Grow From $10 Million to $12 Million - The Process

Josh, this has been a really good podcast. I think that you kind of seen, like, this growth. Some of the things you did along the way. You're talking to a guy that's either just starting up or he's stuck. Like, he's stuck as that small guy. Like, he's trying to figure out what that next step is. What are the two or three pieces of advice that you would. You'd give somebody if they came to you and said, hey, I'm looking for a mentor.

Oh, I'm looking for a mentor. Well, you need to get out there. You need to, like, get out of your comfort zone and go places where those people might be.

Well, they're asking you. You're the mentor. Hey, what are the first two or three things I need to do?

Need to know your numbers, and you need to have a budget. That's a hard lesson to learn. And a lot of roofers avoid the numbers and avoid the budget. But when you know your numbers and you know the budget, you can make magic happen, really, in a strategic way. So, like, really understanding your costs, understanding what your choke points are to getting your cash and getting that stuff pushed through, that your ability to retain and deploy cash is like the ultimate turbocharge on your business.

Explain that a little bit. What do you mean by retain and employee cash?

So, you know, your ability to capital is. It really dictates your speed to grow. So, like, hypothetically, if I wanted to grow to 20 million, if I know my numbers, I know my closing rate and I retain my capital and I budget it properly, all I have to do is dump gasoline on the fire. So if you know your numbers and you're making sure that your capital is being managed properly, you can strategically grow.

Exactly how you want, 100%. Okay, so that awesome piece of advice. Know your numbers, understand how capital fuels your growth. What else? I think just.

I think just like what we talked about before, that I organically just kind of happenstance did is I like, branded myself because I was so desperate for work. I've been so broke before, Jim. I've been so broke, like, it's not even funny. Like, I mean, I had $15,000 at one point of medical bills, a broken ankle, and half of it was funded on a credit card. And I didn't know what the heck I was gonna do to, like, make money. You know, when you're desperate and you. I left, like, fuel. Like. Like, you figure it out real freaking.

Quick, and you start posting really quickly like, hey, anybody? Figure it out real quick.

Yeah, like I need money. Who needs help with roofs? I do this. I mean, I'm talking, like, Snapchat stories, like, the fun social media. I'd be on Snapchat. I'm on a roof. Like, what I'm doing my day in the work. People just started seeing that I was doing this every day consistently, and I think I didn't even try to do it. I was just having fun while I was doing.

You were doing it before? Gary Vee said it was a thing.

I was doing it like anyone else was my age who wasn't doing it for business, just for fun, but I had just added what I was doing every day in my business into it.

That's pretty cool. So what would you say are the two or three pinnacle things that have helped you to grow to this? 10 million, shooting for 12 million.

You don't know all just, I. I'm a. I'm a lifelong learner, and I think having the mindset that you don't have it figured out and having the. Like that, like, just being able to learn, you're not going to ever have things figured out. So always be looking for opportunities to improve and learn and, like, challenge yourself. Can you repeat the question again?

Sorry. What are the two like, to grow a business to, you know, 10, $12 million. That's not something that happens all the time. As a matter of fact, in our industry, less than 1% of the contractors achieve $10 million or more. So congratulations, you're in the top one.

I didn't know just that. Thank you.

Yeah, that's. That's awesome. I mean, you got to think about. There's millions of contractors out there. 80% of them do less. They do less than 250,000. So there is their contracting business. They're on the. They're on the crew. They're selling the jobs. They're watching them. And to go from that to 10, 12 million, there was probably two or three critical things that, like, allowed you to do that. What do you think those were?

That's a good question, Jim. I think just, like, it kind of going back to what I kind of rambled off on before. It's like finding a mentor that's been there before and actually listening and deploying what they tell you. Because most people, it's hard to get over your ego and ask for help when you really need it. You know, I think that, like, at that time, like, going to the USRC and like, just being so desperate for, like, I need help. I, like, want to learn. Like, someone help me. Someone Learn and then also like that was at that point and I got introduced to a local mentor at that time and then that person introduced me to you and contract coach pro. So like honestly you guys have been a part of that growth period because like I was luckily at the time when you guys brought on a number of these auxiliary people that are in their specialties, I was like one of the forefront contractors, like starting right at that time to implement those things. I wouldn't know my numbers if it wasn't for you. You know, I wouldn't. Well in regards to an employee handbook, I wouldn't know my numbers if it weren't for the contractor coach pro team. I wouldn't really understand sales to the depth that I do without Chuck. So I was like on the front end working with all of these people as you brought them on their specialties and working with obviously Rockstar Nathan over there. So like having a coach, that was a big, big pivotal point. The pivotal point that I'd say we're at right now, which is I'm in a, I'm in a learning phase right now. I'm learning to kind of be a better leader in like a leadership role and like in trying, I'm trying to give myself the time and space to learn and practice the skills that my people need me to have because the organization has grown so fast and with so many team members that it's been challenging. It's just outgrown my, some of my skills and without being focused on those. So like that's where I'm at in the challenge department.

