Most people start a business to make money on day 1
I’m doing the exact opposite with my new towing business
I don’t care if the towing business breaks even or even loses a bit of money.
Why?
Because I’m looking at the bigger picture & building in phases:
Phase 1: Feed our stores 🍽️
Every broken car needs to get fixed somewhere.
The only goal is to get cars into our shops since it’s the quickest path to real profits.
We’ve got two main lead sources:
1) Motor clubs
2) Google Ads
We will track every call, cost, sale, and most importantly, whether we converted them into a repair customer.
My initial target: 30% of tows convert to repair customers.
Is that reasonable? No idea.
I’ll find out & keep you posted.
Phase 2: Systemize everything 📝
I’m treating this business like it’s a franchise from day one.
This means systemizing everything:
- Exact type of truck to buy
- Driver hiring process
- Training checklists
- Dispatch protocols
- Billing procedures
- Marketing playbook
I’m buying our 2nd truck in the next 3-4 weeks.
Then we’ll keep adding trucks as volume increases.
Once the systems are solid, we’ll open additional branches in Allentown and New Jersey before year-end.
Phase 3: Make it a cash cow 🐮
Next step: get on police rotations.
These are guaranteed calls 24/7.
Higher tickets plus storage fees, usually paid by insurance.
Getting on these rotations isn’t easy. You need:
- A fleet to meet response times
- Secured storage lot
- Spotless reputation
Since my shops don’t do bodywork, they won’t benefit from accident-related calls.
But that’s fine — these calls stand on their own financially.
Phase 4: Go big or go home! 🚀
The only thing more profitable than police work is heavy-duty towing.
Very few companies do it due to the high barrier to entry.
I’m fortunate to have the resources to buy these trucks.
This would become an entire business on its own with zero synergies to my repair shops.
I don’t know if that’s a path I want to go down — that’s a decision for another day.
Here’s what matters:
Build your business in phases.
Identify the goal for each phase and focus on that.
It would be stupid of me to focus on towing profitability from day 1.
That’d cause me to raise prices = fewer calls = less repair work in my shops.
I’d be tripping over dollars to pick up pennies.
Instead, I’m focused on overall profitability, which in my case means repair work.
Cheers!
Brian
P.S. Want my help in building your business?
Every week I host a live small group call within 8-Figure Franchisee. Owners hop on to strategize with me on deals, ideas, questions, challenges & more.
Reply “Call” if you’re serious about growing your business. I’ll send you the details.
