Hi and welcome to another episode of celebrating small family businesses.

Today we are visiting Jacksonville, Florida with Jim Jessup and Michelle Maison of Redi Roofing.

Hi, Michelle.

Hi, Jim.

Hello.

How are you?

Wonderful, how are you?

Welcome to the party.

Very good, thanks.

Good to be here.

So ready Roofing.

I see you on your website that you guys, you've been in construction 20 plus years, but yeah, that's true.

How did you get started in that?

You know, it's in my blood.

My grandfather ran a construction company in North Carolina, a very successful one.

He built primarily single family homes in full communities and also had a real estate brokerage in Fayetteville, North Carolina.

But he was doing work all over the state primarily.

And so as a kid in the summer I spent a lot of time with him, just kind of shadowing him and watching all the work that was going on.

And I express an interest and my uncle, his son was, is an engineer, retired engineer and also working in the construction business.

So again, worked a little bit with him summers for school as well.

And, and then I had a departure, got into medical sales for many years, run out of college and then bought a little medical.

The company sold it to my partner, kind of retired, but I realized I didn't have enough income to stay retired.

And I'm always flipping and do a little bit of doing a bit of development.

So that's really what I enjoy doing.

And I got back into construction and that was several years ago.

So yeah, here we are having fun.

That's, that's a very broad background and I would think that gave you a lot of insight into the overall construction industry and what you're dealing with with roofing specifically.

Is that accurate?

Yeah.

So I look at roofing as something, as a prover concept I can wrap my hand around.

And you're kind of in and out very quickly.

It's not like you're doing a remodel that can take, you know, weeks or months.

You really have a day or two or three and you move on to the next project.

And I thought, well, that seems that was attractive to me.

And I paid for a lot of roofs and they're very expensive and they weren't getting any cheaper.

Gosh.

I was talking to a roofing company and I'll know a good roofer and I'll get a good, better deal.

And it just started off from scratch.

I didn't buy another company.

I just went to start calling and emailing my friends and contacts in the construction business and drummed up business that way.

And so it was really grassroots.

Started business.

I didn't know a lot about roofing.

I knew just enough to be dangerous.

It's like an inspector, you know, inspector is kind of a jack of all trades, master of none.

Not always, but oftentimes that's how I felt.

But so trial by fire.

I learned a lot now.

Still learning every day.

Do you still refer back to any family members that are in the construction industry when you need a hint?

Yeah, I do talk to my uncle again.

He's, he's retired.

He plays golf virtually every day that the weather allows it.

But.

And I, I pick his brain because he had many, many more years experience in the industry than I, I do.

And so, yeah, I pick his brain and then his friends and my father, when he was alive, he actually was in the industry for a short time, but very knowledgeable, so we did the same with him.

So, yeah, they, they're kind enough to show me the ropes early on.

Awesome.

Awesome.

Well, I, I guess I, you know, although podcasts tend to be somewhat timeless, we are here shortly after two hurricanes have gone through Florida.

Did you guys get real busy after Hurricane Helene?

We did get busier.

We did get a lot of calls for repairs, mostly.

Definitely had some reroofs due to the damage to the roofs on the residential and commercial side since we do both.

And then things have slowed down a bit because we had, as, you know, a bit of a dry spell.

Right now it's not raining in this area at all, but it's allowed us to catch up.

So, yeah, there's several, many, probably thousands of homeowners still fighting with insurance carriers to get their clients approved.

You.

The work, the needed work done.

So we're trying to help our little portion of that, our little pocket of North Flora.

Excellent.

So family business.

You, you come from a kind of a history of family business.

Although not, you know, not necessarily all sequential, but again, there's many, many different flavors.

And you guys are a little bit different flavor because you were already in business and it was established when you guys met, right?

Yeah, that's right.

You want to take that.

He already established it well before we met, but I kind of just joined when he had a need for a marketing manager.

And so I'm learning a lot.

