He Thought He Needed More Equipment to Grow — Selling It Made His Business More Profitable

Apply to join the Accelerator ➡️ https://bluecollarbusinessaccelerator.info/apply-336997 Check out our website ➡️ https://bluecollarbusinessaccelerator.com At 28 years old, Darren from Lent Excavating, Landscaping & Forestry has built a business doing roughly $300K–$350K a year after starting from scratch just four years ago. But his path to becoming a successful excavation, landscaping, tree, and boulder contractor was anything but straightforward. Darren started working on a dairy farm at just 13 years old, spent years job hopping, learned to operate heavy equipment, and eventually discovered his ability to sell while door knocking for a tree company. After years of working for other companies, Darren finally decided to bet on himself and start his own business. He quickly learned that owning equipment and knowing how to do the work doesn't automatically mean customers will show up. His first year brought in roughly $90K in revenue, but he only took home around $15K. He bought equipment he didn't need, took whatever work he could find, and spent thousands of dollars on lead services that produced little in return. Over the next few years, Darren figured out how to find better work, price jobs properly, generate his own leads, and build a more profitable business. Revenue grew from roughly $90K in year one, to $135K–$140K in year two, over $200K in year three, and more than $300K in year four. You’ll discover: - How Darren went from working on a dairy farm at 13 to running a $300K+ home service business - How door knocking taught him the sales skills that helped build his company - Why his first year generated $90K but only put about $15K in his pocket - The expensive lessons he learned from buying equipment before having the work to justify it - How he got into the boulder business and turned rocks into a major source of opportunity - Why spending thousands on Angi and other lead services was one of his biggest mistakes - How door knocking helped him generate a consistent flow of tree work - Creative ways to find leads through township meetings, auctions, sales barns, and estate sales - How Darren grew from $90K to $300K+ while remaining a lean operation - Why getting rid of unnecessary equipment actually made the business MORE profitable - The importance of working ON the business instead of constantly working IN it - What happened when Darren tipped over a 65-size excavator on a job site - The crazy customer story that involved a backpack blower, a sheriff, and a wealthy family - How a customer dispute eventually turned into a lawsuit - Why treating customers with respect and simply picking up the phone can have a massive impact Today, Darren runs a leaner, more profitable business focused on tree work, excavation, boulder walls, lot clearing, and agricultural work. His story is a raw look at what building a home service business actually looks like: bad jobs, slow seasons, bad investments, lawsuits, expensive lessons, and plenty of mistakes. But through all of it, Darren kept hustling, kept learning, and kept moving forward. As he says: block out the haters, do your homework, treat people right, and keep going.