How I Took a Coating Business from $85K to $1M in 39 Months (And Why You’re Still Spinning Your Wheels)
On July 15, 2001, I bought a Yellow Oval franchise in Winnipeg. We were spraying bedliners in the back of a 2-bay shop that smelled like solvent and dreams. The guy who sold it to me said, “It’s turnkey.”
Yeah… turn the key and the equipment coughed to life. But the customers? Nowhere to be seen.
The year I bought it, it had just cleared about $85,000 in revenue. That’s not a business—that’s a stressful hobby with rent. I can see why he wanted to sell it...
I had all the tools, the training, the truck templates—and yet, I was stuck.
Spinning tires on ice. (Winnipeg remember? Lots of ice)
Why? Because nobody knew we existed. And the few that did? They didn’t trust us with their rigs and the dealers didn't trust us with their reputation.
And that, is where most applicators get caught: they think great service will get them great business.
It won’t.
The Real Problem: You Can’t Sell a Secret
In those first 24 months, I tried it all: newspaper ads, Yellow Pages, radio spots between farm reports. It was all noise.
I was working harder than ever - 16 to 18 hours a day - but there was no pull in the market. Customers weren’t coming to me—I was chasing them like a broke telemarketer.
And here’s the gut-punch: even the guys doing worse work were busier than us. Why? Because they were telling better stories in more places. They showed up where the customer was looking. I wasn’t.
The Solution: Get Found. Get Trusted. Get Booked.
Once I stopped blaming the "stupid customers and dealership sales managers" and started learning how to market, things flipped.
I figured out how to:
- Attract the right people before they were ready to buy,
- Build trust so they saw us as the no-brainer choice,
- And stay top-of-mind without burning out or begging.
Because I had little to no money, I had to create what I now call organic marketing—the kind that keeps working even when you’re sleeping or spraying.
And it’s part of the exact same system we now teach through Route Cause.
The 4-Part Plan That Took Us to $1M+
1. Trust Is Your Real Currency
People don’t buy from who’s best. They buy from who they trust the most. So we flooded the zone with proof—photos, videos, stories, testimonials, even the screw-ups (and how we fixed them). We stopped hiding and started showing.
2. Content Shows Proof
I started writing and talking and creating videos about what we actually did. We’d show the rusting rockers on a snowplow truck, or a failed DIY job we had to respray. This kind of content not only educated—it demonstrated value without being salesy.
3. SEO for Local Domination
We optimized everything. Our website, Google listing, even forum signatures (yep, those were a thing). If someone in Winnipeg typed “truck liner,” they found us.
4. Social Media = Relationships at Scale
We posted our wins, our weird jobs (like coating a urinal—yes, really), and our people. Customers started tagging us. Friends of friends showed up. We weren’t just a shop—we became a story.
The Turning Point: From Stuck to Scaling
I remember the day it clicked. We had a week where 19 jobs came in—without a single outbound call.
That was 15 months after I stopped “trying” marketing and actually deployed a real strategy. From that moment, revenue shot up like a polyurea rocket—10X growth in just over 3 years.
But let me be real: those first 24 months? Brutal. I almost gave up twice. I was grinding 16-hour days and still watching cheaper guys get better traffic. The market didn’t care that I was “better”—it cared that I was invisible.
Here’s the Truth: You Can Do This Yourself... For a While
If you’re cash-strapped, DIY is the only way. I get it. Been there. Shoot, I built there.
But once the gears start turning and money starts flowing, reinvesting in someone who’s been through the fire will shave years off your learning curve. Not months—years.
You don’t need a “guru.” You need a guide who’s sprayed the same mess and figured it out the hard way. That’s what I do now through Route Cause, and it’s why I still get fired up about helping guys like us.
So… You In?
Start simple:
Post that photo (or better yet a video) of your last job.
Write the story behind it.
Show up where your customer hangs out.
Do it consistently, and you’ll become the only name they remember.
Then when you’re ready to accelerate—let’s talk.
You’ve got the gear. You’ve got the grit.
Now let’s make sure the world knows it.
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