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Sledge hammers and Saturdays with Matt Mutton: Episode 56
159 Plays2 months ago
This month we're dropping a new episode from The ARA Show every week! Up first is Matt Mutton. We talk about not working the weekends, staff training and development, 12 meter rafter sections, and if Matt has a sledge hammer in his truck. Check it out!
PS, 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 Banter
00:00:01
Speaker
Oh, this is a blooper reel. Yeah. We're back again with another episode of Under the Vinyl. Kyle, how are you doing today?
Guest Introduction: Matt Mutt
00:00:18
Speaker
ah this was the blooper reel yeah we're back getting with another episode of under the vinyls k how are you doing today Nate, I'm doing just as well as I was 30 minutes ago when you asked me that. Oh, you know, hey, there's different episodes coming out different weeks. We got to keep this thing going. We're still at ARA, though, and we're still having fun.
00:00:34
Speaker
Correct. We're almost to the end of the day here. Day two for us. Day two. Got here Friday. we Worse for last. and hey Worse for last. We saved you. Yeah. For the end of the day. So we'll just jump right into it. Today's guest is going to Matt Mutt from Mutt & Rental. You're Bob's kid, right? I am.
Legacy and Passion: Bob Mutt's Influence
00:00:52
Speaker
You know Bob? He's a legend. Bob's the legend in the industry, but now he's a professional fisherman. so He fishes hard. I mean, i I don't really like fishing, but I go with them and it's it's like a 12 hour day. I love it. Well, Matt's been a good friend of mine in the industry for a while now. wanting to get him on here to talk a little bit.
00:01:11
Speaker
He's making me write out exactly what he had to talk about. So he had some questions ahead of time, but hopefully we can just get into. Now, did you write these, Nate, or do you use something else to you know write these for you? Well, ChatGPT asked me what owner is ownership heavier than a 12 meter rafter section. So if that tells you anything, that's that's where we're at. So.
00:01:29
Speaker
How many 12 meter rafter sections do you have? You know, I think it depends on how you define a 12 meter rafter. Are we getting to 12 meters or is it half of, the you know?
Career Beginnings and Choices
00:01:36
Speaker
Well, what does Ramsey call arches and arms. So arms and arms. Yeah. So is that half an arm or a full arm? it It's got to be a full arm.
00:01:44
Speaker
Pretty heavy then. But, well, Matt, just tell us a little bit about you and how you got here. I know you've been in the rental industry for a long time. Probably didn't necessarily... want to go this path, but here you are. Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, ah yeah, i'm I'm a pretty traditional family business. I grew up in the business.
00:02:02
Speaker
you School bus dropped me off in elementary school, literally at our warehouse. So I you know grew up ripping motors apart in our tool rail business at that time and climbing the pallet racking and doing all that. So, you know, you grow up in that. You always think maybe going to do it, right? You know, and you go back and forth. I actually went to college and thought I was going to do corporate America and realize I think about my junior year that and I'm a little distractible and the idea of just doing finance all day or just marketing all day was going to be terrible.
00:02:33
Speaker
You know, and I was working part time for a rental company when I was in college. That tells you how far away I got from the industry. Yeah. And I remember my dad called me one time. He goes, hey, your mom about maybe you want to go into the business. I'm like, yeah, I said I want to do that. And.
00:02:46
Speaker
It was cool. I started making sales calls from my room in college, you knowm trying to round up business and have been all in since since that day. So you were more sales the start?
00:02:58
Speaker
No. I mean, you know i some of my earliest memories on a tech crew is you know my dad sent me out with guys, which don't even know if that's legal, but... You know, they they were just picking on me and they're like, yeah, i take this whacker, you know, from here to there. We're doing some festival.
Transition to Ownership
00:03:11
Speaker
So I'm just like dragging this thing on the ground, trying to get it across. And really, he just he just needed a babysitter for the day. he said that was, you know that's probably the deal. Right. I mean, you know, so but no, I did a ton of installs growing up, you know, in college.
