Introduction
Most moving company owners mistakenly believe that commercial moving is just residential moving with heavier furniture. The reality is far more complex: commercial moving is an arena where deadlines are rigid, stakes are high, and clients cannot afford a single day of operational downtime.
In this episode of Movified Wednesdays, Mark Hirschi and Steven Reed sit down with Josh Jurhill of Muscular Moving Men and M3 Commercial to discuss the mechanics behind opening a new revenue lane. Josh reveals why he refused to build his commercial division as a simple add-on, detailing the exact moment he realized he needed a dedicated leader, a separate corporate identity, and entirely new operational systems to successfully scale.
Key Takeaways
What You’ll Learn:
- Why applying your residential brand name to commercial projects is costing you six-figure corporate contracts.
- The importance of bringing in a dedicated industry leader to build your commercial division, rather than relying on your own residential expertise.
- How to manage “shared services” between residential and commercial divisions without robbing Peter to pay Paul.
- Why learning the “K-Z value” and getting IOMI certified are non-negotiable first steps for commercial operators.
Table of Contents
- The Brand Dilemma: Muscular vs. M3
- Hiring the Operator: Trading Decades for Days
- Managing Shared Services
- The Dolly Dash: Leadership and Self-Belief
- Why Movified Preserves These Industry Stories
- Conclusion
The Brand Dilemma: Muscular vs. M3
Josh Jurhill’s initial lightbulb moment came when he recognized a massive gap in how his company presented itself to corporate clients.
While the alliteration and branding of “Muscular Moving Men” resonated perfectly with residential homeowners, Josh realized it was the wrong message for corporate facility managers entrusting a mover with hundreds of thousands of dollars in IT equipment and complex cubicle systems. A law firm billing hourly cannot risk a botched move, and they want to hire a specialist, not a general residential mover.
To capture these high-margin projects, Josh and his partner created an entirely separate entity with a dedicated tax ID: M3 Commercial Moving & Logistics. This allowed them to charge a premium by marketing themselves as specialized commercial experts.
Hiring the Operator: Trading Decades for Days
Josh recognized that he and his partner were experts in residential moving, not commercial logistics.
Instead of trying to figure out massive office moves on the fly—which risks destroying a company’s reputation instantly—they decided to bring in a true industry expert. They hired Jim Stevens, a commercial moving powerhouse from the East Coast, to run the new division. By offering Jim full equity and a sizable salary, Josh effectively traded “decades for days,” instantly acquiring the expertise necessary to bid on massive commercial jobs.
Josh notes that while building the original residential company required massive foundational effort, the commercial division acted as a “bolt-on” to their existing infrastructure, allowing them to scale rapidly.
Managing Shared Services
One of the biggest challenges of running a bolt-on division is managing “shared services”—the fleet and labor pool utilized by both sides of the company.
When Jim Stevens landed a massive $50,000 commercial project requiring 30 men and seven trucks, Josh realized he could not just shut down his residential operations to accommodate it. They navigated this by understanding that commercial moves often require a different type of labor. Pushing a desk on a four-wheeler down a hallway does not require the same VIP customer service skills as moving Mrs. Smith’s fragile antiques. By cross-training staff and clearly defining roles, M3 Commercial is able to execute massive projects without starving the residential side of necessary resources.
The Dolly Dash: Leadership and Self-Belief
During the rapid-fire “Dolly Dash” segment, Josh shared key leadership insights for scaling a massive operation:
- The First Sign of Distraction: You know a new revenue lane is distracting your core business when the owner is forced back into the weeds to solve daily problems instead of delegating to capable operators.
- Handling Pressure: To manage the immense stress of running two companies, Josh relies on physical fitness, breath control, and cold plunging in 35-degree water.
- Self-Belief: When facing the anxiety of bringing on a third partner or bidding on a massive project, Josh relies on his historical body of work, stating: “History says that every time I do something I finish… every time I have figured this out.”
Why Movified Preserves These Industry Stories
Movified exists to document the knowledge that textbooks miss.
Hosted by Mark Hirschi, the show dives into the friction points of modern logistics. Movified’s value lies in:
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Honest conversations about the painful lessons of partnership and operational scaling.
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Proven strategies from successful operators like Josh Jurhill and Steven Reed.
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Lessons earned through real-world trial and error, ensuring the next generation of movers does not have to learn everything the hard way.
Conclusion
If every new opportunity in your business still depends entirely on you, you are not scaling—you are simply stacking pressure. Successfully adding a commercial lane requires the humility to admit what you do not know, the willingness to invest in specialized equipment (like 100 four-wheel dollies), and the operational discipline to let true leaders run the division. By treating commercial moving as a dedicated, specialized business rather than a weekend add-on, moving companies can unlock massive, recession-resistant revenue.
