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Learn more at thegoldhillgroup.com website where you can schedule your free strategy session. Hello and welcome back to another episode of the Disruptive Successor Show.I'm Jonathan Goldhill and my guest today is Dylan Milroy from Oregon.
Dylan, let me introduce yourself.He is a trusted advisor and employee-focused business leader in the home services industry.
As the founder, owner, and operator of Better Basements and Waterproofing, Dylan has mastered the art of driving lead flow and has built a standout company culture that drives success and employee retention.
Dylan doesn't do anything in his life half-hearted.He's very much a believer, if you want to be mediocre, go be a bureaucrat.
Dylan believes too many businesses are hyper-customer focused, when in reality, they need to be more focused on their employee. And that employees, sorry, and that is what today's show is about.Welcome to the show, Dylan.Thank you for the intro.
All right.So, well, let's start with, like, how did you first get into this business, Better Basements and Waterproofing?
Well, my business partner, who most people don't really see, but they know because we're best friends, he's a he's a real estate agent, a big agent up here.And he called me one day and he was like, hey, I got this bid for some waterproofing.
It was at his personal house.And what do you think about this?He told me the numbers.And I was like, Yeah, man, it sounds like you're getting ripped off.
And and he's like, I get these, you know, three, four times a week, because it's such a common thing in the Northwest.And it's all found in discovery and in real estate.
And he was like, What do you think about starting a construction company that does basements and crawlspace waterproofing?And Two weeks later, I had my contractor's license and we had started it.
It was purely for need, purely for need because I'd talked to some other real estate agents and it was the same thing.It was just a constant battle to get honest numbers in something that is just all the time.
Yeah, so you really adopted this focus of being more employee focused. And a lot of thought leaders for many years have said, fall in love with your customers, be customer focused, and yet you've prioritized employee focused over customer focused.
And so let's talk first about how do you think an employee focused work environment benefits the customer?
Yeah, and I think, and that was, and we got to there because when we started it was, We had said, hey, we're going to make this big.We're going to scale it huge.So we hired our first employee, you know, like a week or two after getting started.
And if you're going to scale, you have to, you're not, you're not going to do it alone.And newsflash, there's fewer employees than there are customers.So it's, it doesn't, it makes more sense to hyper-focus on your employees.
And being in the trades and working with my hands is,
You, uh, you, you and I, and I come from a luxury construction and it's all, you have these massive expectations and they want to blow them out of the water, but it's at the expense of someone can never say no.
And it doesn't seem to be, that's not sustainable.And you, and you feel like there's always someone getting walked over.Um, so we really, we really manage expectations by, by building up our employees and by
And by telling them what the expectations are to the customer, that makes sense.
OK.Yeah.So what are some of the values or principles that guide your approach to creating an employee focused work environment at your business?
Yeah.Well, my favorite thing about starting a business is that you've essentially created, I've created my own world.So it's, you know, I only, I only, I only hire people I want to be around, you know, longterm, you know, so I work a lot.
I'm sure you work a lot, uh, sunup sundown and I love it.And it's, um, I spend more time with some of these guys and I do my wife and, you know, I'm going to be with her forever.
So, um, we, we really, really focus on hiring guys who have in, in the trades, this goes far.I don't know what your listenership is like.Probably a lot of professionals is what I would assume.
There's a lot of contractors, actually a lot of contractors.Okay.Great.
Perfect.And the trades, this goes really far is that, uh, you know, we just, I just don't hire losers.It's like you and you need to you.And that's possible.Like there are guys who are.
who are crushing it in their personal life, who are, who are starting at the bottom and working their way up.I was that guy.I'm sure a lot of your listeners were that people too.
Um, so it has to start at hiring people who have those high moral characters, the highest.Um, so quick, very, very slow to hire, very, very quick to fire though.
So, right. So one of the things that we do here in my company is to help codify those values.
In other words, like document them and then make sure they're alive and well living in the culture and that we use them to hire, we use them to fire, we use them to motivate.So hopefully you're doing that.
And you see the importance of that as you go forward, as you scale.Because you want to really build a cult or culture of personality types.And you can't interview people and try and figure out like, is this guy a loser?
