(LEX 18) — Chris Finley has always loved cars. And even as a young man growing up in central Kentucky, he had his sights set on his dream job.
“I saw how the owner of that company got started at a very young age and by himself and built an amazing business," says Finley. “I just always idolized him and just wanted to go work for him. I told myself, ‘I’m gonna go work for that man.'"
And that he did for nine years.
But for Chris, idolization turned into emulation, and the itch to start his own business grew, even though the world – and the economy – was amid the pandemic.
“I’d saved up the money to do my own thing, and the business was growing big and I like the small business atmosphere, and I wanted to have my own business.”
But having a dream and hopefully, enough money to fund that passion is one thing. Chris still had to convince his wife, who made it very clear where she stood.
“No! Absolutely not!” a smiling Finley recollects his wife’s reaction. “She’s like, ‘If there’s business out there, then other people are doing it’. I just kept pestering her, like, ‘I really wanna do this, I think there’s a need.’”
After a year of that incessant pestering, she finally gave in, and the young father of two small kids started his business. He bought a tow truck and took his first call 13 months ago.
“(It was) nerve-wracking! I was scared to death. I strapped that car down. People were probably looking at me with like 100 straps on it. I didn’t want that thing to go nowhere!”
Chris’ nerves have calmed down, but business hasn’t. He says he’s been non-stop, hiring another driver and adding a second truck. Soon, Chris will add a third truck to his fast-growing fleet. He admits that it all has exceeded his wildest dreams.
“I thought getting in with shops here and building a name for myself would take more time. I thought everybody already had their tow guy and had the guy that they used, but it’s been excellent."
