EP 130: Mastermind Secrets
Introduction :
Welcome to the DYB Podcast, where painting contractors come together to share their insights and strategies for business success.
This episode delves into various topics, including lead generation, business challenges, and growth opportunities.
They discuss important themes such as mastering business practices, addressing compliance issues, and leveraging technology to streamline operations.
From sharing their wins and challenges to seeking advice on networking groups and managing tech tools, the episode offers a wealth of valuable insights for painting business owners.
Tune in as our guests open up about their experiences and explore the secrets behind making their businesses thrive.
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LINKS
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Transcript:
April Burnett [00:00:00]:
Welcome to the DYB podcast, where each week we share strategies and stories to inspire you to double your business so that you can have financial freedom, time for your family, and make an impact in your community. Knowing what to charge is the hardest thing to learn. Well, not anymore. In fact, you can profit from every estimate with Steve’s estimating spreadsheets. These are the exact spreadsheets that he used to grow Burnett painting before we sold it. Get your free estimating spreadsheets at dybcoach.com backslash estimating hyphen bundle hyphen offer. And now this week’s episode.
Steve Burnett [00:00:39]:
Hello, and welcome to Mastermind. Our mission is to build $1,000,000 businesses so that we can have financial freedom, time for our families, and make an impact in our communities. Let’s kick it off with some big wins, Alex. And then, short intros too with new member, Alex. Big wins and intros, please.
Alex Garcia [00:00:57]:
Hi. Good morning. Big wins. I have couple small ones, I will say, Today, so the first one is to be able to make it to this meeting. Mhmm. I was presenting also couple challenges to be here. I need to Bring our materials to 1 job. And, yeah, if I choose, I could be, not person on this meeting, but I choose to be here.
Alex Garcia [00:01:21]:
I was able to just order the materials and have the guys go pick it up, which is the way it’s supposed to be. Right? We can get this freedom. I that’s a one win. The second one, small one, it’s just that I’m ready and willing to embrace the BYB and Just put it to work and and test it if it works for me as well. Yeah. Last week last weekend, I went to see a job, So I sold that on the spot and walked out with a check. Yeah. That was a very great feeling just to presented, take the time to be with the customer and sell the job.
Alex Garcia [00:02:01]:
And one other job is pending because I didn’t follow the rules. I didn’t sell on the spot because I was in a hurry. They me a little bit. So, hopefully, we can with the follow ups, we can close that one, but I learned my lesson. So those are my questions.
Steve Burnett [00:02:16]:
Important thing is we learn a lesson. That’s awesome. And then quick intro for a new member, please.
Alex Garcia [00:02:21]:
My sorry. My name is Alex Garcia, And I own Newman painting in San Diego, California, and being part of the DYB system for Maybe 1 month last year or 2 months, and by the day, on the cafe, and now I’m reengaging with the DYP.
Steve Burnett [00:02:41]:
Awesome. Thank you, Alex. Josh, big wins and quick intro, please.
Josh Strange [00:02:46]:
My name is Josh Strange. I own Stellar painting. We’ve been in business for about a year and a half now. My motivation is definitely my family and providing well for My wife and 2 beautiful boys, we are on track to do really well this month. So big win, January, sold 63,000 for just January, which is Better than last January, that’s for sure. So pretty pumped to have that kinda start to the year. Another big win. I was actually talking to Jeff Haviland Quite a bit yesterday because I’ve been going through the ringer with some stuff, and I was trying to get there’s some people.
Josh Strange [00:03:31]:
I was trying to get some 10.90 nines from people, so I just have this, like, IRS wait just sitting over here. I was I had 1 customer. We’re supposed to start next week. She messaged me early in the morning. I was like, hey. Do you guys refund deposits? That sucks. And that’s all going on, and and that The probably the biggest weighty thing that’s going on right now is I have a job. We did $26 for this guy, like, a lot of work.
Josh Strange [00:04:00]:
We’re there for a while. We had done, like, this first portion before Christmas, And we were, like, about to start for a 2nd portion right after Christmas. So it’s like it felt it feels like it was almost like a 2 month job. We did a lot of cabinets, a lot of work. And I think we did a good job, but the last day, my guys left some paper with some stain on a quartz countertop in a wet bar area. And it got stain on the countertop, and they had got a couple of drips on the side of a couch. And, Really, those were, like, the main issues. Honestly, everything else went really smooth, but the guy was just very mad about it, which, like like yeah.
Josh Strange [00:04:39]:
I understand. It’s just carelessness. And I talked to my guys about it, but I talked to him. I was like, this was a couple weeks ago. I was like, yeah. We’ll make it right. Whatever we gotta do. He said, I don’t really want you coming back.
Josh Strange [00:04:52]:
Okay. Then yes 2 days ago, He sent me a text of just, like, invoices. And he’s, hey. Here’s a $1900 brand new couch. Here is this replacing all this Small wet bar area. It’s about $43100. So so you and it’s like there’s still $10 left on this invoice. You owe me $70 for this.
