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The group chat talks sub-rentals, safety & social media: Episode 65
1 Playsin 5 hours
Nate & Kyle cover industry trends, sub-rental practices, safety standards and the impact of social media with rental pros Kevin Vasquez, Darren Randle, Austin Goeman and Brian Richardson. They share insights on managing inventory, ensuring safety and navigating last-minute bookings in a competitive market.
This episode is brought to you by Anchor Clear Span Tents & Structures, learn more at www.anchorinc.com. P.S., if you want to join ARA and you tell them you heard about it from Nate and Kyle, you'll get 25% off your membership! https://ararental.org/join-ARA/promo/Podcast25
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Transcript
Introduction and Technical Glitch
00:00:01
Speaker
Welcome back to another episode of Run Into the Vinyl, rental management media podcast. Kyle, how you doing?
00:00:17
Speaker
welcome back to another episode of running to the vinyl ah rental management media podcast kyle how you doing
00:00:26
Speaker
Kyle, you are muted. Way to start this. I appreciate this. All right. Off to a good start over here, guys. We're doing well. Off to a great start. So, Kyle, how you doing, buddy?
00:00:38
Speaker
I'm good, Nate. How you doing? You hanging in there? I'm living the dream after lots of travel, but we are back at it. And and just as we started, I've been trying to call my wife the whole time, and now calls. So, we'll wait on that.
Guest Introductions and Fan Engagement
00:00:50
Speaker
um What do you got going on? I just got back from Virginia last week. That job went okay. You and I have talked about that, Nate. But we survived. It's over. Everything's home.
00:01:04
Speaker
Now we're working on one locally for the next few weeks. And then I hit the road again in June. Well, I'm glad I could help assist that one while I was on my wonderful Napa trip. You're welcome. Hey, I didn't call you. me I didn't call you.
00:01:20
Speaker
But we've got a good lineup here today. If you're on YouTube, the chat room is full and you can see that we've got a a lot of tent nerds and ah I guess, what is the group called? Bad Boys of Tenning?
00:01:33
Speaker
Plus Brian. Plus Brian today. So Kyle, you want to go through and introduce everybody? Well, first we have, he asked me refer to as Mr. President, ah the Brian Richardson, ARA of, new oh, what are you, Brian? ARA President?
00:01:49
Speaker
Sure. That works. He's got nothing to say. Hey, I'm going to go to this operation. Yeah, okay. Let's see how that works. If you can send us out some more pipes, come up in your office for good sakes.
00:02:09
Speaker
It's your son. You got to take care of him. Yeah, it's... next to who we got Who we got next? please We'll go Kevin next. got Kevin from Made in the Shade. Kevin and I just indulged in a wonderful dinner and wine out in Napa this past week.
00:02:25
Speaker
Darren, did you get invited? No, I didn't. Oh, me either. was busy working. You were in Mexico. Kevin, you're also muted, I think, as well.
00:02:39
Speaker
we We're running this thing. Kyle, you want to introduce our next guest? Yeah, get me while i'm drinking water, you jerk. ah Well, let's go with the one and only, the hunter of business, as he referred to himself when he got here, Darren Randall.
00:02:58
Speaker
Darren, how we doing? Hey guys, thanks for having me on here again. It's been a while. Darren didn't answer five of my phone calls or text messages today, but he responded to the group text and then jumped on the
Subrentals and Inventory Challenges
00:03:09
Speaker
computer. So I appreciate that, Darren. Good to see you.
00:03:12
Speaker
I got to go on priority list. You know, that's it. we're showing to And we got the real worker that probably outworks you, Kyle. Austin from JK Reynolds. Austin, how you doing? Good, good. ah Staying real busy actually this time of the year. So,
00:03:29
Speaker
We're getting ready and ramping up for summer as well. So its everything's good, though. I think Austin just kind of got drug into this group to where he's like, how do I put up with this shit? And he's the quiet one and speaks up every so often. But when he does, he hits some zingers in there. so Yeah, it that's that sounds about right. i i think Austin's not dealing with Kurt.
00:03:50
Speaker
Yeah, Austin was like a late-night ad at a bar in Savannah, Georgia, I think, to the group text. was. He was. Because if had had he not, when I was looking for 5.4 legs at 6 p.m.
00:04:03
Speaker
on a night I need to get a contract signed, and I sent a message, hey, do you all know anybody has 5.4-meter legs? And he just did a little hand raise, and I was like, get the hell out of here. You got 5.4-meter legs for this?
00:04:16
Speaker
You know, you've earned your weight already, Austin. That goes back to the the last week's episode when we talked about things, leaving the group chat and and just having a group chat with everybody in it. and And what's really remarkable is how much stuff has come out of this group chat and and the jobs that have come out of it and and how much shit about Brian we talk in it.
00:04:39
Speaker
Yes, all the time. This episode of Under the Vinyl is brought to you by Anker Tents and Clear Spans, a fifth generation family owned company making tents and clear span structures right here in the USA.
00:04:51
Speaker
Anker isn't just about selling the best products on the market. They share decades of experience and stand beside you as you grow your business. Anker's craftsmanship and engineering give you a peace of mind and will allow you to use the equipment for years to come, season after season.
00:05:03
Speaker
For the next generation of rental owners and installers, Anchor aims to not just be your supplier, but a trusted partner helping guide you into the right products to grow your business.
Sponsorship by Anchor Tents
00:05:12
Speaker
Call to be connected to your sales rep today, 1-800-544-4445, or visit their website at anchorinc.com.
00:05:20
Speaker
So let's dive in today, Brian. What do you want to start with here, buddy? and what is it What's bothering you, Brian? Everyone keeps calling me about what I said two weeks ago. They want to know what upset Brian Richardson.
00:05:33
Speaker
I have to be nice, but somebody, a friend a friend of mine, a good friend of mine from Maine, posted that he was questioning whether he should start offering his product out to rental companies to rent out.
00:05:48
Speaker
And a lot of people responded, hey, that's a great idea. you know, I'm just gonna say it. Banks Potter put out there that he was gonna do groove flooring and whether he should sub-rent it.