She has, she's been, she's contributed a great deal and she's a big asset to the team.

So we were dating, she lived in Orlando, and so it was a solid two, two and a half hour commute, and it's very difficult to do it every weekend.

So I find her and she moved in and now she's living here and working.

She was in real estate and she took that skill step and it really did.

It really helped her here, her role here in market.

Because what she was doing is primarily marketing.

She was recruiting and she's also recruiting for two real estate agents, bar grassroots programs to generate leads for our sales guys.

And that was to, you know, schedule set up lunch alerts and also breakfast for the grocer and brokerages of our area so that we can introduce ourselves and our services to them and then of course, educate them as well so they can be more forward that value to their customers.

Here, your buyers.

Excellent, excellent.

Really helpful for us in establishing more business for our company.

So Michelle, did you have a background, a longer background in real estate or longer background in marketing?

Real estate for sure.

Marketing.

I'm very new at, so I'm learning as I go, but I do a real estate background.

I was a real estate.

Well, still have my real estate license, but I'm not practicing now.

But I did real estate for a while and then I did a lot of flipping as well.

I hate the word flipping because it makes it sound easy and it's so an audio.

A lot of work and very hot in Florida to be out doing all these kind of projects on them.

So it's not easy.

Like the shows make it look right.

Because they have staff for that.

Yeah, but she was a.

She was the recruiter for the largest boutique brokerage in Orlando.

And so she would recruit new agents.

Typically she'd go after, I believe, some of them, if I'm incorrect, newly licensed agents.

Most of them are newly licensed.

Sometimes they just came from other brokerages.

So most of them were newly licensed agents.

But I recruited them.

She was very successful at that.

So I thought it would.

That would really would help her set up these lunch alerts for us because she already knows the language and how to communicate well brokerages and what their hot points are.

And.

And it was a natural progression for her to do that.

And then she's picked up all the marketing on top of it.

So we keep her busy.

We just had a lunch and learn yesterday.

It was actually a breakfast and learn at Berkshire Hathaway yesterday.

And I set up the podcast.

So this is something we're doing now.

So smart so far.

It's good.

Yeah, that's.

It's kind of become the new hot thing.

PR agents are actually getting more active in booking their clients on podcasts because the traditional media is starting to decline and Podcasting is growing.

Thanks, Joe Bourbon.

He's helped a lot.

I, I've tried to stay on some of the statistics there.

I think the number one category of podcast, as far as listeners goes, is, is true crime.

That seems to be what most people are, you know, interested in that, that genre.

But then, you know, the, the, the top 10, they're all over the board and they don't have to all be like Joe Rogan.

That's.

That's another interesting thing.

I don't know if you follow any podcasts.

There's a neuroscientist named Andrew Huberman and.

I know the name.

I think I've seen his podcast.

He's not deadpan, but.

But he's very serious and factual and his podcasts go for three, four hours sometimes, just him.

My goodness, I've never been able to.

Get through one, I'll tell you that.

I have to geek out on his topics, I guess.

Well, it gives, it gives other people a lot to summarize then.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Well, it's a broad spectrum of topics you can cover in that, that world, I'm sure.

But Joe, we're going.

But Johnny, he can get.

Guess that no one else can get.

So I think that's a huge part of it.

He's a great interviewer, really.

Yes, he is interesting.

Yeah.

Anyway, enough about Joe Rooney.

He doesn't need us.

No, this is an agenda.

Well, so you've both done some house flipping and I think, Jim, you said you're still doing maybe some.

Or some, some minor.

Some small development.

It would seem like having, you know, having the roofing business would help manage your, Your costs on that.

Yeah, it would.

If I'd had the time, the bandwidth to really partake in that.

In that.

As I would like.

But roofing is keeping me pretty busy.

It truly is.

So I haven't done much.

I did, I did built a few houses down in southwest Florida and I was flipping houses here.

But then when we got busier, all my attentions, really, you're just to take care of.

Our customers are growing and scaling our business here.

