Today we’d like to introduce you to Austin Gurney.
Austin , we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I started in the excavation industry strait out of high school. From the first day I walked onto the job site and saw all the guys working together and tractors working as one big team I knew that day that I wanted to own my own excavation business. I started as a general laborer and worked my way up into a full time Heavy equipment operator position at the age of 22. By age 26 I had worked my way up to the highest payed operator on the job site. At age 29 I felt I learned and matured enough to start my own company while maintaining my day operator job. At age 30 (July 2025) I quit my job and jumped into my business full time. 2025 was one of the hardest yet most rewarding years of my life. I experienced a lot of growth and nearly tripled my yearly earnings. i am on track for a very good year and hope to reinvest a lot of the profits into local suppliers and subcontractors.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Starting my business was very difficult. Statistically less than 10% of excavation business make it through the first year. I had prepared myself as well as I possibly could. I advertised on Facebook community groups constantly, handed out business flyers and business cards daily. I constantly listened to business and marketing podcasts, built my own website, by this time i was ranked the number one excavation contractor in my area on google. I rented trailers and tractors in my first year which really cut into my profit margins. Every single dollar I made I reinvested back into the business. In March 2025 I made my first investment and spent $110,000 on a tractor despite only have one single $2500 job on the books. Luckily all the advertising I had done in the winter payed off in the spring. At this time I was still working 40 hours a week at my other job. By July 2025 I had about 3 weeks of solid work lined up and felt that was enough to quit my job. Around that time I hired an excavation specific marketing company that rebuilt my website and started running google ads and optimizing my seo on google. In September 2025 I went from having two weeks of work to two months of work on the books. At that time I bought my second $100,000 tractor. It’s now January 2026 and I am booked into march and couldnt be more thankful.
As you know, we’re big fans of Gurney Excavation LLC. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
We are an Excavation company. We specialize in residential site work. For example if a customer buys a 10 acre piece of land that’s over grown, we come in clear all all the trees and brush necessary, build the house pad, cut in and build the driveway, dig in all the underground utilities, possibly dig a pool or pond. Once construction is completed we come back and finish grade around the house.
We specialize and are known for doing superior work. As of today we have 44 google reviews and they are all five stars. We take pride in our work and treat each job like it’s our own house or property. We are very proud of bright yellow Caterpillar equipment, with our branded name on the sides of each. We keep all of equipment, trucks, and tools clean. We dress nice, show up on time, and provide a 5 star service every time.
How can people work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
Facebook, instagram, email, phone. I love connecting with people and always enjoying meeting new contacts. I don’t have competition, there is plenty of work out there for all of us. I am in the process of hiring a content creator and plan to launch a YouTube channel this spring.
Pricing:
- Each and every job is different
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Gurneyexcavationllc.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gurney_excavation_
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61561960127117
- Youtube: @Gurney_Excavation
