Austin Gray
@theownerop
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5,849
Following
540
Media
411
Statuses
4,716
Owner Operator at Bear Claw Land Services | 🎙️Host The Owner Operator Podcast | Write a weekly newsletter about building a local service business from startup
The Owner Operator Newsletter
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Pinned Tweet
Want to start a local service business?
I've used the same process to start multiple businesses
Different industries
2022 - land clearing
2023 - hot tub service
2024 - launching Power Wash
Get your first customer using the 7 steps in the Service Startup Playbook below👇
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1K
Starting a Tree Service Biz was the best decision I made in 2022
Starting a Hot Tub Service Biz was the 2nd best decision I made in 2022
Want to start your own service biz in 2023?
Get your first customer using the 7 steps in the Service Startup Playbook below👇
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we're consistently bombarded with content about creating the next $100mm company...
what's wrong with a small business that puts $250k in your pocket while still having your evenings and weekends for family, friends, and hobbies?
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Invested $18k in land clearing SEO last year
$1500 / mo
This $18k landed us a $275k project
Not to mention all the other $10 - $40k projects
My strategy?
1. Website
2. Google My Business
3. SEO
4. Answer the phone
5. Site walk within 24 hrs
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If you’re going to be an entrepreneur
Then be an entrepreneur
Burn all the bridges
Quit your job
Go all in
Don’t start your side hustle on your employer’s dime
You’re cheating your employer
And you’re cheating yourself
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The Owner Operator Podcast is launched on
@ApplePodcasts
&
@Spotify
🚀
This podcast is about starting local service business from the ground up
Give it a listen at the links below!
if you enjoy the content, a 5 star rating would be much appreciated!
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The 3 top performers in my business can generate $1mm / year
I pay them a combined salary of 100k / yr
Yes, combined
Names & annual salaries listed below 👇
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Annddddd this is the exact reason we moved full time to the mountains
Most ppl leave resort on Sunday after lunch to get back to Denver
While they’re sitting in traffic all afternoon
Resort is wide open 😜
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Rent a skid steer for $350 / day
Have the equipment rental business deliver your equipment to the job
Charge the $350 day rate, delivery fee, and 15% markup to your customer
Charge hourly rate to operate (we bill $85)
This is how you start
No need to overcomplicate
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35k to hire paint co?
No thanks
I’ll opt for:
4k - paint
$250 - sprayer rental
$15 - drop cloth
3 days of work
Save the extra ~30k
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Turns out there are a lot of capitalist, meat eating, elk hunters on this platform
Reason
#947
why I love X
Here are some herd bulls on my wall from years past
Comment your favorite hunting pics below👇
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4 person Land Clearing business model to generate $1mm a year 👇
Equipment
-Skid steer
-Masticating head
-Mini excavator
-Grapple
-Tracked chipper
Team
1 skid operator
1 mini ex / chipper operator
1 office admin
1 owner operator as GM / estimator
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Call me simple…
but here are my short term land clearing business goals
$1mm revenue
25% profit margin
5 star reviews
3 paid off machines
3 happy team members
Enjoyable day-to-day
Work outside in the summer
Ski powder days in winter
Currently enjoying the day 👍
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Who else elk hunts?
found a private property for $50k
easy drive from Denver
Borders thousands of acres good public land hunting
Only access to public land is through the HOA
No outside public access through the property
Small hunting Cabin already in place
DM if
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Everybody keeps asking me about getting fed jobs
You don’t want to be the general contractor
You want to be a sub for the general contractor
As a white male, it would be a waste of my time to compete against all of the women owned, veteran owned, or native American owned
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found out this week people on X like to hunt
Anyone else like to fish ?
Post your favorite fishing photos below 👇
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call me a crazy prepper if you want...
but i've been stocking up on "worst case scenario" survival items
I know election years are always weird
and realistically, everything will be fine
BUT
if worst case scenario were to happen (grid goes down)
I want a baseline of what I
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Baby boomer with $10mm yr excavation business
Started with a truck & rental excavator
Grew over 30+ yrs
Selling the business to retire
Millenial with loads of SBA debt, 16" Macbook Pro, no excavation experience
Buys that business
Where does this put us in 20 yrs?
