Image from texasslabguys.com.

When Jeff Price, owner of Texas Slab Guys in Houston, Texas, left a successful white-collar career to launch a concrete business, he wasn’t chasing a lifelong dream in construction. Instead, he was making a calculated bet on the future of work.

As artificial intelligence continues reshaping office jobs, Price believes skilled trades offer long-term stability, and his journey with Texas Slab Guys proves that entrepreneurial success doesn’t always require decades of industry experience.

“I have absolutely no background in concrete,” Price admitted. “For anybody listening that thinks you need experience, it’s just an optional item, but I make up for it with a lot of enthusiasm.”

Why Jeff Price Chose Concrete Over Corporate

Before launching Texas Slab Guys in Houston, Jeff Price spent more than a decade working in strategy consulting, finance, technology, fintech, and artificial intelligence. Rather than entering the trades through experience, he entered through research.

“I really believe AI is going to revolutionize the working world as we know it today,” he said. “I view concrete repair as an extremely stable, steady state and high-touch service offering that is not a few decades away from being automated.”

Initially, Price planned to acquire an existing service business. After downloading thousands of business listings from Google Maps, he personally reached out to owners interested in selling. After evaluating hundreds of companies and narrowing the list to just a handful, an acquisition ultimately fell apart.

Instead of walking away, he built Texas Slab Guys from scratch.

Today, the Houston-based company provides commercial, industrial, and residential concrete services throughout Texas, including concrete repair, concrete leveling, foundations, sidewalks, driveways, street work, and specialized ready-mix projects.

Building a Business Without Being the Concrete Expert

Rather than pretending to know everything, Price focused on surrounding himself with experienced professionals.

“My mantra is, if I want to go far, I want to go together,” he said. “The common denominator between a lot of my teammates and partnerships… are integrity, honesty and personal values.”

Instead of hiring a large production crew immediately, Texas Slab Guys built its business around trusted channel partners while growing its internal sales team. Price believes his time is better spent creating systems that allow the company to scale rather than becoming the expert on every technical detail.

“I’ve had to be a student of the industry, and I continue to be,” he said. “Now I know enough at least to be borderline dangerous, but I still have a long ways to go.”

That willingness to learn has helped him better understand both the market and the technical side of concrete, while experienced partners ensure projects meet strict quality standards.

Thinking Bigger Than One Market

Jeff Price’s long-term vision for Texas Slab Guys extends well beyond Houston. Instead of building a company dependent on its owner, he’s designing processes that can expand into multiple markets across Texas.

“What my goal is to do is create a process-oriented level of service that can be copy and pasted across numerous markets,” he explained.

His hiring philosophy reflects that vision. Rather than traditional salespeople, Price recruits experienced professionals who already understand niche industries. One example is targeting golf course maintenance by hiring someone already immersed in that world, allowing Texas Slab Guys to build credibility with golf course owners and management groups across Texas.

The model is unconventional for a construction company, but Price believes it creates exponential growth opportunities while allowing operations to become increasingly system-driven.

Entrepreneurship Rewards Optimists

Like most startups, Texas Slab Guys experienced its share of setbacks. Price recalled celebrating the company’s first six-figure contract before watching the customer cancel it shortly before work was scheduled to begin.

Still, he refuses to dwell on losses.

“We lost about every single way that we could those first four months,” he said. “But you’ve got to be relentlessly optimistic.”

For anyone considering leaving a comfortable career to build a business in the trades, Price offered simple but powerful advice.

“The worst case scenario is you end up right back where you are,” he said. “The best case scenario is you’re wildly successful, you create generational wealth, and you buy back your time.”

As Texas Slab Guys continues expanding across Texas, Jeff Price remains focused on building something that lasts—not just another concrete company, but a scalable business that proves the next generation of entrepreneurs can thrive in the skilled trades by combining technology, systems, and relentless optimism.