I see.

So that's.

I'm hoping to find the time to get back into doing more of that.

I think the market may get a little better.

It softened a little bit.

Real estate, that was so.

What a great run we'd have.

Right.

Especially in Florida, but all over the country, really.

It softened a little bit, but I don't think we're kind of a lagging indicator in Florida because the growth here is so, so great.

And it's just no better time, I think, to be in construction industry in Florida than now.

It's just amazing how much construction is going on, how much growth, how much money being poured into here by BC and other investors for hedge funds and equity firms are investing a great deal in this, this market, in all the big markets in Florida.

So it's, they're building and we can't keep track of the bids.

We can't bid fast enough.

We've got probably five or six bids.

We send out a week of commercial jobs and they're, they're time consuming, so it takes a longer time just to prepare them.

And then of course, the residential is, is a very big part.

It brought us to the dance and we'll always be very big in the residential roofing.

You love it.

Well, one of the things I noticed on your website that I don't see on many roofer websites is solar shingle product.

And I was very curious about that.

Yeah, thank you for bringing that up.

We're one of the few certified GAF solar shingle installers in the area and I think that number is growing because you would imagine that it's an interesting lead in product and the demand is going to grow.

It's the only one out there, the Tesla shingle, that's actually really being actively marketed right now.

There's a huge benefit over the Tesla shingle.

It's about a fraction of the cost, but it's really an interesting product.

It's, you know, the old solar panels, I'd say old solar panels, they're still installing them today, but you see them on the roof, they're rather intrusive and they stick out quite a bit away from the roof because they have those brackets are installed and those penetrations into the roof.

Well, these are actually a shingle that's installed like a normal shingle.

Asphalt shingle.

Doesn't look like an asphalt shingle.

You can clearly see it's something different.

Puts a very low profile, doesn't create any additional penetrations other than what a shingle would create.

You get the tax credit and it's just a, it's just a really interesting product and we're hoping that it's a big part of our future.

That is so interesting.

Yeah, yeah, we've got several solar.

We're part of a local networking group and there's several solar contractors in there and also roofers.

And there seems to be this kind of dance between the two industries because the solar guys are selling the product.

But you got to Time it based on when the roof needs to be replaced, because they don't want to do all those penetrations through an old roof.

And then two years from now, having to take it all back off that several thousand dollars, replace the roof, and then put it all back on.

And.

And then if there's a windstorm, you know whose fault, it just seems like a nightmare.

I think it's very perceptive and insightful of you to bring that up, because that is a big difference.

Now, one thing with these solar shingles, they're only put on when you are actually replacing the roof.

You don't put them on if you have a roof that you're not replacing.

So if you have an old roof and you go, I'm making the roof, and gosh, solar.

Solar looks like a great idea as well.

For my home, this would be great.

A great thing to look at is just to potentially put the solar shingle on, which is the same footprint as solar panels.

So it's not the entire roof that's covered in this material.

It's just where you would put the solar panels.

The 30% tax credit is also available to the homeowner or the business owner for the roof itself, not just the solar shingles.

That's not the case with solar panels, only the solar.

So if you got a 20,000 roof, you get potentially a $6,000 tax credit for installing that roof on top of the tax credit you get for the solar shingles themselves.

So that's a big benefit.

And it's.

It's easier, installs quicker, and you don't have to take them off and put them back on, which is about 250 to $350 per panel.

To take them off and put it back on, you avoid the warranty unless it's taken off and reinstalled by the original manufacturer's representative certified installer.

Otherwise, board the warranty, or if it's out of warranty, then you got to be real careful to do.

There's only a few roofers in town that would really touch them.

We do them, but we.

We prefer not to because then we're liable.

Right.

So we'd rather not be.

We try to convince them.

If you're going to put a new roof on your muzzle, give them this new product.

Wow.

It's been a slow, I think, acceptance this product, but I think it's gaining momentum now.

So you'll see it more and more.