Or ask them, how big of a loser?Has anyone ever called you a loser?
No, it's true.We have our values and you can't you can't look into everyone's past, and you're not expected to.But you do have to have your guideposts, and you have to continue to look at them.And it makes a big difference.I really do think it does.
Yeah.All right, now let's talk about one of the important things in any business, especially a physically demanding business like yours.And I assume it's physically demanding, right?Is balancing productivity. with employee well-being.
And then also measuring both, perhaps.
Measuring employee well-being, we typically do that through an employee net promoter score, which is that single number through one through 10, how would you rate working at our company, or how likely would you be to refer a friend to work at our company?
But we also have to measure
how productive they are, whatever that is, how many lineal feet, how many square feet, how many cubic feet, how many homes, how many, you know, what kind of dollars they're generating per hour versus what you're paying them.
So how do you find that you do that, that you're balancing the productivity and well-being?
Yeah, we're really big on balancing the well-being.It is hard.It is very difficult to balance productivity because there's so many unknowns. It's one thing if you're, you're hanging drywall or painting, um, which are both hard jobs.
But in ours is there's a, there's a lot of factors like soil condition, uh, just like unless you have your Superman eyes, you'll never know.Uh, so I would say that that is something that we're, we're always, we're always trying to figure out.
Uh, I love bonuses.So we try to figure out, uh, you know, monthly bonuses for what, what have you.Um, and. The other ways is that you just need to support these guys.
It's like it's crazy that how many people will have come over from competitors and they're and they're larger than us or or we had recently surpassed them and they're still using like pawn shop tools just like just just just poor poor junk because they don't care.
It might make sense as a math problem but you know being someone who Who lives with their tools you basic things like buying them the nicest hilti tools or what have you?It goes it goes really really really far.
Um, you know in the roi might be six months out, but I promise you it makes a difference um, and they take care of it, um, and They only they only take care of that kind of stuff.If you're if you're focusing on, you know, not hiring losers, right?
Okay.Um, yeah for sure.So we have a One of my favorite value, one of our core values is expect excellence, deliver compassion.So we expect it.We expect it at a high level.But, you know, we have a lot of mercy, a lot of grace, you know.
So as long as it's not like malicious, it's like, hey, man, it's OK.Like, you know, we can fix it.
So, so you have the bonus program, you have, you know, give them high quality tools.Um, let's talk about initiatives or programs that have had the most significant impact on employee satisfaction and retention.Um, are, are those among them?
Are there other ones?Um, you know, other things around the core values.What are you, what initiatives or program are having the most significant impact?
Our uh our review bonus program so we have a lot of reviews we do well online um and this is this has to be from the beginning from when they when we answer the phone to when they collect the check it's very important obviously you're not going to ask for reviews if if your baby's ugly but we do a really good job from start to finish so this was something this was something that
Made sense for everyone.So we pay sometimes we pay a hundred bucks to guys.It depends.
So they're in tears So when you first get going it's $25 a review once you get higher, it's $50 a review But here's the thing is that I don't want them to get reviews that just say better basements at a great job They only get their cash bonus if the person leaving the review mentions their name Mm-hmm, and we set them up for success in it where our review our review funnel is
Reminds them that that employee gets a cash bonus For mentioning their name and we give them a script on how to ask for reviews Like we are trying our best to make sure that they're remembered and they love it.
They print them off and you know It's a good game.
And then we have a leaderboards, you know, we're like, hey this person's getting a hundred we have guys are getting $100 a review and You know, they're getting two three extra days of labor on their paycheck and reviews and it's great
And I think it's cool that When you go and it's good business sense, it's good for SEO.It's good for everything else.Absolutely.It's huge Yeah, you're going in those reviews and these people have these Oh Fernando was so great.
They cleaned up and they're using names and then there's reading and there's like wow There's like a dozen different names in here, you know, right?So that goes really far I would say that is by far our most successful ongoing review program
You know we do things where like we we we buy their boots.You know nice work boots are 200 250 bucks.So that's that's nice.But being able to give those being able to set them up for success like that by.
Reminding them that, hey, we do important work.It's hard work and it's very much appreciated.It goes really far.