Josh Strange [00:05:13]:
And I was like, okay. Let’s let’s look back at the contract that says you have to let us fix this before you just start throwing dollar signs at this job. So Now I’m having to deal with that, with $10 just sitting out there, and this guy’s I I think just trying to I think he’s just trying to get out of paying it. But I call it a countertop guy. So this is yesterday, I I tried to trying to prepare. I wanna make sure I’m ready to give him solutions. But Talk to a saw upholstery person, and they’re like, yeah. There’s no way we can’t get a couple of drops out of a couch.
Josh Strange [00:05:46]:
Jeff told me about this product that works really well. So It would be tops $125 to get the paint drips out of the couch. I’m not gonna replace it, Especially an older couch with a brand new couch.
Steve Burnett [00:05:59]:
Mhmm. Yeah.
Josh Strange [00:06:00]:
And and then I talked to a countertop guy, and they were like, yeah. With quartz, It’s got a seal on the top. It’s not porous, so it should wipe off with mineral spirits or dishwater dish soap and water. It’s like, if that doesn’t work, you can use, like, a lacquer, but, you know, I would use it on the whole thing so it doesn’t take off, so it looks even. The worst case scenario, we can remove and replace it And then refinish it for 750. It’s okay. I would rather do that. So worst case scenario, I’m gonna it’s in his court.
Josh Strange [00:06:31]:
He’s gotta figure this out. I can pay maybe $900. But I’m I was still I was feeling the weight of it yesterday. So my win, long, long circle, my win is that, just really, really in a hole yesterday. And I just chipped away at some things, figured out all the 10.99 stuff. I sold a job yesterday. It was a smaller job, but I scheduled 3 jobs that were up in the queue, got them ready for February, and I did all that research to figure out what I have to do. And I persevered and I felt much better by the end of the day after having a really crushing day.
Josh Strange [00:07:09]:
It felt like a win to get to the end of a day like that and feel like I I feel like I climbed up the mountain and and got out of it. Not got out of it, but, anyways, that was a big one.
Steve Burnett [00:07:18]:
Alright then. Awesome. Like, quick intro, please.
Asa Hunt [00:07:21]:
Yeah.
Josh Strange [00:07:21]:
So I’d start with the intro, but Oh, did you? I’m sorry. No. You’re good. I can do it again. Josh with Stellar Painting. And, Yeah. I’ve been in business for a couple years. We do interior, exterior, cabinet refresh refinishing, light commercial.
Steve Burnett [00:07:36]:
Thank you, Josh. Paul Dibdall. Big wins. Quick intro, please.
Paul Dybdahl [00:07:40]:
Yo, Paul Dibdall, y’all. Here in the high desert of Los Angeles, California, I have a little boutique company. We do good work. We do do Weird fine finish work, and we’ve been trying to stop doing that because it’s weird. And we’re just trying to do the non weird And the more normal, not that strange isn’t cool. Get it? That was a joke about Josh.
Steve Burnett [00:08:06]:
Yeah. I got it.
Paul Dybdahl [00:08:11]:
Yeah. Just trying to focus on a a a home service, A residential service painting business kind of rather than, a custom business. A lot of times, it’s like The Godfather where they just keep pulling me back in. Every time I try to get out, they keep pulling me back in. So my big win this week was I was sick, which has has caused me to have a little A a few contemplating things in life, but I haven’t been sick in 3 years, which I had a good run. Anyway and Because I was so sick and there was a client I didn’t wanna miss out on, it was great. It was a referral. We’ve done relative, A relative’s home, and I could tell they were on they wanted to get things going, and I didn’t wanna cancel.
Paul Dybdahl [00:09:08]:
So I sent my guy over there to do the estimate, and we got I’m going to pick up a deposit this morning. I have still have not met them or been to the place.
Steve Burnett [00:09:20]:
Winner. Winner. Yes, sir.
Paul Dybdahl [00:09:22]:
Pretty big win to be able to have him. And it helped him to see that I’m not just that it’s not as easy as it looks to walk in and estimate it. He was like, I have no clue why you even do any of that. Neither do I. That was a pretty big win. And being when you’re healthy all the time, you don’t appreciate that. And, like I said, I haven’t really I’ve had days where I don’t feel good or whatever. You feel the effects of age, but but I was down.
Paul Dybdahl [00:09:51]:
I had a great visit with my new granddaughter, But she had RSV when I was there, and I’m like, I have Norwegian. I have Viking blood. I’m not gonna get any sickness. Okay? And, so this sickness was a formidable one. And, but, hey. It’s, it’s all working out.
Steve Burnett [00:10:10]:
Awesome. And you made it to Mastermind, so appreciate that, Paul. Thank you. Yeah. Ace, go ahead and unmute and share your big wins and quick intro, please.
Asa Hunt [00:10:19]:
Quick intro. Asa Hunt. I own Bighorn Painting here in Denver. We’ve been in business, like, almost 3 months Now, so we’re figuring a lot of stuff out, but big wins. I found a company to deliver door hangers for me at a really good price. So I’m gonna start that campaign probably tomorrow and see how that goes for, lead generation. I’ve been having success some success generating leads by
Josh Strange [00:10:52]:
visiting people that just moved in to their home and offering them a move in special. Been getting some estimates pop
Asa Hunt [00:10:59]:
up that way, so that’s been cool. But Not closed any business, so that’s not cool. That’s where I’m at.
