Turned Down at 18, Now He Does Land Clearing in Three Counties | 4W Land Management

Payton Wilson got turned down for a skid steer loan at 18 years old. He cowboyed for the next ten years. Then a buddy called him about an $80,000 job on a Bitcoin mine, and Payton bid the job before he owned a single machine. That one job paid for the skid steer, the mulcher and the trailer inside the first week. Today Payton and his wife Katie run 4W Land Management Services across three Texas counties: land clearing, forestry mulching, excavation, demolition, drainage, pond builds, house pads and driveways. Twelve services on the website, and Payton explains exactly why that list keeps getting longer. He walks through the bidding system he built after underpricing a job by 30 percent, where he gives the customer a capped day range and eats the overage himself. He breaks down how a two culvert phone call turned into four acres of clearing, a demo, a house pad, and a one acre pond turned into a two and a half acre lake, all without moving his equipment off the property. He also talks about subbing out a pond job at cost just so he could watch a veteran operator work and learn how to build one right. Plus: why he calls his competitors instead of fighting them, what it actually takes to run a business with your spouse, and the advice he gives anyone who is six months out from buying their first machine. CHAPTERS 0:00 Meet Payton and Katie Wilson of 4W Land Management 1:22 Turned down for a skid steer loan at 18 2:56 The phone call that started the company 5:02 The first job was a Bitcoin mine 7:30 How he got job two and job three 9:34 Why word of mouth dries up on everybody 12:03 The job he had no business taking 14:33 How he bids jobs now so nobody loses 19:39 Knowing when a job is too big for you 21:19 Competitors who send each other work 25:42 Running the business with his wife Katie 38:09 Why 4W lists twelve services 39:56 Stacking services on one mobilization 41:56 Subbing out a job just to learn from a veteran 46:55 Why single service companies are getting stuck 48:32 How two culverts turned into a full site job 51:53 Cold calling real estate agents for work 55:26 Sales is really just conversation 58:54 What to say when they ask you to go cheaper 1:01:11 Advice before you buy your first machine 1:03:57 Set aside double what you think maintenance costs 1:07:52 Make sure you actually like the work CONNECT WITH PAYTON 4wlandmanagement.com GET THE BOOK Land It in the Dirt World, the marketing playbook for land clearing, excavation and demolition contractors. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0H6698DPX MORE FOR DIRT WORLD CONTRACTORS landclearinginsights.com If you got something out of this one, leave a review and subscribe so more contractors find the show. #landclearing #forestrymulching #excavation #demolition #contractorbusiness #dirtwork