00:06:00
Speaker
And a lot of people responded, hey, that's a great idea. Well, I get on my phone went at banks and said, you start renting it, I'll never buy flooring again as long as I live. ah And people that are into it, I'm like, well, what happens if the tent manufacturers start willing to sub-rent their products out to everybody?
Debate: Tent Manufacturers in Rental Market
00:06:18
Speaker
So that was my rant last week that I don't want the manufacturers to get into the rental game. Why would anyone invest their hard-earned dollars into buying equipment if they could just always sub-rent it?
00:06:31
Speaker
So that was my complaint.
00:06:35
Speaker
So as I spent $100,000 on my first grew flooring order that just got delivered today, before it shipped, I asked Mr. Potter, I said, hey, I hear you guys going to start renting out to a bunch of people. He said, no, no, we're not. No, it was something we talked about. We're not going to do it. this is that we are just We were just selling.
00:06:54
Speaker
And it was just an idea. And I said, okay, good. now I'll let Brian know then. So just like any other rumor in this industry, it gets spinning just to get shut down.
00:07:05
Speaker
if Banks was just doing little market research, that's all. I love Banks. He's a great guy. god good just He just needed Brian to shoot him down. On the topic on the topic of subrentals, since we all subrent with each other and and things like that, let's just go ahead and start.
00:07:26
Speaker
Darren, so how do you feel about subrentals? Um, I'm okay. I don't sub rent. There's one company, I think in in all of Houston that I sub rent to, and they're very they're a lot smaller player.
00:07:37
Speaker
Um, everyone else, my two cents is that when I just joined this industry, everybody backstabs and talks about each other in the local market. just for when they need something to go ask them for it on a job that they likely underbid to go win. And so for the 11 years or 12 years I've been doing this, I think it's best for a for everybody to just be able to do your own.
00:07:59
Speaker
Like if you can't if you can't do the job, don't don't bid it. If your inventory is jacked up and you don't have enough crews, sorry, Bob, don't go for it or fail on the job and then they'll go call the other company.
00:08:10
Speaker
You know, it's like you don't subreddit on somebody you're competing against.
00:08:16
Speaker
And then, Kevin, how do you handle subrentals out there?
00:08:26
Speaker
You're muted, Kevin. Come on, man. I don't know why she's doing this. Anyways, um we've been subrenting for a long time to different companies and all that.
00:08:37
Speaker
ah You know, we've got to we gotta get to know them to want to subrent to them or to do it. You know, were It's a little different from a new company coming into sub rent and get will call pieces and parts from us. We want payment upfront, all that good stuff.
00:08:53
Speaker
But if it's a company we've been dealing with for 15, 20 years, if they call us, come get it. We'll figure it out later and do all that. So I don't mind opening up my warehouse for items to come get picked up or whatever it may be.
00:09:07
Speaker
Awesome.
00:09:10
Speaker
Yeah, I think, you know, it's, um. You're always going to run into a situation where the customer needs something that you might not have, or. You know, you had on the initial.
00:09:22
Speaker
Bid or whatever it might be, and then they want to add on and you got to start looking other places or whatever that might be. I think the biggest issue, at least for me and what I see for our from our crews is.
00:09:34
Speaker
when we go to sub rent, you know, you're not getting all the pieces back or they're not in the same condition that they went out in. And yeah, that's frustrating because now not only did you do someone a favor, right? Usually by helping them out, but now you're,
00:09:49
Speaker
on the back end, having to clean it up or fix it, or maybe, you know, in some cases, and it's not always their fault, but you get a downgraded piece of the same thing. So, um, I think with us, you know, we try to mark all of our stuff and hopefully get the same thing back in return and hopefully, uh,
00:10:09
Speaker
You know, you're not having to go back and we need more of this or, you know, you actually gave us this piece instead of, you know, another one. And next thing you know, it ends up in your inventory and kind of messes things up for the next the next time everything goes out. So I would say, yeah you know, we sub rent quite a bit, but at the same time, we make sure that we try to get our stuff back. You know, we're we're pretty hard pressed on that for our guys to count our stuff and make sure it is the right stuff.
00:10:39
Speaker
And I noticed you guys, um, when we were putting up your, uh, your 5.4 meter legs, you guys sticker, do you sticker all of your product?
00:10:50
Speaker
Yeah, we try to throw some sort of indicator on there. Uh, we, I would say we sticker probably majority of those stuff. We actually, it was funny. We just put in ah another order for like 3000 stickers for, you know, whatever it might be. So, um, it is some way, shape or form. Yes.
00:11:12
Speaker
Or you can be like Kyle and get my stuff back with blue paint on it and then realize that it's not his or it is his months later. Right, Kyle? Nate, we don't want to talk about Chattanooga LNA. I'm just waiting. Send Brian a check and, you know, you guys can just have the whole inventory, whatever you need.
00:11:30
Speaker
You know, it's... you know I got a text the other day from Jay Gorman at Party Reflections. He was walking in his yard and he sends me a picture this one piece of floor that's branded LNA tent rentals. We have never subrented them floor ever.
00:11:43
Speaker
We went back and looked. No clue how they got our floor. That's insane. But that comes down to inventory, though. like if you know We all use different systems, but if you're not super OCD inventory like we are about parts and bolts and fittings. I know, Derek. No one is as good as you.
00:12:00
Speaker
you're go and And you're going to get wrong stuff back. i meant we're We're doing a sub-rental intense by design right now, and I've made him call the items the same thing we call it. just so that when they bring it back and come in, it's coming in back on our pool sheet. They're getting a copy of our pool sheet so that we're getting our those items back because it's, I mean, we all see these guys, they're striking this stuff after five days in a hundred degree weather or 30 degree weather. So it's like, you gotta, you gotta to give them some grace. So it really comes back to the backend on the warehouse and the office side of making sure that you're getting back what it is and you know what you're getting.
00:12:35
Speaker
Because those guys are going to put it in the first bin that's accessible to them because they're out there and it's midnight, you know? So we all know how the subrentals work now and the communication with subrentals work now.