Yeah, I totally agree with that corporate practice of getting reviews, having personal experience.I just was looking for a fence company to put a fence and gate in my property.
And of course, I went to the ones that had the 5.0 and the most reviews, and they were at the top, of course, because that's how Google ranks them.So it's great for your SEO.
And it's good for your employees because they're collecting cash and satisfaction along the way.
Well, yeah, and you get that.It gives you an opportunity to really like I sent a screenshot and I thank them. in a text and I'll call him or whatever.I just I just had the opportunity to do this yesterday.Hey man.
And he gives you a very intentional compliment.Hey thank you so much.I can trust you with X Y Z. Very clear compliment.And then generally.Because now you have that relational stewardship.
You can't you can't just go in there and just correct him on things all the time. But now you have that, okay, they really value me, he sees that I'm going above and beyond.
And it gives you more opportunities to be thankful, which is really important.Especially for hard labor.
Yeah.Look, another thing that for us goes along with values is purpose.And I know that you've been involved in EOS and self-implementing it.
And so I'm sure you're familiar with the concept of what is our why, and start with why, and what's our, we call it purpose.It used to be called mission.Mission is sort of a military term.
Thought leaders in the corporate and coaching space have gotten away from the word mission and use purpose.
Connecting employees at all levels of the organization to that purpose and having them feel empowered, making the purpose about them, but also making the purpose about the customer or all stakeholders is a very challenging thing.
And I find very few companies have mastered getting a really good purpose that ensures all levels of employees feel empowered to invest in it.
What are some things that you're thinking about or doing in that area that are helping lift your business and create leverage over your growth?
Yeah, we're in an interesting industry that I think is going through a lot of growing pains. where private equity as recent recently in the last 10 years or so for better for worse.I'm not against big business.I hope I hope I grow my business huge.
But I would say they're investing in.In purely productivity, whereas whereas in the waterproofing industry, there's there's really.There's really two ways to do it, it seems super black and white, but
Most construction guys will understand this where there's a right and there's a wrong way.And the right way is backbreaking work.It's it's it's it takes five times as long like the way we do it.
And of course, the guys are getting all the big checks are are doing it the wrong way.So our focus has been hyper focused on our marketing is probably a little untraditional.It's pretty aggressive where, you know, it kind of pooh poohs it.
And we'll even we have marketing that talks about
uh calling calling out the warranty because it's a it's a lifetime warranty but really it's not uh based on the results it's based on like this proprietary thing they put in the ground so we focus on teaching our employees that and showing them like hey uh these guys are getting these crazy bids like customers will give us these bids look at this bid like this would take us a day to do this is crazy like you should guys should feel
Like you're doing good work like this.They met someone.Hey, you just met Leslie.You just did her house.You know, this this six year old woman who lives here alone and she almost got taken advantage of that.
That really goes far and that and that and that gives them a purpose because we're not installing, you know, we're not doing luxury bathrooms, we're doing something like we're meeting and we're meeting a homeowner on their worst day.
Um, so it really gives them a big why, uh, because it's not something you can ignore.If you ignore our service, you, your home, I mean, you're going to have detrimental side effects in your home.Um, and it's not, it's not fun.
It's not, we're not hanging cabinets.We're not, you know, it's, it's really hard work.So being able to educate them on construction sciences, get some passionate because it's, you know, these are guys who work with their hands.So they like that.
And but you know, they also have a heart because you know, they're not losers.So now they get a feel like, wow, we really helped this homeowner in this situation.So it's it's a real culture of education.It's the way we do sales.
It's the easiest way to do sales when, if you can talk about the construction sciences, it sells itself.
Right.So So I want to put a wrap on this employee-focused work environment strategies work, and then we're going to dive a little bit deeper into what you're doing to disrupt the traditional industry practices in the waterproofing industry.
And we see the impact that private equity is having in a lot of companies.And it's really making a big division or divide, let's say, between the PE-backed companies and smaller family-run more local businesses.
So we're going to get into that, but do you have any final words of advice that you would give other business leaders either in the home services or construction or any business about creating a culture where employees thrive?
