How a Machinist Entrepreneur Retired at 40, with Tyler Jarosz

In early 2022, Tyler Jarosz sent me an email to ask if Graff-Pinkert would be interested in a used little parts washer he no longer needed in his machine shop. He found out about Graff-Pinkert from listening to Swarfcast, which I’m proud to say is the only podcast he has ever listened to. At 40 years young, Tyler retired, closing Twenty6Products, his 1-employee shop, which had been lucrative enough over the last decade and a half that he can now spend his time doing whatever he wants. For the most part, that’s going mountain biking and snowboarding near his home in Bozeman, Montana. I knew Tyler had an interesting story. How does a someone start a 1-person machining company and make enough money to retire at 40? What kind of person would take that path? Follow us on Social and never miss an update!<br /> Facebook: https://lnkd.in/dB_nzFzt<br /> Instagram: https://lnkd.in/dcxjzVyw<br /> Twitter: https://lnkd.in/dDyT-c9h Tyler grew up in a small town in Wisconsin. He was diagnosed with learning disabilities when he was young. In high school, the kids in the school’s learning disability program were taken on a tour of the local technical college where Tyler was exposed to machining. He immediately fell in love with the trade. After graduating from tech school in three years, he headed straight to Bozeman, Montana, where he could enjoy the outdoor hobbies he loves, mainly mountain biking and snowboarding.  He got a job in a machine shop right away, starting at the bottom, loading parts into a CNC machine. On weekends, he rented the shop’s Haas mills to make break levers for mountain bikes, which he then sold to local bike shops. Later he designed and sold his own bicycle pedals machined from anodized titanium.  Tyler Jarosz, Former Owner of Twenty6Products At age 26, after four years working at two shops, there was enough demand for Tyler’s products for him to start his own machining company. He had gained such a great reputation from the consistent quality of his bike parts, that a more diverse customer base started seeking him out. He says it was scary to go off on his own, but he had confidence in himself, which he attributes somewhat to competing in snowboarding and mountain biking events when he was younger.  During his 15 years in business, Tyler never employed any more than one person in his shop, and that person was more or less a button pusher. His business philosophy was simple. He trusted his own quality and commitment, and by having virtually no employees it cut out overhead and a lot of management burden. After a few years, he at least had the sense to farm out managing the company’s book keeping. Tyler has never taken a business class and never read a business book. He sums up good business as having common sense. He hired a financial advisor, who laid out a plan to reach a fast retirement, though Tyler says he didn’t necessarily expect to do it