It'll be, I think, mainstream.

In five to 10 years, it'll be mainstream over the solar panels.

I think as new installations start.

Yeah.

And then what about batteries?

See, I geek out on technology, so.

Oh, it's great.

I love it.

It's all.

That's pretty much the same.

So the same footprint, same kilowatt output will be the same in that footprint with a solar shingle.

And it's very durable.

It's more durable than a solar panel.

I mean, you could take very large hills you see out west, like in Oklahoma, Texas, and Colorado, and that part of the country get much larger, much more powerful.

Ha.

We do here in Florida.

It will stand that.

I mean, we even do a test with a hammer.

You take a hammer to it and tap it pretty darn hard, and you won't damage it.

So it's.

It's very durable.

So, yeah, we think it's definitely the future.

Wow.

Okay, boys, let's get off of this.

Let's go back to jump in.

Go for it, Family.

So what have you.

Sorry, we didn't know.

It was interesting because unfortunately, we just put a new roof on, so, you know, three.

About three years ago.

So we're a little ways away, but.

Yeah, but, man, my wheels are turning them.

Oh, yeah.

Oh, yeah.

I can now I can see him just going, oh, we're.

We're looking into this.

Anyway, so what have you learned because you were dating before you.

You joined Michelle.

Right.

So what have you learned more about each other working together?

Good question.

I've gained a lot of respect for him just seeing the way he runs his business and everyone loves to listen to him, and he has so much to offer.

He's such a great boss and so kind and very patient with people.

So I.

Here's the $20.

I promise.

Thank you.

He's a very hard worker.

Sometimes he calls me in the office for something and then his phone rings, and I don't even get to find out what it was.

Yeah.

So it could be pretty.

Pretty dozen here.

You know, I was a little worried about working together, like how it might change the dynamics of the relationship, but really, we don't even see a lot of each other during the day.

We're both so busy doing our own things, and I rarely see him during the day.

Maybe just little bit here and there, but I don't see him too much.

I sit in my own office.

He sits in his office.

Sometimes we'll have lunch together.

That's about it.

Okay, well, so if I could just contribute a little bit to that.

She's been a godsend in her office.

She's contributed greatly with just morale her voices.

Everybody loves her voice.

All the customers love her voice, that she's genuinely as kind as she sounds and she comes across.

And in my opinion, I think everybody, she's as beautiful as she is kind.

So she's breath of fresh air in the roofing business.

It's a bunch of hard nosed guys in our industry.

Men driven, very few women in the business.

So we welcome women in routine.

And I hope there's more and more women come into this industry.

You bring skill set that those rough guys, unorganized, could really learn from.

I think our office manager is a woman.

She's really great.

Her name is Kat.

So she's a huge, huge help.

She works.

She's been with me for four and a half years, I believe, and she works now remotely, almost exclusively.

She has a health condition, but she's very capable and, and tough nose.

And then you have to be tough for these guys sometimes.

So, yeah, you do well on a sidebar.

My first car, I had to roof a house to get it with my father.

Oh, yes.

He.

He said, if you want this car, you have to roof this house with me.

I'll bet you really appreciated that car after all that hard work.

Pos.

But we won't talk about that.

Well, you definitely.

I did, I did, but it was.

Yeah, so I, I just remember one.

So I worked for her father for a brief time after we met and, and he was kind of a jack of all trades, contractor, but he would do things like adding a room onto somebody's house or something.

And I remember him saying, okay, carry that pack of shingles, you know, up the ladder.

And I looked at the shingles and I looked at the ladder and I, I picked up the shingles.

I could barely pick the thing up.

And I said, there's no way I'm getting up that pattern.

That's hard.

These guys work so hard.

Yeah, it's amazing.

They're amazing.

We're very, we're blessed with.

And they work very hard.

And they do carry.

They're very young as well, but they do carry a bottle of shingles up if need be.

But fortunately you'll get.