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650k revenue
10 operating months
1 Owner Operator
1 Equipment Operator
1 General Labor
1 Office Manager
I’m just an average guy
Who had skid steer experience
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2.5 months since machine purchase
200 hrs used
$5k cost to own (YTD)
$1k repairs / maintenance
$80k revenue ✅
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Daughter is asleep for the night
Wife out of town
Cranking out 3 more grading estimates before bed
Busy season is upon us 👍👍👍
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Started Bear Claw Land Services about a month ago…
The amount of work we have now is blowing my mind
Seems like every job we do a neighbor stops by and asks if we can help them with their property
Moral of the story:
If you want to start a business, just start!
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BEST MORNING ROUTINE FOR OWNER OPERATORS👇👇👇
❌cold plunge
❌meditation
❌reading
✅Make coffee
✅Put boots on
✅Go to work
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1st land clearing job of the 2023 work season ✅
$12,000 tree removal / land clearing job
Breakdown of the job below
services, equipment, and labor 👇
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i love the hot tub service biz because it's immediate recurring revenue with opportunities for upsells
It's also a low startup cost model
I spent $1k on chemicals to get us going
Planning to contribute my personal truck to the LLC for 1st service truck
other expenses below:
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I will never ever live in a big city or metro area again
Life is 100x better in a small town
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how do you Rank
#1
on Google as a local service business?
just finished recording episode for The Owner Operator Podcast with
@irentdumpsters
Bodhi drops a TON of local SEO value!
Tells us the exact strategy he's used to rank
#1
on google map packs 👍
@ConnorShowler
also
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𝟭𝘀𝘁 𝗘𝘅𝗰𝗮𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝗣𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗮𝘀𝗲
Bobcat E-50
Why this model?
Strong enough to lift a whole lodgepole pine tree
Light enough to transport with a 8'x20' utility trailer
11.2k lbs
Nimble enough to maneuver between trees in the forest
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my pops is selling some of his RE portfolio in Texas so figured I'd put it out here in case anyone on here is interested
-200 unit self storage
-2 industrial buildings
-10 single family rentals
send me a DM if you want more info
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Rent a skid steer for $350 / day
Pay equipment rental business to deliver your equipment directly to the job
Charge $350 for equipment
Plus delivery fee
Add 15% markup
Then charge hourly rate to operate (we bill $85)
This is how you start
No need to overcomplicate
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Beats the hell outta sitting behind a desk!
Closed 2nd quote of the day 😜
Mobilizing for early start tmrw
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@SMB_Attorney
This is why people should focus on becoming great operators
The best opportunity exists in doing what others don’t want to do
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Boom! Just Booked another 5 acre land clearing job 😎
7.5 acres booked this week for next years schedule
Never gets old!!
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Most ppl want to buy a business
I wanted to buy enough heavy equipment to justify a 20 GPM diesel transfer tank
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New intro to recent followers:
I’m Austin 👋
We remove trees & brush from properties in exchange for $USD
Started with truck, trailer, and chainsaw July ‘22
$100k ✅
Next goal: $1mm
You don’t need to buy a biz when you can start one!
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i'm blown away again. we launched two weeks ago and are already at 32 tubs under management 👍
hats off to the Launch Kits team
@sparrowsites
for building a site that converts!
closed 2 new recurring clients just today w/ calls from the GMB / site
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I want to build a company that offers paid morning workout time from 7-8am with a team personal trainer
All team members who join get off at 4pm
Those who don’t have to work til 5pm
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Boom! Just landed a 1 mile county road grading project to kick off the year 🔥
Neighbor called and wants us to do gravel driveway too
LETS GO!