00:12:47
Speaker
only know how I want to know how Brian went about subrentals back in the day and how much that has evolved. Wow. Oh, Brian, tell him how nice you are about subrentals. Have you read someone talk or vinyl at all?
00:13:01
Speaker
Are you opening that vinyl up when it comes back? That's the question. If you are, then we're not charging enough. Whatever that number is, if it's coming back and you're opening up every piece of vinyl and every piece of wall, then we're not charging enough when we subrep.
00:13:19
Speaker
Because that labor has got to be priced into it somewhere.
00:13:26
Speaker
Well, I think it it, yeah, it depends on what type company you are. You know, for us, it's really hard through the through the year to check every single topic that comes back that we've subreddit to somebody. if it If it says, hey, this is an A grade and it's clear and everything's good to go, obviously you're trusting that or you're hoping that whoever you subreddit to communicates that back to you that this is what it is.
00:13:47
Speaker
Otherwise, yeah, I mean, we put stuff on the shelf and it gets mildewed and trashed and and it's a whole other story. And I agree. you need Are you checking it before it goes out, Nate? Yeah, so we're supposed to be checking everything that goes out and everything is supposed to be checked off. You know, humans do make errors once in a while and those human errors just got to be held accountable.
00:14:09
Speaker
oh
00:14:13
Speaker
So, Brian, did you did you not subreddit back in the day? Yeah.
00:14:18
Speaker
We've been pretty fortunate that because my brothers each had a company, one in Maine and one in Maryland, we could subred back and forth as a family, which makes it a lot easier.
00:14:29
Speaker
We all had the same inventory mix. So if somebody didn't get back their Genesis mid or their Century mid, you'd go, yeah, but mine was nicer anyway. So it all worked out.
00:14:41
Speaker
Now it's a little more challenging. We've got stuff running in and out. We don't have time to check it half the time going out. So that is an issue. Sometimes we'll get stuff back and it's got someone else's label in it. And by the time we find out, it's been three months.
00:14:57
Speaker
Well, let's dive into that too then, Kyle. What are you guys doing to assure the process is done for washing and cleaning and then going out the door? How are you verifying everything and how are you trusting it?
00:15:10
Speaker
This pisses Brian off, but everything goes to the washroom when it comes back, whether it needs it or not. And it really drives him crazy because he's like, we don't need to be washing it. But it's the only way I know that it's going to get cleaned or it it is what it says it is.
00:15:27
Speaker
But are you, suck it so then it goes to the washroom and something goes out and something's messed up or has a hole in it or a stain on it or something. How are you? how I like it going there because then I know who did it.
00:15:41
Speaker
if i know I know they wrote the tag, so it's easy to blame someone. There's no finger pointing. It's easy to say it came out of your washroom. It's your fault. what if you have hundreds and hundreds of cops and you're doing jobs all over the country and things are coming in and out?
00:15:54
Speaker
Well, that's yeah that's when things get rough. That's what I'm saying. so that i mean I guess from my standpoint – The smaller company, you're able to do every all that where it's all able to come in and get checked, get looked at, and right away i get signed off on all that stuff. Larger companies, you know, having to go through that process is a little bit tougher, and we, you know, we do it, but it's just, it's it's easier to go through and and mark off what somebody's saying and and trust it, but how do you trust that person, Kevin?
00:16:26
Speaker
I think we're in that growing point, like you're saying, where if you're smaller, you can go check everything, put it away. Right now, where we've always done the, hey, it's good for the next job. Hey, this is good. we It can go out again or whatever. um And it's kind of bitten us before with leaves.
00:16:42
Speaker
I mean, you name it, right? Dirt in there that just crews aren't paying attention to. So I'm almost to that, what Kyle's saying, where everything just comes in, gets checked, but gets washed right away. It gets gets washed. It doesn't get a new life. It doesn't re get used a second time. That's like, we just had a whole, our laundry pile just piled up.
00:17:04
Speaker
For like the last 2 weeks, and we had to spend all of Saturday just going through it and double checking to make sure it's. Things were there where we had like an rfid system or something like that.
00:17:15
Speaker
couple of waves of a 1, it would have taken, you know. 20 minutes figure out instead of 6 hours. Often you're part of that though you guys are traveling all over the country. So what do you guys do when when your stuff comes back?
00:17:31
Speaker
Well, for us, I guess it it it depends on obviously the size of the job and then what's going out next. And then also for us, which Kyle, I'm sure you guys can attest to this, like the time of the year.
00:17:43
Speaker
So for us, we have our back of warehouses, all cold storage. So basically from, let's just call it April, or I should say October or November into April,
00:17:59
Speaker
you can get away with those tops being wet and dirty, right? Because no mold is growing at 30 or 40 degrees, which is kind of where it stays back there. Like it's cold, but yeah, during the summer, I mean, everything comes through the wash bay um and it's getting checked. And then when,
00:18:19
Speaker
After they pull it out, if there is something wrong, we're bringing our sewing machines over and making repairs kind of right right then and there. So that way it can go back on the shelf. But actually one thing I think we do that might be different than some of the other companies is we actually checking when it comes in and then it one more time before it goes out just as like a courtesy check. And yeah, it's it is extra labor. It's a lot of extra time. It's a lot of kind of pain for those guys opening that stuff up. But you know, that also ensures, especially on these.
00:18:50
Speaker
These trips where, yeah, you're traveling, you know, how many thousands of miles that you are sending out the right stuff and you know that it is clean. So, um, the shorter stuff. Yeah, you might be able to get away with not checking some of the things because, you know, it's only 30 minutes away and you can make a mistake, but.
00:19:07
Speaker
nay The mistake still costs you money. i do. one Just 1 sprinter band away from being that over budget. yeah Yeah, exactly.
00:19:18
Speaker
Ain't that the truth. Speaking of over budget, let's, ah let's jump into some planning stuff here. So I'm going to, I guess if we want to just jump in and do a tell all here. um Tell me which direction you guys would go with this. Get a customer wants you to price match a a job. um You obviously give them your opinion on which way you think it should go with the flooring, raised level versus lay of the grade flooring.