00:03:26
Speaker
did a lot of installs also work at our warehouse i mean we were a pretty small operation at that time so know you could do any and all um coming out of college obviously started doing some more sales had already been calling on some certain client bases and uh Yeah, it just continues to evolve. I still go out and swing a hammer from time to time. don't know what it But now you do it for fun. You know, I do it just to show all these people who are coming up the business that you can still do that because they don't. You know, my dad asked me the other day about how many broken sledgehammers we have. And like, don't break sledgehammers. He's like, what do you mean? I go, nobody swings them. He's like, yeah, odds are there's not one in the truck. I mean, we got them. But, you know, they have no idea how to use them. Or it's a rubber-handled sledgehammer now. They still break. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, so.
00:04:10
Speaker
Well, so what was one of the first tents you remember putting out? I can remember doing, because I usually went with my dad when I was little, so probably 40 white poles, 60 white poles. can remember my dad put on a lace line, and that thing just felt like it went on for days. Like, you know, at six, seven years old, you're just like, this is the worst thing ever. But... Yeah. One funny story is I started at A's rental in South Bend, Indiana. Matt was in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
00:04:37
Speaker
And our companies used to hate each other. And it was, uh, there was, related you oh I didn't hate you either, but the companies, but I had to hate you because I worked there as I was getting Well, the companies never really got along. And then we'd go to the show and we get to the show and see Matt. and yeah I was like, i I can't like that guy. I'm not allowed like that guy. He's kind of a competitor. And then over time, somehow Matt and I, his friendship just evolved. in And, um, I think the, uh,
00:05:00
Speaker
One of the first memories I have of us at the show is when we were playing beer pong and we were convincing people to see. It's still my favorite IFA item. We were convincing people to come down and be sponsors of the beer. And I think it was one of these guys. It might been Fred that walked in with all the cheeseburgers and set them all on the bar at about 1 a.m. And that was one of my fondest memories of Matt. And that's kind of when Matt and I first started talking. That was the last fond. Yeah, that was the last fond. The one that only. Yeah, yeah.
00:05:31
Speaker
So transitioning then you you're working in the business how long with your dad before you guys kind of decided that you were gonna buy the business from him? Yeah, so you know obviously all growing up you know when I go in it coming out of college, i mean that was the understanding right? You know because that was actually the conversation my dad had with me because we're trying to say we're gonna do this business I heard you maybe want to come in and take over You know, so I think the mistake maybe my parents made was it was known that I was going to buy the business and they were transferring ownership, but I'm kind of an all in guy. So like, and I was, I was ready to go right out of the gate. Uh, so I graduated college in 08.
00:06:09
Speaker
Um, we signed buy, sell paperwork, January 1 of 2016. So it's been about 10 years. sixteen so it's been about ten years And how's that transition been? You know, probably by beautiful accident, but I mean, it was as smooth as can be. My mom had phased out of the business in maybe 2012. My dad had more or less phased out of the business by 13, 14. So we, you clients never knew what happened. I mean, some of them probably still don't even know that it happened. You know, staff weren't used to my dad being involved day to day. So mean, we didn't tell anything. Does your father still come and tell you what you're doing wrong? Uh, you know, I got a few texts today, uh, about things that he's checking on for whatever reason on a Sunday. so He knows you're not there. So someone's got to check on, yeah, you know, trailer straps, those are important on Sundays, uh, sitting in the lot. Um, but no, my dad, uh, he's been phenomenal all the way through the gate. He's not, he's not involved in anything, but you every once weird custom project.
Business Optimization and Innovation
00:07:05
Speaker
My dad's really innovative and I'll say, Hey, can you handle this? And that that's helpful. Was he a big sales guy or was he more of an operations guy when he was more involved? A little bit of both. A little bit of both. I mean, we were small. My mom was a fantastic salesperson. Obviously, we had a couple salespeople on staff. But, yeah, he's definitely logistics. I mean, he's a laser-focused individual. He's got an idea. He's going to just...
