Full Force Diesel
Ryan Casserly’s story for his business, Full Force Diesel Performance Inc., is an interesting one of a man with a desire to make something of his own… but didn’t have a concrete plan of what to do. It’s also filled with seeing opportunities and taking advantage of them to become something bigger than what was planned.
It started in 2005 with a conversation. “There’s a buddy of mine that went from doing all of my machining to sort of being a mentor to me,” recalls Ryan. “I told him my idea for the business before I started it and he didn’t shoot me down, instead he asked me ‘Well, how big do you want to get?’” With that his buddy was in helping lay the groundwork for his next discussion on the matter: his wife. “I had been working for another company for about 8 months before moving on to rebuilding injectors. One evening I was sitting on the porch with my wife when I told her that I was thinking about starting a business. She didn’t say anything at first, and then after taking it in she turned and said ‘Alright, let’s plan of being poor for the rest of our lives. Let’s do it.’ And with that we borrowed $2,500 from my mom and dad and me and a friend started the business by building injectors out of a 10 x 15 shed on the side of the house.”
The business had ups and downs as normal businesses do, but with the recession can an unexpected blessing. “2008 was actually saw pretty good growth for us,” says Ryan. “Because the economy was so bad and no one wanted to buy new trucks, so they wanted to maintain and fix up their old ones. Since we were rebuilding injectors we were in a pretty good spot. And it’s grown from there, going from bigger shops to bigger shops. We’ve had a few places over the years, and it’s funny to think how we came from that little shed to the 20,000 square feet that we are now.”
Ryan moved Full Force away from the city to where the business currently resides on a farm that had foreclosed. Cleverly organized, the house was made into their office building with the work is done on the land and in the renovated barn. Ryan thought this was the last place that they were going to have, but as fate would have it there’s a new opportunity on the horizon, and Ryan is all about taking on new opportunities. “There’s an old car dealership that we’re looking at moving the sales and service to. It opens us up to work with surrounding vehicle dealerships surrounding it, broadening the business and letting us offer accessory installation, lifts, wheels and tires, window tint and for them. A big part is offering emissions friendly performance parts like Banks has to offer. People are shying away from the deletes and such because it’s too much trouble in the long run, and the dealerships don’t want anything to do with it at all. This way a vehicle is still emissions compliant and still offers power. It’s part of changing with the times.”
Full Force Diesel Performance has certainly morphed over the years, and really has turned into something that Ryan never really imagined it would be from its humble beginning. As things opened up here and there, he has turned a little shed into a reputable business that can do anything from basic maintenance to some rather extreme performance builds. Employing close to 30 people and having the willingness to take on new opportunities when shown, Ryan offers customers a “can do” attitude like very few other can as well as services that few offer.
Full Force Diesel Performance Inc.
7822 Manchester Pike