00:19:43
Speaker
um And you're trying to stay within that number. You recommend that they should do a raised-level flooring. They do a lay of the grade instead because they want to meet that budget from the other company. You do that. And then it pours down rain all weekend or all week before the event.
00:19:58
Speaker
It floods, and the water's coming over the Duratrac floor on the one side. Planner's mad and wants a ditch dug along the whole side to make a moat so that it can drain out. And the homeowner says we should have done raised-level flooring.
00:20:12
Speaker
What direction now I've, I went back to the receipts and everything and said, Hey, this is, this is what I said. This is what I told you. This is where I would have gone with it. She's saying, I know I understand, but the whole owner showed up mad about this.
00:20:25
Speaker
So, you know, I'm waiting for a phone call to ask for the money back type thing and everything else. But where do you go from that standpoint? um You know, from a salesperson, Brian, I'll ask you first, where would you go as the business owner? If your salesperson comes to you and says that.
00:20:40
Speaker
Well, I think the first thing is you've got to look at how much revenue that party plan is bringing you, that event plan is bringing you in. And if it's a big number, you're going to have to do whatever it takes because what they're going to tell their client is they're going to lay it on your lap. It was your fault. You never explained it. So no matter what, you've got to protect that event planner if the revenue is there with them.
00:21:02
Speaker
And that's just the cost of doing business sometimes. You've got to take the bullet for them.
00:21:11
Speaker
Darren? I'm on the exact opposite. i i Having been the customer for so long before I got into this side of things, i when I go into something, I know if I'm making a decision to to be budget or save money.
00:21:26
Speaker
um And you know that there's a reason that, you know, you money you get what money buys, right? So I've, in these scenarios, I've had the same, I mean, I had it this past month twice, but what I've started doing is I found more success in when the planner is trying to make a decision around money that isn't theirs, it's the client paying for it.
00:21:45
Speaker
I've asked them to loop in the client, even if it's just one 30-minute call where they see us and talk to us and talk through the the challenges that we think are going to happen on their property or at the venue and talk through the things that we would recommend doing better. Some of it may not impact it. If weather's perfect, then they're going to save money, but they need to know worst-case scenarios because the planners are not good enough anymore. They're just not. There's very few good. They're going to blame you every time. It's always the tent guy's fault.
00:22:15
Speaker
Because it wasn't their problem until it became an issue. Right. And so I think that just being connected to the person paying the bill is the best scenario. You're not trying to just cut out the planner.
00:22:27
Speaker
You're not trying to show them that they don't know what they're doing like I would do. They would, you're just trying to show them that, hey, we we have these other options and alternatives that we want to make sure you're aware of what you're paying for. Because most of the time, I guarantee you, Kyle, in that scenario, they didn't know that they were just taking the cheaper route to get a price match. You know what i mean? The planner's the only one. So we let a planner dictate our success. instead of us being the one driving our boat. Yeah, but that ship has sailed. well like That's already done. You've got to mitigate the issue now. yeah In a perfect world, yes, they would have bought the level floor, but they didn't.
00:23:01
Speaker
And now you've got to mitigate it So my thing is you've got to kind your point of save it.
00:23:07
Speaker
How much business are they worth? That is that is a good point. It's just a matter of – It comes to a point because, Kyle, you and I talk about this personally all the time with these plans. Does it come to a point where you have to get everything in writing to say, this is what we talked about, this is what we said, and if you're going in this direction, then you need to sign off on this? You know you can't trust them anymore. I hate to say that.
00:23:30
Speaker
But they're looking out for themselves and their outfit of the day to post on Instagram at the end of the day. And they want the pretty pictures, the nice collage on their Instagram. Some of them out there do a great job. They do.
00:23:42
Speaker
But at the end of the day, anything goes wrong, they're throwing you under the bus no matter what.
00:23:49
Speaker
Kevin?
00:23:52
Speaker
I agree with everyone. Everyone. ah they are going to throw us under the bus. Yeah. Whether it's because of any rain, any water, or anything like that, we're always going to get the call.
00:24:05
Speaker
Your tent's leaking. Things are happening, right? um But ah I'm from, I kind of, but i believe what Brian said is that sometimes, you know, you got to see what that revenue is and what you've gotten on this job. And sometimes you' just got to do those somewhat extra things.
00:24:19
Speaker
But then you take that and you, you take that trauma and you, Take it to the next place and remember, hey, this is what happened last time.
Managing Customer Complaints and Expectations
00:24:28
Speaker
um I can't do this job. Like, you know, if you ever run into an issue with, like you said, the budgeting, raise deck stick built floor or whatever. Hey, this these are the issues that it could cause.
00:24:39
Speaker
Do I really want to do this job? And do I really want to have this issue? or am I just trying to make a quick buck? So, and it's getting things and writing its transcripts on the phone, its text messages, all that.
00:24:50
Speaker
We live in an age where we can do that. And I'm at this music festival and whenever somebody wants something, it's like, I text them right away. You asked for this. Okay. So that I could go back, read my receipts and have it if i need it at all.
00:25:02
Speaker
So do you think we're all just friendsed in this industry because we're all trauma bonded together? Is that how this works? Oh yeah. Yeah, buddy. Very much so. between AA and Prima bonding we need a good therapist I'll tell you that you know ah some therapists would specialize in the industry they would do a lot of work no and then they could also be a specialist in like working with your father so like me and Austin could go see them up oh oh um know i don't know what you have to say Brian's good to me saw Brian on a birthday and holiday air walk he calls me
00:25:42
Speaker
yeah You don't answer when I call you, Nate. He sends me gifts, you know. Austin, what do you think, buddy?
00:25:55
Speaker
Yeah, I would I would honestly i would agree with everything that Kevin had just said. I think it is important to reiterate all your phone calls or whatever. You know, all your conversations in an email or some sort of text just to help you remember kind of what went on to is and.
