In this episode of Blue Collar Ballers, Nate Austin, founder of Austin Brothers Fence Company in Austin, Texas, shares how he and his brother started a fence company with $2,500, a financed truck, and zero experience installing wood fences — YouTubing their first 10 builds. Fourteen years later, Austin Brothers is one of the most recognized residential fence brands in the Austin market, peaking at $3.7 million in revenue with a reputation for white glove service that clients say feels more like a design firm than a fence contractor.
Nate was a college dropout who spent seven years gaming his way through school with no degree to show for it. After bouncing through jobs — AT&T retail, door-to-door pest control, vacuum sales — he realized he was a terrible employee and moved to Austin to start something of his own.
Nate breaks down:
- How he built a consultative, online-first sales process in an industry where everyone just shows up and measures
- Why he intentionally filters leads through an upfront qualification process — and still can't keep up with demand
- The real story behind growing to 30+ people three separate times and deliberately downsizing each time
- How 40% of his revenue comes from referrals and repeat clients without paying for ads for nine straight years
- What a $78,000 historic home fence project looks like from estimate to completion
- Why he's launching a budget sister brand to serve first-time homeowners who can't afford premium fencing — without sacrificing the service model
Whether you're a trades owner trying to figure out how to sell without being a salesperson, or you've hit a growth ceiling and can't figure out why scaling feels like suffocating, this one's for you.
00:00 Intro
02:46 From college dropout to starting a fence company
06:15 Getting the first customers with $7.50/day Google Ads
10:23 YouTubing how to build the first 10 fences
15:34 Building a premium sales process around self-awareness
19:47 Why the customer journey feels like a design firm
23:19 Managing lead volume without a sales team
26:23 Nine years of growth without an ad budget
29:11 The $78K historic home fence job
34:25 Growing and downsizing three times on purpose
39:51 Launching a budget sister brand
41:40 The one restaurant you have to hit in Austin
Meet the Guest: Nate Austin
Visit: Austin Brothers Fence Company
Meet the Host: Faiez Rana
Brought to you by OsL:
Your shop is leaking profit in the office. We’ll show you where and how to fix it in 14 days.
