So what does John Hogue, owner of both Denver Pool Management and Sporting Club Denver, think is the most important quality for aspiring entrepreneurs to see in him?  “His failures”.

Why? Because John uses failure as fuel for his business success.

Before he was a business owner, John worked at a local construction company for nearly ten years. He poured everything he could into that job, learning the “ins and outs” of the industry, putting in extra hours, and going far above what was expected (even as he attended business school in the evenings). However, when an opportunity for a crew lead promotion opened, a discouraging supervisor passed John up for the position. At that moment, John knew it was time to “be his own boss”.

For years, he and his friends played recreational flag football with large national companies, but they’d always been unsatisfied with the experience. John came to RMMFI with the business idea for “Sporting Club Denver” to address the need for a local recreational sports league that was honest, fairly-priced, and fun. With the help of the Business Launch Boot Camp’s curriculum, supportive mentors, and a networking community, John launched his business.

However, Sporting Club got off to a slow start, so John started working with his brother’s pool-building business to supplement his income. Again he recognized a gap in the market: a need for a local residential and commercial pool-cleaning business. So John pivoted and used the skills he’d gained in the Business Launch Boot Camp to start his new business, Denver Pool Management.

While Sporting Club has moved to more of side business, Denver Pool Management launched in 2017, making $40,000 in revenue. John anticipates that revenue will nearly double in 2018. He also plans on hiring 2-3 employees, as well.  In addition to operating two businesses, John also began volunteering as an Accountability Coach for Business Launch Boot Camp Class #18 and has mentored in every Boot Camp class since.

John admits that business ownership isn’t always easy, at times feeling lonely, but “ultimately it’s so worth it” he says, “because it made room for the biggest, most miraculous change in my life since starting a business: confidence. I feel like I’m capable of succeeding, and I feel like I can fail (whatever that even means) without it defining me. I never thought that type of self belief would be possible.”His advice to future RMMFI is simple: “stay connected to the RMMFI community everybody here does believe in you and want to see you succeed, whatever that looks like for you and your business”.