00:07:28
Speaker
Oh yeah, Bob's painfully see it through. Bob's always got ideas. yeah, yeah. Bob's got some wild ideas, but Bob is... Bob's Bob. Bob is Bob. He's one of one, for sure. I got a message yesterday that he just ordered stickers to tell us the hours of the last service are 10 oxes. So... He's all 10. He's all 10. Because I don't think this thing's been greased recently. So he's more of a consultant.
00:07:50
Speaker
ah Yeah. Yeah. In his own right. Wait get that invoice. Yeah. yeah Yes. still what so So Bob is, so he's not there because he's in Florida, right? No. second he's He's more or less, now he's totally out of it.
00:08:03
Speaker
Not really, unless he wants to be coming in and out. right Yeah. He he has no involvement in the business. I mean, outside of the fact that him and I talk virtually every day, he knows what's going on. I bounce ideas off bar and he's always been great that way. Very nonjudgmental, very supportive. So,
00:08:19
Speaker
you know, and he shows up the warehouse every once in a while, you know, and it's funny because he's been gone for a long time now. And I think last summer somebody went to one of our managers who goes, so this old guy just rolled up in the parking lot, got out, told us we were doing everything wrong and it drove away. Yeah. And they had no idea who he was. I'm like, ask Brian. That's not, that's not.
00:08:38
Speaker
They call it getting bobbed. what do you think one of the first things that you decided you needed to change you wanted to change when you kind of took over? Was there something specifically that stuck out to you that you were like, man, when I take this place over, I'd like to do it this way or change something?
00:08:50
Speaker
um You know, I think oddly enough, when we signed those ownership paperwork, a little pressure went away. I don't know what it is. Like I felt a little liberated. Maybe I started working even a little bit less, which was not much less at that point.
00:09:05
Speaker
But, you know, it wasn't a rapid thing, but we eliminated some product clients pretty quickly. You know, i mean, basically my philosophy has been if something makes my phone ring on a weekend, you know maybe more than twice a year, we're just not.
00:09:17
Speaker
No, free work too. You know, and we were big and we bounce houses, slushy machines, ice cream machines, and you just get tired and sick those calls. To kind of refine that. yeah Yeah. I mean, other things were growing. yeah We don't need this stuff. Like, let's let's get away from it. And then what did you start growing on from there? Did you just start growing structure? Did you start growing a specific item? Yeah. I mean, I've always been a tech guy, right? I mean, you grow up. dragging a whacker across the job site. So my goal was always to put up the biggest, coolest tents.
00:09:44
Speaker
They're still bigger and cooler tents, but we're doing a lot of that. So it's always been extremely tent-focused for Doka. And you're kind of you're well, not kind of, you are seasonal, but I feel like the rental industry as a whole, and we've talked about this, is kind of making a shift where it's not so much seasonal. I feel like more people are- The seasons getting longer. Yeah.
00:10:02
Speaker
More people are diversifying- Specifically in the structure. Yeah. So how you guys, being in Indiana, lots of snow, what are you guys doing currently? And I mean, you don't have to give all the listeners what your model is, but what have you guys been doing to kind of diversify that? you been traveling more, going other places? mean, we're open to anything in the winter. I mean, it- somebody wants us to come do something, and we're going to come to it, right? Yeah. I mean, it doesn't even have to necessarily be rental related. i mean, it could be peripheral.
00:10:28
Speaker
We bought a trade show company back in maybe 2013, the main decorator in Fort Wayne. So that's been a good piece for us. And that was strictly about just maintaining more year round staff. Right. Doing more shows for pipe and drape, things like that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, and we put up tents. I mean, we don't care. I mean, it's slow, but you got the labor. Right. so what Yeah, you're paying the guys no matter what. And, you know, the structure business changes that a lot because you more or less can hold an event any month of the year if you really want to.
Company Expansion and Efficiency
00:10:58
Speaker
It can be a little painful, but, yeah. Just takes money.