Steve Burnett [00:11:07]:
K. Thank you, Asa. Dion.
Deon Fouche [00:11:10]:
Hi. Good morning, everybody. Dionne Fuschea. I’m, a little bit north of Paul here in the San Francisco Bay Area, the o Berkeley area. Going on my 2nd year, I mainly subcontracting work for somebody that I used to work for 8 years. We’ve got, An interesting, relationship, and this will be my 2nd tier residential, interior, exteriors. And I guess The big win for me this week is it’s gonna rain. And, the problem we yeah.
Deon Fouche [00:11:43]:
That Sounds weird. Right, Steve?
Steve Burnett [00:11:46]:
Yeah. Yeah.
Deon Fouche [00:11:46]:
That a part of the problem we have up north here, and I don’t know Paul might have similar issues down south, is that We tend to work year round, so we don’t bulk up in the summer. We stay consistent. Not trying to take over the world. It’s just a smallish little company. But the drawback of that is is you have you’re always working, and there’s little time for implementation of new things. And, so I’m looking at the next 10 days, and I’m like, I gotta sit behind that desk, and I need to make some stuff happen because once the wheel starts Turning again. It’s hard to do things when the vehicle is in motion, so I’m looking forward to 10 Days of Rain.
Steve Burnett [00:12:27]:
Okay. Alright. Fantastic. Alright. Glad to hear that. Jimmy, welcome to Mastermind. Quick intro on big wins, please.
Jamie Torres [00:12:35]:
But I’ve been with GYB for a few years, and we’re based out here in Southern California, Huntington Beach. Yeah. We’re a smaller company, Basically, 2 to 3 full time crews. But until recently, I acquired a secondary, I guess, business through some friends that were just wanting to get out of it. Expanded my business just recently, which is exciting because it’s actually started off really well. I’ve gotten look. The 1st day, we We’ve made it official. We got a new job with a $13,000 job, which is just out of the blue, out of nowhere, and three estimates.
Jamie Torres [00:13:07]:
So I was like, okay. Because they’re doing something right, and this is what I really love about them. They have a very good, social presence on Facebook and mother’s Marketing groups and stuff. She’s just really good into that stuff. So, anyways so that has been a really nice surprise today. And then yesterday, I got news From a lady, I tried to sell the job on-site, but it was quite hard because it’s it’s probably the nicest house I’ve ever been into. And the bid was Up there, it’s about a 6 week job interior out here at the coast, and and she emails me last night that we got the job. I was super happy with that.
Jamie Torres [00:13:42]:
The last couple of weeks have been a little bit slower. I think mostly just because of weather and just transitioning again. So it’s nice to have that Come through and have faith in it, and you’re always working towards it. And in the meantime, I was working on other stuff like my CRM. I invest a lot of time in that because I wanna make sure that when these things happen and when we start getting busy for the season that I can go full blast and and not feel the pressure of I don’t have enough time and because once you take that away from me, then, you know, it takes away my enjoyment of this job.
Paul Dybdahl [00:14:12]:
Anyways yeah.
Jamie Torres [00:14:14]:
Those are mostly it. I did have, email campaign I sent out this last week to some past customers. We got success with that. Anything else? Mostly it. We’ve been in business since 2017. And so we’re just not trying to be this massive company, but we wanna be a comfortable company and, just have speed things have things be efficient.
Steve Burnett [00:14:35]:
So Indeed. Right on. Awesome. And again, welcome, Jamie. It’s really great to have you.
Paul Dybdahl [00:14:39]:
Thank you.
Steve Burnett [00:14:40]:
Alright. You’re welcome. Next round, one thing. What’s one thing we could brainstorm for you Such that might make everything else easier and or unnecessary. Alex, lead the way.
Alex Garcia [00:14:51]:
Okay. It’s, like, question for you all. Also, as Jimmy just working on I have a lot of tech, I I will say, as an overhead company cam, paint scout, And and so many other things that I think is gonna be beneficial for myself, but I’ve been thinking or might be Too much for me at the moment, so I maybe want to take a lot of tech to make my life easier. But if I’m not using it, it’s just there sitting. So my question and or something that you could help me is how you guys manage Your growth, what exactly do I need to run my business efficiently and simp How to simplify. So tech is important.
Steve Burnett [00:15:39]:
What are you paying for? What’s that project management app tech you’re using?
Alex Garcia [00:15:44]:
Okay. So paint scout, it’s 99. Workload, which is a project management, is $100. Mhmm. Company can’t, I believe, because it’s only myself. It’s $38.
Steve Burnett [00:15:56]:
Mhmm.
Alex Garcia [00:15:57]:
Then I just got the open phone, which I think it’s important as well. Mhmm. I’m on the trial, so I don’t know how much it’s gonna be after that. I think it’s, like, around 30 something dollars again. And Yeah. So I’m just brainstorming a lot.
Steve Burnett [00:16:16]:
Yeah. You need those. I don’t know that you should cut them. We’re talking about $250. Okay. And The question I would have is, why aren’t we using them, or what can we do to get to the company to the next level so that we can be utilizing all of them? So we want to lean in and grow rather than shift back, shift down, and take anything instead we wanna lean into growth. And what’s the next level? How can we utilize all those, and how can we help get you to the next level faster?
