What a $1M+ Garage Door Company Actually Looks Like: Inside Kooler Garage Doors with Matt Kuehlhorn

I recently sat down with Matt Kuehlhorn, owner of Kooler Garage Doors in Grand Junction, Colorado, for an episode of Lifted. Ten years in, multiple trucks, team of 11 and growing, running TV ads, and crushing it in a market with 6-7 established competitors.

But here’s what caught my attention: Matt’s doing things most garage door companies aren’t even thinking about yet.

From Guide to Garage Door Guy: Matt’s Unconventional Path

Most garage door company owners come from construction or trades backgrounds. Matt? He was a wilderness guide doing experiential education – taking people into the backcountry to teach about the natural environment and life.

“I’m a guide. This is literally what I’m here to be as a guide,” Matt told me. That mindset shows up everywhere in how he runs Kooler.

In 2015, Matt was painting houses. He struck a deal on a one-page contract – his first job that started what would become Kooler. He’d never really painted a house before, but he went for it.

While working that paint job, he remembered a stint he’d done years earlier installing garage doors in Gunnison for $15 an hour. That company had gone out of business during the 2008 recession. Matt looked around Grand Junction and realized there was only one other operator serving the valley.

“I had so much fun doing garage doors,” he said. “And I was like, huh, there’s a little niche here.”

So Kooler Painting became Kooler Painting and Doors. Then Matt went wide – flooring, epoxy, cabinets, custom homes, fine finishes. “Places where Matt should never have been,” he laughed. “I learned some very, very expensive lessons before I started understanding the power of focus.”

That first truck – “Princess” as he called it – is plastered all over his social media now. Matt’s not shy about showing where he started because he knows the journey matters.

About a year ago, he made the decision: garage doors only. Focus wins.

The Million Dollar Reality Check

Matt hit a million in revenue fast. His reaction? “What the heck was I thinking? This is ridiculous.”

I’ve seen this with dozens of contractors. A million in revenue sounds impressive until you’re actually there and realize what’s left after you pay for trucks, inventory, insurance, payroll, and everything else that keeps the doors opening and closing.

Matt put it perfectly: “What people really want is a million dollar EBITDA business. That’s a million dollars of profit – and that’s when you can actually do something.”

From analyzing hundreds of garage door companies through Garage Door Galaxy, I can tell you Matt’s right. The operators making real money aren’t chasing revenue numbers. They’re focused on profit margins, pricing strategy, and building systems that don’t require them on every job.

“These days, any given week, 100K can go in or out,” Matt explained. “A million EBITDA just means I’ve got money that I can invest in my team. I can take care of people, I can do training, I can do capital improvements, I can look at vehicles. There’s so much work that can be done.”

Matt’s on track to hit that million EBITDA next year. Here’s what he’s doing differently.

The $60K Lesson That Changed Everything

Here’s where Matt’s story gets real interesting.

Back in 2011, Matt had just become a father. His first baby girl arrived in 2009, then his son was on the way in 2011. He was working at a nonprofit earning $30,000 a year. His wife was home with little babies.

And Matt had created a $60,000 credit card problem buying courses and getting himself into different rooms trying to figure out how to be an entrepreneur.

He couldn’t figure a way out. He filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy. “It tore me up,” he admitted. “I felt like a complete mess up.”

But that bankruptcy got him into a room with Keith Cunningham.

If you don’t know Keith, he’s the entrepreneur who inspired Rich Dad Poor Dad – the actual “Rich Dad” who mentored Robert Kiyosaki. He teaches a course called Keys to the Vault focused on financial literacy for entrepreneurs.

Matt went down to Austin twice. First for a four-day MBA where Keith teaches how to read financials. That was the first time Matt started learning financial literacy – actually understanding what a profit and loss statement and balance sheet tell you about your business.

The second time was a mentorship-style course with 22 other entrepreneurs. Four days. On day one, Keith sets context. By day two, he’s calling on people.

“Tom, what do you have going on?” Tom’s a multimillionaire with a big operation. “All right, Mary, what about you?”

And Matt’s sitting there thinking: “Oh crap, I’ve got $60,000 in debt. I have a salary job of $30,000. I’m in a room of multimillionaires. What am I doing?”

He stayed quiet. But while listening, he realized something: “No matter what level we’re at, we’re all human problems. That’s it.”

By day four, Matt couldn’t sleep. He was up at 2am journaling. He knew what was going to happen.

The next morning, Keith was at the doorway as Matt walked in. “You ready, Matt?”

“Yeah, I’m ready.”

Matt was the first one called on. He disclosed everything – the debt, the salary, the mess. And Keith did what good entrepreneurs do: “All right, here’s the problem. Let’s hash this out.”

The whole room started popcorning ideas. And Keith stopped Matt: “This is the time where you pick up a pen and write notes.”

That experience taught Matt something critical: “The folks that understand financial literacy – this is the language of business. And the better I can get at that, the better I can understand where my levers and dials are for real scale and real movements. That’s the game. That is the game of business.”