00:26:13
Speaker
At the end of the day, yeah, you're, you know, kind of to Brian's point, you're going to bite the bullet. You're going have to take the bullet and, you know, go clean up whatever mess it is. i mean, even if it's not necessarily your fault, it yeah it ends up being the tent guy's fault. And I mean, at the end of the day, you're not trying to put out a bad product either. You know, you're trying to make everyone happy. That's the ultimate goal. So, and I think, uh,
00:26:37
Speaker
That's probably ah an understated piece, you know, ah at least in my experience, when you do things like that um and you go that extra mile, the the event planners remember that stuff.
00:26:48
Speaker
So most of the time. Yeah. And I mean, i you also i think it's.
00:26:58
Speaker
And in again, in my experience, it means something too when Kyle Richardson is out there, you know, fixing the lawn or mopping up water, whatever the, you know, whatever the the thing is, you know, it's when they see me out there and I'm out there working till whatever, you know, late at night, right before the event day. Yeah, that's, that means something. So.
00:27:21
Speaker
can Can I add one thing to that, Nate? Yeah. You know, when it comes to, you know, one thing we haven't talked about is other tank companies not doing things the right way with those planners that we're talking about, that starts to become the industry standard and you don't even know what's happening.
00:27:38
Speaker
You know, and I'll give you an example. Clear Tops on a Levo. ah I've talked to Loisberger and Fred's both about it, who you who would know the best way to do it. On a cathedral, there are very few safe ways it.
00:27:51
Speaker
to get tarps on and cover the the tents, especially in an environment where you're at 60 mile an hour. Right. And so when you have a company that does things and the way they do it is in an unsafe way, but that's what the videos of them posting their guys, just walking across what I'm talking about.
00:28:09
Speaker
and then And then they put it on Instagram for their insurance company to see. So, but but but there's no hard restrictions to it. There's no policy around it, right? And so now a planner thinks that that's the new standard, that putting our guys' ah lives at risk is the is the standard now for what safety is.
00:28:25
Speaker
And how do you tell that customer, no, I told you we would try the best we can to put tarps on, but if it doesn't work, we're it's not going to be there. And it's 100 degrees in a clear tent while they're trying to set up. Whose fault is that? You know what I mean? It's because it's really the industry. We're creating our own issue.
00:28:41
Speaker
Whereas at the standard, Ben, hey, you can't do that, then we would say, hey we'll try to do the best we can. and when it doesn't work, they know that it's not going to be an ideal situation on setup. You know, it's just... How do you, you know, we're trying to cover, we're trying to teach you the uneducated, which is the planner about infrastructure and rentals and equipment and building venues in the middle of nowhere. Meanwhile, we're trying to go against our own industry that is not putting their best foot forward and looking out for the future jobs and future things that that customer is doing, not with them and making all of our lives harder when it doesn't have to be. It's already tough enough in this industry, you know? well Yeah, Darren, think that's a good
00:29:19
Speaker
I was going to say, yeah I think you're, you're right. You know, and it's, everyone knows that they're going to do that, that unsafe thing, because otherwise they're going to find someone who's going to do it regardless. You know, they're going to move on to that next, that what the other company that didn't get the bid and they're like, well, you know, they'll, they'll put the tarp on for me. It's, I know that Houston tents won't do it. So I'll go to the next guy that will. And, you know, whatever, whatever extreme that they have to go to, to get the job, you know, to, to increase revenue or increase the bottom line, whatever, you know, that's, that's what they're going to do. And, like you said, you're, I mean, the industry is kind of doing it to itself. So.
00:29:58
Speaker
But how do we, how do we change that? And how do we get this change? I mean, Brian, obviously from where you were at to where it is now, it's obviously changed for the better, right? It changed for the better, but it's also the, the more companies that have come in and the the better the products have gotten, things have evolved and things have changed. And so other things have gone to the wayside.
00:30:18
Speaker
I mean, he wears a shirt now, Nate, so he's come a long way. Yeah.
00:30:24
Speaker
You're welcome. Look, there's been, you know, for 50 years, there's been people that have taken shortcuts. There's people that have taken chances. That's never going to go away. As much as we, you know, ARA does a good job really pushing the safe tenting.
00:30:38
Speaker
Look, there's always going to be people that are going to take the shortcuts that are looking for the easy money, just the way it is. And we can get frustrated. We can rant rave and all that. And, you know, I just don't understand why everyone has to put it on social media when they're taking the shortcuts.
00:30:52
Speaker
They're just asking him for it. Well, that's the biggest thing. Yeah, I think that's the biggest change and the biggest downfall is the the best and worst thing is social media. I mean, are we all perfect? Do we all do things that are probably not by the book?
00:31:05
Speaker
Probably sometimes, you know. But at the end of the day, it's a matter of what's out there, what you're promoting, too. Now, if we we say it's unsafe, we'll go back and do better next time. And, you know, if we miss something, but the more that it gets promoted and it gets seen out there, it seems like people are just putting themselves in a corner.
00:31:26
Speaker
Well, they just don't care. Well, yeah, they don't care. Well, touching on the subrental and kind of setting the standard part, too, you know, the biggest thing that I'm having a problem with, and, you know, i will give my guys shout out from United, Brandon Connor and Joe Baltz, but...
00:31:46
Speaker
The biggest issue I'm having lately is the underbidding on AC and power just to get the job. I recommend somebody. I get somebody. i use United Rental, but i use there's two guys specifically that I use, him and I don't care where in the country I am. Brandon Counter answers his phone. he uses He does everything for me.
00:32:08
Speaker
um But he will be at a price and a standard just like we are with our ten and the planner will come in and use somebody else that's cheaper, and they will come in the job, and it'll be hot, it'll be miserable, and then they're coming back on me about it because because they're hot and miserable in my tent, right?
00:32:23
Speaker
So what are you guys doing to set that standard of, hey, this is who you need to go with, this is who I recommend, but if you go this way, you know, this is what can happen, and then, you know, the issues, and then you end up, you know damn well you don't say no, so you end up troubleshooting and helping them out. What are you doing?
00:32:40
Speaker
After my past experience, I told my father we'll never put HVAC on our bid again.
