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Young leaders learning trades business systems

School of Entrepreneurship · Contractor Nation

The ownership fast-track nobody told your kid about.

Leadership and business systems for the trades — ages 15+. Real skills, real income path, real ladder toward running and owning a company. Without four-year debt.

College is right for some. Drift isn't right for any of them.

Join the Learning Day waitlistFree Future Audit
Larry Janesky, FounderHosted by real businessesParents welcome

Own a trades company? DiscoverSOE.com · Business Machine Audit →

Choose your door

One school. Three entrances. No fog.

Parents & families

See the second road

A free Future Audit for parent and student — then a Learning Day when doors open. Kitchen-table clarity, not a sales pitch.

Take the Future AuditFor parents

Students 15+

Learn to run the machine

Not only the skill — the business: people, cash, customers, leadership. Your friends will work for somebody. You could own it.

Join the waitlistSee tracks

Owners & managers

Name your constraint

The full School of Entrepreneurship for contractors. Free Business Machine Audit — then the classes that fix the weak gear.

Owner auditAll seat audits

The numbers that matter

Demand for leaders. A path that doesn't start in debt.

Leader gap

0%

of home-services employers can't find the leaders they need

Access cost

From $399/mo

upon acceptance — not $100K–$200K+ in college debt first

Income path

0K+

earning potential for leaders who can run the machine

Free Future AuditJoin the waitlist

The path·The fork

Most kids get a brochure.
These get a machine.

College is right for some. Drift isn’t right for any of them. SOE is the second road — leadership, cash, customers, and ownership.

Start with the Future AuditSee training paths

Scroll to grow through the ladder →

Business Machine

Eight gears. One company.

Click any gear for a free seat benchmark — dual score for managers, full machine audit for owners.

OwnerBusiness Machine Audit
View all auditsSee training by seat

The problem

Trade school teaches the skill.
Almost nobody teaches the business.

The trades are full of excellent craftspeople stuck under a ceiling: they can do the work, but they were never given the operating system for leading people, reading numbers, winning customers, or owning a company.

01

Default roads fail quietly. College-by-inertia or hourly drift — neither is a plan for ownership.

02

Skill alone is not a career ladder. Leadership, sales, cash, and systems decide who runs the company.

03

SOE exists for that gap. Larry Janesky built Contractor Nation from a one-man truck. The school teaches what he used — for the next generation and for the managers who lead them.

Why Trades Leadership Training?

The trades are booming. 70% of employers can't find the qualified people they need. Demand is climbing. Salaries are rising. And the biggest gap isn't workers. It's leaders.

  • Lead teams and manage people with confidence
  • Think like a business owner, from day one
  • Build or grow a business that creates real value
  • Step into roles that pay $100K+ without a traditional 4-year degree

This isn't more school. This is practical training designed to help you think like a business owner, right from day one.

How it works

From curiosity to ownership

Simple sequence. No mystery. Built for busy families and real shops.

01

Clarify the path

Future Audit for families — or Owner Audit for companies. Name the constraint before you spend a dollar.

02

Enter the experience

Business Learning Days: run a real company on the board, inside a real shop. Parents stay in the room.

03

Train on the machine

Curriculum + principles by seat — marketing, sales, production, service, office, accounting, recruiting, AC.

04

Lead, then own

Ranks and real responsibility. Manager seats. Ownership track. Eventually host the next generation.

Same kid. Different road.

Do the four-year math side by side.

One path stacks debt before a job hunt. The other stacks skill, income, and a ladder toward ownership.

SOE path

Trades leadership ladder

Starting at $399/mo · No student loans

  1. Y0
    Start training
    Earn while you learn
  2. Y1
    Skill + seat
    Paycheck growing
  3. Y2
    Lead a gear
    Department ladder
  4. Y3+
    Manager / owner path
    Machine literacy
High demand across trades · Earn while you learn
College path

Traditional 4-year

$100k–$200k+ · Avg debt $39,500

  1. Y0
    Enroll
    Debt starts
  2. Y1–2
    Classroom years
    No career income
  3. Y3–4
    More tuition
    Debt compounds
  4. Y4+
    Job hunt
    Avg debt ~$39.5k
4+ years before career income · Demand varies by major

A growing majority of parents now say the trades offer better economic security than a four-year degree.

This isn't anti-college. It's pro-math.

The Missing Rung

What You'll Learn

Leadership & Team Management

The skill that separates a $60K career from a $120K career.

Business Fundamentals

Understand the full business, not just your department.

Communication & Decision-Making

Clear thinking. Confident communication. Smart decisions under pressure.

Career Acceleration

General Manager. Production Manager. Marketing & Sales Lead. Business Owner.

Your Training Platform

Learn Anywhere. Grow Every Day.

  • 24/7 access to your full curriculum
  • Daily micro-lessons (20-30 min)
  • Progress tracking dashboard
  • Direct mentor connection
  • Community forums & Think Daily
  • Business tools & calculators
Student Login
SOE Training App - Dashboard
SOE Training App - Desktop Dashboard

The ladder

Choose your training path

Three levels. Same machine. Climb when you're ready — from one gear to the whole company.

011 Year

Department Manager

Lead one seat in a home services company — marketing, sales, production, service, office, appointment center, accounting, or recruiting.

Choose your seat
022 Years

General Manager

Run the full home improvement / home services company — people, cash, customers, and every gear of the Business Machine.

View GM path
033 Years

Entrepreneurial Owner

Build and own a residential home services company. Systems, seats, and a machine that runs without you in every decision.

View owner path

All training programs

Every Business Machine seat. View the path or start training.

Entrepreneurial Owner

Build and own your own trades business from the ground up.

View program

General Manager

Run full operations across every department.

View program

Marketing Manager

Brand, leads, and campaigns that fill the box.

View program

Appointment Center Manager

Speed, six roles, and no lead dies.

View program

Sales Manager

One system, ADL truth, Highman pipeline.

View program

Production Manager

Install day, crews, backlog, Wow! process.

View program

Service Manager

Reputation gear — saves, callbacks, perennial.

View program

Office Manager

Enablement desk — CRM truth and handoffs.

View program

Accounting Manager

Cash, controls, margin truth.

View program

Recruiting Manager

Hire higher. Bench. Keep the stars.

View program
Larry Janesky
Built by a Builder

Meet Larry Janesky

Larry started in the trades at 17. Over 35+ years, he built a $50M business, earned 31 patents, and coached hundreds of contractors to build better businesses and better lives.

“You can't change a kid's destination overnight, but you can change their direction in a couple of minutes.”
Read Larry's Full Story

Next step

Get on the list. Show up when the doors open.

Business Learning Days are free Saturday mornings: students run a business on the board, inside a real company. Parents stay in the room. Join the waitlist — or take a free audit first.

Future AuditOwner audit

Ages 15+. Sponsorships available. Contractors → DiscoverSOE.com

soebluecollar.org · (866) 930-7330