Jamie Torres [00:16:44]:
Okay. Thank you.
Steve Burnett [00:16:46]:
Does that make sense?
Alex Garcia [00:16:47]:
Yes.
Steve Burnett [00:16:48]:
Yeah. Do you guys have any thoughts or questions for Alex in this regard?
Jamie Torres [00:16:52]:
I think the biggest thing is just it all starts with you, which you’re the lead, and then you’re just in, I guess that the perspective that you carry and the organization that you start with in the beginning is going to help your your company the most. And then also just For example, my guys, I just try and make them feel like they’re important to me because it’s there’s nothing better I can do with that. And if they feel that way, they’re gonna do a good job for you. Your growth will be a little easier. You’re gonna have to spend less time working on working on the small stuff because That’s just a time killer for me when I have to go in and do stuff that really it’s not really my responsibility, but it is my responsibility.
Steve Burnett [00:17:31]:
Need leadership culture. Critical. Very good. Anything else for Alex? Thank you, Jim. No. Very good. Alex, you good for now?
Alex Garcia [00:17:41]:
Yes. I am. Thank you.
Steve Burnett [00:17:42]:
Leadership, culture, and lean into growth, buddy. Okay.
April Burnett [00:17:45]:
We’ll continue with the rest of this week’s show in just a moment. But First, do you have your copy of Steve’s book, How to Double Your Business? It’s for sale on Amazon for $37, but we want to give you your free copy instead. Just cover the 6.95 for shipping and handling. Get your free copy of the DYD book at dybcoach.com backslash Free hyphen DYB hyphen book.
Steve Burnett [00:18:11]:
Let’s see here. Josh, I know you gotta cut out a little early today, so let’s make sure we get you in. What’s, one thing we could Brainstorm for you.
Josh Strange [00:18:18]:
Yeah. I’ve got I’m in a b and I group, and we meet on Thursday mornings at 8 15. We usually get out of there. Usually, they say 945. Usually, it ends up being around 10. And it’s I joined in, And that it felt very promising at first, and then it seems to have died down pretty. And it’s, like, maybe Five members including myself and
Steve Burnett [00:18:44]:
Total currently?
Josh Strange [00:18:46]:
Total. Yeah. It started with over 15 when I first got there, and then People just started piling out. So I feel like I jumped into a jumped onto a sinking ship a little bit. And I just started a another one. Well, I I was invited to one that seems really solid. It’s I think it’s probably a local networking group, but a guy that I had met at a it’s a networking thing. It’s called changes once a month on Thursdays.
Josh Strange [00:19:16]:
And I met this guy there, and he invited me to this networking group. And it seems great. It’s 40 people. It’s been around for 25 years, really solid numbers. But it starts at 7 and ends at 8:30. Obviously, we could Probably try and switch around the schedule for BNI, but I’m curious where your take is, Steve. If you think it’s good, maybe just to jump ship from the BNI group. I’ve had a job that’s made the money back from it, and I’m I’m tempted to just say I’m gonna join into this Fort Worth Club networking group.
Josh Strange [00:19:49]:
But the reason why I ask is because I think with the other one starting earlier, I can be out later and still have Most of my mornings on Thursday with the b and I, it feels like it takes a good chunk of my morning, and I could get a lot of time back as well. Yeah. Yeah.
Steve Burnett [00:20:06]:
I would say just the simple fact that they’re down to 5 members, absolutely. Absolutely. Find something else. And when you’re looking for groups, and even if it were to say a BNI, generally speaking, you wanna find groups that hopefully have at least 25 members and are growing. It’s ideally 50, 70, but to find 1 with 50 or 70 that doesn’t have a penny contractor is near impossible. Yeah. Usually, if you join groups 20 to 30 range and trending up. Like, they’ve got great culture and just a lot of good energy, and everybody’s excited to be there and to move forward.
Steve Burnett [00:20:36]:
So this one down to 5. Absolutely should leave And join that other group as fast as possible. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. That’s, yeah. Pretty sure. That.
Steve Burnett [00:20:47]:
Okay. Right on. Absolutely.
Paul Dybdahl [00:20:49]:
Paul. Yep. So I don’t one thing. It’s the same it’s the same struggle I have, and I was just even Saying that in the entry intro of struggling with when I get into moments like Josh Strange, Where I am dealing with what I’m having to do with taxes and accountants and the clerical part of the business. It still just Gets me. Makes me anxious. Just and and just that that struggle. I actually just think about this.
Paul Dybdahl [00:21:20]:
Hold on. Bear with me. I’m a show you something what this this happens to be right here. This is one of my struggles right here. I don’t know if you could see this. There it is. There it is. Mhmm.
Paul Dybdahl [00:21:34]:
Alright. This is a piece of countertop that I was given and I need to match.
Steve Burnett [00:21:42]:
Pregnant pause. Paul, like, you guys need to get this when he says he does weird things and he’s trying to be a painter. He’s one of the most talented 4 artists that I don’t even think that is, a fair term for him, he does magic. He’s gonna be able to take wood and drywall, Whatever they hand him and make it look just like what he’s holding on to there.