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3 things you should outsource ASAP when starting a business
1. Bookkeeping
2. Website management / SEO
3. Social media
You focus on:
Building the team
Delivering 5 star service
Sales / growth
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I can't help but launch new business 😜
𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲'𝘀 𝗺𝘆 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝘆 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗼𝗻𝗲:
1. Launch website
2. Launch GMB profile
3. SEO the site
4. Answer the phone
5. Fulfill first jobs with current crew
6. Get Reviews
7. Build the crew
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Path to generate 500k with local service startup👇
1. Start as Owner Operator doing EVERYTHING
2. Hire office manager to offload admin / back office ops
3. Hire general labor to offload unskilled field work
4. Hire field service manager to take over field ops
5. Focus on
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@sweatystartup
100% possible
did 650k revenue in 10 operating months
started with a truck & chainsaw
1st job was less that 1/2 mile from my house
80% of my business now comes from a 5 mile radius around my house
7 figures easy next year
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Submitted $2.2mm bid
Just found out we lost it by $100k
Dang it Bobby!
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Unpopular take
Delegate your marketing
Jump into the operations of your business
Most people on X are trying to do the opposite
If you stop trying to be like everyone else
The opportunity is ripe
Start by delegating website, Social media, and SEO to a pro
Pay them to
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Boom! cold calling is paying off 👍
Got another call back from a BIG custom home builder
site walk set for another grading project tmrw
said they have A LOT in the pipeline
let's goooo!
@KrissBergTweets
challenged me about a month ago and asked me...
"does every builder
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Cold Call to $7K+ Driveway Grading Project
here's how it went down this week 👇
Monday - called all local builders / developers
only goal to tell them what services we offer
asked front desk ladies for owner's phone / emails
left voicemails & sent emails
Tuesday - one
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🔥VIDEO AD TEMPLATE 🔥
Launched this video ad & converted a 70 acre land clearing lead within 24 hrs
5 key points:
1. Intro quick & straight to the point
“My name is Austin and I’m with Bear Claw”
2. Tell exactly what services you offer
“We do land clearing for fire
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Started working with a business coach today
My goal this year?
Double Bear Claw to $1.3mm this year
As a former athlete
I'm leaning into what has worked for me in the past
Be coachable by someone who has more experience than I do
"Study film" together on a regular basis
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@DenconMedia
Haha this is one of my biggest pet peeves
I can’t stand bud, buddy, pal, boss, or hoss
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1 hr stump grinding job breakdown:
$550 revenue (2 stumps @ $275)
- $185 (equipment rental)
- $15 (fuel)
= $350 gross profit
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4 machines
3 guys
This land clearing set up is incredibly efficient 👌
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3. Yard signs
Place these by the road at EVERY SINGLE job you complete
Neighbors will call you
This is a flywheel
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Pick up the phone
Call builders
Buy them lunch
Don’t underestimate cold calling!!!
Just had lunch with builder who has 12 foundations up for grabs 👍
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Happy Easter!
@irentdumpsters
joined me early this morning to share
THE LOCAL SEO STRATEGY he and
@andy_wlker
use to outrank competitors on Google
The SAME SEO STRATEGY they used to get MY BUSINESS TO
#1
ON GOOGLE
3 LOCAL SEO TIPS TO GET TO
#1
👇
1. How to optimize your
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You can start an excavation company like this:
Rent skid steer or mini ex
$350 / day
Bill hourly for operator labor and equipment
$165 / hr
$1,320 per day revenue
- $350 rental expense
- $105 fuel expense (3 gal / hr)
- $224 labor cost ($28/ hr)
$641 gross
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7th paying job ✅
$11k Land Clearing - (first 5 figure project with the business 🎉)
Had to dial in my estimating process for this one
Property was littered with dead trees
And recently hired 1st employee
How do you estimate your jobs?
here's how I was taught 👇
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20 acre land clearing project
9 field guys
6 pieces of equipment
1 office manager
1 team
1 goal
1 satisfied customer
This is the kinda stuff that gets me fired up 🔥
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1st fed job complete!
