Transcript
Speaker: Welcome back to the Better Contractor Podcast. This is episode 88 where we're talking about delegation and how an owner can step away from his company and it can run without him. We just hit 17,000 subscribers on YouTube. We appreciate every single one of you, but we want that 20K mark. We want to hit it before we hit 100 episodes. So all we ask is that you share the show and enjoy.
Speaker: All right, guys, well welcome back to another edition of The Better Contractor. I believe this is episode 88, so nearing up to the 100. We're getting there. It's crazy. Yeah, we need to get there a little faster, but we'll work on that. So today, joined by Alex, as always. What's man? How are you doing? Good. I think you got some big news, don't you, no? Yeah.
Speaker: So um I'm engaged. I'm a fiance now. The biggest news to all of us is that she actually said yes. crazy, isn't it? Yeah. Man, well, congratulations, dude. Thank you. So what are we talking about today?
Speaker: I want to talk about you and how you kind of not stepped away from Lander Corp, but delegated everything. yeah So obviously as an owner, you don't want to be there 24 seven. You don't want everything to rely on you. And I think you're pretty good at that. Um, especially being we're here in Edwardsville the offices in Brownstown. So the first question is when you started Lander Corp, everything depended on you. You did the office stuff, you did the actual labor, you did everything. Um,
Speaker: What point did you realize that if the business was always dependent on you, it would never truly grow? um So luckily, realized that pretty early on. um Also, i would probably say to answer that question, I'd almost kind of look at it as there's two different types of ownership, especially in the contracting world.
Speaker: So you're going to have some contractors that want to just really be like a solopreneur. So they want to have like their truck, their tools, they want to go out and do the work. They don't necessarily want to crew.
Speaker: And I think that's fine. I think there will always be room for those. But then you have some that I believe start it and be like, you know what, I think I and want more out of this. And again, that's not, you know, saying anything negative about the first option.
Speaker: But you just have two. There's two options, really. And I think if you're going to do option two, I think you have to realize early on, that you can't do it all. um And if you want to scale and grow, you're going to have to put the right people in places. And you're going to actually step back and let people run those different departments. So for me, it was actually pretty early on because I knew from the get I didn't want to actually perform it as a solopreneur or a very, very small company for really that long. I had big dreams, big vision.
Speaker: And I just, that's just not what I wanted. So I had to realize that pretty early. um But for me, it's, I, i If I was doing this right now at 44 years old, I would have probably put a little bit more attention into being very cognizantly aware of this is a system, this is a process, and writing this stuff down and doing it that way. Back then, i literally would ask myself, OK, we've grown enough.
Speaker: I need to give something up. I'm doing literally, everybody always talks about like 60, 70, 80 hours a week. Most people don't actually do it. There is a period of time that you will do it if you're serious about this. And this was then.
Speaker: And eventually you would get to where, hey, I cannot do more or I'm not doing what I'm doing well. So I need to give something up. So for me, i would literally ask myself,
Speaker: In those things, what am i worst at? like And let's give that up first. So not that I'm bad at accounting, but I hate it. um So that was one of the first things. Did not hire for. We actually just kind of like subbed it to a a accounting firm. That's a national firm that does exactly what we were needing. So that was one of the first things I gave up. After that, it was more like dealing with all the phone calls from the field.
Speaker: So that was an easy one. It was actually one of my first employees kind of moved him into that role of being like more of a general foreman kind of thing in our space and then saying all phone calls go to him first.
Speaker: He answers everything he can. And then what's left, he can he can come to me and then go back to those people. And what that did was basically allowed me to focus. So, you know, in this industry, contracting in general, probably really all businesses, you have so much where you're just interrupted constantly, whether it's email, a text, a phone call, whatever.
Speaker: And at some point you get, you realize like, man, I'm not getting anything done today except for answering stuff. yeah And i think for you to focus and actually work on the big picture, the big vision, you've got to stop those distractions. So that was the second one I gave up. But anyway, to answer your question,
Speaker: Luckily, it was fairly early on, but not also without some errors as well, part partially because of youth um and not having those systems and processes in place. And I think if you've listened to a lot of podcasts, you probably realize that I probably use those words a lot.
