Launching a New Business: Month 33 Update, Part 1
Three years of risk, losses, and lessons: How a new business is finally turning a corner.
One reason I started this newsletter was to chronicle Trinity Builder Solutions (TBS), a new business I launched in January 2023.
I started strong, with monthly update posts in months 0, 1, 2, and 3.
Then, a few months into 2023, I got t-boned by some very challenging things over at kitchen & bath CRATE. Due to time constraints (and a reluctance to want to update on a floundering new business), I switched to quarterly updates in quarter 2 and quarter 3.
Not long after, I killed this newsletter for all of 2024. Quite frankly, I was a shell of a man by the end of the year and had to "clear cut" anything I was doing that was unessential to survival. It wasn't good.
When I restarted this newsletter at the start of 2025, I got carried away with various other topics and realized this last week I never shared "the rest of the story" about how TBS turned out.
So, here is part 1 of an update on TBS, and next week I'll dive into the four lessons I've learned over the last 33 months. Be sure to subscribe to this newsletter so you don't miss part 2!
Let's bring you up to speed on TBS:
2023: The Beginning
TBS started in January 2023 with Brian, Aaron, and me.
We initially focused on stone countertops and backsplash for custom homes, commercial offices, and multi-family projects.
We had an aspiration of moving into commercial cabinets and even full-unit renovations for multi-family.
Aaron resigned in mid-2023, and after he left, as is so common, we found many a skeleton in the closet, so to speak.
In August 2023, we brought on Veronica, and she was (and is) amazing. Our bidding pace spiked due to her extraordinary efforts. She also helped us improve our rather dreary office environment.
We finished setting up Traction (EOS) for TBS by the end of 2023 as well.
We finished out 2023 with $289k in revenue, $12.9M rolling-12 total projects bid, and a loss of $249k. Not a terrible start, but certainly not too impressive for an entire year.
2024: Turbulence
2024 allowed us to glimpse TBS's potential, but it still fell way short of projected financial performance.
The interest rate spike in mid to late 2023 put many commercial projects on ice, and we felt that big time.
Q4 was quite lovely, generating $315k in revenue alone. This gave us our first opportunity to work on large-scale commercial projects, and we learned a ton.
We forged strong relationships with a handful of GCs and became their "go-to" stone subcontractor in many respects.
We finished out 2024 with $531k in revenue, $17.3M rolling-12 total projects bid, and a loss of $279k. If losing money was the business model, we were on track!
2025: Hitting Our Stride
2025 has been a tale of two halves. In the first half of the year, we generated $361k in revenue, compared to the $710k projected in the 2nd half.
We significantly increased our bid pace by incorporating offshore help into the estimating process. The offshore team extracts the applicable floor plans and elevations, dimensions them, and provides a quantity of each space, and our estimators take it from there.
We added tile to our services, hoping it will lead to greater success on smaller, more local projects that serve as a great infill between the large mobilizations.
Halfway through the year, we had to "break the emergency glass” and let Veronica go, splitting her responsibilities among Brian, me, and another team member.
We continue to invest in the business, adding a new Fastback Edge Polishing machine and a third installation truck, which will enable us to achieve a robust throughput in the fabrication shop starting in Q3.
The more rigorous bid pace paid off, and we have our highest forward-looking signed-contract revenue ($1.6M) in the history of the business.
We expect to finish 2025 with $1.07M in revenue, $26M+ rolling-12 total projects bid, and a near break-even year in terms of profitability. Progress is slow, but we've turned the corner.
Thanks for reading this post. I appreciate you. In return, please share this with those you know who may be interested.
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