He had a newborn and a business doubling at the same time.
Tyler started building fences to pay for college and never finished the degree. Then his son was born in the middle of his busiest spring ever.
- Who
- Tyler Hutchins, Owner
- Company
- Hutchins Fence Co.
- Trade
- Fencing
- Where
- Knoxville, TN
- Size
- $2.2M a year
- Team
- 4 crews
- Quotes
- texted from the driveway with three options
- Deposits
- collected before the material order
- Material
- ordered only once the deposit clears
The college job that became a company
Tyler built fences with a friend's dad in college to pay tuition. He was better at fences than accounting, so he left school and started Hutchins Fence Co. in 2019 with a post-hole digger and a borrowed trailer.
By 2024 he had four crews and a problem: he was quoting every job himself, ordering material before customers paid, and occasionally eating the cost of lumber for a fence nobody bought.
Why he switched
His son, Wyatt, was due in April, which is fence season. Tyler needed quotes to go out without him driving to every yard, and he needed deposits before he spent a dollar on cedar.
Now his crew leads measure and build a quote from templates in the yard, the homeowner picks from three styles, signs, and pays the deposit. Material gets ordered once the deposit clears.
“I used to buy the lumber first and hope the customer paid. That's not a business, that's a bet.”
What changed at work
Lumber sitting in the yard for a job that fell through stopped happening. Crews see the week on one calendar and before and after photos go straight on the job.
He is still the youngest owner his supplier deals with. He is no longer the one who pays for other people's fences.
What changed at home
Wyatt was born on a Tuesday in April. Tyler took two weeks off, the most he has taken since he started.
The crews built eleven fences while he was gone. He found out from the board, not from a phone call.
“Wyatt was born in the middle of fence season. The crews built eleven fences while I was home.”
What Tyler runs on Revcore
What it replaced
- Every quote done by Tyler
- Material ordered before deposits
- A group text as the schedule
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Composite story based on early-access usage. Names, companies, and photos are illustrative, not individual customers; outcomes vary.
