Core

The ones that I see succeed all have several things in common—

1. An EXCELLENT group of operators. This is a huge one—when you bring the best of the best to an EOG or Chevron to flow their wells, you’ll get more wells to work on. Contrarily, if you bring in methed up goobers that blow up pipes, you’ll get run off the pad and black balled before you know it.

It’s tempting to start with as many folks as you know, but trust me, you’ll do better if you pick the BEST folks you know and then grow from there

2. Some kind of office help—usually owners of startup staffing firms are also working in the field. It’s slim margins running hands, and if the owner can make it by making $500 a day himself he’s going to do that. But, he still has all of his hands to deal with and a dozen field tickets to process—that’s where office help comes in handy.

You don’t need a rocket scientist handling your paperwork, but find someone to keep things organized when you start

3. Money—obviously; the firms that last start with a good factoring company to keep their cash flowing. It’s not pretty but it’s necessary
4. Bit cheesy—but integrity/grit is huge with startups that make it. Stuff goes wrong, and it’s the owners that drive out to the company man themselves to set things straight that last. You can’t pass the buck to your workers when they make a mistake—you’re the owner, fire them if you need to but you have to face those mistakes yourself if you want to keep that MSA
5. Culture—those hands can find a job anywhere; why work with you? The firms that answer that question with excellent culture keep their employees for a very long time. Give them a reason to stay, more than just money. They’re the backbone of your company after all
6. A good professional support system—think bookkeeper, CPA, insurance professional, lawyer, banker, etc. The white collar professionals in the background of your firm matter quite a bit. They keep things clean and running smoothly
7. Finally, sales. Securing MSAs is the toughest part about the business, and it’s the owners that are CONSTANTLY making calls and networking that see their firms bloom. Never slack on that

There are a whole lot more factors that make a company work, but these are ones I’ve seen constantly

Take notes startups!