
Many landscapers can prep a base.
Few can seam and finish turf correctly.
That skill gap creates partnership opportunity.
In niche industries, education becomes marketing.
Connor describes feeling like an unpaid consultant most days.
But that education builds authority.
And authority builds referrals.
Lessons From a Premium Niche Builder
Connor’s journey highlights several principles for anyone building in a specialty service niche:
- Start narrow, expand intelligently.
- Communication is your unfair advantage.
- Chaos is normal at $1 to $3 million. Structure unlocks $5 million plus.
- Premium experience must be systemized to scale.
- Geographic expansion requires full commitment, not half measures.
- Existing customers are often your most underutilized growth channel.
- Partnerships can outperform paid ads in niche industries.
Most people want a niche.
Few want to do the education, communication, and operational complexity that comes with it.
Connor chose the hard path.
Now he is building a multi-market premium brand in a category most people did not even realize existed.
And the next chapter is scaling it from organized chaos to structured growth.
If you are building a niche service business, the real question is not whether demand exists.
It is whether you are willing to build the systems required to support it.