Contractor Evolution – Details, episodes & analysis

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Did you know the average employee loses 600 hours a year due to distractions?

That’s a lot of untapped potential.

And a lot of anxious people.

Our guest on the show today is Mike Lee, a best-selling author and globally recognized keynote speaker whose entire body of work is dedicated to helping leaders find focus, block out distractions, and get more done with a calmer mind.

Mike and I talk about how to be more present in the way you work, live and lead. From separating yourself from the constant notifications, algorithms and open tabs to dealing with the anxiety that comes with owning a business, leading people and being a human in 2024.

If you want to be more focused, more present and more mindful, this one’s for you.

Get Mike's book, New Rules for the Future of Leadership here: https://mindshiftlabs.com/new-rules-for-the-future-of-leadership/

Episode highlights:
- Learn about the real cost distractions have to our businesses and our personal lives.
- Get tips on practicing focus, mindfulness and presence from best-selling author and globally recognized keynote speaker Mike Lee.
- Find out what working with athletes like Steph Curry taught Mike about the power of mindset in achieving success on the court and in business.

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To learn more about Breakthrough Academy, click here: https://trybta.com/PCEP175

To learn more about Ryan and Brush Strokes, click here: https://brushstrokesga.com/

Today’s episode is your daily dose of inspiration. 

Ryan Gill, Breakthrough Academy Member and owner of Brush Strokes Quality Painting in Georgia, has quite the story. He’s battled addiction, struggled with his mental health, and been on the brink of bankruptcy three times.

And today, he runs a thriving painting company with a mission to give back.

Through an unconventional hiring strategy, Ryan gives second chances to ex-inmates and individuals in addiction recovery programs while maintaining the highest standard of quality and world-class customer service.

His story powerfully reminds us of the bigger role our businesses play in making the world a better place.

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To learn more about Breakthrough Academy, click here: https://trybta.com/PCEP166 

To download our FREE Strategic Planning Tool, click here: https://trybta.com/DLEP166 

Private equity buying up contracting companies is a popular subject lately.

You may have seen Instagram posts and articles about entrepreneurs who’ve struck it rich by selling their businesses to mysterious private equity investors.

But, what does that actually mean?

Today, we’re going to learn what it's ACTUALLY like to sell to private equity investors, from someone who's done it.

Over the course of 30 years, Steve Wheatcroft grew his humble landscaping business called Urban Life Solutions into a 30MM behemoth that - no surprise - caught the eye of private equity. 

After the deal was done in late 2019, Steve remained the CEO for another three years and helped the new ownership scale through more acquisitions to 100 MM.

And in today’s episode, he shares the unfiltered truth about what selling to private equity is really like. 

The good. 

The bad. 

And the ugly. 

And there is plenty of all three. 

Enjoy.

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To apply for a Breakthrough Academy Business Assessment click here: https://trybta.com/PCEP76

You ever heard that quote about the bumblebee flying? The one that goes, “Aerodynamically, the bumblebee shouldn't be able to fly, but the bumblebee doesn't know that so it flies anyway.”

I feel like Tommy Mello didn’t get the memo that a garage door company traditionally caps around 10 Million.

When he was growing his company, Tommy looked around for inspiring models he could replicate and didn’t find much from the other garage door companies in the market. So instead of accepting industry norms, he looked elsewhere.

And now he’s sailing past 200 Million in revenue and says it’s just the beginning.

Listen to the full episode to learn about the 5 game changers that Tommy attributes to his unusual growth.

Episode Highlights:

• What Tommy & A1 Garage Doors needed to do to go from 800k to 200M
• Where to start when you know you need to dial in your finances but can't afford a CFO
• How to find and work with an integrator if you're the visionary
• The way a 200M contractor thinks and spends their time vs the way a 1M contractor thinks and spends their time
• When, during your growth, you need to start finding advisors, which ones will really move the needle for you, and how to filter out the crappy ones
• What advice Tommy would have given himself in the early years of his business that would have saved him a pile of headaches

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

To apply for a Breakthrough Academy Business Assessment click here: https://trybta.com/PCEP75

Have you ever run a project and gotten so fed up with the people doing the job that you wished you could swap them out with robots?

