Auburn Alumni (‘78) and Entrepreneur Ron Battaglia Finds Success as Scoop Soldiers Franchise Owner

Ron Battaglia is no stranger to hustle. Whether starting businesses when losing a job or leveraging his Auburn alumni network to build up his business, the Texas Scoop Soldiers franchisee (servicing The Colony, Frisco, McKinney, Melissa, Anna and Princeton, TX areas) has found success in out hustling others, producing and scaling.

“If you’re not afraid to work, you’ll never go hungry,” he said.

Working hard is a core part of Battaglia’s story.

In 2003, after losing his job, Battaglia started a lawn care business. When starting the business he created an action plan and a website, which wasn’t something that people typically did at that time. Setting up a marketing plan (he majored in Marketing at Auburn, class of 1978) when he started his business allowed Battaglia to see quick success and build connections. While running the lawn care business, Battaglia also owned a salon suite and a host of ATMs.

Battaglia has always worked hard to build up his network. He found that Auburn alumni had clubs and would meet to watch the Auburn games. When he moved to Dallas, he ran the alumni club from 2003-2010.

“Auburn’s saying is ‘Auburn Family’ and the university’s Creed begins Creed starts off with ‘We believe in work, hard work,’” explained Battaglia. “People who go to Auburn have more of that mindset. A lot of people pick on Auburn until they go there and then they say ‘it's truly different.’

“Being in the alumni club allowed me to find people who had vast interests. One guy had a company that needed an investor and another guy was an investor looking for something to invest in. Now, because of Auburn and the alumni club, I make money on house flipping and I got a partner to help me truly build this business the right way.“

In 2019, Battaglia found himself wanting to build a new business, the right way. He met E.J. McCoy, founder of the now 35-plus location Scoop Soldiers, who already purchased his lawn care business, and then joined forces as one of the first franchisees, noting that he liked the simple business model, low operating costs and comprehensive support services.

“Scoop Soldiers has a flexible business model that allows franchisees to focus on what they want, like their lifestyle or making revenue. Scoop Soldiers also handles a lot of back- office support such as daily billing and invoicing so that franchisees can focus on communicating with clients, building a management team, and finding employees who can provide customers with high-quality pooper-scooper services,” Battaglia noted.

Alumni, community, friends, family and hustle is what has helped the franchise owner grow to a multi-territory franchise.

“Based on his previous entrepreneurial successes, I look forward to seeing just how much Ron can scale,” McCoy said. Since moving to Florida, Battaglia has opened four additional Scoop Soldiers franchises which now cover the entire Tampa Bay area.