We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Josh Perry a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Josh thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Almost all entrepreneurs have had to decide whether to start now or later? There are always pros and cons for waiting and so we’d love to hear what you think about your decision in retrospect. If you could go back in time, would you have started your business sooner, later or at the exact time you started?
I was a manager for several successful startup companies long before I ever had the confidence to become a true entrepreneur myself. I am thankful for the experience I gained on others dime but i can’t help but think how much further along i would be had a been brave enough to just figure stuff out as i went along and hire the right mentors and coaches to assist.
Josh, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I am the son of 2 truck drivers that met in the US Air Force. My dad just recently retired from his 44th year of driving. The interesting thing about that to me is that he never owned the truck he drove and never owned his own business from a perceived lack of skills and knowledge that he needed to do so. In every other way he is the ideal driver ( 8 miilion+ safe miles, drove in over 50 countries, certified in virtually all modes of transport), however because of his lack of confidence in the business aspects of running a trucking company he never made the leap. My app, Lane Hero, seeks to bridge that gap and do a lot of the higher level cost analysis in a very fast and driver centric way. Trucking is undeniably the backbone of modern society and we need more individuals to take the leap into small business ownership to keep it afloat.
Can you open up about how you funded your business?
I bootstrapped my business with funds from my other business ( freight brokerage). As my brokerage business began to slow I almost had to end work on Lane Hero until I was able to secure an investor to take the next steps of building infrastructure, securing IP, and building a team.
What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?
I had a well established reputation through my other business of taking care of drivers and thinking about what it actually took a driver to move a load. My empathy for drivers has been my #1 reason for any degree of success
Contact Info:
- Website: lanehero.net
- Instagram: @laneheroboss
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LaneHeroUSA
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/josh-perry-6ab2b38b