Yeah, kind of a low-hanging fruit would be that I Really drive home that I love being around my guys So and if they love being around you and everyone's friends, it makes life so much easier.
I don't wake up Wondering who is late to work or who XYZ it it does not happen right at better basements So, I mean we just put we're trying to hire seven new guys this month And I posted a job and in 12 hours we had like 120 applicants.
And it's, if you paint a little vision and you pay well and you have a dream that their dream big enough for them, for their dream to fit in, uh, people will come and you just have to be honest with them and you have to, uh, continue to support them.
It's, I personally think it's, uh, it's the, It takes the most work, but it's the easiest and it's the most fulfilling.
Yeah.Oh, that's great.It makes you a destination employer.People want to come to work for you and they're seeking you out.And, and it, it also creates a ripple effect in the market.
People know your reputation and they see your trucks and they think, I know these guys, like I hear about them.They're a great place to work.So kudos to you in that.Thanks. It makes for scaling your company much easier.
Now you just have the difficult work of figuring out who are the best seven of those 120 applicants and figuring out what kind of screening and hiring and best practice tools will you use in bringing the best players on board.
And we can go into a whole discussion on that, but we'll save that for another day.All right, let's talk about the waterproofing industry. any specific practices that you see as outdated or inefficient?Well, it's funny.
Yeah, it's funny is that, yeah, the outdated practices are the right ones.Recently, I would say in about, I think it was about 30 years or so ago, there was a move to where you place drainage.
The way that everyone and their mothers has been waterproofing for 100 years is the correct way.And it's been perfected, but it takes a long time and it's a lot of work.
But if you do this other way where you place it up higher into the floor, we could get in the weeds really quickly. If you do it the way that everyone knows, everyone who knows anything about this knows what I'm talking about.
You can do it in a fifth of the time.And it's just a band aid.Does it work for a little bit?Absolutely.It does work for a little bit.
But, you know, there's I've talked to some guys who were like the biggest in there, the biggest in these big dealer networks who who left because they're getting 10, 20 percent callback rates.
And and they bring it up the ladder and they're like, hey, we have to we have to figure something out like this.This isn't sustainable.And the answers are always well like look at the spreadsheet.It is actually wrong.It is sustainable.
You're like yeah maybe for you know 10 10 more years 15 more years.But it seems to be like there seems to be a reaction is what I see because now with you know YouTube and maybe people
in their 30s and 40s are starting to get are starting to get more money.And now they're able to go down these rabbit holes online and to figure it out.
It seems to be that it's kind of blowing up a little bit is is what is what I would is what I would say.I feel like homeowners are are hungry to know like why things are why things are going a certain way.Like why are you doing it this way?And
fancy brochures can only get you so far.And I have fancy brochures, but my fancy brochures go, you know, are kind of poo-pooing what seems to be, you know, normal.Okay.
Are there key innovations or process changes that you've introduced that you feel are game changers?Because, you know, oftentimes disruptors and businesses need to look at innovation using technology.
Certainly, I have some ideas about what you've just talked about in terms of marketing and what you're doing that's disruptive.
But in other areas, operationally or service delivery or what you're using in terms of materials or innovations or process changes, what's going on and where's your thinking around there?
Yeah, most of my I would say that my innovation is is focused on is focused on the marketing heavily.It doesn't.I don't.I'm a firm believer that in the waterproofing that the wheel the wheel doesn't need to be reinvented.
There there are things that make life better like in that goes back to buying you know the nicest tools. basic things like buying fancy dust collectors and stuff goes really far.Okay.
You know, if you're, if you're going to buy a $1,500 vacuum, uh, you might think it's silly, but if, if, if what the norm is having a fan blowing it out and wearing a mask, you know, things like that goes really far.
Um, our, our biggest competitors, you know, they might still like, we, we hand mix concrete, we hand mix pallets of concrete because we're doing it in someone's home.Um, and carrying it in buckets.
So things like buying, there's this tool called the mud mixer.It's a very expensive concrete machine.But that cuts down on the step of having to put it in a bucket and mixing it by hand and all this craziness.