00:32:47
Speaker
I meant mine is unique in that I don't, I don't want to a tent. If I'm not, if if there's AC power on it, I'm not, I'm not going to let anybody else use anyone else on it because what you just said, it's going to become my problem. They're going to bring, they're bringing four different types of units that don't fit any of my hardwalls or my ducting. They're going to bring some that only have one supply instead of two, but we need to spread it out because it's a clear tent and April. I mean, you know, like I just, I'd rather take it on and know what I'm getting. And if I fail on it, I want to fail because of me. i don't want to, I don't want to look like a failure because of somebody, of the planner or the client. It goes back to the last conversation we had. It's just about controlling our own successes and and failures ourselves.
00:33:31
Speaker
um And like I said, it may be a little different because we actually do it instead of having to outsource it completely. But um even if I, even if it's me bringing in Sunbelt like this past weekend, because that's our national partner for tent and HVAC stuff whenever we need to outsource. it's a It's a matter of I know what I'm getting with them. Strategic partnership there, Darren.
00:33:51
Speaker
Strategic. You know what you're getting, you know? That's all. Like you said.
00:33:59
Speaker
Kevin, I'm sure you're dealing with that out there a little bit with different tent companies and HVAC and everything like that. are you are Do you currently have any AC in the music festival out there that you're doing that you have to work with different people on?
00:34:10
Speaker
No, so well, yeah, and it's not through us. It's like Mikhail said, it's not a line item on ours. It's completely separate. Even when we do some track and field events out in in the Bay Area and all that, you know, we'll give them, hey, this is the number to call.
00:34:24
Speaker
Sometimes it's a United. Sometimes it's another company out this way. And we say you deal with them direct, but they can talk to us about walls that they're going to need cut, all those kind of aspects that come with it, you know. And out here, it's like,
00:34:37
Speaker
You know, we, we deal with this music festival we deal with, um. Power company, see, yes, and they come and they drop the unit. We have a discussion weeks before of where is it going to get placed? What kind of wall we're going to bring and all that.
00:34:51
Speaker
And so then we're able to to work with them on that. Um, because you can, you know, when it comes to payment and issues and all that, they need to work straight with the customer and um and and that's how we do it.
00:35:03
Speaker
But when it comes to like the logistical stuff, wall styles, where to place it, all those good things that you got to talk to us a little bit. So we're all on the same page. Austin, when you guys are doing your big Mecham stuff around the country, do you guys take that on or does somebody, does the Mecham handle it themselves? so it's a, it's a little bit of a mix of each one of those, um, actually for the upcoming Nashville job, uh,
00:35:32
Speaker
i believe kurt is actually trying to coordinate ah that and i guess that's our approach on that is that we will do the coordinating we'll kind of take a hold of that and yes it ends up becoming our problem at that point right and i think it that's that's kind of what the customer is looking for though they don't want to deal with it they don't want to call whoever they just want to call one person whenever there is a problem You know, none of my the tent guys hate when it's, hey, my lights aren't working. Right. It's like, well, dude, I'm a tent guy. I got I don't know why your your lights are not hooked up correctly. But yeah, it ultimately, you know, it ends up becoming our problem. You know, we'll do our best to take care of it if we can. If not, yeah, we'll call the Sunbelt or United, depending on who, you know, sometimes we will coordinate whoever it is. We've used equipment share. We've used Sunbelt. We've used the United.
00:36:25
Speaker
um But more often than not, yeah, it's it's it's it's never it's never smooth and it's never clean. you know to I can't remember. I think it was Darren or you said it about just like the ductwork never lines up with what whatever you have. So...
00:36:45
Speaker
We try to do our best to coordinate that, but I've i've literally been in video conferences and had plans set up. like Hey, there's this many ducks per wall. They're all this size. It's like, perfect. We got cutouts for that.
00:36:57
Speaker
Go to install them. And they show up with a ah system with only two ducks instead of four. And so now you're sitting there changing a wall, right? It's yeah, it's just a pain in the ass, but you try to head it off where you can and. You know, I guess it doesn't always work and I think, like I said, you're, you're going to end up dealing with it anyway. So we just try to to eat that as part of the, I shouldn't say eat it, but we try to you know coordinate that as best as we can. And I take care of that for for the customer. so I guess it's like planning, too, like bringing extra parts, pieces, walls, maybe, and tape, and, you know, kind of having, like, that game plan of if that does show up, we at least have something we can start working on and make it right.
00:37:42
Speaker
Right, right. Why don't you make it? You what? Those that don't like, like Austin on the jobs you don't, or even Kevin on all of those, like, why would you just pass it on? Why wouldn't you just, what what makes y'all not want to make some revenue off of it? Because when it goes south, they're staring at you, even though you really had nothing to do with it, except you hired them to another company to do the job.
00:38:06
Speaker
But it was on your bill, so it's your fault. Well, so kurt Kurt actually used to have a couple AC units that I don't know if he had bought. Sounds like you've had an issue recently or something, Kyle. You seem pretty yeah adamant about it.
00:38:20
Speaker
yeah
00:38:23
Speaker
Kurt had a couple of AC units that he bought, but i don't you know it ever since he kind of had issues with them, and if you're not keeping up with them, you know you're starting to stick a lot of money into those units, and they they end up costing you more money than what they're even worth. so I mean, even subbing it, though. You know what I mean? like These big companies, United, Sunbelt, Agreco, Herc, they all don't move...
00:38:48
Speaker
easy enough. But if you get on our end and in connecting with them, like you're talking about Kyle's friend, you know, but to that point, if you want share, you can share, but to that point, Darren, you have a hired, you, you have a power company that works for you. Like you own a power company. So I think that with you currently what you're doing, you're able to put a guy, what's your guy's name that runs the power division over there?
00:39:18
Speaker
Mike, Mike. So Mike is able to, Mike knows the wattage to the T. He knows exactly all the tons that need to be on that. He can troubleshoot that for you in-house. I think the issue becomes with us, yeah, we can see that we can make a 20% profit on it But is the risk really worth the reward if the event goes wrong at the end of the day because we don't have the correct guy on site, right? or Or you have to make sure that we do have a guy on site and from that company to make sure that nothing goes wrong during the event.
