How You Built It: Out of the Ordinary ft. P/R Mobile

Small Business Appreciation Week is September 20-26 so to celebrate we are highlighting a few business members who volunteered to share their stories.

The categories are:

1. Breaking Barriers

2. Small Store, Big Heart

3. Out of the Ordinary

4. Home Grown

5. Bigger Than Before

Today we are sharing our third category - Out of the Ordinary featuring P/R Mobile.

Hi Garrett! Thank you for joining us to share your story!

First question, can you share a bit about you?

"My name is Garrett Poppen. I grew up in Giltner, Nebraska and attended UNK for Business Admin. I always knew I wanted to start a business and UNK offered great entrepreneurship courses that gave me confidence in starting my mobile business. "

We love that you chose to start your entrepreneurial career in Kearney!

We noticed that your business is extremely unique! Tell us about your location; the size, how we can contact you, the set up of your business, and what kind of products you carry:

"What makes us unique is that we do mobile oil changes out of a trailer that I built. We actually drive the vehicle into our enclosed trailer to ensure there is no mess when we leave. Our location is mostly the Kearney area, but I also do fleets in surrounding small towns, or if there are multiple vehicles, I will go out to other customers as well.

We offer conventional, synthetic blend, and full synthetic oil changes out of the trailer. We also offer mobile boat winterizations, and boat and vehicle detailing interior and exterior."

Awesome! You have a lot of great services!

So tell us, who is your customer? 

"Anyone in the Kearney area can go on my website and book online or give me a call and book on the phone. We will pull up to your house and change your oil at your location!

For boat winterizations we Are traveling and do not have a traveling fee if we can get multiple in the area. 

Also, we do fleet discounts for business owners or other customers that sign up multiple vehicles through us."

When did you open your business?

"We opened about a year and a half ago."

Do you have any employees? If so, give them a little highlight.

"I have currently two employees. Josh Hinrichs is an oil change tech and Alexa Preissler does all of our Marketing and ad campaigns. She also designs all of our apparel."

That's awesome! We are glad that you have been able to add options to our workforce!

The theme of your segment is Out of the Ordinary. We love the stories about “how it came to be,” so can you tell us how you came up with the idea and why it works for Kearney?

"I came up with the idea when I was in Texas and saw a mobile car wash. I thought that something that would be even more convenient and takes more time out of someone’s day would be vehicle maintenance. I also knew I wanted to pull the vehicle inside of a trailer so I would never risk an oil spill."

That's very opportunistic of you to fulfill your career goals in a way that you can also add convenience for your customer!

Next question, do you have any major goals for your business?

"My one year goal is to grow the company's name and reputation. We have been growing a lot this past year, but we still have a lot of room for continued growth!

My five year goal is to expand our fleet of trailers. We have had multiple people reach out so I would love to have trailers in the Tri-Cities and in Lincoln and Omaha."

What a great set of goals! So what about owning a small business in Kearney, what has been your favorite part? 

"The people in Kearney are very friendly and great to get to know and talk to. Whether it’s going door to door, or meeting at a business I have had a lot of fun meeting people here."

Alternately, what has been your biggest challenge?

"Getting the word out about my business during COVID has been a challenge because it’s hard going door to door right now and some businesses are still shut down to employees only."

That has definitely been a struggle for a lot of businesses. We are so glad you have overcome that obstacle to continue doing business in Kearney!

So one final question, do you have any tips for aspiring business owners?

"I’m still pretty new to becoming a business owner, but I’d say something that started helping me grow is going out and meeting with as many people as you can. Even if they don’t need your service, if you’re something unique they will tell their friends about you."

Thank you, Garrett for sharing the P/R Mobile story! Happy Small Business Appreciation Week!