Yeah, so did Garrett Moore…

…and then he built the robots.

While on deployment, this former Navy SEAL was getting so fed up with the sub-trades building his house that he decided to do something about it.

Now he runs Agorus, a company that blends construction, robotics manufacturing, and software to build custom residential homes.

Listen to the full episode to learn more about this super ingenuitive company and how they are disrupting the building industry.

Episode Highlights:

• Garrett Moore's frustration with the contracting industry & what was happening on the macro level that led to the start of Agorus
• The current state of decline for skilled workers and where we will be by the end of the decade
• The true size and scale of the housing crisis in North America the demand for construction and trades its creating
• How Agorus designs and manufactures custom homes using software and robotics - and then is able to erect to lockup  in 5 days or less
• What smart contractors should do right now to stay ahead over the next decade
• What serving in the Navy SEALS taught Garrett about team building in construction and how to pinpoint entrepreneurs that show signs of success

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

To apply for a Breakthrough Academy Business Assessment click here: https://trybta.com/PCEP74

Build A Long Client Waitlist Using These 4 Sales Documents: https://trybta.com/PCDLEP74

When selling to your prospects and customers, do you ever get tired of answering the same exact questions over and over again?  

Are you ever bored by the sound of your own voice, endlessly running through the same talking points, addressing the same concerns, constantly explaining the same process sometime multiple times a day?

What if you could replicate yourself for those conversations? 

You’d both save yourself some time AND you could talk to all the potential clients you’re struggling to get to right now.

Well, guess what. You can. Kind of.

We live in an age where you can create a piece of sales collateral and it will continue to sell long after you’ve created it.

Yet, there’s a lot of testing that goes into WHAT to create.

In this episode, Jamie Overley of Boulder Land Design shares the 4 pieces of sales collateral that she has found are the most effective in getting the sale, and then driving reviews and referrals after the project is complete.

Oh, and she has been booked out over a year for the last 3 years PLUS continued to raise her prices, so something is working.

Learn how this former marketing exec is sailing past the competition with her easy to replicate 4 part process. 

Episode Highlights:

• What consumer habits have evolved into and how to play to the change in behaviour in 2022
• How to make sure that the customer gets the right sales message every time no matter who they talked to
• The red flags that tell you you are doing a poor job communicating your brand
• 4 examples of easy sales collateral that you can create and the details that go into each piece
• Why you should build a 'post project' package and what goes into it to drive referrals and reviews
• Tips for managing a huge backlog of inquires when your sales collateral works too well

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To apply for a Breakthrough Academy Business Assessment click here: https://trybta.com/PCEP73

If you’ve ever felt like your profit should be increasing with your revenue, you’re not alone.

If revenue goes up…profit goes up. Right? It’s simple math. It should work like that.

You think if you just work a little harder, push a little more…POOF… you’ll magically crest revenue hill. Economies of scale will kick in and all of the sudden you’ll have the kind profit you’ve always wanted.

But it doesn’t work like that.

If your revenues have been growing, but your profits aren’t matching the same growth rates (or exceeding), then you, my friend, have a very simple problem.

One that is pretty easy to fix if you know what to look for.

Listen to what this husband and wife team did when they found they had the same problem in their $4M landscaping company and how they fully controlled profits from that point out:

• The reason why profits didn't change even though revenue was seriously increasing
• 1 file that CLS implemented which made the biggest difference in their business growth and profit margins.
• The mental struggle with being a contractor vs working in a white collar industry and how to shift your mindset
• How to install a strong leadership team to manage multiple locations PLUS the roles you need to hire and in what priority order
• What advice would Cooper and Janelle have given themselves back when they started
• What it's like to find balance between 60 staff, 3 kids and themselves

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

To apply for a Breakthrough Academy Business Assessment click here: https://trybta.com/PCEP72

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As a millennial myself, I take a small amount of personal offense whenever I hear frustrated contractors verbally bash my entire generation (or young people broadly speaking) for their supposed lack of work ethic, chronic ADD, and apparent disinterest in construction and trades.  