Speaker: That is because of learning those things. So when I say those, I'm referring to the guys that are younger or newer to business than I am. Don't repeat it. Yeah.
Speaker: So a lot of contractors, and I did this in my business as well, they struggle with delegation because they know I do this better than anybody else. They get they worry about delegating a task and then it not getting done as well. So how did you build the trust in your employees but also have the...
Speaker: um mindset that i know they're going to do well whenever you were delegating out those tasks so first i would say you can't you can't be a micromanager and be in business um but that doesn't go without saying that you shouldn't have high standards so then that leads to kind the first point is doing quality hires so i think a lot of people don't put quite enough attention into that especially maybe when you're first starting out you don't realize that hey i'm brand new And I think you sometimes believe, well, because I'm brand and I'm just getting started, nobody's going to want to work for me. They're going to want to work for this 20-year, 30-year company that's in business business, that has all these benefits and all these different things. And that's not necessarily true. Sometimes people want to work for the company that is growing and new and kind of exciting and stuff like that.
Speaker: So I think lean into that a little bit because sometimes that's the companies that have the most growth opportunity where sometimes you can get into a position you know, like that starting out so young that you can then work yourself up maybe from like 27 years old.
Speaker: So I think being afraid though of of doing that or thinking that I can't attract that talent. So I would contradict and say, hey, you can actually attract that talent. But anyway, I would say hiring is huge, but then letting people actually run with it and then just keeping your pulse on it. You know, a lot of, so yeah i think you have two different types of people who,
Speaker: will say, hey, I'm going give some of this up. Maybe they give up too much stuff too freely too quickly. I'm not going to say I've never done that. um But you have to at least keep your pulse on it until you get enough people built up and enough of a system in place to where someone else is keeping that pulse. Because if not, what will happen, and I think it happens with a lot of businesses when they grow a lot, is you you make all these, you start out as a small company and you start adding crews. So if you think about you know, a huge company and they add five crews, that's not really a big deal if they already have 50. They've done 10%.
Speaker: But if you start at one and you went to five, you just grew 500%. Yeah. So it changes so much stuff. And I think the last part of that would be, you know, make sure if you're giving up accounting. So I would encourage you for like the last few months of you giving that up. that you're going through and you're just writing down everything that you're doing that comes natural to you because you just know that needs to be done.
Speaker: But go ahead and start asking yourself, OK, today, what am I doing? Will if I just hire somebody, will they know, hey, this is what needs to be done today? Or do need to write this down and actually put it in their job description? That was one thing I didn't do. A lot of us still really don't because assume people just know.
Speaker: um But if you're wanting to scale without having that chaos, I think that's something you have to do, especially in the in the positions where It very much was an owner position to begin with.
Speaker: So like lot of times that's project management. So a lot of times owners are so big in the beginning, they're running the crews, they're running their projects and they're doing the sales and they do those three things usually fairly well if you're scaling and growing.
Speaker: I think those are the ones that you got really keep your tab on, but really have those systems and processes in place so that when you step back, that you didn't build this culture around something, but all that really was was you. So then when you step back out of it, it just fell apart.
Speaker: So write that stuff down, develop those systems, those processes. It will take a little bit of time, but more likely it'll let that person probably flourish in that position. It'll let that person do a lot better in that in that role.
Speaker: If you disappeared for two weeks without answering your phone, any emails, talking to anybody, do you think LandoCorp would survive? Or how how do you think it would do? Survive, yes. I think that's a delicate question to answer.
Speaker: i think if you are... I think it needs to survive. I think you need to be impacting things enough though that people notice you're missing. yeah I know the the kind of correct way to answer that would be, a no, no, I got so many systems and processes in place that it just runs. yeah I think if you're truly not just the owner, but you're still the CEO. So I guess partially you would need to almost break that apart and say, are you more of an owner who's maybe you know older and has stepped back a little now you have a different CEO? Yeah. running it, if that's the question and that's the case, then yes, it should you should be able to completely just move be be move on without you. yeah If you're still the active CEO and the active owner, I think...