Paul Dybdahl [00:22:03]:
So I was given this by a client, and I’ve done work for this client for the past 20 years. I’ve done every inch of his house and every inch of his relative’s house, every inch of his businesses. He’s I I I love him. Yeah. He called me just to make sure I was okay when I was sick. And then he was like, okay. So how’s that sample coming along? But he is a man’s man, but his wife is in charge, She wants her countertops changed. He does he he makes sure to check.
Paul Dybdahl [00:22:29]:
Anyway, so it’s hard for me to tell him no, I don’t do that anymore. And he knows what I can do. And I do this a lot, and I like doing this. When I think of all that other stuff, I just go, man, I wanna go match that marble. I don’t wanna worry about these other guys. It’s a tough thing. And then even, last 2 days, I’ve been in my shop, but we have a job where The the job was already set, then the lady saw the the cabinets hung prior to us painting them, and she said, I like that. The wood is a paint grade maple.
Paul Dybdahl [00:23:02]:
It’s not the best wood, and these guys were figuring it was gonna get painted. So she wants me to clear coat the wood, but it’s all it’s got just stuff on every door. So now today, I’m going through with my wood graining artist brush, and I’m gonna fix everything. I’m gonna fix it because I can’t. Like, I like doing it. I’d I’m I’m looking forward to that. I’m not looking forward to Taking taking my bank statements to my account. I’m not looking forward to you know what I mean? I don’t look forward to figuring out how we to pay the guy’s payroll taxes and all this other stuff.
Paul Dybdahl [00:23:41]:
So it’s that struggle and that mindset that I struggle with transitioning from a painter to The business part of the painting is just a huge struggle, and I don’t it I it’s something I constantly do, and you have to look beyond that big picture. The thing that
Steve Burnett [00:23:58]:
Yeah. Quick question here, Paul. Did you the first time you ever did, foe, or somebody tried to teach you, did you were you excited about it? Remember the grind, the very first grind when we first started. We didn’t get it. It was frustrating.
Paul Dybdahl [00:24:13]:
I had to start painting Because I took a path where I said, I’m going for this, and I don’t care what. I will run my life into destruction and homelessness, But I’m gonna make it in music. I love this. This is all I wanna do. And I sold out everything, And we got a record deal, and we toured, and we became popular. And videos, we’d go to magazine stands. That’d be the head records, the tower records, Warehouse records, wherever that was, displays on radio interviews. And I’m my girlfriend got pregnant.
Paul Dybdahl [00:24:49]:
We had a kid. And When I got back from a 6 month tour, I just saw my daughter, and I just saw, my granddaughter. And it reminded me when I saw my daughter. She was 6 months old. And I looked at her and I said, I’ll never leave you again. So I I didn’t know what to do. I had to call my brother. He he’s a painter.
Paul Dybdahl [00:25:12]:
I started painting. I went from that lifestyle The geek becoming a union painter in San Francisco and where you’re just slapping us much paint on as you can. You have a job. You’re wearing whites. You wear a hard hat In this construction site and during the apprenticeship for being a painter, I was introduced to faux finishing. And I was like, I can be creative in this. I don’t have to be like a construction guy. There’s this painting.
Paul Dybdahl [00:25:44]:
Oh, and I start I didn’t know. That was it. I bought the books. I it on my own. Okay. So Hold
Steve Burnett [00:25:50]:
on. Let me jump in here
Paul Dybdahl [00:25:51]:
because Get emotional about that, but Yeah. That yeah. It just happens.
Steve Burnett [00:25:56]:
So so here’s what happened. You’re passionate about this because you’re master at it. Passion comes after mastery. And so I remember when I used to hate sales. I used to loathe sales, right, before I learned to compete in value and before I mastered it. Now I love it. I’m like, don’t mean I’ll sell anything that I believe in, honestly. So somebody should sell it and tell me to do it.
Steve Burnett [00:26:16]:
I love sales now because it and we figured it out, But we were getting started. These are tough. So, like, building a business, things are tough. And you you’re doing a big identity shift here from Masterful Painter to building a painting business, which is not near as exciting. It doesn’t feed our ego, but you can delegate it. You can teach and delegate it much easier than the skills that you have. So there’s the opportunity to to scale it up And, to cash flow. Now when it comes to the clerical part, that’s where we hard to hire a part time admin.
Steve Burnett [00:26:43]:
Nobody likes doing the books. We all hate the books. I I don’t even know if accountants like doing the book to bookkeepers like doing the books, but we hate doing the books. Almost every entrepreneur I know hates doing the books. The good news is usually we can delegate that at a reasonable Cost and bringing a part time admin, because, really, we should be out selling and networking and hiring and training. That should be your time. And as you master business, then you’ll be compassionate about the business itself. I’ll say you are.
Paul Dybdahl [00:27:09]:
Not, I ramble on and talk too much, obviously. But but that I was exactly thinking of that, and I was actually and I was thinking, I don’t know. I I got things to do. I don’t know if I can deal with this meeting. I’m gonna call this is and I was gonna okay. I gotta call 3 people I know to figure this out because I am I’ve gotta delegate this out.