I admittedly roll my eyes a little anytime I hear someone throw their hands up in frustration and declare: “These young people I tell ya, no one wants to work these days”.  

If you listen to this podcast, you know this is a recurring theme on the show.  

Having said all that, I also deeply empathise with the business owner whose phone is ringing off the hook with potential customers but can’t seem to hire enough good people.

Which is why this episode is so monumental. Our guest today, Jody Underhill, has figured out how to deliver a literal flood of qualified applicants to almost any contractor.

Don’t believe me?

Listen to the full episode to learn more about all the genius ways Jody has sailed past traditional hiring methods to deliver as many applicants as he needs.

Episode Highlights:

• Why young people aren't responding to trades ads, and what you can do to attract them.
• The statistical results between marketing on social media vs traditional digital job boards
• The exact formula for ad copy that gets high #'s of applicants and sets you apart from the competition
• How to structure your application page and what you need include in your employer brand promo video to get a high level of applicants (hint, it’s not you talking about the company)
• How to run hundreds of video interviews without the interviewer actually being involved
• The statistical difference between using email vs text and which medium brings in stacks of applications

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

To apply for a Breakthrough Academy Business Assessment click here: https://trybta.com/PCEP71

Nothing in the world of contracting sucks the life out of you or your team like a miserable client. A sorry SOB whose apparent mission in life is to ruin yours.  It almost seems they take pleasure in the process.

What I’m saying is I think we can all agree that avoiding the crazies is in your best interest.  And the sooner the better.

After running my own painting company and talking to over 1000 contractors, I’ve noticed there are a few client patterns that have emerged in our collective experience.

I should mention, this list is by no means exhaustive and if you have your own red flags I’d love you to leave them in the comments of this episode's Youtube video. I read all the comments you guys put in there.

Episode Highlights (6 Key Phrases That Should Raise A Red Flag):

• “Can I help out? And what kind of discount will I get if I do?”
• “We bought the materials already, just charge us for labor.”
• “I could do this myself, I’m just so busy”
• “I’m a realtor and I’ve flipped many houses so I know what things cost.”
• “I have a brother-in-law who does some flooring. Can he be involved?”
• “I’m super busy, do we have to meet?”

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

To apply for a Breakthrough Academy Business Assessment click here: https://trybta.com/PCEP70

Download the Mental Fitness Framework and Quiz Here: https://trybta.com/PCDLEP70

Connect with Fyfe here: https://www.uplifementalfitness.com/

If you roll into a multi-day hike with tons of vertical and a 50-pound pack after 6 months on the couch eating Doritos, chances are you’re probably not going to have the best time.

But what about if you're asking a lot of your mind?  

How many stressful situations do you encounter in your business in a single day?

How often is intense focus demanded of you even though your batteries are drained?

In its simplest form, mental fitness is your capacity to handle life's challenges with a positive rather than negative mindset.

We, as humans, have all formed negative self-sabotaging characteristics that protected us while we were young. However, these same saboteurs can ultimately lead to downfall if we don’t recognize them.

In this episode, we have Fyfe Barraclough on to explain the 10 saboteurs that exist, which ones are most common in entrepreneurs, and what we can all do to turn self-sabotage into opportunity.

Listen to the full episode to learn how you can transform your metal liabilities into tangible assets.

Episode Highlights:

• The definition of mental fitness and when a contractor would need to be concerned about it
• The neuroscience science behind mental fitness and why large organisations are starting to pay attention to the training
• The 10 saboteurs that we form to protect ourselves when we’re young but can hold us back as adults
• The common saboteurs that plague entrepreneurs specifically and examples of what they look like in the workplace
• How to play "mental judo" and turn your stress induced self sabotage into an opportunity instead
• The observable benefits of someone who actively works on their mental fitness vs someone who doesn’t

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