Speaker: Yes, it should move and be able to to make it, but people should know you're missing. Totally fair. um what You touched on this a little bit, but what like specific systems, people, processes need to be in place before you can confidently kind of step away, whether it's a vacation or just growing growing to the company without you being there before seven? Yeah. So I can give a few examples and thoughts on that one. um Looking back, so we've been in business 19 years, kind of as land accord for 17. It was 19.
Speaker: And I look back in the beginning, and and it really, like we had some crazy growth in the beginning and a lot of really good years. So I'm not discounting that what we did through their work and we had a great team.
Speaker: I can say in the last probably seven to ten years, especially especially the last seven, we've really kind of tightened up on systems and processes a lot more.
Speaker: And we've been a lot more strategic about who's in what roles and putting more thought into it. And I can say since I started doing that, it it feels like I'm actually able to focus more on on what I need to do as far as vision.
Speaker: Are there still plenty of days where I feel pulled into it? Oh, absolutely. yeah But I think overall – hiring those right people. So for me, that was having, when I speak of the last seven years, but really this is the last five, hiring an executive assistant was huge for me and then hiring and moving our current general manager into that role.
Speaker: And that position title may change with time, but those two people have been super important because they're people that I can just trust, number one.
Speaker: They're people who just get the job done. Like, I've had cases in the past where you know there's been people under that I give a task list to or assignment to.
Speaker: and in the ideal world, once you assign or delegate, it's no longer on your list. And I had those people in place. And they were great at a lot of things. so I'm not discounting them at all.
Speaker: But I couldn't take it off of my plate. i So then that meant, OK, so I have my to-do. I literally for a while, I had my to-do list here. this person's to-do list here.
Speaker: And then that's when it hit me one day. I'm like, what am I doing? yeah why why am i Why do I still have this person's to-do list? I shouldn't have to-do list for them. And that's when i realized not that they were the wrong person to be employed. they were in the wrong position.
Speaker: So we made some changes there. And that's just one example of ah of about three that I can think of. But it was those little pivots um and then putting the right people to where I know, like our general manager, executive assistant. Those two I'll name off. And there's another guy Workforce, kind of like a project manager. He's been with us for a long time.
Speaker: Those specifically I know i can just delegate it. I don't have to come back to it because it's going to be done. And also they're great. I'm one of those people who I have a lot of different vision ideas in my head. yeah And sometimes it's just like, I just want to fire them off. And over the last 19 years, one of the people that worked for me the very beginning was kind of like my GM back then. i think she at times got annoyed with the amount of like vision. Like I would just spit it all out. this yeah boom but boom I'd take a flight somewhere, go to a meeting, drive. I'd just like' be texting all these ideas. And it for her, it became overwhelming, as it would anybody. So I totally get it. But that feedback from her let me then know, you don't need to tell them every idea and vision the moment it comes to your head. Think about it some more. Develop it fully. Present it with the ones you want to move forward with. Don't freak them out. So anyway, lesson learned.
Speaker: Now I feel like with this team here, I've matured and grown in that area. But then also I have those people in place that like, you know what, let's help him execute that vision. Now, do we do it at 100%? No.
Speaker: And there's things we run into just like any company where you you get into it a way like, eh, we need to modify this or pivot this or maybe this actually isn't working that great. Then we'll do something else. But having that key staff is so, so important.
Speaker: And I think when you first start out or getting going, I think you sometimes, again, think maybe either I don't have those people currently employed here, I need to hire from within. Into that I would say don't be afraid to put it out there. You never know who may actually apply that would be awesome for you guys. frank So don't be afraid to put that out there. Try a lot of the ones with our staff currently.
Speaker: Probably 75% were external hires, actually, on the in the in the like upper management staff. And so far, it's worked out great. Now, some are internal, and they've worked out great as well. But you've got to know your team, know their strengths.