Subcontracting HVAC and Power Services
00:39:49
Speaker
Because at the end of the day, to Austin's point, do you really want a tech guy out there troubleshooting AC units and power just like the lights? No. I think that's where some training and certifications and stuff has got to start taking place. Like, I don't know if on this handy dandy, I don't know if on my my list here. Oh, my God. He's got it laminated. I'm excited about this. is the This is the original version. cross He draws on there with his markers. There should definitely be a power side of this because i do see it as a future for all of us in the future. Darren, you know how I know that program's a fraud?
00:40:23
Speaker
Is if you become a master installer. Ha! beside sorry i mean i think that bad is I think that that would be the right way to go with it. I would agree with that. yeah I think it would be smart to have somebody within your company to take that. I mean, now that's becoming a totally different position than a skilled position, but so who takes that position on and who, what do they do in your company as far as that goes? Because now they have such a high skill set.
00:40:50
Speaker
Are they a project manager? I think it's got to be at the PM role that knows tinting and knows that and putting all the pieces and parts together. And they don't have to be in an apprentice, a journeyman. They don't have to be any of that.
00:41:02
Speaker
You just got, you have to know, you have to know maybe 250 things total about anything event power. I'm talking about a red goes to red. have to know things.
00:41:15
Speaker
All right, maybe 200, maybe 150. I don't know. like But I just feel like right now we're all wiring lights. We're all running things different ways. Hey, Derek, if they were scholars, they wouldn't be tent installers, okay? That's not true. I went to college, okay? I'm still here, okay?
00:41:30
Speaker
You're not an installer. When's the last time you put up a tent, man? They make as much as I do. They told me you showed up to that job site for two hours, and then you bring him lunch. Yeah, he did give me water, though.
00:41:42
Speaker
That's why he was there. It was a busy week. You were standing there with your umbrella. Yeah. We were over him. Kyle, would you like to carry the story? Yeah. was going to say to Darren's point, like what he was saying, like, why don't we that line item?
00:41:57
Speaker
go It's like, it's because it's that management of it. like what Like what we're talking about, like who's going to PM that, who's going to know these kinds of things, like the wattages, how long your runs can be and all that. Um,
00:42:09
Speaker
We're running power, you know, a couple, maybe 200 feet, if that, and that's just standard extension cords, right? So I think that's where my struggle is, is finding somebody to to find that.
00:42:22
Speaker
what's like If I get somebody at that point, then that is really knowledgeable about that stuff. Great. Then maybe that opens up some doors, but some of my staff still has a struggle with what's the difference between an 18 meter and a 60 wide. Yeah.
00:42:35
Speaker
Right? Yeah. Like, that that's like, you know, it's just some these barriers to get over. I mean, just start adding it up. If you guys have big enough projects, you start adding up what a great- Just hire Darren Randall.
00:42:49
Speaker
Yeah, maybe that too. But but if ya if you start adding up how many jobs you're outsourcing and just passing on and you get to end the end year and you're like, man, we passed up on doing 400 grand worth of power in HVAC.
00:43:00
Speaker
Would have been nice to get up 125 of that. That's a person's salary plus plus the taxes on it. So then should hire somebody to go through the certification program and everything else at that point. Yeah, but you still haven't bought the inventory.
00:43:16
Speaker
youre Not all of us are backed by Amogee Bank. Come on. Give a shout out to our sponsor. You don't have to have the inventory, though. if you I mean, if you've got somebody that's on payroll and you're making that much, you but that's one of those things, Darren, that you would have to forecast out enough to say, hey, this this is worth it, right? And do we think we're at the point in time? Because don't know what what your all's years look like, but with it feeling like it's a slower year and or things are happening at the last minute, can you forecast out enough that you're going to need AC and power that far out and make that salary worth it?
00:43:48
Speaker
it's It's been an advantage for us. That's all I'm saying. When y'all pass it on to them. Well, you bought an existing company. You got a ton of inventory. Yeah, it's an advantage for you. Come on. No, no. I mean, even before I bought 3-Face, like I had more power than he had. i had more generators than he had.
00:44:03
Speaker
It was just adding the same thing. More power. But like what I'm getting at is y'all are letting companies come in there and do that now that have all of the lifts, all the machines that we already need. They all have tent companies that could do the tents.
00:44:16
Speaker
What's next? Y'all want to start bringing your picnic tables and everything over too? you know what I mean? Damn right. it's It's just like y'all are setting it up to where they could own the whole job and you guys are just left in the dark. Come on, Austin. Shut them down.
00:44:29
Speaker
Shut them down, Austin. Well, I don't know if I would go quite that far because even even now, like, i mean, yeah, we'll we'll sub out our, the AC to, yeah, like I said, United or Sunbelt, whoever it might be.
00:44:48
Speaker
um And then, you know, we'll just take the phone call and and do go through the whole coordinating process or whatever it might be. Right. still the, they're still not tent guys and they can't find tent guys. So I think that's, you know, you, you get too big, you get dip your hands in too many different pots that you're not, then you're, you're good at nothing.
00:45:09
Speaker
Well, can we standardize AC units so that they all fit the same in the wall? So we don't have to make 10 different size walls. So every company is different because that's, that's been the biggest problem is all these,
00:45:23
Speaker
We have a standard for what we currently use or we recommend for that company for United. But then all these other companies have these in-wall units that that ah that are different. Or a lot of these companies are pitching going through the floor. and When going through the floor is less effective than going through the wall. And it's just because the look.
00:45:42
Speaker
Well, that goes back to my function. Nope. Yeah. Fashion over form. Now we're back on planners. Sometimes they care too much about what looks good versus what actually is going to work.
00:45:55
Speaker
Well, and, and all, I mean, there's going to some really cool pictures that come out on some, one of these big events that maybe Mr. Randall can share later on in, in the year. But to that point, you can dress those units up to look really bad ass. I've seen it. I mean, we've all seen it, right?
00:46:13
Speaker
so I think you, I mean, you have to push them to the, to the function part. And when they go through the floor, that's another one things where it's like, Hey, I got get this signed off on because it's not, this isn't going to be worth it. You're going to pay $200,000 and be miserable.