00:11:02
Speaker
Just takes Make more of it every day. Make more of it every day. um So then you guys, where did what was kind of the building size that you started in? And then I know since since Bob's good been gone, correct me if I'm wrong, but you guys went into a bigger building, kind of transitioned there and kind of grew that side a little bit. Yeah, so that was actually one of my my dad's last big things that he helped us push across. We bought the bought a building in 2015, and he basically spent the year playing general contractor and renovating that.
00:11:34
Speaker
um That help with the transition because he wasn't around that entire summer. So we were maybe 12,000 square foot plus a couple of shipping containers back in 15. we are so now we are Main buildings, 30,000 square foot ground level, another 12,000 square foot building and other. but So we we've got kind of a strip down this road of multiple buildings.
00:11:57
Speaker
And then my dad calls me the shipping container king. and I think I got 8,000 square foot of shipping containers on my crop. just packed with inventory i use all their own thing i mean we got eight dedicated to just pipe you know whether that's you know fiesta west coast whatever it might be uh we got shafaris we got you know so flooring i mean you name it yeah but shipping containers are the cheapest warehouse you can buy yeah they definitely are and you can put one in a warehouse too right yeah my office just is a shipping container but you can also resell them after so if you don't need it yeah because the market is very good to get rid of them yeah
00:12:33
Speaker
Oh yeah. And so growing up with Bob as an innovator, now he's got this device called the tent hoist. yeah Tell us a little bit about the tent hoist. Yeah. So we got into structure in 2013. Prior to that, we were, you know, in track tent. We ran abbey up to 50. So we made that jump. I always wanted to do it.
00:12:52
Speaker
and And like the first install we did, my dad's like, this is ridiculous. We're renting this huge machine. Like we're only lifting 800 pounds off the ground. Yeah. Why?
00:13:03
Speaker
And i I just kind of shrugged it off. I mean, it is what it is, right? Passing the cost on. So when he retired about six months after he showed up in our maintenance shop and he just started welding stuff together and we were swamped. So I was like, whatever.
00:13:18
Speaker
And a couple months later, he's got this thing and he's like, Hey, I built this one. I go try this out. And it was the clear span tent voice. So, uh, you know, we tested on our operation for a year. Um, and again, I wasn't sure what his motive was, but you know, he, he took it, he patented, did all the stuff as marketed at some shows and, uh, yeah, we continue to sell them. Um,
00:13:40
Speaker
We don't work real hard at it, so it's not, I don't think it's funding as retirement or anything like that, but... Explain how it's used. Yeah, yeah, so ClearSpan 10 hoist is basically designed to go on an industrial fork truck. So it slips over the forks. It's basically got a series of mass that go up with a big hoist on top that allows you to tip up these arches with an industrial fork truck. So three mass fork trucks, like 15, five,
00:14:05
Speaker
you know, a 20 meter structure is 21 feet or something like that. So it gets you that extra height without having to use a lull. And it's for us, a lot of was job cost savings. We can move our own lifts. We have drop deck trailers. So we're moving that stuff. We're still charging for the equipment.
00:14:22
Speaker
The other thing I didn't think about at the time is It's a lot smaller piece of equipment. Yeah. Walls are big. Right. And there's some jobs where it's problematic. You can't get them in and out.
00:14:33
Speaker
um You know, they make marks on the concrete, things like that. The other thing that's. really cool is it opens up who can operate it.
Culture and Employee Development
00:14:40
Speaker
i don't know about your operations, but it's always the best guy running that role. Now, I mean, everybody in our crew is small Trek certified. So as far as material handling, it doesn't have to be that number one guy anymore in that machine.
00:14:53
Speaker
So in theory, that opens them up to do more important things. I'm not saying they do that. they are you got So yeah, it's, it's been great. I mean, we use the thing I take for 75% of our installs. So what's Bob working on next?
00:15:04
Speaker
Well, he was in the other day. said he was going to redesign the tent hoist. And I'm like, that it shouldn't okay, so we'll we'll see. I don't know what he's doing. must be bored. Yeah. No, he's always tinkering with Saba. Saba love that. yeah So kind of let's talk about your culture a little bit, about how you you've kind of revamped that culture and what you've done with your systems with your employees. Yeah. And kind of just walk us through that.