You have to know that the suppliers load the roofs typically of all the heavy stuff.

Yes.

We saw that when our house got reroofed, the truck that delivered the shingles had the convey belt on a boom right on the truck.

And it just like they went straight on the roof.

I would have killed for that that summer.

That's like the invention of the Internet for roofing.

Yeah.

A lot less Roofers, I think in the world if they didn't have technology like that, it's just.

If I can think about Florida in the summer, these guys are up there and when you're on a roof it's about 15 to 20 degrees warmer in a warmer condition.

Like, like summer Florida.

Right.

You can get up to mid-90s with a high humidity and they, and they all wear long sleeve shirts and long pants.

So they're warm but they're used to it.

So if it's 90, it's going to be about 105 up there on that roof and, or, and it could be 95 and higher here, it could be 100 here.

So just at 15 degrees it's difficult, difficult job.

And you gotta, and I have a lot of respect for what they do is there.

Is mopping hot tar still a thing?

You know it's not really.

We've only done proud to say only one and it was a municipality, it was one of the electric utilities grabbing a substation and we did the roof from their substation.

We've been asked to do it and we convinced another contractor, we convinced them to do an alternative method of roofing and they went without with our suggestion.

So we see very little of it.

The good with that type of roof is it does last a long time.

The bad news is it's a dying art.

There's not many people to do it and it's dangerous.

Yeah.

So due to quoting.

Yeah, it's very different.

I would think that would be challenging to quote.

Yeah.

With the, I mean when Connie was talking about doing a roof and then you mentioned the heat in Florida, I remembered back to before we met.

So you know, the dinosaurs were still running around, but we had an egg farm and we built an addition and there was a, you know, we had a cooler and new roof.

And so they were mopping hot tar on this flat roof, you know, in the sand in the middle of the Florida summertime.

So you talk about the temperatures.

It probably had to be 150 degrees up there.

And they're big rubber boots.

Yeah.

Well you've got to be how well, well be well protected.

It's, it doesn't take long if you get that on you, you know, you have it on you.

It's, it's hot, it burns right through.

Your skin like napalm is what I heard it compared to.

Yeah, knock on wood.

None of has ever been injured.

We have had very, very little injuries all, all together.

No one ever had to go to the hospital.

But yeah, that's what I could see where you could, you could get injured if you're not extremely careful.

So we just, we've elected not to really partake in those bids.

But yeah, you know, predominantly UCs shingle.

Right.

It's probably what you have in your roof.

And then the most fastest growing roofing in the industry right now is, is metalworks of all ilks.

And there's for good reason.

They hold up really, really well in high wind situations and they look good.

The pricing has come down a little bit so much more than the shingle, but it's becoming extremely popular, especially new construction and custom homes and mature things.

Interesting.

So Michelle, we do what we do.

Michelle, do you get up on roofs at any point?

No matter.

She wouldn't want to.

They wouldn't want me to.

She's not built for roofing.

Well.

So I'm kind of back to the question of learning what's something that you've learned that you know now that you wish you'd known when you got started.

Yeah, I think that's a good question.

I could really touch on several topics there.

But let's see, the one that pops in a My mind is really now this is, if I may take this opportunity to maybe give a little bit of suggestion to somebody starting on business, service industry or any industry for that matter, really it's extremely important to know your numbers and to manage your cash flow.

I mean, as you know, probably that majority of businesses that do fail, they do fail in the first two years, it's due to cash flow situation, cash flow issues.

And so you've got to really manage that.

And sometimes it's you, you feel like you got to take on this big job, but you kind of have hardly really do your do your research and prepare for it and you can go end up getting in trouble.

And I've known some guys have done very well in the residential space.

They've gone into commercial, they've taken on much larger jobs they really are prepared for and they get, they get really behind the eight ball in terms of having to pay the suppliers and paying the crews and your insurance.

And some have gone out of business and some have said, oh no more commercial.

They've learned a lot.

A very valuable, very expensive lesson.

