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Graduated dead last…

Now he’s paid by the same school…

And built a business off word of mouth.

Christian Lefley finished 77th out of 77 in his class—and now does paid work for that same school district. This episode isn’t about motivation—it’s about what actually matters when you’re running a skid steer, answering nonstop calls, and figuring things out the hard way. From burying a rented excavator to turning down big jobs, this is real contractor life.

Takeaways:

✅ Dead last doesn’t mean dead end: School didn’t click—but business did

✅ Your punishment can turn into profit: What got him in trouble now pays him every year

✅ You don’t need perfect systems to start: Most of it is learned under pressure

✅ Missed calls = missed money: If you can’t respond, you’re losing jobs—simple

✅ Good work builds everything: Word of mouth still beats chasing leads

Why it Matters:

If you’re in excavation, skid steer work, or property maintenance, this shows you don’t need a perfect start—you need to execute and stick with it.

LINKS:

Try TULBOXX Free — First 5 estimates free, no credit card: www.tulboxx.com

➡️ Reach out to Christtian — Windwood Property Services: https://www.instagram.com/christian_lefley/

➡️ Shop Attachments — Skid Steer Nation: https://skidsteernation.com/

➡️ Contractor Marketing — Throttled Up: https://www.getthrottledup.com

Try TULBOXX Free — AI estimating & invoicing for contractors. First 5 estimates free, no credit card: www.tulboxx.com

Nicholas White grew up around excavation.

His father has been in the dirt business his entire life.

He waited until he was almost 40 to join him — and it took a vaccine mandate to finally make it happen.

Most guys in excavation started young. Nicholas took the long way around — machinist, CDL trucker, Coca-Cola driver, nuclear journeyman machinist at a US Navy shipyard, engineering technician. Then COVID hit, the shipyard issued the mandate, and the decision he'd been putting off for 25 years got made for him.

He bought a John Deere 200D, called his dad, and they built WPM Excavation in southern Maine from the ground up.

TAKEAWAYS:

✅ The Career Nobody Expected — Nuclear journeyman machinist. Engineering technician. COVID mandate. That's what it took to finally get Nicholas into the excavator full time.

✅ Working With Your Father — His dad is 70, still putting in 10-12 hour days, and owns four of the six excavators. The dynamic took years to get right.

✅ The Job He Should've Walked Away From — He tried to make bad materials work on a pond job. Customer was unhappy. Here's what he learned and what he does differently now.

✅ "I Trained My Competition" — The 17-year-old he hired, developed, and eventually lost to the GC across the street.

✅ Low Overhead as a Moat — In a saturated local market, keeping costs lean is the strategy that lets you outlast the guys who overborrowed.

LINKS:

Try TULBOXX Free — First 5 estimates free, no credit card: www.tulboxx.com

➡️ Follow Nicholas — WPM Excavation: www.wpmexcavation.com

➡️ Shop Attachments — Skid Steer Nation: https://skidsteernation.com/

➡️ Contractor Marketing — Throttled Up: https://www.getthrottledup.com

He lost $4K over one line of missing wording. Not bad work. Not bad equipment. Just one mistake in a contract.

Daniel jumped into excavation young with “$10K and a dream”… but commercial work hit him hard. One missed detail in a bid cost him thousands—and that was just the start. This episode is about what actually happens when you move into commercial site work: slow pay, tight margins, and contracts that can bury you if you’re not careful.

Takeaways:

✅ You’re not losing money on dirt, you’re losing it on wording. One missing “budgetary” note cost him $4,000. Contracts matter more than the machine.

✅ Commercial jobs don’t pay fast, plan for it. 45-day waits with $50K–$80K floating out there will choke you if you’re not ready.

✅ Your reputation gets you in, your paperwork keeps you alive. Word of mouth got him commercial jobs. Contracts almost took him out.

✅ Give customers 3 options and stop getting shopped. Good / Better / Best pricing helped him close more residential jobs without competing on price.

✅ Being a great operator won’t scale your business. The real test = can your company run without you? He calls it the “2-week test.”

Why it Matters: If you’re moving into commercial excavation or site work, this is the stuff that decides if you stay in business.

Links:

➡️ Visit DMS Excavation’s Facebook Page – Follow Daniel Snell’s excavation journey. https://www.facebook.com/dmsexcavation

➡️ Build your business with the right attachments. Shop Attachments at Skid Steer Nation: https://skidsteernation.com/

➡️ Marketing built for contractors. Marketing Help at Throttled Up: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://getthrottledup.com/