00:15:29
Speaker
You know, I struggle with that culture question. I don't know what it is. mean, I know we have a culture, but... I don't spend a lot of time thinking about it. Um, you know, I think we're a very hands-on organization. i mean, we're top to bottom. I mean, everybody understands that in the event world, something hits the fan or a customer needs something. And that events, you know, Saturday and Friday, you're going like, I mean, we don't have a choice even as we get bigger, um, as far as that goes. So I think that's a big thing. mean, we really value work ethic. Um, but you know, ultimately I'd say we're pretty, uh,
00:16:05
Speaker
and no and I don't know if tight's the right word, but, you know, the expectation is we're here for quality, we're here for efficiency, and, you know, we still like to have fun and joke in the job site, but it's it's pretty business-y, I guess I would say. so How many clues do you have now? So we're running about 35 this offseason. We'll flex up to 45 to 50. That's right. so Okay. for the winter.
00:16:28
Speaker
keep them thirty five guys for the winter that's Yeah, yeah. It's You know, i mean, the bottom line is this industry is a skilled trade, but there's no unions, there's no trade schools, whatever. So and experience pays.
00:16:43
Speaker
So we've been gambling. You can't risk losing them. No, they're not going to come back. Yeah, that's the hardest part. In this day and age, you 20 years ago, you laid people off, they came back. and yeah That's not a thing Yeah, so now you're adapting, you're keeping them on, you're paying a little bit more, but you're investing more in them, um especially with the safe tending and everything else that's coming down the pipeline. do you Are you implementing that in your business? And in what ways are you using it? Are going to incentivize it? How are you going to use it? Yeah, so I love that. i That got announced, I think, you know at ATA Louisville a couple years ago, and ecstatic because I think it just further legitimizes the business. I think that's what we need. have not...
00:17:17
Speaker
we have not done anything as far as that goes at this point but we're hoping to in 2026 um but we've always done hands-on tech training things like that you know every ops meeting we're going over what works what doesn't work things like that but it's gonna be good walk us through the structure of your your guys your installers your field installers things like that how do you structure that Yeah, so we, I don't know, unique, ununique, but basically everybody we hire comes in as a crew one or a C1, and we have a hierarchy that builds that all the way out to CM6, which is a crew manager six. So they go C1, C2, C3, and then they can move to a CMT, which a crew manager in training, and then CM1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.
00:18:01
Speaker
So you know that came out 2018, 2019 era surprised is you know people want a path to success and what always surprised me is Guys you hire, you know they see you have a top installer, and for whatever reason, they just think, well, they only need one. And I'm like, no, dude, like it's not my goal to be on a job site three days a week. yeah You can have my job. And people don't have that vision, so I think laying that out has gone a long way. It also makes raises and things a lot easier.
00:18:33
Speaker
<unk> Are you laying less subjective? Is the pay scale laid out? We have a published pay scale. Okay. Yeah. yeah That's huge. yeah How often is that updated? You know, once a year, once every two years. So, it it you know, there's flexibility in that, too. It's a range. Okay. You know, because you can have a guy that's not designed to be a crew manager. Right. You know, he's a C3. He's a crew guy for life. And obviously, he's making more than that published pay scale because you need those guys. mean, those are valuable. Has that... has that Felt like you've kept people in that way by showing them more, like more longer tenured employees or? um Yeah, I think so. I think it's a mixed bag. yeah I mean, there's still turnover in the business. I don't know what it is about this industry, but nobody thinks they're gonna do it when they're 60 years old.
00:19:18
Speaker
Well, there's a, that's it, and but there's gotta be a path. And I feel like if you're showing them the pathway, let's be honest, I mean, I've talked about this a hundred minutes different times. I didn't think that I'd be here today yeah in this a position or do what I'm doing, right? And I i started on a truck and worked my way up to what I'm doing currently. I mean, same with you and the same with you you, know, but nobody sees it as a path in a career. And and hopefully this safe tenant and everything is helping provide that, but also what you're doing and giving them a path a little bit. it The other thing is no one thinks they you're are going to be able to do it at 60.
