How a Contractor Grew From 5 Trucks to 175
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How did David Eller start Maxson from a single truck to a 175‑vehicle fleet?
Now you're a big whale, right? Before you used to be a little fish, okay? What were kind of some of your initial growing pains?
Don't overextend, you know, don't overextend. Just trust the process. Why aren't we doing better work than this? And
they said,
well, you need to buy a machine to cut it straight. I said, well, buy the machine. It is expensive, but if it makes your quality better, Now you're selling a service that's better than someone else's.
David Eller is an experienced, service-driven, community-minded construction entrepreneur and the founder and president of Maxson Incorporated. Through his work, he leads teams that deliver plumbing, electrical, fire protection, and construction solutions for residential and commercial projects, helping build safer, stronger spaces for the communities they serve.
You know, have great people behind you, and I mean great suppliers, you know, because sometimes, you know, you're not going to get paid. And once you're past it where your suppliers trust you and your bank trusts you and you're working for people that's going to pay you as close to on time as normal, and then it just, it grows from there.
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Hey, welcome back everyone to another episode of living your legacy podcast. I'm your host again, Jay Slangen. And thank you for joining us today down here at the sunny Miami Beach studios. And we have the privilege to talk to some of the best entrepreneurs and the disruptors and experts in all different kinds of fields. And today, we have a special guest with us for America for our America's best builders show. Yeah, why don't you please introduce yourself? What's your name? Where you come from? And what's your business?
I am David Eller. I'm with Maxson Incorporated. We're based in the Carolinas. We're a multifamily construction company. So we do the general contracting and we do all the trade work as well. We have a plumbing division, electrical, mechanical, fire protection, and alarm system. So we have it all in-house.
All right. Wow. Sounds like quite a big company, right? And did you always just start off with a big company?
No, no, no, no. It just kind of grew into what it is. You know, we kind of started with a plumbing license and a GC. I was working in a mobile home plants, got my contractor's license, ended up with a plumbing license later. Just, you know, worked for a big multifamily builder and they ended up going under and we just kind of spun out from that. And it's been 22 years now and it's been an up and down ride.
But
it got a
lot of people. I had the privilege of doing your episode, right? So I know a lot of your story. I know all of your story, right? But I mean, wow, the growth, like literally, you know, and I used to have my own kind of freelance design agency. And one of my clients was doing, you know, installing smart homes and security
systems.
And I just saw looking at the trades industry, you know, a lot of them dealing with growth in terms of vans, you know, from that first van to three vans to five vans, right?
Yeah.
and you grew uh from no vans right to now you have a fleet of 165 vans and i was like oh my god that is a the largest that i've ever heard right i haven't i haven't heard more than 25. okay wow okay and then uh i i it just made my jaw drop right So tell us about, you had that first, you know, in your growth stage, right? You had that first van, two vans purchased.
What early growing pains did the company face when moving from employee‑owned vans to branded trucks?
I don't even know how many. But tell us about that moment.
You know, everybody was driving. I mean, our first five employees, they were driving their own vehicles. And as I was too, you know, we all had our own trucks. And then we finally got to the point where we could do it. So we went and bought five new trucks.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
How did David Eller start Maxson from a single truck to a 175‑vehicle fleet?
0:00–3:52
2
What early growing pains did the company face when moving from employee‑owned vans to branded trucks?
3:52–7:04
3
Why is avoiding over‑extension critical for sustainable construction growth?
7:04–10:51
4
How did strong relationships with suppliers, banks, and clients help fuel the company’s expansion?
10:51–14:19
5
What role did investing in equipment and quality play in creating a competitive advantage?
14:19–18:17
6
How did the collapse of a larger contractor influence Maxson’s growth strategy?
18:17–21:08
7
What marketing and branding tactics did Maxson use to build a recognizable name without traditional advertising?
21:08–25:07
8
How does Maxson leverage social media and community outreach to attract new business and talent?
25:07–28:06
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