Good advice to you, go read everything you can. I mean I have serious like I don't know how much of you reader you are, being the learner that you are, I assume that you do quite a bit of reading. John Maxwell, Jim Rowe and Jim Irrefutable Laws of Leadership.

Yeah, just read that one.

They're one of the best. And it's actually something that we're about to put out. We're about to put out a leadership mastermind deal because we've had so many contractors over the years that that's where they're kind of getting stuck as that next step to really take that company to the next level. That's something that we're working on, should be out hopefully by June is the game plan. So we want to help bring those growth minded leaders together so we can facilitate it and apply the skill, the tactics and the tools and all those things to great leadership, but also let them work together as a peer group. And really grow, be innovative and stuff like that. So I'm excited to get that out there. It's going to be a lot of time I've mentioned it, so it should be fun. Josh, you have been amazing on this. You're going to. This is going to be a super valuable podcast to our listeners. I really appreciate you. It's honored to have you on. It's an honor to call you friend. Yeah. I'm hanging out with you. You and I got to go to a comedy show. That was a lot of fun.

That was a blast.

I screwed up. Like the first time you invited me, I went home and I'm busy getting this whole event ready. I'm going to send my people and they got like, yeah, Rogan and Ron White, guys like that. I went with you. I didn't know any of those guys. Oh, I didn't.

I didn't either. I knew a few, but.

Yeah, but it was a great time. I love hanging out with you. I love having a relationship with you and your team. We know so many of them now and it's just been awesome, man. Thanks for. Thanks for trusting us and thanks for being a friend.

Yeah, I'd right back at you, Jim. You and your whole team and the whole contractor coach pro team is just amazing. So you got. You built something that has influenced a lot of people and I think you're well on your way to reaching your million contractor goal.

Yeah, we're going to do it. We're going to help. That's the other thing we're hard at work on right now is, you know, 80% of contractors are under that 250 number. And to get coaching isn't. It's not cheap. I mean, it's.

Yeah, yeah.

And so we're trying to build something that's going to allow for some facilitation there on the. On the big things that they need, which is how to set a goal, how to generate leads, how to sell those leads at high value that they're worth, how to optimize referrals and how to hire their first right person. Like that's all we're going to focus on in that group.

That's what they need at that size.

Yeah. Is you. You helped explain all that today. Like, that was really great.

I was able to help and I hope that people find value in this.

And I have no doubt that they will. Josh, get out there and go help those Minnesota homeowners. You only got about three months to do that before it gets cold again.

Now we're going.

All right. Hey, man, thanks for being on the show.

Thank you, Jim. Appreciate it.

All right. Hey, guys. That was awesome. I don't think I've ever done a podcast like that before where we took, like, the journey with a contractor. This journey from the beginnings and just being a kid working for somebody else, and then being a subcontractor, then becoming a contractor, then becoming a real business. And this growth has been steady every single year. Well managed, well thought out, finding the right people, happening upon some of the right people at the right time, and knowing when to do that. What a great story Josh has. I hope that you guys learned something from that, are able to implement some of what you learned from Josh. And thanks for. Thanks for listening. If you need help with your business, it's what we do here. We help contractors get some control over their business by being better leaders and processes, systems, hr, finance, sales, marketing, you name it. We cover the entire company holistically. And then the idea being that you can grow and grow in the way that you want to. Some want to grow fast, some want to grow measured. Some want to stay where they are, just be cleaner, whatever that may be for you. That's what we're here to help you with, because what we're trying to achieve with you is to find some freedom. Find some freedom to do the things you want to do with those you love and when you want to and how you want to. So thanks for hanging out with us for this episode. I look forward to the next one on our summer of contractor stories, and it should be a lot of fun. We'll see you next week.