00:19:48
Speaker
But now all the innovations coming out in the industry as a whole do prolong the life of the installer. So can I get back pay or hazard pay for my back from all the sledgehammers that I swung?
00:19:59
Speaker
No. It's probably just bad genetics. Yeah, bad genetics.
Market Adaptation and Strategies
00:20:03
Speaker
Yeah, i mean, there is. There's so many good things now and so many different tools and and things out there that are making it easier. Oh, it's way different. Oh, if you think about the stuff we used to do when we were kids, like, Mike, what were we doing? I feel like my dad when I say this, like, you have no idea what it was like when I was back in my day. Yeah, you know, but it's it's so true in the tools and the just the innovative things that have come out, just like the 10 Hoists and everything else. But, yeah, I feel like the longevity of this industry is better now. And for people that are coming in, they can kind of see that, too. A thousand percent. Yeah. Yeah.
00:20:34
Speaker
So what's your primary focus do you think right now? Has it been more of the industrial? Has it been more of the wedding side? Where is kind of your focus you think the most today?
00:20:46
Speaker
You know, ultimately we're going after all of it and we've had a lot of growth in industrial. We've had a lot of growth and just structure business in general. You know, whether that's know retail for sporting events, you know, VIP stuff.
00:21:00
Speaker
That's great. and That's a lot of where my personal focus is. um But mean we definitely have our finger on the pulse of what the you know the wedding and local ah business looks like because it's where we came from. And you can debate, does it matter, does it not matter? But I i think it 100% does. And the other thing was those big jobs, at least for me, that gives me anxiety is,
00:21:22
Speaker
Big, big jocks can decide not to have that next year. Yeah. ah So at any given moment. At any given moment. Because some of them, it's just such a minor budget line item. It's huge to me. Yeah. Like, they can go to lunch and be like, eh, let's do this. Probably don't need to spend that. Yeah.
00:21:38
Speaker
Absolutely. Yeah. I get that. And. Okay. reset. Roller. You good?
00:21:44
Speaker
ah recep order good um So the the wedding side, yeah, obviously that's where we came from. I mean, you go as far back as the candelabras and how we finally had to phase out of those and get rid of those. You know, like lightdes yeah, it seemed like every rental store had those and yeah, were in our shape like yeah, oh those are beautiful. We finally shaded away from that, which has been great. Yeah.
00:22:07
Speaker
What has been what manufacturer you currently use in structure wise, sense wise, are you using a little bit of everything? what have you found the best for you? Yeah, I mean, we mean, We have relationships with all the manufacturers. I think, you know, when you're moving quick, you have to have those relationships because sometimes you need to get something done and somebody's busy or whatever it might be. Structure-wise, I mean, we're very heavy Loesberger.
00:22:29
Speaker
Yeah, as far as that goes. We're big anchor client anchors in Indiana, so that just makes a lot of efficient sense. yeah But we think virtually every manufacturer, we probably own something on theirs. What's your favorite tale?
00:22:42
Speaker
uh to put up i would probably 40 navitrac i mean i really i grew up on that and i can i can throw up a 40 wide navitrac like nobody's business i think it's been a while but yeah it's just taking good so so today when you guys are at the coming up tomorrow at the show here is our specifics that you're looking for is it we've talked about we just talked about a little bit ago um just about how we're shading away from not purchasing at the show. We're doing so much purchasing at the show, I feel like, and it's been more reactive rather than than proactive. Where are you guys staying on that, what are you going looking for while you're here? You know, so we've got a few items on the list, and we're looking to switch to a resin chair to replace our fruit wood, folding padded chairs, things like that. You know, we always go to the show with the goal of
00:23:30
Speaker
adding a sample of something just to display in our showroom, you know, we'll buy 10 of a chair just to see if it catches, you know, with the commitment that we'll buy it if we need to. um But more than anything, anything it's just just to talk, get some FaceTime with our vendors. Yeah, you know, they're all friends at this point, right? I mean, you've been in doing this your whole life. yeah and Some of know me since I was, you know, looking in diapers. Yeah. So running around. meet yeah Do you feel like um you so do you feel like that you're being more reactive in your buying then or do you feel like you're still being proactive you used to be, you know So there's a quality aspect that's you know proactive, right? I mean, we're upgrading. thinking you know We bought a new 60 white pole this year. It's been a while. We we felt like we were flirting the line on quality, so you just have to buy that. I don't we have a reservation on it, but if you're going to be you know a leading tech company, you can't have yeah a mediocre wedding 60 white.
00:24:25
Speaker
Right. um But, you know, fortunately, i think, you know, there's a lot of great vendors in this industry. So you can wait till you have customer demand and then purchase if you're organized. And that's most of our stuff anymore, specifically on tenning. I mean, yeah.
00:24:41
Speaker
We have this. Well, no, we don't. Yeah. I know how long it takes to get it. Yeah. And I've got friends that, you know, if I can't get it in time, I could sub-rent it or whatever else. There's so much value. client doesn't need to know where it came from.
00:24:53
Speaker
No. It seems to be put up. Do you think that there's the biggest – what's the kind of the biggest mistake you think a rookie buyer makes or somebody new coming into this industry can make? You know, I think – um you know i stake
00:25:11
Speaker
know if I'm the best authority on that because when I came into the business, it had been established. had' been around for 20 years, so I didn't have to go through all those pains. I had a conversation with ah a young man named yesterday, actually, like, you know, if you had 100 grand, what would you buy? Well, maybe more tables and chairs. I'm like, well think hard about that. Like, what what does that look like? And that's just such a tough spot yeah to have a small budget and and decide what's going I'm going to buy this $180 table or whatever they are now. Like, yeah, you' like I just saw that sheet yesterday. oh like we just We were looking at it sitting with there before we started. holy Manufacturers will hate me for saying this, but look for used product.
00:25:50
Speaker
I mean, well, the market is there's so much out there now after COVID. Yeah, I mean, used market used aluminum by new vinyl. I mean, I'm not saying that's everything you buy, but I can't tell you how much inventory we've bought used.
00:26:03
Speaker
school Well, there's been a lot of like coming off COVID, like you said, there's a lot of gently used stuff that people are able to pick up buy new. The structure is going to last, the tent is going to last, but you can always buy new vinyl, make new vinyl, things like that. um But yeah, I feel like there has been a heavy bunch of for sale inventory online lately. You just have to be in the right place, right time.
00:26:25
Speaker
and then yeah And I can't tell you how many things I bought that were never online. and It's just I've known this owner since I was 15 and in a conversation over a beer at this show. Yeah.
00:26:37
Speaker
Oh yeah, I've got a whole bunch of use this and i mean, those are the best deals.
Work-Life Balance Adjustments
00:26:41
Speaker
Oh, absolutely. so Do you feel like now, you know, knowing you and Leah and your kids, and so you feel like you've kind of been able to take a little bit of a step back a little bit more through the years now, um, since you first started in the ownership level and you're kind of able to have some people to delegate more to? Yeah, no, I mean, we've got a, we've got a great team. Um,
00:27:02
Speaker
I, you know, as an organization, we generally don't work weekends in general anymore. I know Kyle loves that conversation. Your dad talking dia really loves that conversation. But yeah, i mean, more work-life balance than ever. And I think a lot of is we have a better handle on our capacity. We got better people. We got better systems. Yeah.