Well, we have a tendency to learn expensive lessons as well here at Ready Roofing, unfortunately.

But we try not to duplicate those mistakes with, you know, one time, one and done and unfortunately not always the case, but usually is.

So we're very careful in what jobs that we go after.

So we Know what, our, our place are bailiwick as we do know that.

And we're not going to install any Walmarts probably this year.

I know something that large, but something under 10 or say 50,000 square feet, 100,000 square feet or less.

We certainly little warehouses, strip centers, restaurants.

That's kind of becoming our niche in terms of commercial space.

We're building a reputation in commercial.

So I think it's very important to get your brand going, go out there, knock on doors, talk to realtors, or just do anyone that could potentially get free business.

You get out there, don't be afraid to talk with them, take them to lunch, let them get to know you as a person and not just try to sell them something.

Really get to know them and get to know their business and what their needs are.

And one of the first things our sales guys are trained to ask is what's important to you when you're selecting a contractor?

You know, it may be different to several people.

And that's, I think, a very important question to ask as opposed to say, I'll give you a better price or give you a better product.

Well, you don't know what's important to that person.

And so I asked that question.

So always do that, always learn, never that you know everything and everything.

It seems simple, right?

Roofing is.

Roofing it's not.

There's so many details.

Like any part of construction, really, any business, always be a student of your, of your endeavor and of your, your business customers.

Always, always first.

Always.

Right.

So there you go.

That's a lot.

Yeah, that's a lot of good advice and cash flow.

Yes.

So so many contractors or stories you hear about, you know, somebody like they want half the money down, you know, before the job starts.

And that's so they can buy the materials, but it's also so they can fund and you can, you can set up this set of dominoes.

That one thing goes wrong and the whole thing collapses.

And I think that's where you're talking about when somebody goes out of business.

And yeah, I think it's part of it, and it's definitely part of it.

And yeah, we try to keep all the funds for a project related to that project as opposed to commingle funds for projects.

Then you make trouble.

Now you can, you can't in this is right.

And unless you've got a really big pipeline of business coming through, that's that, that's, that's an issue.

So you've got to make sure you look at it every day and then you keep your finger on that pulse.

But it's like any business, it's a challenge, right?

But you.

The rewards are there and you really appreciate them because, you know, your hard work and your efforts got you to where you are.

And we all haven't always in game.

My end game is, I see selling the business and making sure that it's.

They're taking care of the customers in.

In Florida right now.

I think in particular, we're very attractive to private equity firms because they feel that, you know, there's so much growth here, that there's a lot of opportunity.

But all with that growth brings saturation and competition.

There's a lot of it.

There are over a thousand registered roofers in.

In our city alone.

Well, there's about 120 certified roofing contractors in Jacksonville.

And yeah, I know it seems like an awful lot, right.

The certified contracts are the ones that are really actively going after the business.

And there's about 20 of us that I think are viable competitors that are here for the long haul that doing a good job of their brand and taking care of the customers and providing a good service.

So that's who my competitors are.

You know, the 19 others like this.

That's great that you got that figured out.

And do you all get together and talk?

Do you have a, you know, work.

Well, yeah, you know, your.

Your competitors.

Do you all like.

Do you have a support group?

Oh, yeah.

It's interesting.

There is a roofing consortium here in town.

It's a group that.

And yeah, I'm ashamed to admit I've not gone but one, but they do get together every quarter.

And then there's all types of associations and groups and forums like on Facebook.

And so that we go on and we share ideas and talk about, you know, different techniques and different spots, roofing systems, what works and what doesn't work, and also where it's different suppliers.

And we share crews because a lot of the crews are subcontractors.

They have to go beyond our workers comp and our general liability insurance.

But they still can go work for another contractor once the work for us is done.

So that's very typical in contracting, not just roofing, but just as the example.

So, yeah, we do.

We do communicate.

I talked to some roofers and then I have one that was my model, my mentor company.

