The Texas-Based Moving Franchise Started With Family, Faith and Two Trucks
Square Cow Moovers can lay claim to one of franchising’s most unusual origin stories. Wayne Lombard, his son, Wade, and son-in-law, Derek Mills, founded the moving company as a way to unite all of their previously scattered family members in Texas when another of Wayne’s daughters and her husband were relocating to Austin to start a church.
The whole family was ready for major changes, Wade says. “We were living in Birmingham, Ala., and began exploring business opportunities across several industries, meeting with owners and studying numbers, trying to find the right fit. One of those meetings happened in a friend’s living room with a guy who had successfully grown a moving company into multiple cities.”
How It Started
The idea was equally intriguing and scary. “We walked out of that meeting energized and terrified, but in a good way. As we planned our move to Central Texas, we started dreaming up what our version of a moving company could look like.”
With help from Wade’s college roommate, the family created the name, logo and truck design for Square Cow Square Cow Moovers. “We launched on March 1, 2008, with more optimism than experience. We had two trucks and three family members, and we were starting out in the worst economy in decades. It forced us to learn fast, stay lean and obsess over customer experience because we couldn’t afford not to. Timing-wise, it was the middle of the housing crisis, which is either terrible luck or excellent training.”
As the business matured, the three founders refined their roles. “We didn’t initially align responsibilities with strengths, and it showed at first. Over time, we got smarter,” Wade says. “Eventually, I focused on sales, brand and growth strategy. Derek led operations and execution, and Dad handled finances and fleet. Once we got in our lanes, traffic started moving a lot faster with fewer collisions.”
Wayne says the three co-founders spent about 15 years refining the model before franchising. “We wanted the systems tested, the culture clear, and the playbook proven before inviting others in. After expanding into multiple company-owned branches and seeing the brand travel well, franchising became the obvious next step. Today, we have a growing multistate franchise footprint and a strong development pipeline.”
The brand has won consumers’ hearts through its teams’ courteous, can-do attitude and guaranteed price quotes with no hidden fees. “We know that trust is cultivated through transparency. When it comes to our clients, honesty is paramount,” Wayne says. “As we expanded into new cities, we saw the brand connect again and again.”
Franchising solved growing pains for Square Cow Moovers. “The bigger constraint wasn’t demand — it was a leadership pipeline,” Wade says. “We couldn’t build great managers fast enough to match the opportunity. Franchising solved that by pairing our systems and culture with local owners who have skin in the game. That combination is powerful.”
Woven into the fabric of the Square Cow Moovers brand are the family’s faith and five core values:
- Moove with manners.
- Sweat the small stuff.
- Find a way.
- Go the extra mile.
- Grow on purpose.
“These aren’t cute slogans; they are our lifeline,” Wade says. “We spend more energy on internal marketing than external marketing. By that we mean we work hard to sell our culture to our own team first. If the people on the trucks understand exactly how we treat customers and each other, the brand takes care of itself. From how we answer the phone to how we handle a damaged item, culture is baked into the daily details. In a business where customers are often stressed, kindness and professionalism go a long way.”
About FranGrowth
To accelerate the brand’s expansion across the United States, Square Cow Moovers has partnered with the FranGrowth franchise development company. “We love everything about this brand: the leadership, their story, the model and the opportunity,” says FranGrowth founder and President, Dan Glaser. “There’s a lot to like.” FranGrowth’s portfolio of emerging franchise brands also includes Go Painting, SET THE STAGE, HomeSmiles, Hole in the Wall Drywall Repair, Hudson Valley Swim, Mr. Duct Cleaner, Floor Crafters, More Space Place and Closet & Storage Concepts. FranGrowth is a franchise development and investment firm that partners with brands built for long-term growth, strong franchisee support and scalable expansion.
The Moving Industry
The moving industry continues to offer strong opportunity because it serves a steady, essential need: people and businesses will always have to relocate, downsize, expand or start fresh. In the U.S., the moving services industry is valued at $25.7 billion in 2026, according to IBISWorld, while Technavio projects the U.S. market will grow by $4.78 billion from 2025 to 2030. For franchise brands like Square Cow Moovers, that demand creates room for trusted operators that can bring professionalism, transparency and customer care to a highly fragmented service category.
Learn more about the Square Cow Moovers franchise opportunity.