Josh Strange [00:27:27]:
Mhmm.
Paul Dybdahl [00:27:27]:
And I I was listening to you you talk. I’m I’m here we go. I can see what everyone’s saying. Alex, I was listening to you talk about the technology stuff. Okay? And I was thinking, I I get myself into that too where I wanna get technology. And and, hey, I’ll I’ll get technology to help me do this. And I get to technology, and I’m like, I don’t know what the hell to do with this. You know what I mean? So when you were saying that, I was thinking, I’m gonna hire somebody to do this stuff, and then we’re gonna talk about what technology they wanna use that’s gonna help them help me.
Paul Dybdahl [00:28:01]:
Or we’re gonna introduce that technology, But they’re gonna use it, and they’re gonna help maybe help me make my life easier. But I I was just thinking about the technology thing, because I buy technology that I just Let it sit there because I’m gonna do it. I’m gonna use it this time. I’ll really do it. And then I’m like, duh. The delegation of the administration Getting to be around Yeah. It’s probably the the way to go. Awesome.
Steve Burnett [00:28:27]:
Alright. Dion, here we go, buddy. What can we brainstorm for you?
Deon Fouche [00:28:31]:
One of the big things here in California is compliance. You gotta comply with this, that, whatever, and I just have an attitude if I just Cannot do it all, so I’m picking and choosing. And over the years working for somebody else, I’ve seen people or ownership getting kept hostage with time sheets and timekeeping. I’m considering switching to electronic timekeeping. My My payroll company offers that. It’s GPS. It’s this and that, whatever. It’s a tricky thing, though.
Deon Fouche [00:29:03]:
The guys that we Took over that I took over has been around us for 17, 18 years, and they’ve never With this, Swank, we know that a customer would email on a Friday afternoon and say, hey. Get the email at noon. Guys did a great job and gave them the ship. And the time sheet comes in, and there’s 8 hours for the day. And so a place to look at it is to say, yeah. You guys are dealing or you can say, hey. This is a French benefit. The guys came in on budget.
Deon Fouche [00:29:35]:
We just don’t rock the boat. And My question is,
Alex Garcia [00:29:39]:
how do
Deon Fouche [00:29:39]:
I implement this new electronic timekeeping system that’s GPS enabled? Tells me exactly where you clocked out and when. And, because I don’t wanna end up in this situation where the moment there’s This conflict is like we’re running to the labor board to know you didn’t pay me for this. You didn’t pay me for that. And I just I’ve seen it for the 8 years I was with somebody else. I just think it’s just the biggest nonsense in
Steve Burnett [00:30:05]:
the world. Yep. So good questions. These are hard situations to deal with. The good news is there There is a pathway. There is a process where one is, yeah, absolutely use a digital time tracking. Now I don’t know if I can go GPS, right, because I think it just leaves a lot open. Instead, we would recommend something like Clockshark or QuickBooks QuickTime, and then they clock in and out.
Steve Burnett [00:30:25]:
So they have ownership in when it was in and out. 2 is, we call this crazy eights. Everybody gets 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, until you start using this. Once you do, because This is never true. I was like, oh, yeah. I think we have 40 hours. No. You don’t.
Steve Burnett [00:30:38]:
You’ll find that you’re gonna save 1,000 of dollars gonna go directly to your bottom line. Once you start putting this in and you realize that the guys are only averaging 32 hours a week on average. When people, implement this, they find across The team that they’re averaging 32 hours a week instead of 40, and then you work to get that up. Second, to implement this or anytime you guys wanna implement a new procedure, Policy, tech, here’s the key. Go to your influencer on your team. There’s always an influencer on your team that your team looks up to Who’s not the owner? Go to your influencer and connect with them and you’d want to lead with the benefit to them. So in this case, it might be, hey. I want we wanna grow this business.
Steve Burnett [00:31:22]:
We wanna grow it profitably, and I wanna be able to increase wages. In order to do that, we need to be more efficient in our time tracking. So I have this really simple app that you guys can use To track time and to help us to be more efficient so that we can be more profitable for more profitable, then you guys can make more. Would you be interested in seeing it? And usually they’re like, yeah. Then you explain it to him. You show it to him. He sees the benefit for him to use in it. And then With him on board, with your influencer on board, then you rolled out to the team.
Steve Burnett [00:31:53]:
And, really, the team is gonna look to the influencer for the nod, and he’s gonna say, hey, guys. This is gonna be great for us. Let’s all Put this on our phone or whatever and start using it right away. So recap, anytime you want to roll out a new policy, procedure, tech, Sell your influencer first. Your influencer will help sell it to the team for you. Okay? Oh, Josh has her on. Thank you, Josh. Alright.
Steve Burnett [00:32:18]:
So, Jamie, you’re up.
