Trucking Experience Turns into Three Businesses

This client first came to the Center in March of 2000 seeking assistance on how to develop a business plan to take to the Economic Development Authority of Front Royal/Warren County. He was referred by the EDA and by several contacts with area banks. He wanted to turn a life time of trucking experience into a truck driving school. He needed guidance on how to proceed.

The Center first advised him to construct a cash flow projection in order to determine if his idea could return him enough to make it worth his effort. Once the feasibility was established he was guided through a business plan. This process covered the next three months. He successfully obtained financing from the EDA. He returned again in January of 2001 again seeking assistance on how to market his venture. As a result of his contact he came to realize marketing wasn’t the problem but access to financing for students to attend his school. The client again returned in July 2002 to seek additional funding to expand into a second business and to locate them at one location. Again the business plan was updated and cash flows were constructed. He was guided through the process of seeking funding through a commercial bank. He successfully started his second business of excavating in 2002. The client returned in November 2004 seeking assistance again in updating his business plan to return to the EDA for additional funding (he has paid off all other borrowings). This time he is supplying trucks and drivers to a local manufacturer for over-the-road hauling. He is buying several tractors from his cash flow and seeks funding for five more through the EDA funding.