Today we’d like to introduce you to Josh Froelich.
Hi Josh, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
My whole life I knew I wasn’t going to be a typical 9-5 employee at a company and I was never happy in those roles as a young man. After finishing my education, I began what I thought was going be be a long and successful career climbing the corporate ladder in the tech industry.
I started in sales and loved it. Freedom to plan my day the way I wanted, out and about in my territory consulting businesses on technology solutions and it was fantastic. While the daily work and flexibility were perfect for me I found myself limited by the nature of working for someone else. Terrific businesses need to have processes and procedures to guarantee a consistent product. The larger the company the more layers of red tape came into play and the more I felt my creativity as a consultant held back.
While the time I spent in tech did appear in my mind to have an end date, I didn’t know what I wanted to do beyond the job. I knew I wanted to create my own thing where I could make the hard decisions, hire the right people, and develop the right solutions, but I wasn’t sure if I wanted to stay in tech or do something else. What the tech gig did give me was the freedom to explore my passions so I could figure this out.
I have a passion for shooting sports. I have been competing as a professional athlete alongside my tech gig for a decade now and as a person who understands business, marketing, customer service, and promotional activities, I began testing the waters to figure out how I could build something in this space where I am most passionate. I began training others to help them learn gun safety and become proficient with firearms and I found a real need for compelling media to tell better stories in the industry.
As a professional in the space, I knew all the people, I understood the subject matter better than most, and with my business background, I figured out how to turn that into a successful small company. Today, I own and operate Froelich Firearms, Inc., which does business as F5 Range our training and event company, and F5 Productions our media and marketing agency. I left the tech gig earlier this year and have so far doubled the size of the company in 2023 and am excited about where we will go over the next decade with our mission of, “sharing the shooting sports with the world”.
Can you talk to us about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Starting a company is hard. Between cash flow, finding great people, start-up capital, understanding bookkeeping, accounting everything else needed to run a business the “right way” it’s a bit overwhelming.
Fortunately, I have found great people to consult me and with the tech gig I worked for covering all of my family’s expenses through the commissions I was earning, we were able to fund the company for years without ever needing to take a paycheck. While this may sound amazing, It also meant 70-80 hour work weeks for several years to make the day job happy while building my own thing on the side.
Building a company is hard… Everything worth doing is hard… I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
F5 Range is the premier firearms training and event-hosting facility in the Minnesota region. We offer small group training, large group classes, corporate events, media shoots, and even facility rentals to law enforcement and brands for events.
We have multiple shooting bays for dynamic training with a long-range rifle range where we can shoot out to 500 yards. We have world and national champion instructors that visit monthly and we have fantastic guest lodging options onsite for our out-of-town clients to stay with us when they visit.
We have classes for new firearm owners, intermediate and advanced classes available, and focus on safety, speed, and accuracy. We are outdoors in the beautiful Minnesota, St. Croix River Valley near Pine City MN where spring, summer, and fall weather is fantastic and we have a crystal clear customer service focus. We make sure you have an amazing experience when you visit with us.
What’s next?
We spent the last few years investing in the facility, people, and processes, and moving forward we plan to add more events open to the public.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://f5range.com/
- Instagram: @F5_range
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=f5
Image Credits
F5 Productions
