Hi All! Just wanted to update and wrap up my long saga on here for everyone. I know it's a lot to read through, but if you're in the position I was a few months ago, wondering if this is all possible, I hope you can find a little motivation in this to give it a try. - April 10th I took possession of my new CAT 275xe. I finally got out of the dealer at around Noon and drove straight to my first job. Risky not having ran it before, but you gotta learn somehow! - spent almost every week day in the machine on jobs up until today trying to get caught up on all the work I booked before even having the machine (thanks to facebook ads) - have just a couple jobs left with paid deposits, finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. - grabbed some good before/after pics and vids to start creating new content for updating socials and new ads - 5 5-Star Reviews achieved on new Google Business Profile and counting Since April 10th, I have completed and received payment on $23,875 worth of work with an average job ticket of $3,410. The rest of this week and next week will be spent finishing up the final 2 jobs with deposits which will be for $9,875 worth of work. I hope someone gets a little value out of all this to see what is possible. A month ago, I was working a $90k a year W2 behind a computer all day. Miserable. Now, I'm in woods all day tearing things up and enjoying life so much more and making a great living. While I don't plan to run this wide open all the time, it is nice to see what is possible if you truly wanted to grind away and make hay when you can. Just don't get burned out! I am posting before/after vids of one of my favorite jobs I completed on a random Tuesday, and the rewarding joy you can bring with this work. I did this job for a couple who had inherited this property from a passing parent. They wanted to build their retirement home on this property. Both husband and wife were in tears after seeing the finished property (in a good way!) He said "I haven't been able to walk this property like this since I was a 6 year old boy. If it was Friday, I'd pack the kids and tent up and we'd camp out here all weekend."

I have a current ad set that just started with FB. I tried to set it up as close to Austin's guidelines as I could. I currently have Zapier set up to alert me via text when a new FB lead comes in. Hopefully I have that set up correctly. Lets see how this goes!

Just wanted to stop in with a quick update from this last rant... - As of 3/21, I am now a Licensed Class A CDL driver! - Have $28.6k worth of work quoted for month of April - Have deposits placed on $22k of the $28.6k - Submitted my two week notice at my W-2 job. - patiently awaiting the arrival of my HM-60DR Mulcher (CAT 275xe LM2 is ready at dealer) So hungry and ready to get my company off the ground and rolling. I appreciate everything this group has given me to get to this point. Wouldn't be here without all the words of wisdom from Austin and the group! POSTED 13 Days Ago: What they say is true, you can just do things. BUT! You can just do things a whole lot easier with the advice that Austin has given us. Let me explain with a quick timeline of events for myself and my company: January 2026: Signed with a recommended marketing company from a trusted family member. They built a nice website, Google Business Profile, as well as some other small things for SEO, nothing major. February 2026: Website launched, started some cold outreach to test the market. Started with some simple facebook business posts and $5-20 a day ads (I've never had social media so this was intimidating). Leads started to trickle in and started doing my first few site visits. Also ordered some nice shirts, hats, business cards and began getting the word out for my company. End of the month, I acquired a ram 4500, 25k gooseneck, and began CDL practice. March 2026: CDL training complete, 10 quotes out, 5 jobs with deposits placed, and more leads coming in. Finishing up CDL training in preparation for the arrival of my new CAT 275xe lm2 and Shearex mulcher head first week of April. April 2026 Plan: Execute jobs that are in the queue with 5 star service and start working for those 5 star reviews. Build momentum, and knock 2026 out of the park. Long story short, in just a few months, I got the LLC started, begun grinding for brand recognition in my area, found demand, started visiting and quoting jobs, and already have enough work booked to have a profitable launch, all before the machine has even arrived.

@Chris Leeck asked about apps here’s the simple stack I’d use if I had to start over tomorrow. 1. The Brain: Claude (AI) Claude is what I’m building all my AI agents with. It’s running a huge chunk of my business right now. - Writes and codes - Pulls data from Jobber + GoHighLevel - Builds reports and dashboards - Runs daily / weekly checklists - Helps run our marketing team You can get started for ~20–30 bucks a month, and there’s a beefier plan (the one I use) that can handle code, spreadsheets, and more. If you want a deeper breakdown of how I’ve wired Claude into Bear Claw + OWNR OPS, comment CLAUDE below and drop your questions. I’ll build this week’s live stream around it. 2. The Must-Have App: Jobber Jobber is what we use for: - Quoting - Scheduling - Invoicing - Time tracking (we sync timesheets into Gusto for payroll) I’ve used it since day one at Bear Claw. It’s the app I recommend if you’re not “techy” and your crew isn’t either. - Way simpler than trying to run everything in GoHighLevel - Way easier to train field guys on - Handles the ops side so you can focus on selling and doing the work If you want to grab it using my link you can get a free trial & discount code here: go.getjobber.com/ownrops At the time I recorded this, Jobber was running a 40% off promo (depending on when you view it, it could be already back down to 20% — I don't have any say when they run/change these promos fyi) Check that link for whatever their current deal is and take advantage if it’s live. 3. The Rest Of The Stack (Nice-To-Haves) - GoHighLevel / OWNR OPS snapshot – Marketing, leads, and automation. - OnX – Mapping and acreage estimation. - Zapier – Glue between everything (FB → text to your phone, Jobber ↔ GoHighLevel, etc.). - Gusto – Payroll + benefits (syncs with Jobber timesheets). - Google Workspace – Gmail, Drive, Docs, Sheets, quick video edits, plus Google’s AI (Gemini)

I'm looking to optimize my lead generation campaigns. For those running ads on Facebook and Google, what specific qualifying questions have you found most effective on your lead forms?"