Jamie Torres [00:32:21]:
I just think it’s the biggest thing. I think that across the board, a lot of people are having the same things, but just payers are great, but hiring somebody to manage, like, overseas some of the projects, so I’m not Spending so much time at at the job making sure every little thing’s going right, but I can have more of someone that can be a project manager, basically. It’s a hard It’s hard to give up those responsibilities, but I know as I have done in the past, it does help. Back, I had spent some time During COVID, this is crazy. It’s been 3 months out of the country, and I end up having, a helper who Made it so much easier, and I just so much less stressed. When I came back from that trip, I started to get these things to come back, and it was hard for me to let go. I don’t wanna micromanage anybody, and I think it goes both ways for the guys as well because it can happen. But just, I don’t know, Finding a way to let go of those responsibilities and empower people to the painters are fine.
Jamie Torres [00:33:21]:
The just Have, like, a good assistant would be nice to and it’s going forward in the future, and that would be the one of the biggest things I wanna work on.
Steve Burnett [00:33:29]:
Okay. So let me jump into here. I would encourage you, 1, to make sure to focus on culture. So I if you hire for character, Focus on culture. Your crews will take care of the customer. You won’t need a project manager to manage them. In fact, when Guys do hire them. That’s an indicator that they haven’t hired for character and they don’t have a strong culture.
Steve Burnett [00:33:52]:
And I’m not calling you out here. I’m just wanna show you The opportunity because a project manager’s gonna cost you 50 to $80,000 out of your profit. Right? And it’s not really necessary as long as we have the right tech stack To set the teams up to win. Okay? And then reliable crew leads at least to grab that and to give the customer great experience and to lead the crew And what needs to be done. So as long as we hire for character and we take care of culture, we have the right tech stack in place, We don’t really need a project manager anymore, not these days, if that makes sense.
Jamie Torres [00:34:28]:
Sure. I guess it’s a it’s a Hybrid of sorts of what I’m actually looking for. That does make sense. I do trust the teams when they’re out there. But if I nowadays, I go out to my projects Maybe twice a week, which I don’t know. I feel that’s pretty good overall. But, okay, just having a face out in the public and with My clients is also important because they hire me for for me a lot of times. Mhmm.
Jamie Torres [00:34:53]:
But my guys, they do provide a lot of that, but It’s like a project managers type slash salesperson as well. Someone that can take over a little bit of our responsibilities because, you know,
Steve Burnett [00:35:06]:
That’s okay. At the 1.2 to 1.5 mark, definitely 1.2 and then 1.5 of the latest you bring on An additional, salesman slash project manager, and he manages the projects that he sells as well. But at this point, I think it’s premature to bring somebody on. So if you’re feeling overwhelmed or then there’s some time management opportunities for you to streamline. If you feel like they The customer, they hired you because they liked you. It’s true. And then what you do is you work on transferring that trust to your crew lead. Yeah.
Steve Burnett [00:35:36]:
I remember you’ll know when you’ve done that well, when you pop by a job and they say, what are you doing here? Joe’s got it. So you’ve transferred that trust to the crew lead, and they trust the crew lead. So So I’m trying to save you from coming a profit because it’s not it might feel necessary, but it’s not really necessary. Now there are other opportunities to optimize, and I want you to Keep as much profit as you need as you lean into growth.
Jamie Torres [00:35:58]:
Sure. A 100% makes sense. Yeah. Similar to the technology stuff, we use a new system. It’s called Marquate. It’s a CRM. Actually, my cousin had introduced it to me, who I introduced to painting about 2 years ago, and he’s taken off, and he’s he’s loving it. But, anyways, I was using another program before, and this one is a little bit more extensive.
Jamie Torres [00:36:18]:
And it’s similar, just getting people to jump on with the idea, but I did I was able to add Some, talking with the guys about about what I expect and what’s gonna happen in the future if we start to use these things, but it’s still hard to get them to jump on board with tracking, and and it it will happen over time. But I guess it’s the it feels the longer I go, The the less I’m gonna have them streamline it, it’s gonna be a constant, struggle for them and for me. And So I I guess I need to find a way to reset that and help improve that culture as far as their making sure that they’re doing these things on time And sticking with it.
Steve Burnett [00:37:01]:
Yep. Implement the progressive disciplinary process. It’s in the, employee manual and the cafe that I have for you. It’s very important to follow it because culture, you get what you tolerate. And so by following the disciplinary process that your team will trust it. They’ll trust the rules and the policies, and they’ll obey them. And usually when you get to the written warning, they do it by the face, and they realize it’s serious, And it never happens again. Okay.
Steve Burnett [00:37:26]:
Cool. Alright. Asa, go ahead and unmute.
Asa Hunt [00:37:30]:
Yeah. So I’ve just really been thinking a lot about, like, where should your closing rates be when your price and your sales process is
Steve Burnett [00:37:40]:
Mhmm.
Asa Hunt [00:37:40]:
Dialed in, And what lead sources are seem to be working for folks. I I don’t know if I mentioned this last week, but I probably have 5 or 6 estimates out there, and none of them came through. So I feel like that was like some cold water. And a couple of them were referrals Even. So I’m like, okay.
Steve Burnett [00:38:01]:
2 of
Asa Hunt [00:38:01]:
them were referrals. You didn’t close either of them. Something’s going on.
Steve Burnett [00:38:08]:
So, Ace, have you gone through the courses in the cafe to to familiarize yourself with the system?
Asa Hunt [00:38:15]:
No. So I don’t have a cafe membership right now.