Speaker: to have some people that you think, hey you know this person's been with me a decade. I should naturally be able to move them into this project manager route. That may not be the case. They may be happy where they're at, number one, and they may not want that responsibility, and they may not excel at it. So you may be promoting someone from within into a position that they're ultimately going to fail at, and now you lose that person. yeah And you now you don't have that good foreman or whatever you thought they were before. So I think really knowing your team and their strengths, I know there's some different things. StrengthsFinder was an older like personality thing where it kind of like pinpoints –
Speaker: okay, Alex is good at like, you know, follow through or being given a task or this person is good at like just giving them a vague idea and they just go execute it on their own. Like to know your team and knowing, hey, this is what this person is good at. This is the type of positions they would excel at.
Speaker: I think that's key too. It's totally fair. If you had to start over today, what would you prioritize first to build a company that can eventually kind of run out run on its own? um Not to overly use systems, but definitely that. I think the world's changed a lot, too.
Speaker: So, like, right now, in the past year and a half, we've been working on, like, a custom, well, it's like an open ERP-type software. That existed when we started, but not to this level. Apps were on the scene when we started, but absolutely not to this level.
Speaker: I think... If you're listening today and this is where you are today, I think you have a huge advantage in that technology is completely your friend now. And I don't, it was almost there when we started, but it was nowhere near where it's at.
Speaker: I would take full, full advantage of technology now. yeah It is 100% going to be your friend. um For the most part, there is an app, a software that will handle whatever issues you're having as far as a system or a process that can automate so much stuff.
Speaker: And I think that's going to be the key to starting out and having some of those things that are more, i don't want to say redundant, but, you know, consistent. So like I did this position for a while and then I hired this person to do it.
Speaker: Does that look like a completely different department now? Or is there similarities that they have? but they then improved upon. That's what you want you want. You don't want the company to feel like it's completely, unless the company was trash beginning. But if the company was decent in the beginning and people used you because they loved the owner, they loved the quality, they loved you know the culture that you had, you want to leave those important things in place, but you want to hire and let that person improve upon the basics that you already built. exactly so But again, and that part goes back to hiring. And I think a lot of people are guilty of being too...
Speaker: I don't lazy, not putting enough thought into hiring. And sometimes it's just because you really need that position filled and you need it filled now. Like you're desperate. Like you you have to take some of this off your plate. Or maybe someone quit and you're filling that position.
Speaker: But sometimes you're desperate and hire desperate. i would caution against doing that especially. It makes sense. You touched on culture a little bit, and I think that's huge because for people to want to work for you and want to do the tasks given, they have to like where they work. and So culture is a big one. Yeah. Well, that's everything I had for you, unless there's anything you need to add to it. That's all I can think of, man. I think if you're...
Speaker: In that position, i think just be very aware of the challenges, um but don't just act to be acting. I think a lot of entrepreneurs, you just want to keep that ball moving forward. And I totally, totally get that. But I can also say sometimes you need to take a step back and just ask yourself, like, hey, is is what I'm getting ready to do is it the best step forward?
Speaker: What can I do to make this better? And I think as long as you're thinking long-term and you're looking ahead five, 10, 15 years, and you're keeping that overall vision in mind and in check, and then whatever you're doing today needs to help meet that vision, i think you'll be fine. But i just don't overthink it. But also think about it before you do it. For sure. For sure.
Speaker: Well, if you've watched the podcast, you know what I'm about to say. We have a Facebook group called The Better Contractor, and there's now 3,200 contractors in there that just try to get better every single day, whether it's asking questions, answering questions, or flexing your job sites, whatever you want to do. That's a great group for networking, for networking, whatever you want it to be. So join the Better Contractor Facebook group. We also just hit 17,000 subscribers on YouTube on this podcast. So thank you to all 17,000 of you. We're on the road to twenty k See if we can hit that before episode 100.
Speaker: So thank you for tuning in. We'll see you later. We'll hit it by you guys recommending it. So do it. There you go.