So we're talking about the micro-changings.
of things so like the big innovations i think are in the marketing space and in the brandings and in the branding space okay any challenges you faced in introducing these marketing initiatives to an industry that's rooted in maybe other traditional practices yeah it's really scary you know i've had uh you know scary youtube uh youtube comments or emails and stuff like that that i've had to have like my lawyer look over stuff and be like hey am i doing anything wrong and he'll be he'll be like
Are you lying?No, then it's not slander.You're good.
Okay.So yeah, it is scary.
Um, and you get stuff where it sounds like you called out a few companies by name, maybe not by name.
Well, yeah.If you're reading in between the lines.Okay.So yeah, you know, we'll, we'll get stuff where it's pretty obvious where they have, um, where they have meetings, sales meetings.Right.And, and then, their rebuttals are just textbook.
They'll just come back and you and you'll know that it's directed towards us.
So it's pretty easy to it's pretty easy to see that things are working because if we're sending you know 200 quotes a month right or something it does make its way back for sure.
And in customers you know you have that relation you have that relationship with them.They'll show us emails and text messages you know from sales reps. where they're just flat out slandering, character assassinations, right?
Which we don't, that is not, that is tacky.But you can and you should protect your customers by slandering methods, I think so.Especially if it's not in their best interest.
So customers are responding well, I'm assuming, to the approaches that you're using. And they're seeing a lot.I mean, this is not an inexpensive proposition to waterproof your basement in Oregon.
We wouldn't know in California, we don't have basements, but in the East Coast where I'm from, lots of basements and water damage is a serious problem.So do you get feedback from the customers?
It sounds like you do versus this other sales rep was pushing this and you're saying that. Yeah.
Yeah.Yeah.I mean, we, uh, I do my best to try to talk to customers as much as possible.And it's funny is that when, when I do, it's like, I'm the guy from the video, right?I'm the guy from the marketing.
And, and it's fun.It's like, sometimes the other day I was on the phone with this guy, it was like for an hour and a half.And he was this engineer and he was just, just so dumbfounded and so passionate that he's like, Yeah, the feedback is great.
The feedback is.And you find stuff like we'll rip out, we rip out customer stuff.I just recently had a post on LinkedIn because we were doing a bid on something that had a lifetime warranty and we're going to rip it out and replace it.
And you talk to this, you talk to them, hey, like, would you leave us review first off?And second off, will you?Why aren't you going to them about this?Why aren't you raising a fuss about this? And it's they're deflated.
You know it's it's almost embarrassing because because they're dumbfounded like well I had this lifetime warranty you're like yeah but did you.Like here's the contract you know see how these exceptions are here.
And it's kind of you kind of you're meeting someone who feels like they were had you know it.And it's suck.Yeah it's.Yeah it is.And it's pretty common.It's actually really common.There's this big waterproofer
on the East Coast, American Dry Basement Systems.He's great.His name is Peter O'Shea.He's huge on YouTube in our world.And he has hundreds of videos of ripping out these systems that have lifetime warranties.Wow.
And the response is always eye rolls from people who don't
Who don't really read the yeah but they said you know I when we first started we had customers all the time be like yeah but I believe them you know they had they have the lifetime warranty so it's going to be okay yeah I understand what you're saying but you know we have the lifetime warranty so it's going to be okay.
It's.The. It's hard to meet someone in that place, but with good sales tech, good marketing, and building that trust, it goes really far.And that's how you get a customer for life.
Can people come back for this type of service?I imagine once they get another house, then they certainly return.
But yeah, we are implementing.We're trying to implement a service program.Gotcha.Because, you know, reoccurring revenue is sure it's one of the best gross gold goods.
Yeah, it's the right for sure.
And we're at that place now where we can start adding new systems and stuff like that.So, no, but most of our businesses and real estate transactions.So probably last time I checked upwards of like 60 percent.
which is my favorite because you have four customers in a real estate transaction.So we have a very, very, very high lifetime value of customers, especially for realtors.So we go out of our way for real estate agents.
That's great.It sounds like more customers.It's the buyer's agents, the seller's agent, the buyer and the seller, and the insurance agents.
Oh yeah, nothing we do is actually... Insurance related?
