Rural First | Acknowledgements

Rural First & CEO Robb Woolsey Honored By The Missouri State Legislature

Rural First, a small business venture specializing in county GPS and GIS software solutions, and its CEO, Robb Woolsey received an award by the Missouri House of Representatives the past April 22, 2016. The award included a Courtesy Resolution for his company’s efforts that have greatly improved many sheriff’s departments and emergency personnel by boosting response time and lowering costs thanks to their unique fleet tracking management system.

The House Resolution No. 0132C.01, was leaded by Representative Sonya Anderson, District 131 (Republican), who proudly serves on the Select Committee on Agriculture, Fiscal Review and Chairs the Conservation & Natural Resources Committee. Rural First´s success would not be possible without Robb’s vision and desire to help the community, especially in rural areas where his telematics systems provide the most accurate information.

The software has positively influenced the areas where Rural First´s GPS tracking devices are being used. Departments in counties areas from Missouri, Kansas, Illinois, and several other states have implemented Rural First´s vehicle tracking systems for Sheriffs, ambulance telematics services, and AVL software to improve performance and provide better service. GPS tracking systems not only helps to provide detailed maps of rural areas, but also has helped EMS and ambulances to save lives.

This recognition motivated the entire team at Rural First to keep working hard towards the goal of providing better rural GPS tracking solutions.

To learn more about Rural First please visit our website at http://www.ruralfirst.com

From Start-Up to Scale: Entrepreneurial Passion that Differentiates

Merriam-Webster describes an entrepreneur as a person who starts a business and is willing to risk loss in order to make money. While this couldn’t be truer, there is a lot more to it than assuming the risks of owning a business.

Before I was surrounded by startups and entrepreneurs, had I been asked what I thought an entrepreneur was, the first thing that I would have thought is someone who has the luxury of going back to bed simply because they don’t feel like “adulting” that day. As I have come to know many entrepreneurs, the thought of them taking a day off is laughable. In fact, not even major surgery holds them back. While the rest of us are taking vacations and holidays with our families the entrepreneur is faking it. They may be by the tree but they are no doubt pounding at the laptop or churning something over in their mind. They seem to have everything invested time, money, passion, almost bordering obsession. And while they do leave the office at times–from a mental standpoint they are always working. Seeing all of this, I wanted to know what all of this looks like from an entrepreneur’s view. I sat down with two of my favorites Robb Woolsey of Rural First, and Josh Holstein of CellARide.

A lot of us think people work for themselves because they don’t want to work for “the man”. But Josh said exactly the opposite of this. For him it wasn’t about working for himself or being the face of something, It was about creating something innovative that has mass appeal. To me, this perfectly describes the difference between a small business owner and entrepreneur. As Robb states it perfectly; “a start-up is starting with the idea of conquering the world, vs a small business that someone builds to succeed in his/hers town/city/region. When asked if they considered themselves born entrepreneurs both Robb and Josh hesitated before replying “yes”. To me it was a no-brainer, of course, they were! In knowing that each of them has already owned several businesses, it becomes obvious. In fact, the average entrepreneur will have an average of 2.3 businesses.

As you can imagine all of this takes an incredible amount of work. Robb and Josh are in agreeance that the number one skill to be an entrepreneur is perseverance. It is not for the weak-willed or as Josh says someone that takes things personally. It’s been said that

Entrepreneurs work 62% more than the average person, just ask our CEO Robb Woolsey. When I asked Josh how being an entrepreneur has changed his home life, he replies that it’s a constant struggle, 24/7. At one point he only saw his family for an average of 20hrs a month. Think about how much time you spend with your family in a week, it’s probably more than 20 hours. An entrepreneur’s family goes thru everything they do. Robb was crushed when he had to move his family out of their 3500 sq.ft. home into his buddies basement. But he didn’t let it stop him. He kept pushing for greatness.

What I appreciated most about my talks with Robb and Josh is how they referred to their employees. They both feel that good employees have been hugely important to their success. Believing in the concept of a team and understanding that they can’t do it on their own.

Josh talks some about this when I asked him what he believes the 5 key elements of starting a business are. For him, it was easy to answer because he has been following what he calls the 5 step path to a tech startup. First the idea is born, then turned into a product, followed by the creation of a business around it, then creating the company by taking the business and hiring what he calls the team. Lastly is the exit, which can be to sale, go public, or move forward.

The highs, lows, unknowns, and sacrifices are worth it to the entrepreneur that was born to succeed. Both Robb and Josh have a great passion driving them. While Robb’s favorite part about being an entrepreneur is using the creative process to problem solve, Josh loves when others see value in what he has created. Both men will continue to be entrepreneurs once they exit their current companies. Keep watching, bigger things are coming from these two. You can learn more about Josh and his company, Cellaride, at their website.