Week off to knock out some residential jobs
&
2nd fed job lined up to start on 23rd👍
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There is a lack of sub contractors in millennial & Gen Z
GC’s are looking for great subs
Commit to being a great business
Call GC’s
Tell them what you offer
Opportunities are out there!!
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First episode for The Owner Operator Podcast is recorded 👍
What’s the podcast about??
BUILDING LOCAL SERVICE BUSINESSES FROM THE GROUND UP
I will share my thoughts, learnings, values, and philosophies from the path of building my land services business from scratch
AND I’m
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Would you spend $18k to get $275k in return?
SEO is an investment
If committed to, can reap big rewards
We spent $18k on SEO last year ($1500/ mo)
One website lead generated $275k rev
Not to mention all the other 10-30k projects we get from the site
Moral of the story
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$212,000 From Pressure Washing As A 23 Year Old Owner Operator
Recorded 1st interview episode of The Owner Operator Podcast with
@jmventurelog
today
Wanted Julius on as 1st interview guest
Why?
His mindset
Sophomore in college
Never ran a business before
Working hourly
Reviews = Customers
The more reviews you have
The more organic calls you will get.
One thing I never took into account is the timing of when you send your review link
@theownerop
dropped some gold on me about how he's boosted his review conversions which I will be
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𝟯𝗿𝗱 𝗽𝗮𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗷𝗼𝗯 ✅
$4,500
1st actual land clearing job
i kid you not
when i was loading equipment
at the 2nd job
i got a call...
I remember exactly where I was
And I'll never forget
What the guy on the other line said
details below:
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It’s easy to share the wins here on X
Harder to share the neutrals or losses
Truth is, I’m tired this week
Hard to wake up
Sluggish
Worn out
Don’t want to workout
Not excited about the podcast
Questioning my business model
Dreading meetings
But I’ve been here
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15 acre federal land clearing project
9 guys
8 pieces of equipment
This one will be our biggest operational test of the year!
Couldn’t sleep this morning, Up at 3am
Ready to rock n’ roll!!!
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If I had to start over from scratch, 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲'𝘀 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗜'𝗱 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 $𝟮𝟯𝟴𝗸 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗶𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟰:
Start a local service business
Here's the step by step breakdown of exactly how I'd do it
(I'll be using land services as the model, but this process can apply to any
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Do Hard things
Eat Healthy food
Make new friends
No alcohol
Great event 👍
This retreat is great so far.
I’m excited about the future of this company and future retreats.
Phenomenal networking event.
Smart bros. Strong men.
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2
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50
15th paying job ✅
Recycled Asphalt / Gravel Driveway
Price: $4237
𝗘𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗽𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁:
Bobcat T66 Skid Steer
Smooth Roller Compactor
Dump Truck
𝗠𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗹:
Recycled Asphalt
3/4" Washed Rock
𝗖𝗿𝗲𝘄:
Yours Truly
Sub contracted trucker
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53
BUYING ANOTHER MACHINE!😁
Wiring funds for this Bandit Tracked Whole Tree Chipper
This thing is a Land clearing beast! 💪
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before getting in the land clearing business
I underestimated the time required to mobilize
don't forget to charge for it!
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The Owner Ops Podcast launching soon!
Episodes about
Starting & growing a local service business
Short form tactical episodes from me <10 mins
Long form interview episodes with other local service entrepreneurs
Will be announcing launch date this week
Stay tuned!
