Sam Ortiz built his first simulator in a two-car garage in early 2024, mostly for himself and a handful of friends who chipped in on the launch monitor. By the end of 2025, he was running six bays across two locations with a waitlist for prime evening slots.
We asked Sam what actually mattered in that stretch, beyond just “grow the business.”
The turning point
The garage setup was never meant to be a business — it became one because neighbors kept asking to book time. Sam’s first real decision was whether to formalize it or keep it informal:
- Month 3: started taking cash bookings from neighbors and coworkers
- Month 7: opened a waitlist because demand outpaced garage capacity
- Month 9: signed a lease on a small commercial unit, three bays
- Month 18: opened a second location, six bays combined
“The hardest part wasn’t the equipment. It was realizing a spreadsheet booking calendar doesn’t scale past about 15 regulars.”
What he’d do differently
Sam’s biggest regret is waiting too long to move off manual booking. He estimates he lost several thousand dollars in missed bookings during the month he was still coordinating over text message after demand had already outgrown that system.
His advice to operators at the garage stage: treat the booking system as infrastructure from day one, not a thing to figure out once you’re “big enough” to need it.