JASON LARSON Lars Construction, Costa Mesa, Calif.
Diversifying can be lucrative, but even then, it doesn’t always work out the way it’s supposed to. Four years ago Jason Larson saw an opportunity to break into the window replacement market in San Diego. With his full-service business thriving, he had everything he needed to launch a single-line business: references, contacts, proven systems, and access to capital. He set up a showroom, hired an entire staff, came up with a logo, incorporated, and opened his doors.
For a time, Larson’s window business was the sure thing he’d envisioned. The company hit the ground running, working on up to 40 jobs at a time and earning about $2.2 million a year.
“We got things running so smoothly there for a while that I would brag that it was like making free money,” Larson says. But then he began work on a new house for his family. Around the same time, he lost key employees who left to start their own company. Suddenly Larson had more headaches than he could handle.
“Something like that can’t run on autopilot forever,” he says. “I woke up one day and realized that I had to go back to work to earn that extra money.”
Though he enjoyed the extra earnings, Larson says he didn’t relish the extra aggravation. He’s not averse to working hard, he says, but he wasn’t interested in trading away his family life. “I want to keep a balance between my work and my life, and running two companies, you just can’t.”
When a local lumberyard approached him with an offer to buy the window operation, Larson jumped at the chance. Last year, with his attention turned back to remodeling, he grew Lars Construction’s revenue by $3 million.
“Remodeling is really my passion, so it has been nice to redirect my focus toward this company,” Larson says.