No, it's considered a natural disaster.So if you have flood insurance, maybe.
Okay.All right.So you and I are both great believers in the importance of tools.Your tools are the things that you've described.I won't call them picks and axes, but they're better tools.
And our tools in my business are growth tools typically, things that get people to think and see their business or their world differently, develop a strategy, or analyze their financials, or look at how to hire people better.
And those are the growth tools.So is there any other role that technology plays in your company in terms of where you see yourself evolving in the future?
Typically, the answers I usually hear are things like, yeah, we're using a better CRM or we're using a program that helps with estimating and job costing and time tracking.I mean, any other things?Oh, yeah.
That would be generic to other industries as well.Yeah.
Yeah, for sure.Yeah, we do weekly cash flow forecasting, just like, you know, any successful construction business. But you know probably at our size is Well, when we started doing it, it was definitely abnormal at our size.It's it's pretty typical.
So yeah, we Our CRM is we use build 12, which is which is you know, go high level a white label go high level and my coach and Business consultant.He's essentially my CFO to he less O'Hara.He's great.He is He really is big on tracking your leads.
So I've I've grown into like a CMO role.It's a it's one of my talents is is lead tracking and we track him down.We are starting to track him down to the micro.So I can tell you the ROI for every lead funnel down to, you know, the dollar.
And that's been that's been very powerful because some of these
Some of these lead funnels, you know, they have I I sold a job last week that I did two years ago And if you are not if you're not tracking it down if you're not tracking your leads like that It's gonna be very hard to scale your marketing without you know, losing your shirt It can run away from you very quickly.
Very true very quickly.So yeah, we I'm a big believer in and tracking where your lead sources are from and where your job and obviously, the job costing of it in our business, it's job costing is is easy.I mean, we have two materials and we're ready.
So, I'm not gonna- Yeah, exactly.But I'm not gonna insult some like bathroom remodeler about job costing because it takes me three minutes to do it and it's all automated.
Yeah, well, that's good but it's so important because so many people lose their shirt because they're not job costing and they don't know what their margins are and they're not getting the kind of margins that they deserve or want to get and they don't know why.
So yeah, yeah and with And with marketing is you know, i'm a big believer in and it's not earth-shattering Is that you just pause funnels?
You don't stop them forever You have you have marketing you're doing marketing you're gonna do And marketing that you've paused not marketing.
You won't do I mean we've done radio tv I mean everything right and and we've stopped things because we we're tracking them so closely.We're like Yeah, we're paying a lot.Our customer acquisition cost is crazy on these.So let's turn it off.
And you know, recently, I've been, we've been trying to launch our new website.So I've been on this huge project.And I went through the last six weeks on our customer acquisition costs.And it was like, really high.
And I found, I found all these clicks and these campaigns that we're just like doing terribly.And the only and there was a time in my life in our business that that would have just ran forever.
And I was paying eight seven hundred dollars for a phone call.So, yeah, if you're if you're not, I would highly, highly, highly recommend doing the extra work in tracking your leads.It's been game changer.And having, you know, a coach
who's been where you want to go and who has taken people where you want to be.Because it's not, I'm not like some super genius.I'm not some like business whiz.I just asked, I just asked the questions, you know?
Yeah, right, right.Well, let's give a shout out to Les O'Hara, Bill 12.He's a prior podcast guest.I can't tell you what episode, probably 10 to 20 episodes ago.But yeah, shout out for the introduction.
He's very impressive. Very impressive guy.
Yeah, awesome.Annie, so it sounds like the marketing Uh, and mastering your marketing has been the most major milestone in your growth journey.That's what I'm sensing.
And, and it sounds like you've had to overcome a number of challenges along the way.
Um, but one of the, you know, with, with the marketing, I mean, getting that right, you know, figuring out how to dial in, how to, how to code each marketing, uh, lead gen channel or funnel and. I imagine there's a lot of challenges in there.
But how do you manage balancing that with also managing the operational and service delivery of the business and the employees?I think that sounds like a lot for one person.
Yeah, it is a lot.And it's not just one person, praise the Lord.
Is there a higher power that's involved in managing the employees?Is that what you're saying?
