Signature Series - Growth Wtihout Burnout | Before & After

A Year in the Life of an Owner — Before and After

By Dave Fairburn, Co-Founder of CrewHero and North Point Outdoors

At North Point Outdoors, we now have 120 frontline team members.

It still feels crazy to say that.

When we started, I was running out of my truck with a clipboard, a couple of mowers, and a ton of hustle. Back then, disorganization was tolerable — even normal.

But when you’re running a company with over 100 people, disorganization becomes dangerous.

That’s why I wanted to share a clear, honest picture of what daily life looked like before CrewHero — and how it feels now.

This isn’t a feature list.

It’s a before and after story.

🚨 Before CrewHero: 6:30 AM and Already Behind

Let me take you back to a real day, not that long ago.

It’s 6:32 a.m. The shop lights flicker on.

I’m holding a dry erase marker, balancing a half-finished coffee and a list of changes from the night before. A few trucks are still in the shop, one’s out for tires. Someone texted at 10 p.m. saying they need tomorrow off. I forgot to write it down.

One crew leader is asking who he’s working with today.

Another is wandering the lot trying to find the right truck.

A new guy’s standing by the door, quiet, unsure what to do.

I’m dodging questions while trying to update the whiteboard.

The PTO list is outdated.

There’s no clear list of out-of-service trucks.

We’re 20 minutes into the morning and only half the crews have left.

This wasn’t an emergency.

This was every morning.

And with 100+ people? The chaos wasn’t linear — it multiplied.

Dispatch was a bottleneck.

Repair tracking was a joke.

And every new team member added more stress, not more output.

🎯 The Turning Point

I remember the day it finally hit me.

One of our best crew leaders someone loyal, sharp, and capable, walked over and asked, “Hey, am I supposed to take 87 or 91? Both have keys missing.”

He wasn't mad.

But I could tell he was tired of the guesswork.

And that’s when I realized:

If we didn’t fix this, we’d start losing our best people — not because of money, but because of chaos.

We didn’t need to hire more admin staff.

We didn’t need to hold more meetings.

We needed a system that actually ran the operation.

That’s when we built and deployed CrewHero.

✅ After CrewHero: 6:30 AM and Already Ahead

Fast forward six months.

I still walk into the shop at 6:30 a.m. — but now the energy is different.

Crews aren’t standing around waiting. They’re checking CrewHero on their phones:

• They already know who they’re with

• What truck they’re in

• Where they’re headed

• And what time they’re expected to be there

No one’s waiting for a whiteboard update.

No one’s asking me basic questions.

No one’s guessing anymore.

We went from 35–40 minutes of morning chaos to under 10 minutes.

And when that’s multiplied across 120 team members, the impact is massive:

• ~60 hours of labor gained per day

• $1,920 saved per day at $32/hour average loaded labor

• ~$38,400 saved per month

• $460,000+ in operational lift every year

That’s money we’re already spending — now working for us, not wasted in idle time.

💡 But the Real Win? Culture

Here’s what changed that no spreadsheet can measure:

• Our best crew leaders are proud to lead

• New hires onboard with clarity and confidence

• Field teams feel respected, not ignored

• Dispatchers don’t dread Monday mornings

• And I no longer have to carry everything in my head

Instead of being reactive, the business runs with rhythm.

People move with purpose.

And mornings are… calm.

It’s not just better for the business.

It’s better for people.

Before CrewHero, I was:

• Holding 15 things in my head before breakfast

• Fielding 30+ questions a morning

• Constantly correcting things that should have been clear

• Missing time-off requests, repair reports, and truck conflicts

• Reacting instead of leading

After CrewHero, I’m:

• Thinking forward instead of catching up

• Starting the day with visibility instead of blind spots

• Letting managers manage and foremen lead

• Making decisions — not relaying forgotten info

• Finally feeling like an owner again

Final Thought

If your operation feels like a daily scramble…

If your team is growing, but your systems haven’t kept up…

If you’re still the glue that holds it all together…

You don’t need more hustle.

You need better support.

CrewHero replaced our chaos with clarity.

It gave us back time, trust, and control — without adding staff or cost.

And when you’re running with 120 frontline people, that kind of structure is the difference between operating and surviving.

CrewHero isn’t just a tool. It’s a turning point.