00:46:27
Speaker
Or fall through it or blow up on, on dresses and all things like that. I mean, it's, or, or it blows like the little turf particles of the turf carpet up onto the table. It looks like it's snowing.
00:46:38
Speaker
Yeah. It looks like it's snowing green turf. Yeah. I didn't, that didn't just happen to me either. Oh, love it. I had a great time on my trip. Yeah, I was going to say, sounds like you had a good time, Kyle.
00:46:51
Speaker
You're not upset. Me and the crew drank the town out of Modelo. Couldn't buy it anyway. I would expect nothing less. Well, it's been 45 minutes here, so I'm going wrap this up a little bit. But what's everybody kind of seeing the trend go this year for just how the beginning of the year is going?
00:47:09
Speaker
to how the end of the year is kind of progressing and how it's shaking out. Kyle, I'll start with you. Last minute is the words I'll use. Like we got a call today for a big job next week. Like, and they said they booked with someone in Florida coming to New Jersey to do the work. And they called them today and said, nevermind, we don't want to do it.
00:47:27
Speaker
So like every, and then we booked two or three jobs last minute, decent sized ones in the last two or three weeks. So it's very interesting that people are waiting to the last minute to book stuff.
00:47:38
Speaker
I recommend everybody to go through and see how much business you do in ah in last minute within 30 days. I told when my bag group and I were talking about it. It's nine to 12% of our total revenue for the year. We don't know about until it's 30 days before we install.
00:47:54
Speaker
That's insane. and yeah you You guys can thank Amazon for that because we live in the world of now. So yeah, people can't. I don't want to say like they can't do it, but they're, they're not having to do it on a regular basis of where they, they need to think out in the future, you know, you know, back, I don't know what 80 years ago, you order something, maybe it's coming on a train car.
00:48:15
Speaker
Now you get it. It's showing up sometimes same day. So we do it to our, you know, to, to Darren's point, but before we, the whole world is kind of doing it to themselves or doing it to ourselves rather.
00:48:26
Speaker
so yeah, but yeah, but I would say, I mean, so far, it seems like there's there's been an uptick, but to to your point, Kyle, I think a lot of that has to do with the stuff that comes in or they say they want it now. They don't quite have their plan together and then, yeah, they do go through with it. So.
00:48:49
Speaker
Yeah. I think it's been the busiest spring we've ever had. i think that the summer, although we all have our opinions on FIFA and the World Cup and all those sort of projects and how those have went, you know, when you've got a Dallas company coming to go and do the job in Houston.
00:49:09
Speaker
Meanwhile, you're getting asked by a national company to go do some tents in Dallas because the Dallas company is down here in Houston. All of it just makes a ton of sense with the way that it's worked out. I completely think that logistics, there all the cities are hitting on peak performance. However, I think that we're all going to have a really good summer from these last minute stuff for these po for these games. I mean, you think not just a backyard party, but I think on the hospitality side, the bars, the restaurants, the companies that are going want to do a watch party for one game because one of the VPs is from a country, you you know what I mean, that's put in it or something. like They're going to have some fun around it, so just kind of be prepared for that is what I would say. And then, um yeah, just make it through the end of the year and keep seeing what
00:49:51
Speaker
happens economy wise and
Industry Trends and Future Outlook
00:49:53
Speaker
everything. But I do see that people are willing to do some of the new products and stuff. So as far as trending, I think that people are starting to be open to using a lot more of the products and understanding what the costs are um for doing so.
00:50:09
Speaker
Kevin? Okay, Kevin, you're muted. Come on.
00:50:21
Speaker
Nope, you're done. Next. All right, Brian, i got I got a final question for you that we need answered. Can you explain to us what's going on with the air ratio? Yeah.
00:50:33
Speaker
and yeah so plans have been five way
00:50:41
Speaker
Hopefully we're going to have one of the best Super Bowl parties on Sunday that you've ever attended. um More on that is going to be coming out. So, yeah, we are adjusting the show floor hours and days a little bit.
00:50:56
Speaker
If someone's already booked their hotels, we can help with that. um So we're probably going to lose a night somewhere here or there, but we did change the show dates a little bit.
00:51:08
Speaker
Look, more of that will be coming out. I don't want to give it all away now, but we're going to have a a good time in New Orleans during the Super Bowl. That is not – Where's the Brian?
00:51:22
Speaker
Yeah, his suite, Brian's suite will be the party. Yeah, baby. And also, just a quick reminder, State's penning class in Nashville, August 18th and 19th. if you're in the area, you need to get signed up, or you want to just come hang out in Nashville and party with us and come to the class, it'd be a good time to come out. What classes are you doing, Nate?
00:51:45
Speaker
Huh? What classes are you going to have there? So we're going to have frame tent and pull tent. And anchoring. Come on. Yeah. Well, everything all the way up to pole tent. Pole tent's going rolled out now, so we'll have pole tent all the way up to the pole tent. so yeah, we're going to do a little bit of everything. Brian Bolt's coming out to meet with me on Thursday this week.
00:52:06
Speaker
We're going to do a little scouting. And, yeah, so it'll be a good time. so Kyle will be there. It's already in the books. Kyle will be there. I know I think –
00:52:18
Speaker
You need an extra instructor? going to be instructor. I know some stuff. yeah you Yeah, come on. He does. know some stuff. I've already recruited Steven. I've already recruited Steven, Darren, so he'll be there as well, just so you know.
00:52:31
Speaker
um Just call Brian Bill Nye. so Bill Nye the tent Anything you got anything you got it of this unorganized chaos left before we jump off?
00:52:45
Speaker
Yeah. Don't hit reply all on emails. That's my rant for the day. next My box is filled with people who said thanks. Thanks. Thanks. Really?
00:52:58
Speaker
Don't hit reply all. and he said dealing with It's better than dealing with refunds and complaining planners. So I will take the thank yous. So anyway, one more I appreciate y'all coming on today. Yeah. I appreciate y'all coming on today and jumping on here and, um, This has been another episode of Under the Vinyl, a rental management media podcast.