Cal Poly Entrepreneurs: A Lesson in Bootstrapping from Meathead Movers

Meathead Movers-A lesson in bootstrapping
By Tom Squire
April 9, 2011

A few Cal Poly Entrepreneurs Help Out Meathead Movers with Business Strategy

CalPolyEntrepreneurs.com – Aaron Steed, founded Meathead Movers with his brother Evan when they were still in high school.  Pretty impressive if you ask me.  They bootstrapped the business from the ground up and now is revolutionizing the moving industry.

The business model they used when founding the company was what struck me as most impressive and creative. Aaron and his brother, still being in high school, had restrictions that would prevent normal people from starting a moving business.  However, they used these road blocks to their advantage.

A moving company requires a truck and workers.  Aaron and Evan had the workers (themselves) but could not rent a truck because of their age.  Their solution: have the customer rent the U-Haul.  They would then pack up the house, load the truck, and unload it at the new house, all without stepping on anybody’s toes.

You might be asking yourself how they were so successful.  First off, they strived to differentiate themselves as customer service oriented and still pride themselves on this facet of their business.  To start, they would ask to be paid only what the customer thought they were worth.  The positive word of mouth and ruthless guerilla marketing is what gave them credibility to get more and more business.  Eventually they started setting prices, secured a loan from the bank, and have now grown into a wildly successful moving company.

Also they worked harder than anybody else.  If you want to be successful you have to work hard.  Below are a few tips from Aaron that I picked up from his presentation at our meeting on 4/5.

— Ask for forgiveness, not permission.
— Be prepared to outwork anyone.  You are betting on yourself.
— Find a mentor to help you define your goal and help get you there.
— Use your youth as an advantage- older people want to help younger people, who want to help themselves.
— Don’t Expect others to do what you won’t.
— Under promise, over deliver.

For more about the story of how Aaron and Evan got started, check out their story.  Right now Aaron and Evan are working on expanding their business by licensing their software and proven methods for success to collegiate entrepreneurs around the country who want to start their own moving company.