When Matt talks about EBITDA vs. revenue, about making every dollar a little soldier with marching orders, about understanding his numbers – this is where it comes from. Not from YouTube videos or courses. From sitting in a room with Keith Cunningham and learning the hard way.

The Big Industry Shift Nobody’s Talking About

Matt walked into Grand Junction with old-school operators who’ve been there for decades. His competitors are doing what garage door companies have always done: chasing builders, competing on price, treating doors like a commodity.

Matt’s doing the opposite.

“The builder is looking at doors as a true commodity,” Matt explained. “A homeowner – you can speak in a different level of value because they need to get to the doctors, the kids game, they need life moving.”

This is the shift I’m seeing across the entire industry. The companies growing are going direct to homeowners. They’re running PPC and LSA ads. They’re focused on emergency service response. They’re delivering experiences, not just garage doors.

The old model? Call you back in three days, show up when convenient, swap the spring for $200, move on to the builder job.

The new model? Answer the phone. Call back immediately. Bring coffee when you arrive. Make the homeowner feel like you actually care about solving their problem.

Matt’s crushing competitors who’ve been in business 20+ years longer because they’re stuck playing the old game. One already folded. The others don’t even understand what’s happening.

“If these were companies of excellence and understood how much the market is shifting right now under their feet, they wouldn’t have issues,” Matt said. “But because they’re stuck in an old school model, we’re just going to blow them out of the water.”

The Service Bar is Embarrassingly Low

Here’s Matt’s best quote of the entire conversation:

“The bar is so low on service. If you answer the phone, you’re above the bar. If you offer a treat, they’ll remember you forever.”

Think about that. Just answering your phone puts you ahead of most competitors.

I see this constantly working with garage door companies. The operators who respond fast, communicate clearly, and show up when they say they will – they dominate their markets. It’s not complicated. Most companies just refuse to do it consistently.

Matt’s team asks customers what they want from Starbucks before arriving. They’re intentional about every touchpoint. That’s not just good service – that’s marketing that prints money.

Here’s what else Matt’s doing: His CSR answers the phone with energy. “Thanks for calling Kooler Garage Doors. My name’s Carson. How can I help you today?”

Not “Yeah, Kooler Garage Doors.” Not a rushed, distracted greeting. An actual human connection.

Matt said it best: “You are always delivering an experience and that delivery is informing your brand. It is never, ever, ever about the garage door. It’s always about what it means to people and the feeling that you leave them.”

Building Culture and Systems (Not Just Running Jobs)

What really separates Matt from typical operators is how he thinks about his business.

He has a 3-month apprenticeship program. New hires go through weekly training modules. Week one is just learning what things are called – terminology and literacy. By week four, they can install a door and operator independently.

“All I had to do is execute. I just didn’t because I didn’t want to stand out too much,” Matt said about his earlier years. Now? He’s all in on standing out.

They have rituals. New employees participate in a “hammer ceremony” where they literally break glass representing their own limitations. It came from Matt’s very first painting job – he had a photography student set up a big piece of glass and Matt punched through it.

“On a deep level, it is Matt breaking his own ceiling of his beliefs, his baggage, made up stories that we do. And this is the same for everybody,” he explained.

When somebody comes in, they apprentice for three months. They’re learning how to think, how to talk, how to do, and how to live and breathe Kooler’s culture.

“I promise people they’ll be a better human after their time with Kooler than when they got here,” Matt told me. “They’ll earn better than they ever have. And they’ll definitely be a better communicator.”

From working with hundreds of contractors over the years, the operators who invest in training and culture always outperform those who just hire bodies and hope for the best.

Matt rarely hires experienced techs. He trains from scratch because he wants people who fit his culture, not people bringing bad habits from their last company.

“We bring on a bad hire. We bring on a good hire and we don’t onboard correct or something happens and we get burned. And now that hurts,” Matt admitted. “Can I really look in the mirror and say that that was my fault?”

That self-awareness – that willingness to own his mistakes – that’s leadership.

The TV and Branding Play

Here’s where it gets interesting. Matt’s running TV ads through Wizard of Ads (Roy Williams’ agency). It’s not cheap. But it’s powerful.

“I’m not just catching the folks that have broken stuff. I’m capturing their imaginations,” Matt explained. “Instead of googling ‘garage door repair,’ they’re googling ‘Kooler.'”

This is the same strategy I’ve seen work for the biggest players in garage door. Once you dominate mind share in your market, you’re not competing on price anymore. You’re the obvious choice.

Matt’s running both PPC and LSA ads, but the TV creates a halo effect that makes everything else work better. People see the ads, then they see the trucks around town, then they search specifically for Kooler when something breaks.

That’s brand equity. And in a 200,000 person market with 6-7 competitors, it’s how you win long-term.

The elevated messaging matters too. Matt’s not selling garage doors. He’s selling home security. Getting to Johnny’s baseball game on time. Making it to the doctor’s appointment for that medication you need.

