Introduction
Running a moving company is never simple. Owners juggle ringing phones, stressed clients, unpredictable crews, and trucks that always seem to need repair at the worst possible time. On top of that, growth brings its own challenges—managing multiple locations, keeping sales consistent, and finding time for family while building a legacy.
In this episode of the Movified Podcast, host Mark Hirschi sits down with Tim Krupp, the owner of Krupp Moving and Storage, Summit Moving and Storage, and founder of Movebees. In Part 1, Tim shares how he scaled multiple moving companies by creating structured sales systems, hiring at the right time, and blocking his calendar with discipline. He also explains how Movebees was born, why time management is non-negotiable, and how mentors and industry peers helped shape his journey.
If you’re a moving company owner, franchise operator, or industry professional trying to scale without burning out, this story offers practical systems and lessons that can save you years of struggle.
Key Takeaways
What You’ll Learn:
- Sales systems drive growth. Trained consultants close more jobs than unstructured staff.
- Time-blocking prevents burnout. Scheduling blocks for sales, family, and growth is key.
- Centralized call centers work. Streamlining sales across multiple locations increases consistency.
- Mentorship matters. Learning from peers and industry coaches can shortcut years of mistakes.
Table of Contents
From Furniture Store to Moving Company
Every moving company has an origin story, and Tim Krupp’s began with furniture. His family owned a furniture store in Ohio, where he learned customer service and delivery. When clients started asking if he could move entire households, Tim decided to test the idea.
In 2005, he placed a simple Yellow Pages ad. The phone started ringing immediately, and Krupp Moving and Storage was born. At the time, he had a small 14-foot box truck and two helpers. The hourly rate? Just $80.
Tim laughs now at how unprepared he was. He didn’t know about licensing requirements, packing standards, or even how to scale a moving crew. But what he lacked in polish, he made up for with work ethic and persistence. Over time, the trucks got bigger, the crews more skilled, and the bookings more consistent.
The Birth of Movebees
By 2018, Krupp was running multiple locations. Growth was strong, but he faced a familiar problem: how to manage incoming calls and sales across multiple branches.
He knew from working with industry coach Lewis Massaro that the answer was a centralized call center. Instead of letting each branch handle sales independently—leading to inconsistency, dropped calls, and untrained booking—he built a separate sales hub.
That hub became Movebees. At first, it existed to serve Krupp’s own moving companies. But other owners quickly took notice. Word spread through Facebook groups, industry masterminds, and personal networks. Within two years, Movebees had grown into a standalone business, offering professional sales support to movers nationwide.
“When I needed it, I knew other owners did too. That’s how Movebees became its own business.” – Tim Krupp
Scaling with Structure and Time Management
Many movers wait too long to hire help. Tim admits he was guilty of the same. He ran Krupp all the way to $1 million in annual revenue with no dedicated operations manager. On paper, the profit margins looked great, but in reality, the business was straining under his workload.
When he finally hired operations support, everything changed. Freeing himself from dispatch and day-to-day management allowed him to focus on sales and strategy. Within a year, the company doubled.
Tim also emphasizes the power of time-blocking. Rather than letting calls, emergencies, and meetings scatter his attention, he learned to block time for specific tasks. Mornings might be for sales and estimates, afternoons for strategy and team meetings, evenings reserved for family.
This discipline not only scaled his companies but also protected his personal life.
Smart Acquisitions and Multi-Brand Strategy
Acquiring competitors can be risky, but Tim saw opportunity in buying Summit Moving and Storage in Akron. The company had a broken culture and weak operations—what Tim described as a “Bar Rescue for movers.”
Rather than rebrand Summit under Krupp, he kept the name. Why? Because having competing brands in the same region gave him a wider net. Sometimes both companies estimated the same house. No matter which won, the job stayed in-house.
This strategy also allowed overflow flexibility. If Summit was booked out, jobs could flow to Krupp, and vice versa. Customers appreciated the honesty, and the system built trust.
Fixing Pricing Perception
One of the cleverest changes Tim made was reframing travel fees. Customers hated paying for them, even when Krupp’s prices were competitive. The solution was simple but powerful: rename it the Truck & Equipment Fee.
Instead of charging for round-trip travel time, Krupp charged for the actual moving hours plus a flat truck fee. Clients accepted it immediately, viewing it as comparable to renting equipment from Penske or U-Haul.
This small change eliminated objections, improved close rates, and expanded Krupp’s reach into cities like Cleveland.
Learning from Mentors and Industry Peers
Between 2005 and 2017, movers rarely shared strategies. Everyone saw each other as competitors. That changed with the rise of Facebook groups like Moving Company Owners Unite.
Tim was an early member. Suddenly, owners were comparing notes—how they charged for packing, which CRM they used, what scripts worked best. This exchange of ideas turned dozens of small independents into multi-million-dollar operators.
At the same time, working as a private client with Lewis Massaro gave Tim a blueprint for scalable systems. From centralizing sales to building culture, those lessons shaped both Movebees and Prover Accounting.
Balancing Family, Fear, and Fire in the Belly
Behind every successful business is a personal story. For Tim, family was both the challenge and the fuel. After closing his furniture store in 2010, he sold cars full-time while running his moving company on the side. His wife answered phones from home while caring for their newborn.
It was chaotic—dispatching crews in the morning, selling cars all day, then rushing to fix moving issues by phone between deals. In 2015, he took the leap and went full-time with moving.
Fear of failure? Not really. What Tim felt was desperation that turned into determination. Car sales had taught him how to build a sales process: listen, build rapport, present value, and close confidently. Applying that to moving doubled his close rate, and his company doubled in size within a year.
“Failure wasn’t an option. That fire in my belly pushed me to make it work.” – Tim Krupp
Why Choose Movified
At Movified, we highlight the stories that matter most—real movers sharing real strategies. This isn’t theory; it’s proven experience from people who’ve scaled, failed, and tried again until they got it right.
- Hosted by Mark Hirschi, owner of Salmon’s Moving & Storage (est. 1913).
- Featuring movers, franchise leaders, and innovators across North America.
- Every blog post and episode delivers immediately actionable playbooks for owners, operators, and franchisees.
Conclusion
Scaling a moving company requires more than grit. It demands systems, structure, and mentorship. In Part 1 of his interview, Tim Krupp explains how sales consultants, centralized call centers, time management, and a relentless drive turned a small Yellow Pages ad into multiple thriving moving companies.
If you’re ready to sharpen your sales process, organize your time, and build balance while scaling, Tim’s story is proof it can be done.
Meet The Host
Mark Hirschi is the founder and host of Movified. With over a decade in the moving and storage industry, Mark combines real-world leadership experience with a passion for mentorship and elevating industry standards.
