63: Full-Time Firefighting While Building a Million-Dollar Business With Lance Korhorn

Do you feel like you don’t have the knowledge and experience to start your own business? Perhaps you're looking for a way to leverage your full-time job to find the right business opportunity? Or maybe you’re looking for ideas on how to create a grassroots marketing and branding effort without a lot of out-of-pocket costs? If so, this is the episode for you… Lance Korhorn—full-time firefighter and entrepreneur—walks us through how he was able to start Ladder 34, a business focused on recycling old fire hoses that were destined for the dump. Not only was he able to save tons of waste from the landfill, but he has recycled that “trash” into financial and philanthropic treasure. In this episode, Lance talks about how every fire hose is a story and how he has been able to build a business around preserving those stories—turning old hoses into belts, wallets, mats, and other items that delight customers and carry on the legacy of the lifesaving equipment. And not only is this a business supporting Lance and his family, but it's also supporting firehouses and firefighters around the country who are putting their lives on the line every day. Lance tells us how he came up with the idea for the business, how he struggled to create his first prototypes, and how he’s had to learn how to start, build, and grow a business every step of the way through trial and error. Make sure you listen to the end, where Lance reveals the power of storytelling, and how it’s helped grow Ladder $34 million-dollar business. Check him out, and subscribe to the BiggerPockets Business Podcast so you won’t miss our next show! In This Episode We Cover: How he built a store with a simple step-by-step process How he threw out products just to see how they're received How he built his team and started outsourcing advertising How he gets 80-90% profit on many products How to work with family members How they financed their business How he segments his time And SO much more! Links from the Show BiggerPockets Shopify Check the full show notes here: http://biggerpockets.com/bizshow63 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices