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Tailgate Talk with Listeners Questions
158 Plays2 months ago
Shout Out Ramon Luna for the questions!
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Transcript
Introduction: Under the Vinyl
00:00:37
Kyle's friend
Good morning. Back again with another episode of Under the Vinyl. Kyle, how the hell are you?
00:00:42
Kyle Richardson
I'm good. i ran that one a little long for you, Nate. I hope you liked it.
00:00:46
Kyle's friend
Yeah, we got to, I've thought about that several times. i love that song. We got get it out there more. I think people in the industry need to hear it more, but what's been going on? How's your week?
Returning to Work: Navigating Challenges
00:00:55
Kyle Richardson
It's good. Just got back from vacation last week, so I'm refreshed. I walked into kind of a mess this morning, but that's how it goes when you disappear for a week. But we'll get through it.
00:01:06
Kyle's friend
Well, do you have the right people in the right places?
00:01:10
Kyle Richardson
Nate. Come on, family business.
00:01:11
Kyle's friend
Do we need to get into that conversation too?
Tailgate Talk Preview: Listener Engagement
00:01:14
Kyle Richardson
We don't need to get into that today. We won't attack Brian.
00:01:15
Kyle's friend
right, all right.
00:01:16
Kyle Richardson
I know he's a ah listener.
00:01:17
Kyle's friend
We'll save that for another day. Yeah, I'll just attack you for not inviting me to the lake and seeing these great pictures or when you were drinking a bush latte at 7, 8 o'clock in the morning, whatever you were doing on a Tuesday.
00:01:28
Kyle Richardson
Yeah. Hey, you know, sometimes that's what you need.
00:01:29
Kyle's friend
Well, I was out here just grinding.
00:01:33
Kyle Richardson
Nice bush light and answer some emails on the boat. Can't complain.
00:01:36
Kyle's friend
Love that for you. Love that for you. So we got a good episode of Tailgate Talk for you guys today. i think we got some good user questions here that people have sent in, um just kind of going through some different topics and some highlights of the the industry.
00:01:54
Kyle's friend
So ah we'll jump right in, Kyle. What you got for us?
Advice for Small Operators: Tools & Techniques
00:01:57
Kyle Richardson
So shout out Ramon Luna, Pecha Party, Atlanta, Georgia. ah Listens to every episode. We appreciate you, Ramon. You're a great guy. i love when you text me with this stuff. It kind of gets me fired up.
00:02:10
Kyle Richardson
So Ramon sent in a lot of questions, Nate. So we're going to chip through as many as we can in the next, at this point, 15 minutes.
00:02:13
Kyle's friend
Love that.
00:02:18
Kyle Richardson
So here we go. For a smaller operator, let's just say under $500,000 in revenue that doesn't own an ox, What's the absolute best advice for moving block and roll? And that's probably, even if we don't include block and roll, moving anything.
00:02:36
Kyle's friend
Moving concrete in general, I mean, i mean, there's several different ways and this is such a broad question, um, answer wise, and we'll try and deepen, go a little deep into it. But for me, you know, I mean, obviously a forklift is your most, you know, is your best option if you're in the warehouse, a Bobcat, things like that.
00:02:55
Kyle's friend
Um, you know A lot of times we're we're we're coming up with crazy ways to lift things. I know that there will be times where sometimes we'll get some 350s in situations where we can't go up steps. and We have taken longer pieces of steel bar ah tubing, stuck it through the holes. and Just like the olden days, you stick it through the holes and you carry it. One person on each side, grab the ends of the bars and pick it up and carry it up. You've got to be careful, though.
00:03:25
Kyle's friend
Because now it now it can slide down and crush your fingers.
00:03:28
Kyle Richardson
I hope your workers' comp insurance isn't listening.
00:03:28
Kyle's friend
So easy with that. Yeah, yeah. um But, I mean, overall, I think today the way that you're going over concrete in general, you've got to go with block and roll.
00:03:41
Kyle's friend
I'll give block and roll a shout-out there just because the innovation of the cart in itself, you know just the push cart that they have and the ability of how it goes in the middle and picks everything up,
00:03:52
Kyle's friend
I mean, you can go the old school way and do do buckets or blocks of concrete without the holes and use a use a two-wheel dolly. um The issue is, i think that I've seen, is just the guys ruin those two-wheel dollies so quickly and snap them and break them and things like that.
00:04:10
Kyle's friend
um So I ultimately would just have to say anything that has to do with block and roll, and is block and roll related to move move blocks is your best bet without the ox
00:04:23
Kyle Richardson
I think ah for smaller guys, some things they could look into.
Equipment Investments: Weighing Costs vs. Benefits
00:04:27
Kyle Richardson
First of all, I've never used it, but it looks like a great product. And the only reason we haven't bought one is because we own 10 oxes. But the electric mover that Nick Danino has, um have you ever used it?
00:04:37
Kyle's friend
we have one yeah we use it a lot we actually on our second one um the first one was kind of First generation, it was kind of tough and we had some issues here and there, but the new one we use, our local crew uses it more than anything, not so much to travel. So this that would fall in the realm of these 500 and under guys.
00:04:58
Kyle's friend
It's great. It works great. It's a little bit bulkier, but honestly, it it works great. And that's why i was that's what I was going into with just the different tools. But yes, the battery one works great.
00:05:09
Kyle Richardson
Another thing, we own one of these trailers, but Airtow, I think there's some other brands out there now, but those trailers that drop to the ground, Ramon, that's a good option. You're not tearing up the ramps on a trailer. It's much safer and things like that.
00:05:25
Kyle Richardson
They are kind of pricey. I think a bumper pull one's going to run you little.
00:05:27
Kyle's friend
That's my, so that's what I was going to say is, so now you're getting into prices and, and you're thinking about cost saving. So you don't have to get an ox.
00:05:38
Kyle's friend
So you're fighting against the ox right now is what you're doing.
00:05:41
Kyle's friend
So how much are you paying for that trailer? 25,000?
00:05:41
Kyle Richardson
yeah
00:05:44
Kyle Richardson
No, I don't think that um I think a bumper pull one's 12 to 16 if I had a range.
00:05:48
Kyle's friend
Okay, 12 16. Now you're buying this. I'm not trying to take any profits away from block and roll over here, but now you're buying this dolly and everything else. So say you're all in at 20 grand now, okay?
00:06:02
Kyle's friend
What's a 200 series?
00:06:04
Kyle Richardson
I think now they're probably pitching at 29.30. Don't kill me, Andy, if I'm way off.
00:06:07
Kyle's friend
Okay. Okay, so you could buy a cheaper trailer, spend more money, and buy a 2 Series Ox be more effective with that.
00:06:18
Kyle's friend
So i think to the conclusion and point there is really line out your numbers and see because you keep the more you keep trying to fight against the Ox and in the efficiency of the Ox, you're going to spend more money on other related things over the years when you could have gone all in.
00:06:19
Kyle Richardson
yeah
00:06:34
Kyle Richardson
Well, so I would have to imagine the hardest part for a small operator is the drivers and the vehicle.
Innovative Solutions for Heavy Transport
00:06:45
Kyle Richardson
um So I understand that perspective. Oh, hey, I can't get Knox because i'm I have one driver and two employees and I don't have the ability to move it.
00:06:52
Kyle Richardson
So there's there is the give and the take.
00:06:55
Kyle's friend
But like, yeah, but you got people like Ramsey and Ian Goff that they all have two series oxes and they put them, they have bigger lift gates where they've made lift gates that go on the back of a box truck that they can drive it up into a box truck and get it off.
00:07:10
Kyle Richardson
Yeah, I've done that a few times.
00:07:10
Kyle's friend
So, yeah, so I mean, it could be sketchy if you don't need have the right liftgate. So don't don't go out there and just try it with any truck. But um I know that those guys have a specifically built trucks or liftgates for them um that they put them in the back of a box truck.
00:07:26
Kyle Richardson
Well, and the evolution of concrete has really screwed a lot of people. The industry is much safer, but that is the number one challenge. It's just the transportation of efficiently moving it around.
00:07:38
Kyle's friend
450,000 pounds of concrete is what I just moved around on Titans field in Nashville.
00:07:43
Kyle Richardson
Yeah, it's it's crazy.
00:07:45
Kyle's friend
Oh, it's incredible. And I think that kind of takes us into our next point.
00:07:50
Kyle Richardson
Ramon's next question, which this is all Nate.
00:07:51
Kyle's friend
Yeah.
Viral Tent Setup: A Story from Nate
00:07:55
Kyle Richardson
Nate. Let's hear about this weighted sailcloth that hit the socials and gains Chattanooga a little bit of fame.
00:08:02
Kyle's friend
Yeah, so we are in the millions of views on TikTok. ah um And I think we're at like 54,000 comments or likes on TikTok. I mean, it has gone absolutely viral. This one has just the feedback and and all the videos of people that aren't even in the industry, just friends that are like, is this your tent? Was this you? It was just incredible. but So going through...
00:08:31
Kyle's friend
I always said that I would never wait a pole tent ever. um I have always told any of my staff in sales, do not wait a pole tent. And I wasn't 100% sure if it could be but yeah.
00:08:45
Kyle's friend
but
00:08:45
Kyle Richardson
I remember we talked about the day before Nate and you you were still nervous.
00:08:48
Kyle's friend
yeah
00:08:50
Kyle Richardson
you're like, you think this is going to work, Kyle?
00:08:52
Kyle's friend
Yeah, and it and here's my thing, and this whole industry is full of this, and um I know I'm not the only guilty one out there. We're yes men. If we don't have it, we're going to find it, and we're going figure it out.
00:09:04
Kyle's friend
And that was kind of my mentality. We went out on the field, had this meeting. a year ago and they what it originally was is it was two garden tents um and then they kind of cut back on it because they didn't want to you know they didn't need the garden tent for the ceremony they wanted something to look more natural kind of cool um something different so then ultimately my planner who i always work with up there that did this one said let's do a sailcloth so in my mind i was like okay cool like
00:09:36
Kyle's friend
um I'll just price it out and I priced it and you know, what I thought and everything. And they were like, oh yeah, that that's great. And was like, okay, all right. So now we've got to figure this out. So immediately called Fred.
00:09:48
Kyle's friend
um Fred was Great to work with on it. Jumped right in with me. And we started going through calculations. Got with his engineer um and started going through different weight variations. We started with a 57 wide um and we were going to do a 57, which I was okay with. And I thought that would have been fine.
00:10:09
Kyle's friend
um Then at the last minute, they decided to bump it up to a 66. That's when I got a little bit nervous just because you're going single the double pull. Not that it is a huge difference, but in my mind, it was like, ah gosh Um, and then it got longer.
00:10:22
Kyle's friend
So it went to a 66 by one 33 from a 57 by one Oh three. Um, so yeah, really. I mean, all it came down to is working on the calculations and you want to about safe tending and waiting.
00:10:34
Kyle's friend
I literally, yes, I was nervous and I put it up at the last, um, the last few days that I could, I waited as long as possible to put it in the air just cause there were storms blowing through and rain all week long that we were fighting.
00:10:47
Kyle's friend
Um, But when it came down to it, ah you know when they sent me over those calculations, they sent it over for 75 mile hour wind gusts. And the weight that I had put on there, there was three different variations of weight. There was like there was one weight that was acceptable. The next weight was like, okay, this will get you 60 mile an hour wind rating.
00:11:09
Kyle's friend
And then the third one was, this is max what you need for 75 mile an hour. So in my mind, being down in that bowl area and kind of being blocked a little bit by the wind, now it circulates a little bit down there, you could say, but it was still blocked by the wind enough that I thought maybe we could just wait it for 60 mile an hour winds, which is what I did.
00:11:31
Kyle's friend
um So I ah waited it for 60 mile an hour winds. The only thing that we had to play with was, and we did a couple different drawings before, um you know Mike even jumped in on the last minute there and and kind of said, hey, what about this?
00:11:44
Kyle's friend
And, you know, we so everybody kind of looked at that um because we were trying to get the, we wanted to get the pull from the top down to almost like the bottom, like it was being staked.
00:11:53
Kyle Richardson
That's. Yep.
00:11:56
Kyle Richardson
yeah
00:11:56
Kyle's friend
So I didn't want to do it from the top because then you lose everything from the top. So I did it to the bottom. um What I actually did was tied off the strap, um got the strap to the the the rebar that sticks out of the top of the block.
00:12:12
Kyle's friend
ah wrapped it back around the backside and then went back underneath um of the bottom of the block so that it was almost where a stake would be, followed by putting plywood on there with rubber so that that there was some friction in there as well.
00:12:30
Kyle's friend
um And I can tell you, I yanked those things. We tightened those things, and I personally checked every single strap myself just to make sure. um And the blocks did not move.
00:12:42
Kyle's friend
So fast forward to get it up, it looks amazing. um I'm thrilled with it. But while we're putting it up, these big wind gusts are just blowing through, and um I'm like... Yeah, a little nervous at this point, but we finally get in the air and I checked all the straps and I was like, this thing's solid.
00:12:56
Kyle's friend
We get ready to get out of there. Fast forward to about nine o'clock, 10 o'clock at night. It was about nine, nine 30. We get ready to leave and the alarms go off, uh, in the stadium, which means lightning's within five miles.
00:13:09
Kyle's friend
Check the weather, look at it. And it's a one, the last day that we're supposed to get weather. We weren't supposed to get it. And all sudden it's like, okay, it hits. Um, We clocked.
00:13:21
Kyle's friend
I sat there. everybody i got everybody out of the stadium, evacuated everybody. I sat there in the tunnel by myself staring at this sail clock at 1030 at night. And i actually, shout out Ramsey. He was on the text back and forth with me too. And I was sitting there. He's like, what are you doing? i was telling him.
00:13:36
Kyle's friend
And told him I had 60 by 133 in the air, waited. And he was like, I'm dropping to my knees and praying for you right now. He's like, I was praying for you before, but now I'm dropping to my knees and praying for you. And I was like, well, you know, was sitting there praying and nervous. And, um, that 60 mile an hour wind gust came through and hit that tent right at 60 mile an hour clock.
00:13:56
Kyle's friend
And it blew, it blew the tops like up and down a little bit. Not one pole flinched. The center poles didn't move. The side poles didn't move. Not one weight moved. Nothing. The only thing that happened was it blew the flags off.
00:14:10
Kyle's friend
Um, two of the, two, two of the tops, um,
00:14:10
Kyle Richardson
God damn it.
00:14:14
Kyle's friend
And I never found them. um So if you guys want a little trade secret there, if you see any of the videos in that, you see the two flags are gone. That's what happened. um But and it bet the po like the ah bent the flagpole that was sticking out, which is just weird.
00:14:29
Kyle's friend
um But all that to say, i now doing that, do I want to do it again? Probably not. um Would I do it out in an open field or an open area? No.
00:14:43
Kyle's friend
um and And not because you can't, but just the amount of weight that you have to put on it. And i mean, poll tents are made to be staked. I mean, at the end of the day, but that's what it is.
00:14:54
Kyle Richardson
Yeah.
00:14:54
Kyle's friend
But um because of the conditions on where it was with it being surrounded and everything, it wasn't just about the dollar figure because trust me, at the end of the day, I'm going to make sure that everybody's safe as hell.
00:15:05
Kyle's friend
No matter what the price tag is, but being down in that bowl like that, being blocked in, ah was good with that. And then knowing that, you know, those engineered drawings were to spec and Fred was even on the phone with me while I was setting it up just to clarify and double check everything.
00:15:20
Kyle's friend
um And I was FaceTiming him and sending him some pictures just to make sure we were on the same page. So, Shout out to Fred. Shout out to Fred's in general for just giving us everything that we needed and the support that we needed for that and making sure that we were safe and being spot on because the six mile an hour hit and nothing moved.
00:15:39
Kyle's friend
And yeah, so don't recommend it.
00:15:41
Kyle Richardson
So
00:15:42
Kyle's friend
Don't recommend it unless there's certain conditions.
00:15:46
Kyle Richardson
Ramon put right in his question, you know, whenever you ask anyone about this, the answer is always a hard no. Obviously, there are ways to do it. um ah If you look at pictures that we post on our social medias, ah you can see we are notorious for the a one side pole weighted or things like that. We do some big jobs every spring that I know going in, Hey, there's a gas line on the corner of hundred wide pole tent.
00:16:13
Kyle Richardson
We need to bring in, I'm usually putting 10,000 pounds ah per ratchet, a hundred wide pole tent, but we do it occasionally. Way to go, Nate. You just coughing in the mic for not going to no editing today.
00:16:30
Kyle Richardson
hear that folks are going no editing.
00:16:31
Kyle's friend
I had my mic shut off. Go ahead. Keep going.
00:16:36
Kyle Richardson
So yeah, it is doable Ramon. If you need some help, reach out to the manufacturers. They will help you. think we got time for one more Nate.
00:16:43
Kyle's friend
Yeah, we'll do a couple more.
00:16:46
Kyle Richardson
Let's do this one.
Business Lessons: Starting and Growing a Company
00:16:48
Kyle Richardson
If you were starting over in your case, Nate, starting your own company, how would you change or what would you do different?
00:17:01
Kyle's friend
um Well, I think to start, I wouldn't want to start over with no knowledge. um I would want to probably, if I started...
00:17:13
Kyle's friend
I would want to have all the knowledge that I have now prior just because I think that every lesson that I've learned in the three companies that I've been with have been invaluable.
00:17:24
Kyle's friend
um It's just, you know, there's so much knowledge and growth. within the industry that you need to learn. um So being different, um you know, I don't know that there was anything, i think in my current position, not owning a company currently, there is, um there's nothing that I would kind of go back and really change.
00:17:48
Kyle's friend
I think that I would, If I had to do a couple things over, though, I would probably voice the structure of getting some more help in some certain areas a little bit more, and I think everybody can attest to that.
00:18:00
Kyle's friend
um I think that... A lot of us in this industry are wired to just take a lot of stuff on um and we can usually handle it.
00:18:09
Kyle Richardson
We're wired for the stress.
00:18:11
Kyle's friend
Yeah, we're wired for the stress, but we're we're wired to a point where we can handle it until it then can't be done anymore and you need help and you need to ask for help.
00:18:22
Kyle Richardson
Yeah.
00:18:22
Kyle's friend
um And I think too many people you know just take it on and keep it going and and don't ask for help. and that's when they get burned out. um So I know, I mean, I know, Kyle, you go through that too sometimes.
00:18:33
Kyle's friend
You know, we've had conversations about that and just the problem is hiring the people that we need, but also having so much downtime in this industry too and having to pay somebody, trying to pay somebody for that job year round, where can you fill them in in different holes on in the company during that slow time?
00:18:46
Kyle Richardson
is a struggle. Yeah.
00:18:57
Kyle's friend
You know, so structuring that or just admitting to them that, Hey, we're going to be slow at this time. This is why I'm going to pay you this amount of money. This is your salary. Um, but you're going to have X month off or you're going to have, you're not going to be as busy or whatever that is.
00:19:14
Kyle's friend
You just setting the expectation up front.
00:19:14
Kyle Richardson
yeah You want to work remote for all of January and go away.
00:19:16
Kyle's friend
Um,
00:19:19
Kyle's friend
Yeah, yeah and so
00:19:20
Kyle Richardson
As long as you can answer emails, I'm happy.
00:19:22
Kyle's friend
exactly. So I think that that's how you have to do it. So going back and doing it again, i think I would probably not say not take on so much. I would continue to take it on, but have a plan To know that I could pass it off and that there's people that will be there as supporting staff, whether it be salespeople, project managers, things like that, to help pass that off too. So putting people in the right seats on the bus.
00:19:48
Kyle's friend
that That would be my.
00:19:49
Kyle Richardson
My would be hire fast, fire fast. Sounds horrible to say out loud.
00:19:55
Kyle's friend
Coach up or coach out.
00:19:56
Kyle Richardson
Yeah, we are notorious in this industry, I think, for keeping dead weight because you don't know where the next guy is going to walk in the door or gal.
00:20:07
Kyle Richardson
And it gets your back against the wall sometimes that you have these employees that probably shouldn't be. employees, uh, that's at all levels. I'm guilty of it.
00:20:18
Kyle Richardson
My father's been guilty of it. We know he openly admits like back in the day, you never fired anyone cause you didn't know you going to have someone replace them. Uh, so that'd be one of them.
00:20:29
Kyle Richardson
Uh, second, I would want to be like Ramon Luna and this isn't just me fluffing Ramon Ramon. It's, you are not a very large rental company and you show up to every trade event that I'm ever at, which is incredible.
00:20:44
Kyle Richardson
You're a sponge. You want information. And there's so many of these smaller guys who I feel like don't think there's value in going to that stuff or networking with the big dogs, whatever you want to call us.
00:20:57
Kyle Richardson
But like Ramon, I remember at Chattanooga tent, I taught you, I gave you your forklift certification. I went, oh, like, what do you have for a forklift? I don't have one. but But you knew one day you were going to get one. So you said, screw it.
00:21:12
Kyle Richardson
I'm going to this thing. I might as well get certified. like I think that's awesome. um And everyone I talk to, and your name comes up, Ramon, they all refer you as a sponge. You just want the knowledge, which I think is great.
00:21:23
Kyle Richardson
um And so many people just try to do it on their own when there's so many resources out there to help you grow your business or
00:21:31
Kyle Richardson
and Yeah, grow or we've had the same challenges that you're having.
00:21:32
Kyle's friend
yeah
00:21:35
Kyle Richardson
And no matter the size or the scale of the business, we still have the same exact challenge just at a different scale.
00:21:37
Kyle's friend
still do
00:21:41
Kyle Richardson
So yeah, exactly.
00:21:42
Kyle's friend
A more expensive scale.
00:21:45
Kyle Richardson
Yeah. Learn from us because our mistakes cost a lot more money.
00:21:46
Kyle's friend
and So, yeah, yeah. um And to your point on that, I think, you know, and a lot of this industry is like this. And I mean, I'm guilty of it as well on a lot of things.
00:21:58
Kyle's friend
Being proactive instead of reactive, I think is what you're trying to get to. So I think that Ramona is doing it the right way. And anybody else listening that's a smaller company that's growing, know, be proactive in calling people and looking at looking five years ahead, looking three years ahead on where you want to be and figuring out how to put the right steps to get there. Otherwise, if you just get there and now you got to react to figure out how you're going to, your longevity of how you're going to stay there, that's going to be your issue.
Networking & Repeat Business: Strategies for Growth
00:22:28
Kyle's friend
So having an an approach of looking at the
00:22:31
Kyle's friend
you know three to five year plan um so you can you can be proactive in taking those steps all the way to that five year mark.
00:22:39
Kyle Richardson
Yeah. Bigger is not better. I'll say that.
00:22:43
Kyle's friend
it ah it You've got to hone in on things more. The bigger you get, the more you've got to figure out what your niche is.
00:22:46
Kyle Richardson
Yeah.
00:22:48
Kyle's friend
um You've got to figure out your identity. Is it backyard stuff? Is it weddings? Is it corporate? Is it long-term? What is your niche? Maybe those five festivals that you were doing just aren't making you any money anymore because now you're too big for Did you outgrow those jobs?
00:23:05
Kyle's friend
And it's hard to say no to those jobs when you've done them for 30-something years or whatever it is. But sometimes you just have to lay it out. Are you going to be a successful, ah profitable business? Or are you just going to keep taking the hit to help somebody out because you've always done it?
00:23:19
Kyle Richardson
yeah
00:23:20
Kyle's friend
So we got one more.
00:23:21
Kyle Richardson
All right.
00:23:23
Kyle's friend
Give me one more.
00:23:23
Kyle Richardson
23 minutes. You want one more?
00:23:24
Kyle's friend
Give me one more. Give me one more. Let's get the people what they want here.
00:23:32
Kyle Richardson
What percentage of your, he uses the term revenue, but we don't have to use revenue. We'll say jobs is repeat versus new. What are you doing to keep leads coming in?
00:23:42
Kyle's friend
um Go ahead, Kyle. I'll let you go first on this.
00:23:45
Kyle Richardson
So I would say 70% of our work is repeat business, which is scary when you say it out loud. um And to be honest with you, our lead generation is mostly word of mouth.
00:24:01
Kyle Richardson
We do a really good job for a planner a caterer one time and they're going to tell 25 people. um And that's our biggest thing. Our sales pitch is service a lot of times. So ah like that big job we just posted, I did that job twice now for that same guy that came from a florist who we,
00:24:21
Kyle Richardson
bailed out at a wedding like the year before she needed some stuff hung and I was there and I just said, yeah, give it to me. We'll take care of it for her. And she always remembered that and she recommended us and that's how we got that job. And we ended up getting to do it two years in a row.
00:24:32
Kyle Richardson
um But yeah, 70% repeat business is a scary thing, but most of the time people are loyal. I am learning now that as the world's changing a little bit, people are less loyal.
00:24:48
Kyle Richardson
But people are going to be loyal to you if you're honest and upfront and do what you say when you say it and how you said you're going to do it.
00:24:54
Kyle's friend
Yeah. um I think that we're probably there on, we're man, I want to say like 60%. I could be wrong. Don't go fact check me, Mike. um I think that we can be 60% on probably national side, maybe 70.
00:25:10
Kyle's friend
Nashville side, now that I'm thinking, about it's probably 60-40. 60 weighing new jobs, 40 being repeat. um And I think that's just
00:25:20
Kyle Richardson
Is that just because you're still newer?
00:25:23
Kyle's friend
No, no. I mean, we're growing every year and the business is growing. There's just not when you're in, i think when you're in a market, I mean, even your stuff, you've got a college.
00:25:34
Kyle's friend
So yours is different. So for me, a lot of my stuff is higher end stuff, but it's higher end weddings in Nashville. We do corporate stuff. I mean, it could even be 50%.
00:25:45
Kyle Richardson
Well,
00:25:46
Kyle's friend
It could even be 50-50 for me, but
00:25:46
Kyle Richardson
I would say repeat business is the same planner using you. Obviously the bride changes.
00:25:50
Kyle's friend
Okay, so that's different then. So if if you want to go that way, then it's definitely weighs heavier on the 60, 70% side, 70% probably in Nashville as well. But if you're taking it from like job-by-job basis and just like weddings and I mean basically corporate or high-end stuff that we have or festivals that are repeat are probably in the 40s for that office and then the rest is repeat wedding planners and customers um but not not the same type of jobs.
00:26:20
Kyle Richardson
Yeah.
00:26:20
Kyle's friend
um But in that, what I was saying is in that market, you know, you, we have a, it's more of a local central, centralized area that we're working in. um You know, any, we're probably working out the farthest we probably really go on a regular basis is 75, 80 miles outside Nashville.
00:26:37
Kyle's friend
um because it's all right there. But for the national side, it's all big jobs that are just you know repeat jobs across the country. So Nashville doesn't have that as much. Now we've got a couple different, um two specifically that I can think of that are bigger corporate jobs up in Nashville that are repeat all the time, but everything else is kind of somebody's house or something else, some kind of event.
00:27:04
Kyle's friend
different kind of variations of the job, I guess. So i don't know if i really answered that.
00:27:08
Kyle Richardson
yeah I think as you grow, it becomes... i would say most of people's work is repeat business.
00:27:19
Kyle's friend
It's repeat. Now that you say it like repeat clients, I get that makes more sense. Like, so repeat, um, wedding planners.
00:27:24
Kyle Richardson
Yeah.
00:27:26
Kyle's friend
Yeah. I think a lot of us, I mean, we are a good example of that. We have a couple of wedding planners, you know, more than a couple, but like two that really take us one that really takes us everywhere to that, you know, really take us everywhere. But, um,
00:27:46
Kyle's friend
The rest of the customers are all repeat ones, repeat event planners in the area. you know And I think that that's one of those things where it's a trust thing after a while.
00:27:56
Kyle's friend
um I have one one wedding planner that I'm doing a job for that's out of town um that we do a bunch of stuff for, but she's still always like, and she'll tell me that she has to quote, get a quote from a local company to where she's going and she gets it. And then she'll have me quote it. And then usually I'm higher.
00:28:16
Kyle's friend
I try to do the best I can, but I'm not going to undercut myself and yeah our quality and everything. But we and she ends up always usually going with us, and that's more so just because she knows what she's getting and she knows who the people are and the trust factor of everything.
00:28:31
Kyle's friend
And though she'll convince the client to pay a little bit more um to bring us in from the outside just because she knows what she's getting. I mean, you go to a some of these towns and they haven't worked there before and they're a one-off and it's a one-off job and you can't afford to not know and the unknown factors.
00:28:47
Kyle's friend
So that's a lot how how we get it. It's word of mouth, but also just your quality of service at the end of the day. So any smaller companies, put that in your repertoire.
00:28:56
Kyle Richardson
yeah
00:28:59
Kyle's friend
Just focus on your quality and service, and it'll take you a long way.
00:29:03
Kyle Richardson
It will.
00:29:04
Kyle's friend
peoples People will ride or die with you.
00:29:04
Kyle Richardson
That's it.
00:29:07
Kyle Richardson
Yeah. And they'll grow with you or you'll or you'll grow with them.
00:29:09
Kyle's friend
Yeah, they they're going to, you're going to grow with them at the end of the day, because what's going up happening is you latch on with a couple of good people and then you start start bringing them different variations of like, you know, structures or fun things or different things and they can sell it to their clients and you can put it in your, your inventory or, and that's how you grow your inventory.
00:29:28
Kyle's friend
And maybe you don't want to spend the money, but if you spend the money with this client, you know, you can get it to go and book some other, some other stuff coming up.
00:29:36
Kyle Richardson
oh
00:29:37
Kyle's friend
So,
00:29:37
Kyle Richardson
or even if you just team up with so many of us, I think this is kind of a misunderstanding in the industry, but on the, some of the larger size companies, we're all willing to team up with a smaller company.
Collaborations & Sub-Rentals: Ending on a Light Note
00:29:50
Kyle Richardson
Like I just quoted a job for another company and the guy's like, Hey, do you mind if I give your guys safety vests that say my name on it? No, I don't care. You're paying me.
00:29:56
Kyle's friend
You're still getting paid.
00:29:57
Kyle Richardson
So yeah, but I'll tell them to wear your safety vest. That's fine. Like we'll do whatever you want, sir.
00:30:05
Kyle's friend
Yeah. I mean, at the end of the day, if I could just be a sub rental company, that would be the ultimate way to live, you know? um But yeah, I don't, I mean, I don't see that being an issue either. i think helping, you know, grow a company, you know, more than anything is, is great.
00:30:23
Kyle's friend
We need more.
00:30:23
Kyle Richardson
All right.
00:30:24
Kyle's friend
There's always a need for them, but.
00:30:26
Kyle Richardson
Yep.
00:30:27
Kyle's friend
Just don't start stealing business. Some people out there.
00:30:30
Kyle Richardson
Who would ever do that, Nate?
00:30:31
Kyle's friend
I don't know. All right. We'll leave it on that note. So Kyle, good to see you. This is strictly unedited and raw. So take it for what it's worth. and this has been another episode of Under the Vinyl.
00:30:44
Kyle Richardson
Awesome. See you, Nate.