Starting and Growing a Business From Nothing - Part 1

Why would anyone trust me?

In 2000, I left the U.S. Army and got a dream job. I became a mortgage loan officer. When I say dream, I mean I was a 20 year old kid making 10 and 15k PER MONTH, until the company I worked for was investigated for predatory lending (so I heard after I went to work one day to find the doors shuttered and nobody else there). The short story is, I didn't have a job anymore.

So, in 2002 I started my first business, Dube's Painting, with what little money I had left after spending myself into a lifestyle that I could not afford after a short 4 months without any real income. I had no idea what I was doing but I figured out how to register an LLC with the federal government, snag a local business license, and use a phone to pick up clients for my painting company. I did the work...as in all of it in the beginning.

Fast forward a few years and the company still existed but had grown to several facets and became a Dube's General Contracting. It had several employees and spanned two states. We did plumbing, framing, roofing, painting, and more. I worked ALL the time although the company was a resounding success. I didn't yet trust delegation as I was still young and a little scared to give up any control. I sold it in pieces because I didn't enjoy life. I learned HOW to run and grow a business but wouldn't let go of the reigns for a second. Side Note: I really wish I still had some of my cheesy radio and print ads. They were so awful but they worked. I was locally famous in much of Kansas and Nebraska for a spell because my face was EVERYWHERE. (I do NOT recommend this unless you LOVE paying for other peoples drinks at your very small town bar).

For a time, I took a few jobs in management to level up my experience using someone else's prebuilt training. It helped. I indulgently went to every training I could volunteer for as I learned the art of delegation. My last management job during these years went so well because I cloned myself several times over using a stream of never ending training for up and coming future managers allowing me to work so little the company barely noticed I was running 2 of their stores to everyone else's one. Sometimes, helping at a third because I was simply bored. The key here is I learned how to delegate and train others like my life depended on it.

In 2008 I started a used motorcycle parts company on eBay called JD Cycle Parts. I started that with my sons help, investing a whole 800 bucks. I didn't register it as a company until it grew out of a shed that housed the first few motorcycles worth of parts. Fast forward a year and the company housed 250k in parts and a service shop was born out of it. These were separate companies but were so well related, the shop often did work for the parts warehouse and the warehouse was ideal access to parts for the shop. We had a 4k sq ft warehouse and a 1400 sq ft shop just down the road. It was sold, again in pieces for similar reasons and life went on. I still have the old eBay account with a 2644 rating after selling 426k in motorcycle parts. Look it up chameleon5rc, I can explain the name later.

Again, I took some time to learn from someone bigger taking several different management jobs to learn over several years.

I noticed something. These people had systems in place that put a check mark on each box of business understanding. I hadn't done that yet. I was learning but just wasn't there yet.

I then opened a new fad...an escape game. This was the biggest ever initial investment I had ever started a business with, 13k. Within MONTHS this thing was viable and it went on for several years building a long list of success stories building game after game which led to facebook likes, engagement, backlinks online, etc. I made a huge mistake and moved it as I tried to expand into other non escape game entertainment sectors and discovered a tough road. I closed it having never rebuilt the escape games after moving. I STILL TO THIS DAY get phone calls about Exit Tactics, the Facebook page, GMB page, and many others still exist and it still has several thousand likes and great reviews everywhere. We even had a viral video commercial online. Frankly, it was a blast I would never change. I learned how to be an executive of a business rather than an employee and worked a paltry 20 hours per week for much of it.

I moved on and spent another year or so in management. I then dabbled in real estate for another year flipping houses, running airbnb's, and learning all about commercial and multi-family investing. I mistakenly thought the real estate bubble was coming and jumped ship. I have some regret but I can't change history and life lessons are not learned without mistakes.

What I did next was right up my alley. A friend was talking to me about expanding her cleaning company. I suggested we start a new one instead and so Done Right LLC was born, although we do business as CleanIt LLC. This thing was different. It was NOT my previous three moderate success stories. It was never meant to be an overnight success but instead we focused on building impenetrable SYSTEMS that would allow scale. Scale is something I had never attempted but with all my mistakes and pitfalls behind me, this thing was bound to be a winner. I knew how to run a company on the day to day, how to delegate, and how to be the executive. We jumped out of the gate swinging. We started this company with EXACTLY 1000 dollars and within months had already seen 10s of thousands in revenue. It is still growing today. It currently spans three states and operates in 5 cities with a new one waiting on a local license and some online "seal of approvals" to get a head start on advertising.

That is what I am going to spend the next month or so talking about everyday. Think of this as my personal blog about how I came to understand business. My experience taught me how to do everything legally with local, county, state, and federal governments. What it means to run a business under different company formations. Loss prevention, hiring, how to cashflow a business that has NO money to spend and simply must work IMMEDIATELY or fail. I spent 18 YEARS teaching myself how to scale a company without even knowing that's what I was doing. I would like to help other people do the same thing with as little money as possible.

Someone once said to me "you can start an airline if you are willing to start first by selling peanuts from a cart at the airport". I never forgot it. I live it.

#family and #friends still mean far more to me than #money and #success, but those latter things help me enjoy the former that much more. Remember, it is much harder to help more people with fewer resources. I want the legacy I leave my children to be a desire for betterment, not only for themselves but for others. Fulfillment is the ultimate goal. A path in #entrepeneurship is a lifestyle not for the faint of heart but is something you can leave in the hearts of your children and their children.

The friendships I have made over the years, as I watch some of you grow, even right here online have been invaluable to me. I hope this adds value to someone out there. I love you all so much.

-Justin