You know, I am a Christian, but yeah, I mean, like you have a general manager or someone who's not.Yeah, I have a production really solid project.Yeah, for sure.But, you know, you can't just.
hand him the keys the Ferrari and right and I'd go down these rabbit holes of these big projects where we tried it like when we automated our sales funnel or automated our lead follow up and and automated our email campaigns and I disappear you know two three months in these big projects and then you come back and you're like what's going on the world's on fire and you're like you show up at a job site and it's not good.
It doesn't take you don't have to be there all the time but it is important to It is important to show face and you only need to be there.I think I try to go to a job.I try to go to every cruise job site like twice a week or so.
And it's it's a whole day.I mean I definitely lose a whole day.But you know that's when I talk to people about you know how their kids are doing.Make sure they have everything you know like
Small stuff like some one of my guys asked the office for a hoodie and he never got it And he's been asking her for two months.He's a hey, can I get that hoodie?
And I'm like, yeah, I got one of my my truck and it's like it's like face lit up, you know, okay So yeah, it is a lot.
But yeah, you know if you're if you are if you're hiring your friends Or you're hiring people who could become your friends importantly, right to to manage at a high level, it's enjoyable, it's great.
That's great.Yeah, you know, one of the questions the Gallup survey folks developed for measuring employee culture, employee satisfaction, is their Gallup Q12.I imagine you might be familiar with it.
And one of those questions are, do you have a best friend at work?And that's difficult for companies that maybe have fewer than 20, 25, I don't know what the number is.
I mean, think of the small classroom that you had when you were in grade school growing up or something like that.And did you have a best friend in that class?It's so important, right?You learn better.I mean, just going back to grade school.
I learned better when I had a best friend who wasn't too distracting and who wanted to learn with me.So that's great.All right, as we start to wrap up the show here, The importance of vision in driving the growth and future of your business.
I mean, clearly the marketing is the main or significant part of your strategy, and it ties in with your employee culture.Do you have a vision for the next three to five years?
Do you have a big, hairy, audacious goal, what we call a BHAG, or anything that's going to make a huge impact in the industry? you know, in terms of your growth industry.Yeah.Yeah.Three to five years.Yeah.
We, we, my, my big hairy ambitious goal is to create as many truly high paying jobs as possible.So we, we have very practically written down positions and what those salaries look like.And some of them are significantly higher over market rate.Right.
Um, I, I'm a, I'm a big believer. And, you know, my my my my kid goes to private school.My wife is at home most most of the time.She also works.
But, you know, if that's if that's if that's something I'm passionate about, being able to, you know, to take your take your family to church on Sunday, then I need to be able to provide that for people, too.Right.
So that's my big, hairy, audacious goal.And the only way I can do that is if I make this as big as big and as profitable as possible.So we're super clear on our
on our board that everyone sees it says like those those positions and what they look like and how we can achieve it and it gives people so we're I'm trying my best to paint vision all the time so very very for you very transparent.
Almost in there's been some reeling back you know you can do it too much where like you're being transparent to the point where people are worrying about worrying about things but if you
If you're painting a vision big enough for yourself that they can fit in then your dreams should be bigger than their dreams for themselves.So yeah we we are we try to.Yeah.Launching an office in Seattle that kind of kind of sort of imploded.
It's just the distance is too far.But you know our big thing is right now we're kind of in that heavy heavy SOP season.So we're we're writing things down that even I think even Les is wondering why I'm writing it down.
It's like, because I want to take it somewhere else.
That's great.Are you putting it in a repository that people know how to access?It's one of the softwares and tools that we recommend.It's putting it in a playbook program or a And I can recommend a few offline to you.Yeah, that'd be great.
So Seattle, it didn't work.Would you go back in?Are there other new markets, other new services, other new innovations?Sometimes people just say, let's just stay local, and let's add something else.
We'll do something that's related to basements and waterproofing.Or no, we're so good at this, let's go to a market that's three hours away. You know, um, set up, you know, or far enough away that it can serve.It's a large base.
Well, what are you excited about to explore in the near future?
Yeah, that's exactly what we did.It was three hours away and I didn't have, I didn't have the pockets deep enough essentially to send someone up there too often.So I, uh, we will do it.
