"Gee, Timmy you have a CAD background, have been around civil site construction the last few years and keep talking about wanting to start a business. This GPS technology has taken over our industry and there is no one to lean on right now to build the models and support this." - Scott Miller, General Manager, Scott Lawn Yard
Terratek started with $1,000 and a laptop, but the journey begins a bit further than that. I went to SUNY at Buffalo, graduating with a civil engineering degree in 2013. I then took internships, working with the State Parks Department, Singleton Construction, and the aforementioned Scott Lawn Yard in the Buffalo/Niagara region. Scott not only gave me the idea, but was nice enough to let me work for him in house for a couple years while I went on to make an enormous amount of mistakes as I attempted to master this niche technology. By 2017 while I would not say I quite had it mastered, it was finally time for me to spread my wings, my passion to get it going was too much to wait any longer. There I was at a folding table in my cold Florida room with a laptop and $1000 in my business bank account with one client. I had to keep telling myself three words that became my mantra in those early days, and something I still carry with me today: LET'S F****** GO.
My initial sales push was just hitting the pavement. I met with local dealers of GPS equipment as well as joining the local construction exchange to be able to reach out directly to site contractors on a job specific basis. I offered low prices and an un-paralleled dedication to each job and I was able to get about 10 clients in my first year. From there, all of my growth to my current roster of about 80 clients has been completely based on word of mouth.
When I first started the company I was just trying to be self-employed; not a business owner. There is a huge difference there. As soon as employees enter the mix you become a company and the entire dynamic changes. I was resistant at first but after hiring my first full time employee, Jake I quickly learned how rewarding it was to share this with other people and create a culture that was derived from those first the words. LET'S F****** GO. As time has gone on we have put more and more focus on bringing a moral compass to the way we treat each other, and the way we treat our clients.
After six years of 80-100 hour weeks and completely entrenching myself in this small corner of the world of GPS Modeling I have realized that there is a very defined path for Terratek. Not to just provide the service of building models, but using those models combined with high tech data collection techniques such as Drone Mounted LiDAR to harvest the 3D of what we are supposed to build compared to what exists today. That data can be used for cut/fill analysis, quantity based payment tracking, and production analysis. Not only do we want to provide these services, but we want to be able to train and develop in house processes for our clients.
Comments