Steve Burnett [00:38:19]:
It’s included with your Mastermind.
Asa Hunt [00:38:21]:
Oh, is it? Oh. Mhmm. Okay then. I will do that this week.
Steve Burnett [00:38:26]:
Okay. Okay, Retta. And then I heard you say estimates out there. Are you presenting on the spot while you’re there?
Asa Hunt [00:38:31]:
Yeah. I started doing that, call it a presentation, more like we’re standing up. Like, oh, hey. Here’s what I got. This includes this prep work, 2 coats of paint, 60 seconds.
Steve Burnett [00:38:47]:
Okay. So here’s what I like you to do. Go in the cafe, watch my sales system, of course, and watch the website conversion. So watch those 2 first and then focus on, networking and ABAs. Those are gonna generate high value referrals. Okay. The website’s gonna set you up so that it, prequalifies qualified leads and detours unqualified leads, and the sales system is how to Close them on the spot. How to communicate with value.
Steve Burnett [00:39:15]:
So you close them on the spot even when another guy’s outside waiting for his turn.
Asa Hunt [00:39:19]:
Gotcha.
Steve Burnett [00:39:20]:
Okay.
Asa Hunt [00:39:22]:
Yeah. I’ll I’ll look into that.
Steve Burnett [00:39:24]:
Okay. Right on. Alright, gentlemen. It’s time to, roll out with Takeaways. Josh had to cut out early. He said my biggest takeaway today was passion comes after mastery. Posted on my whiteboard. Awesome.
Steve Burnett [00:39:39]:
Thank you, Josh. Appreciate that. Alex, takeaways.
Alex Garcia [00:39:42]:
Just gonna be what I cut me from Josh. I’ll take the very important to add to my terms that we will fix it or try to fix it before. So Mhmm. I just have to work it out, but I think it’s very important. Yeah. He can avoid major expense by doing so, so I’ll take away that.
Steve Burnett [00:40:01]:
Indeed. Yeah. Alright. Very good. Thank you, Alex.
Alex Garcia [00:40:03]:
Thank you.
Paul Dybdahl [00:40:05]:
Just a confirmation of of what I was thinking of prior to the meeting, and then and I down the people I’m going to call after the meeting To start to get this it’s a weight of the administration stuff, delegation of the administration.
Steve Burnett [00:40:22]:
Yes, sir. That’s it. Get them, buddy. Thank you, Paul. Okay. Dion, go ahead and unmute and share your takeaways. Thank you.
Deon Fouche [00:40:29]:
I I like you saying, if you you get what you tolerate, something I have to work on. We tend to not micromanage at all. And one of my biggest fears are just a a slow drift away. Small company, 3 crews, don’t have All the regular meet stuff and get togethers. And so that my takeaway from this morning is gotta focus on that, and it doesn’t drift away, And everybody does whatever they want.
Steve Burnett [00:40:59]:
Indeed. Indeed. Right on. Thank you, Dion. Jamie?
Jamie Torres [00:41:03]:
I think simply, I guess everyone has similar things in and running their business. No.
Steve Burnett [00:41:09]:
No. No. No. All.
Jamie Torres [00:41:11]:
Yeah. Yeah. And I and I know because I I talk about it. I have other painter friends and stuff that we we do talk business just specifically for that, but, yeah, it’s nice to see. It’s not nice to see. It’s it is It’s comforting to know that we’re all in this together. Mhmm. And as again, it’s my 1st meeting.
Jamie Torres [00:41:28]:
It is enjoyable and Just to hear perspectives from everyone.
Steve Burnett [00:41:31]:
Awesome. Thank you. And, again, welcome. Glad to have you. Alright. Asa, close us out. Two takeaways, please.
Asa Hunt [00:41:38]:
Yeah. Big takeaway was, besides watching the sales training, was, gonna double check my contract for language around, we’re gonna fix it before you Start charging us for stuff and double check with my insurance rep about the waiver waivers of subrogation with subs and Make sure all that airtight. I actually had some get paint chips in somebody’s, like, kitchen sink, and their, Their plumber said that it’s clogging the drains and might erect the garbage disposal. So I’m like, gosh.
Steve Burnett [00:42:13]:
There you go. That’s it. Alright. Sales and get the text that verbiage. I need your small text if we get the terms off the top of my head, but that’s great. Thank you, Asaf. Thank you, gentlemen. I wanna encourage you to continue to dream big, also smarter.
Steve Burnett [00:42:27]:
You’ve got this. Have a great day, everybody.
April Burnett [00:42:30]:
I hope you enjoyed this episode. If this was helpful, please share it with a friend to help inspire them to double their business. Again, this is April Burnett. Steve and I are the founders of Brunette Painting and DYB Coach. We want to take a moment and thank you for making us the most rated podcast dedicated specifically to painting contractors. Years. To celebrate, we want to help you break through to higher success, so Steve is now giving away free strategy calls. Just click the link below in the show notes that says free strategy call.
April Burnett [00:43:00]:
There are only a couple of openings on his calendar each week, so get your free call with Steve now. Thank you So much for listening, and remember to dream big, hustle smarter, you’ve got this.