The market there is ripe for, for our marketing strategies is right.Um, but. It was great is that Eugene kind of forced its way into our lead funnel.And it's been great.I mean, I have, I think we did three basements in Eugene in the last two weeks.
And we did zero basements in Eugene the last three years.How far is Eugene from you?It's, it's about two hours.So Seattle is three hours.And it's Yeah, to the north.Eugene to the south.Eugene to the south.
And it's a little bit different, different demographic.Um, and it's, it works better for us right now.Um, it's easier for taxes.It's, it's better across the board.
So when we look into getting into new markets, I look for other successful waterproofers that my marketing works well against because our entrance strategy is education, right?
And if I'm educating against these bad methods, I need to have a quote unquote bad competitor there.
Right.Good thinking.I like that.All right.Final question as we wrap up legacy.What legacy do you hope to create through your company, maybe both for your team, the industry?Do you have one?Sounds like you might.
Yeah, like for my family, meaning like some sort of Long-term vision.
Yeah, do you see it?Do you have a Family members that might think want to come into this business at some point.You may be thinking about them down the line They're probably too young.I'm guessing at this point.
Yeah, my daughter is a five, you know, my business partner He's got he's got four kids and three boys Yeah, you know, like I said, we're Christians so big believers and inheritance and writing something lasting right
I, uh, you know, with, with our profits, you know, we buy real estate, uh, just cash flowing assets.
Um, I think the biggest, I don't, I don't know if this business is going to be around for 50 years and for, and frankly, um, I don't, I don't really care.
I think that, I think that taking the profits from it and investing in things that last forever and equipping people to run it, if I were to die tomorrow, which I have, Mm-hmm.
It is is most important That's the vision that I can like I can tangibly grab right now.
So yeah, you know, we we we've done our our planning in that sense legally Right, but I don't get some of these guys have these big beautiful visions for their businesses and I love it more power to them I didn't wake up and wanted to be a waterproofer.
It's just it's just I just saw a market need and the margins are good and I can create a good life for my family and for my employees.So yeah, I'll just do that.And in the meantime, I'll buy some cash flowing assets in the Midwest.Okay.
Yeah.Well, you know, many, many entrepreneurs or let's call them small business owners.They had what Michael Gerber, the author of the E-myth said was they woke up and had an entrepreneurial seizure.
And they realized that, like, I'm a really good plumber.Why am I working for somebody else?Why don't I go out and create my own business?
But what they didn't realize was that just because you're a good plumber doesn't mean that you know how to run a good plumbing business.And so they're entrepreneurs by default and not by design.
Those who are entrepreneurs by design, these are the people I went to business school with 30 plus years ago.They looked at a business, wrote a business plan and wrote the exit strategy at the same time that they wrote the entry strategy.
So, you know, they're thinking about that.And and most companies that I work with today are probably family businesses.And so they're thinking about how do I pass this through to the next generation?How do I make that generational transition?
Those are different challenges.
It is something we're going to have to think about. It's something I, it is something that I'm definitely passionate about is, is making sure that those other generations are cared for.
I don't know if it's through construction companies or through this business or, or what, but yeah, what you said is like the vein of.
Of the, of, of construction is that guys think that, you know, guys think that customers like them because they perceive to be the best plumber. And you're just like, it's just like a big eye roll.
It's just like, dude, it's like, you can be a good plumber in like six years.Like I'll join you.
All right.Hey Dylan, it's been great having you on the show.Great having a conversation about your business, the journey that you've been through.I think other people will benefit from it.So I appreciate your being on the show and
and to those who are listening.Folks, if you got some good value out of this, let me know.If you want to be on the show, reach out to me.I'm always looking for disruptives.
Successors, so those are people who are either disrupting the entrepreneurial status quo, or they're successors in a business and want to tell the story of the generational transition.
And then, you know the drill, if you got some really good value from the show, give us a good rating on your podcast, listening, application of choice, and share the show with others.
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I'm Jonathan Goldhill, and my purpose is simple, to guide entrepreneurial leaders in family businesses towards more freedom and fulfillment.
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