Today we’d like to introduce you to Trip Littleton.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Trip. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
As an active duty, Marine Corps officer flying KC130’s, I found myself wanting to take a different path than many of my peers. The seamless transition from multi-engine, military flying, to commercial aviation was very attractive but the desire to be home, with my family, was stronger.
A couple of years before completing my active duty orders, I began researching opportunities in the DFW Metroplex where I could start my own business and have it underway by the time I transitioned to civilian life.
It was clear to me that infrastructure and construction were in high-demand, and growing, so I began to narrow my search towards a field that I could develop organically, and take on more scopes and specialties as the company grew.
After attending several national trade-shows and expositions, where I could speak with business owners on a candid level, not as a competitor, I developed an understanding of the path I wanted to take.
With a year’s worth of research, and multiple landings on runways with not-so-straight-striping, I began to mold my vision towards pavement marking and everything that came with it.
It was the cliché “started in the garage business and worked my way up” story, and I was actually living it. Starting as a one-man-crew working nights and weekends in small parking lots while still on active duty, to a 24-hour services company running multiple crews a day, General Striping has grown into an entity that offers all types of services. From private parking lot striping and appurtenances, to state, local and federal contracts, we provide everything from residential and club athletic court surfaces to municipal striping and signage, with many specialties in between.
General Striping, LLC is a veteran owned and operated company that strives to create careers for goal-driven individuals. Additionally, we offer an annual entrepreneurship scholarship for high-school, under-grad and graduate-level candidates seeking a profession or career in the business field.
With exponential growth year after year, we continue to base our day to day operations on what got us started: hard work and a relentless dedication to superior craftsmanship.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
With the growth rate that we have experienced year to year, we have definitely had some bumps along the way.
I would categorize them more as “growing pains,” but still challenges none-the-less.
From hiring enough people to answer phones and handle office work, to passing on technical knowledge of the services we offer, we have grown at such a rapid rate that it is not possible for us to not have experienced the struggles along the way.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about General Striping – what should we know?
General Striping offers pavement marking services in the Fort Worth / Dallas Metroplex, to include scopes such as parking lot & roadway striping with paint and thermoplastic, signage fabrication and installation, parking lot & roadway appurtenances fabrication and installation, pressure washing, athletic court surface installation, decorative coating installation, and multiple floor system products.
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
During the retrograde of coming home from a deployment in Afghanistan, I had my short-term goals set on attending an accredited school to earn my MBA and then start my own company.
After speaking individually with a few close friends and relatives, and offering them my vision of getting my MBA then starting a company, one resounding response was “why wait to start your company…?”
Because of that specific question, I decided to “jump off the cliff and build my wings on the way down…”
My family, and especially my wife, ultimately deserve the most credit because they put up with me during the early years when I would completely miscalculate my timing on projects and come home well into the wee-hours of the morning.
I recall many occasions where coffee and dinner were delivered on-site!
Contact Info:
- Address: 2205 Wenneca Ave
Fort Worth, TX 76102 - Website: www.generalstriping.com
- Phone: 682-224-0240
- Email: ops@generalstriping.com
- Instagram: 99Mils
- Facebook: @GeneralStripingLLC
- Twitter: @99Mils
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