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The Blue Collar Founder
Zac Smith
Zac Smith

Real numbers and honest takes on building blue-collar businesses. From a former corporate engineer who bought, sold, and is building again.

Inside the Numbers: October

Nov 10, 2026

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2 min read

Inside the Numbers: October

A light month on paper, and why I’m not worried about it

Zac Smith
Zac Smith
New Construction or Homeowners? The Choice Every Trade Owner Faces

Nov 4, 2026

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3 min read

New Construction or Homeowners? The Choice Every Trade Owner Faces

Builder work can fill your calendar. It can also quietly drain your margins.

Zac Smith
Zac Smith
Operator Interview: The $37 Million Maintenance Company That Runs Without Its Owner

Oct 28, 2026

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3 min read

Operator Interview: The $37 Million Maintenance Company That Runs Without Its Owner

A former tech guy, a recession start, and a business he now works one or two days a week

Zac Smith
Zac Smith
Tech Startups vs. Trade Businesses: What the Survival Data Actually Says

Oct 21, 2026

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3 min read

Tech Startups vs. Trade Businesses: What the Survival Data Actually Says

The odds aren’t what most people think

Zac Smith
Zac Smith
Operator Interview: A $4.2 Million Landscaping Company Opens Its Books

Oct 14, 2026

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3 min read

Operator Interview: A $4.2 Million Landscaping Company Opens Its Books

What a real trade business makes, where the money goes, and what the owners are changing next

Zac Smith
Zac Smith
Inside the Numbers: September

Oct 7, 2026

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2 min read

Inside the Numbers: September

My worst month this year and why I'm glad I'm showing it to you

Zac Smith
Zac Smith
The Trade Breakdown: Plumbing

Sep 30, 2026

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4 min read

The Trade Breakdown: Plumbing

What it costs, what it earns, and what it sells for

Zac Smith
Zac Smith
The Trades Are the AI Hedge Nobody Is Talking About

Sep 23, 2026

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2 min read

The Trades Are the AI Hedge Nobody Is Talking About

Why the safest-looking careers might not be the safe ones anymore

Zac Smith
Zac Smith
Inside the Numbers: August

Sep 16, 2026

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2 min read

Inside the Numbers: August

Real revenue, real margins, and what actually happened

Zac Smith
Zac Smith
What Trade Businesses Actually Sell For

Sep 9, 2026

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3 min read

What Trade Businesses Actually Sell For

The difference between owning a job and owning an asset

Zac Smith
Zac Smith
What a Painting Business Actually Looks Like

Sep 2, 2026

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2 min read

What a Painting Business Actually Looks Like

Real numbers, real jobs, and the math nobody publishes

Zac Smith
Zac Smith
The Corporate Escape

Aug 26, 2026

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2 min read

The Corporate Escape

I spent a year 'researching' before I admitted I was just scared.

Zac Smith
Zac Smith
The $19K Profit Month

Aug 19, 2026

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2 min read

The $19K Profit Month

Starting over from scratch with no debt & no royalties — and what made it work so fast.

Zac Smith
Zac Smith
The 1.46M Exit

Aug 13, 2026

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2 min read

The 1.46M Exit

No billion-dollar unicorn. Just a real, blue-collar 7-figure exit — and how I got there.

Zac Smith
Zac Smith
Welcome - and why I'm doing this in the open

Aug 5, 2026

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1 min read

Welcome - and why I'm doing this in the open

Corporate engineer to building in the trades

Zac Smith
Zac Smith

The Blue Collar Founder

Real numbers and honest takes on building blue-collar businesses — from a former corporate engineer who bought, sold, and is building again.

© 2026 The Blue Collar Founder.
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