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Friend asked me for help with his website & rankings
Told him exactly who to hire to get to top of Google
He’s in Easy market to rank in
would have cost him $4-6k this year to get a pro site and out rank all his competition
Dude went with a local Wix guy for $500
🤦♂️🤦♂️🤦♂️🤦♂️
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2
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4 Components To Estimate Construction Bids
(This model was shared with me from a friend who owns 3 businesses in the trades)
$12mm painting co
$8mm drywall co
$7mm remodel co
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Biggest opportunity right now on X
THE Operator role
Everyone strives to be the visionary or silent investor
DO THE OPPOSITE
Get in the trenches
Become someone who can Operate a business profitably
Plenty of ppl on here looking to invest capital
Prove yourself as an
5
4
50
Just got another power washing lead for Colorado Power Wash
Sherwin-Williams looking to have all of their vehicles cleaned across all locations in Denver
This is why you optimize for local SEO
Doesn’t matter what business, what location, or what service
If you hire
10
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start a local service business
hang door hangers, flyers, and cold call
win jobs
track your expenses
outsource bookkeeping, website, & social media
hire part time office assistant for 4 hrs a day
recruit field crew leader
recruit general labor
support your team
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cold calling doesn't have to be hard
1. search google for your ideal customers
for me - these are GC's, builders, developers, etc.
2. click "call" on the phone number listed online
3. "hey my name is austin, just calling to let you know we offer xyz services in this area
9
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49
Has anyone tested a 4 / 10 schedule with field crews?
Four 10 hr workdays
Vs
Five 8 hr workdays
Curious to hear how this has played out for companies
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my pops is ready to retire & is selling his RE portfolio in Texas
-200 unit self storage (just finished construction)
-2 industrial buildings
-10 single family rentals
send DM if you want the google sheet w/ info
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Would there be interest in The Owner Operator Podcast?
I would plan to interview other entrepreneurs who have started local businesses from the ground up like
@jmventurelog
starting his pressure washing business
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First pull with the new flatbed 👌
Soooo much better already not putting tailgate up and down
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1
48
Local Services you can offer with a skid steer or mini excavator:
-land clearing
-excavation
-grading
-trenching
-hardscaping
-landscaping
-snow removal
-driveway construction
8
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46
0 to $1.3mm septic business in 7 months 😮
How ?
Brock picked a niche
Went ALL IN
Put his foot down as the “septic guy” In his area
Check out the latest episode on The Owner Operator Podcast
I host Brock Peel of Canadian Sanitation
1st episode of a 2 part series
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Hearing my daughter say “Amen” at the end of a prayer is one of the priceless moments of life
Praying with her before bed has become one of my favorite things to do as a father
12
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Gravel Driveway Grading Job from Cold Calling!
Called all the builders in our area 3 weeks ago
Met the builder on site same week
Wanted one of their driveways resurfaced post construction
Scheduled job for this week
Delivered 5 star quality
Now we’ve established a new
6
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46
Just bought brand new Stihl MS 500i for 25% off 🤪
$1,709 - retail
$1,281 - after discount
ALWAYS ask for a contractor discount when buying new equipment
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have been quoting Denver land clearing jobs remotely from Google Earth last couple weeks
i.e. skipping the site walk portion of my normal estimating process
win rates have gone WAY down
interesting point to take note of
needless to say, I am blocking off days for site
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@sweatystartup
give the boys a shovel
make them work manual labor outside for summer jobs
builds work ethic, mental toughness, and resilience
also helps them appreciate education and learning other ways to make money by working smarter as they get older
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if you're in the early days of starting a business
there WILL be a time where you enter the "dip"
you will want to quit
you'll question everything
you'll want to revert back to your old ways
I would encourage you to not make a rash decision to throw in the towel
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I’m biased but I think every first time entrepreneur should sell the jobs AND do the work
Gives you perspective on the inner workings of your business as you hire, delegate, and grow
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44
To be clear, this is backcountry style hunting
Sleep in a small bare bones cabin
Wood stove for heat
Wake up at 3am
Hike your ass off before daylight
Glass at first light
Hope to Find elk
Make an all day stalk
Maybe have a chance at an elk by evening
If you
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Without SMB Twitter I’d likely still be a solo operator in one machine
y’all have encouraged me to hire & delegate faster
I definitely couldn’t have built this boulder wall myself…
But recruiting new team members has opened us up to so many more opportunities!
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