About Me

The LTL Newsletter

I spent 6 years turning an idea into a 7-figure company. Two years loosing control of it before exiting to my partner and closing my branch. Now, I'm building again with the wisdom from those failures and sharing them with you.

 

 

This is me in 2018

Dustin and Robert holding up the company banner at the first opening of the new 1023 diesel location

The Brief Story

At 23 years old I started 1023 Diesel. It was my second attempt at turning my [truck] hobby into a viable business. This time was different, because the market asked for what I sold and I had a partner.

I moved my "office" from my bedroom to my partners garage and we launched this thing.

My partner built the repair branch, and I built the eCommerce branch.

The timeline(ish):

  • Year 1 We broke $1,000,000 in revenue (Both branches)
  • Year 2 We broke $2,000,000 in revenue (Both both branches)
  • Year 3-4 My eCommerce branch alone did 2-2.5 million/year
  • Year 5 I lost focus and didn't know how to fix all the problems
  • Year 6 Year 4-5's unsolved problems caused a 50% drop in revenue
  • Year 7 Closed eCom branch, and exited. (The repair branch was still growing)

This newsletter and podcast is my way of documenting the lessons learned. I write it for me, but if you are an entrepreneur, it may just help you too.