“The consumer might think it’s a commodity, maybe,” Matt said. “As a marketer, part of my job is to elevate the value of it.”

And it’s working. Matt estimates 60% of his business is replacement doors versus repairs. Some companies in the industry are hitting 80% replacement rates on service calls.

That doesn’t happen by accident. That happens when you’re focused on homeowners, delivering value conversations, and positioning yourself as the premium option in your market.

The Tech Stack That Scales

Matt’s not just running a garage door company. He’s running a tech-enabled garage door company.

They’re on Service Titan and have been for years. “We got into Service Titan when we were at a million dollar level and just never looked back,” Matt said.

Here’s something most contractors don’t know: If you’re seriously intent on building something to sell, Service Titan matters. “Buyers will devalue companies if they’re not on Service Titan, for better or for worse,” Matt explained.

I asked if that was specific to Service Titan or if other platforms count. “Specifically Service Titan, as of right now,” he said.

But Matt’s going deeper. He’s onboarding FieldSpark – a tool that records sales and installation conversations with AI running in the background. It’s a virtual ride-along that lets him coach his team without being physically present.

“We can actually add some coaching pieces,” Matt said. “There’s a number of tools that offer that, but we’re literally onboarding.”

They’re also using AI for dispatching and call handling, though Matt’s careful about where he deploys it. He experimented with full AI phone answering and pulled back.

“I don’t think the customer base is ready. I don’t think it’s going to be the premium level play,” he explained. “I think the premium level service will always stay human.”

His compromise? AI as the fifth person in line. “Hey, this is Sam. I am an AI agent, just let you know. I’ve got you on the call. Everyone else is booked up. I can forward you. We can chat. What would you like to do?”

Matt’s philosophy: “I use technology in order to human better. That’s the intent behind anything that we do.”

What Actually Matters

Matt named his company Kooler instead of Kuehlhorn Garage Doors or Gunnison Garage Doors for one reason: he wanted to build something sellable from day one.

He made that decision 10 years ago. Most operators don’t think about exit strategy until year 15 or 20. By then, they’ve built a business that can’t run without them and uses their name on everything.

“If you asked me to do that today, I would do it totally different because of what I know,” Matt said. “But back then I knew what I knew and I was like, I want a company that I could potentially sell sometime.”

“I’m still almost an owner-operator,” Matt admitted. “But I can see next year – there’s a couple key hires and I’ll be out of daily operations.”

The operators who successfully scale all have this in common: they’re building businesses, not buying themselves jobs. They think about systems, training, and delegation from the beginning.

Matt’s advice for anyone starting from scratch today?

“Pure focus. I’d be super mindful of the market. I would want a larger market than where I started.”

Then tactical: Start with a CSR answering phones – get yourself off the phones. Could be your wife, your girlfriend, a kid, even a virtual assistant. Just get someone answering calls so you can focus on drumming up leads.

Then bring on an apprentice. Run them with you for three months. Train them on your values, your process, how you want customers engaged.

“Be okay with folks running at 80% of what you would do,” Matt said. “Nobody’s ever gonna do it as good as you are going to do it, period.”

Focus on homeowners, not builders. Raise your prices. And deliver value that makes customers remember you.

The Rate of Change is Accelerating

One final thing Matt said stuck with me:

“In the 1900s, the rate of change for companies was 72 years. Now we’re in a rate of change that is so quick – nobody knows what AI will look like in six months. If you’re not adapting, if you still have a model that looks like 1990 or 1970, you’re going to get wiped out.”

Matt’s turning 49 next month. He’s been around the sun enough times to see the patterns. And he’s right about the acceleration.

“The 1900s really promoted intellectual intelligence, the IQ,” he explained. “Then we get into the 90s, early 2000s, it’s about EQ, emotional intelligence. Well now, I think it really is true that it’s adaptive intelligence – how quickly can you adapt?”

I’ve worked with contractors across multiple industries for over 15 years. The ones who adapt win. The ones who keep doing what they’ve always done are struggling more every year.

But here’s the good news: The bar is low. Most companies still don’t answer their phones consistently. They still chase builder work at commodity prices. They still treat garage doors like garage doors instead of solutions to homeowner problems.

If you’re willing to focus on homeowners, deliver actual service, build systems, and adapt to what’s working now – there’s never been a better time to build a garage door company.

Matt Kuehlhorn is proof.

From guide to garage door guy. From $60K in debt to million dollar EBITDA. From Princess the first truck to a fleet serving Grand Junction. From painting houses to crushing competitors who’ve been in business for decades.

That’s what focusing on the fundamentals, investing in people, and adapting to the market looks like.

Check out Kooler Garage Doors to see what a modern garage door company actually looks like. Their website doesn’t look like a garage door site – it looks like a premium home service brand. Because that’s what they are.

Listen to the full conversation with Matt on Lifted: The Garage Door Podcast