Hello
Don't mind the Christmas Tree in the background, I'm not smart enough to edit it out, and I haven't got any fancy professional photos done. But, This is me, Stephen Shaw, in my most recent form. (slightly out of shape from too many snacks.)
My Story
My Entrepreneurial Journey Began When I Was Fired From A Job…
I couldn’t even say goodbye to my co-workers, I was escorted right out of the door… But let me start from the beginning.
I was working for a telecommunication company and had been there for about 7 years. I moved around within the company to different departments and ended up in the business sales department.
I was feeling unfulfilled and knew climbing the corporate ladder wasn’t for me. For a long time I wanted to start my own business so I could have full control of my life, and make more money.
But I didn’t know what I could do or how I would do it. I didn't have any other skills other than some time in college for an IT computer class I didn’t even graduate from.
I had friends and friends of friends that were driving brand new ¾ and 1 ton trucks. I have always dreamed of owning a brand new Ram 3500.
So I looked at what they were doing and one of them was running a landscaping business. “That’s it!” I thought.
I figured I would just start by mowing lawns and figure out all the landscaping construction stuff later. So I started thinking up business names, learning different mowing techniques.
But I never made the jump from the corporate job to running my own business. I always had that nagging thought in the back of my head “what if I fail?”
Until one day, I was sitting in my cubicle working and the vice president asked me to come into his office. “Sure” I said as I got up and followed him to his office.
My termination of employment letter
Sitting in his office was someone from the HR department, she was very nervous.
As I sat down at the table with the vice president and the woman with HR, she started reading my termination of employment paper with a tremble in her voice.
When she was done talking, the VP went back to my desk and got my things, then escorted me out of the door.
So there I was standing outside of the door. I was shocked, confused, maybe even a little hurt.
I remember the drive home feeling so long. “How could they just fire me after working for them for so long?” I thought.
Turns out, all they have to do is a bit of “restructuring” and you’re gone.
After a few days of processing what happened and trying to figure out what I should do next, I decided that this would be the perfect time to start my own landscaping business like I had wanted.
So there I was, running my new landscaping business with no skills in landscape construction, and no skills in running a business.
The only thing I knew how to do was mow lawns, and I just learned the landscaping construction side of things as I was going.
A few years have passed... Although I was keeping busy and moving on to bigger landscaping jobs, I was broke.
I can remember at one point being so stressed about money, my house mortgage was due and I didn’t know how I was going to pay it.
I ended up in the hallway of my house on my knees in tears...
this is a new low for me, I felt like a complete failure.
I was ready to throw in the towel and that winter, I got a job as a car salesperson.
Over the next 6 months I spent selling cars and was able to put some money back in my bank account.
I met some great people, but by the time spring rolled around, I was done working for someone else.
After being an entrepreneur for a few years, it was really hard to go back to working for someone else.
So that spring, I quit my job as a car salesman, and got back to doing landscaping.
A picture of me when I was selling cars, you can see the people in the background who I just sold a car to
I became obsessed... I starting reading as many books as I could about business.
I starting following very successful business people on social media and listening to everything they had to say.
I took some business courses and I got coaching from people.
This changed my company completely.
After years of struggling, I was finally able to have success with my landscaping business and I didn't have to worry about money anymore.
My business started to grow, I was able to buy trucks, trailers, excavators, equipment, and I made my dreams into a reality.
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After running my own contracting business for close to a decade, I decided I wanted to help other contractors who may be experiencing problems like I have. So I started Contractor Academy.
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