00:27:21
Speaker
You know, used to be were just out there cowboying everything. Well, you know, now there's a way to get a guy that maybe isn't qualified to do it. And specifically allow him the time. Like, yeah, it's going to take you 40% longer, but right I can do my job and not be out there. There's better systems that you can hand off now that you can say, hey, this is how we do it so I don't have to be there and you can go on vacation. and i I think it's wild. I really think it's wild. When you first told me about the no working on the weekend thing, I'm sure there's some exception to the rule maybe. had a crew that left at 2 o'clock today to go out of town. Yeah, but I mean, at the end of the day, how many people in this industry are not working weekends? like not letting This industry lives off off the weekends.
00:28:01
Speaker
How were you able to even do that?
00:28:05
Speaker
We looked at hard. I mean, ultimately, 2018, 2019, I mean, I think I had a mental breakdown, not therapist diagnosed, but I was just like, something's got to give. I mean, literally can remember sitting in my car crying in the parking lot one morning just like, holy shit, we sold all this.
00:28:22
Speaker
Now I got to figure out to execute it. Yeah, but that's how you grow, right? You just figure it out. So, you know, and staff retention was tough. So we just started to look at, you know, what's the stuff I don't like doing? Well, I don't love working Saturday, Sunday, specifically since I'm not taking any weekdays off.
00:28:38
Speaker
And you make decisions. I mean, we looked at it and we ran an analysis and a we decided that we could lose up to 9% of our revenue by eliminating weekend work.
00:28:49
Speaker
Wow. And the beautiful thing that happened is we eliminated Sundays in 2019 and then COVID happened and then COVID you could do whatever you wanted. yeah So we eliminated Saturdays in 2020 and it was, I mean, you could tell people that anything, there was no questions about policy changes during COVID. So it was, you know, maybe God's gift to me to to have that window to do it. So you're doing a great job with it do you think it inhibits you on anything?
00:29:16
Speaker
I there's certainly things. I mean, we have a pretty strong presence with venues in our market, but there's a lot of venues that will openly say we'd love to use you, but you got to come get this stuff on Saturday night. And generally we don't do it that season and and they'll use us off season because off season we don't say no to things. Well, they don't want to pay for you to come get it at that time. And there's somebody that will. Yeah, so yeah we're missing stuff.
00:29:41
Speaker
It's just a lifestyle choice. Yeah. So and in other markets, I know your market, like that probably isn't a viable option with some of your clients that I know we've talked about. we've We're not fully no Saturday, no Sundays, but we are very, very close. Yeah.
00:29:55
Speaker
Don't get me wrong, we have an on-call rotation. So we have a pool of people that are available every weekend. We're not going to say no to a big wedding right if they have to have some on Saturday
Rapid-Fire Insights and Conclusion
00:30:02
Speaker
morning. Yeah, no, that totally makes sense. Well, Matt, before wrap up here, just got some rapid-fire questions for you. Favorite structure width?
00:30:11
Speaker
You know, I think 25-meter P3 Uniflex is a goes up easy. You can still throw it around by hand. Yep, yeah I would agree with that. Staking your ballast? I think it's it's always staking, but ah you know ballast on the way down is pretty quick. so yeah Frame tent or clear spans? Clear span all day.
00:30:32
Speaker
Most underrated tent hardware? What do you mean by that? Hardware. A piece of, like, that you would use to build the tent. and You mean things that we don't normally have in our truck that we should?
00:30:46
Speaker
That too, like a bolt. That's a bolt still.
00:30:51
Speaker
Just throw a zip tie in it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's fine. It's only the weekend. One word to describe the industry. ah The giving. And the best install snack. Yeah.
00:31:03
Speaker
Install snack. ah Monster? That's fair enough. I feel like it's nicotine or energy drink at this stage of the game. um And where can listeners find you or Mutt & Reynolds?
00:31:19
Speaker
Where can you find us? We're in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Website's muttandrentals.com. I'm happy to have a conversation. Love talking to 10 people. so Well, I appreciate that, Matt. Thanks for coming on today. You've been a good friend of mine for a long time and admire everything that you're doing and continuing to do. and And it's exciting to see what you got coming. So this has been another episode of Under the Vital, rental management media podcast.
00:31:42
Speaker
Thanks, gentlemen.