An Interview with Serial Entrepreneur Robb Woolsey on his Journey Creating a Disruptive GPS Tracking Startup

When putting together this week’s blog, it seemed like the perfect time to talk about the founder Robb Woolsey, and how Rural First came to be. There were many ways this could be done, but who better to tell the story than Robb himself. Luckily Robb took time out of his very busy schedule and allowed me to interview him.

The first question and what I think people want to know most is, what ignited the spark? How did the idea for Rural First come about? Typically, when Robb is questioned about Rural First he references back to the story of his mom; A few years ago, Robb’s dad walked in and discovered his mom struggling to breathe. He immediately called 911. Nearly 45 minutes later first response arrived, but it was too late, her throat had completely closed up and intubation was not possible. Frustratingly If they would have had the correct directions it would only have taken 6 minutes 15 seconds to reach her from the closest EMT station. Through the grief, frustration, and anger, Robb saw hope and determined that no one else should have to experience loss, due to inaccurate mapping.

Until I sat down with Robb and asked him what ignited the spark, I had no idea that he saw a need for the type of services Rural First offers long before the loss of his mother. “I’ve always owned companies, aside from working for Alltel, Verizon, and Sprint. A business I had some years ago struggled with needing to see the location of each of our customers. We needed a GPS Tracking system that didn’t exist like it does now. This was not acceptable, so we created our own. The system allowed us to see the routes our guys were driving. We saw that we could be more efficient, with better routing and seeing each customer stop. We were even able to see some wrong doings on behalf of our employees. Although that was not our intention, it was a plus. This was my first experience with seeing a need for tracking, and it was what lead me into the cellular industry. I could foresee the ability to see this in real time, growing massively. While I was managing government accounts for Sprint and Verizon I worked with so many different Fleet Management systems, all had good points, but I saw 2 issues over and over. They were all really complicated to use, and the mapping was extremely inaccurate in rural areas”. Seeing first hand where improvements could be made in the GPS Tracking industry, and then living through it with the loss of his mom, the idea of Rural First was born. As an entrepreneur, Robb could no longer stand by and watch this growing problem. It was then that he set out to solve it.

When it comes to Entrepreneurship and problem solving, a lot of things come into play. It becomes so much bigger than an idea. I wanted to get Robb’s perspective on Entrepreneurship and success. I’m sure that most of you will agree, that great things are not done alone. When I asked Robb how important good employees have been to his success, he replied “Huge, I worked for a year and a half alone, and there was a lot I couldn’t do. I’m not a coder, programmer, or GIS professional. You have to have people on your team that will take the mantle and run with it because there is not enough time in the day to do it all. I sometimes find it difficult to let go, because I operated on my own for so long, it is also sometimes difficult to communicate my vision properly”. Which brought up my next question; “To what do you most attribute your success”? He replied, “Several things, perseverance would be one, willingness and desire to work harder than most people, and the ability to see things from unique perspectives.” When we hear the words willingness and desire, we know there has to be a motivator. When asked about this Robb says, “The thing that drives me the most is something that happened in the 7th grade. I really liked this girl, but I was paralyzed with fear and didn’t talk to her. I think back to that constantly and I think the thing I fear the most, is the fear of missing out, the fear of missing an opportunity.”

Do you ever fear what you’re missing out on at home? “Yes, I wrestle with it, all the time. You want to raise your family and surround yourself with your children and wife, however, we have to be able to take care of our families and figure out how to grow those relationships at the same time. Seeing people achieve great things in business, but have a failed marriage has driven me to constantly seek balance. I typically go home at the end of the day and spend time with my family and once they go to bed, I stay up and work.”

Anytime we have to sacrifice time with our families, it is stressful. Obviously that is the not so fun part of entrepreneurship. What is your favorite aspect of being an entrepreneur? “Solving problems, getting to use the creative processes to find and solve problems that other people haven’t been able to solve, or solve in a better manner.” While problem solving is a huge part of any business, there is a lot that goes into starting and running a successful business. I asked Robb what he would consider to be the five key elements. His response was “lots and lots of planning, completely weighing out the risk, then being willing to take the risk, always maintaining momentum, if you stop moving you’re dead, and good advisors.”

Robb is an open book, with tons of experience and knowledge. This is just the tip of the work that has gone into getting Rural First up and running. From identifying the problem, solving it, and implementing it. Robb has successfully started and ran 5 companies, including Rural First. I hope to continue to learn, as Rural First grows. I’m sure the rest of the family at Rural First would agree that it’s hard to work with Robb and not grow, both professionally and personally.