I try to model my business after theirs and.

And they just sold about a year and a half ago to a private equity firm and they not the same company.

So now I'm looking for that other company to try to duplicate and maybe we'll be that company for somebody.

Right?

Yeah, that'd be nice.

We do talk.

We do talk.

I'd love to do that more.

I really would.

Well, it's so important in any industry to have somebody else that knows what you're going through to help with that.

Right.

I absolutely agree.

And I think, you know, having a run, little meet every quarter association is one thing, but I think a group of us should get together, go have breakfast, go have lunch together and just there's plenty of business out there.

And most of the roofers that I know, all of the ones that I know, really, it's a friendly competition.

We get along.

You know, some people are going after each other and stabbing each other in the back.

We see, you see some of that, but you could just walk away.

You don't have to associate with other people.

Right.

So there's plenty of good people are interested like any in the trip.

And there's a couple of bad apples, sure.

But yeah, right.

Their true colors usually rise to the surface and they get discovered and they get pushed out.

And that's happened in Jacksonville.

We've had a couple of on the news.

A couple of them.

I won't mention names, but I think you probably knew they know who they are.

Well, karma's a.

He will come back and bite you.

Well, you mentioned the exit strategy, and that is, you know, one of our, one of our questions that we like to ask is kind of like, what's next?

And so I love that you brought up exit strategy.

Whether it's a family business talking about succession or just you still got to be thinking about where is this going to go?

And so many family businesses, the founder generation thinks, well, I'll either just turn it over to my kids or I'll sell it when I'm done.

And the reality is different than that.

Right.

Because if, if you're, if your presence is required every day, it's a hard sell.

Yeah, right now it is.

And so I did, I did hire one point a GM last year, you know, manager, and just wasn't a good fit.

Just we didn't get accomplished what we were hoping to, so we parted ways.

But I'm looking for that person and I have a good sales manager now, I think.

And I don't know if he's willing to take on all the day to day because it's, it's, it's a handful.

So.

You're absolutely right.

I think the, the equity firms, like, for a company that can kind of hum along without that owner be present every day.

Obviously you're managing from a higher level and dashboard you can see what's going on.

You can help make the big decisions, but you got to have someone that's managing the day to day and they can.

And you've got a really strong process in place.

Right.

And we're working on that.

That's our goal.

You know, there's, there's a different accounting, things they look forward to, like going over to accrual accounting.

So cash accounting.

Most people are visiting cash accounting and going over cruel accounting is a challenge.

But we're working toward that, that end goal with our gpa and we'll be there early next year, I think.

And.

But I'm not going to sell it tomorrow.

But I'm 61 and I don't feel it, but I am.

And so, you know, you always think about those things.

Right.

When you get on.

So you're not.

I want to make sure that.

What's that?

You're not too early to be planning to have a long.

And so.

Yeah.

And so we're make sure that whoever takes over this company takes care of our customers.

Right.

And.

And follows your values.

Right, right.

And.

And we want to continue with a strong legacy of Ready Roofing is a good company that to use and to work with and work for.

Right.

So we want our people that work here to be taken care of as well.

And I'll make sure that happens.

And whoever, whoever is the new owner.

Ready Roofing could be way down the road.

We'll see.

Cool.

Wow.

Well, yeah.

Values.

You mentioned values.

That's what I'm hearing.

And that.

And you, you said something earlier and I just, I lost the detail, but it was about values alignment.

And I think whether it's, you know, whether you're talking about your salespeople, you ask you, you have your salespeople ask the customer, you know, the commercial customer.

So what do you look for in a contractor?

And that.

Right.

There is a process of values alignment.

You're finding out what they're, what they find important and valuable.

And then you look for a fit.

And whether it's that, whether it's customer relations, whether it's internal, you know, hiring, or whether it's succession.

That's such a foundational piece and I love hearing about that.

You know, I think it's important to really listen to your customer and ask questions and just hush up, don't say anything, let them talk until they're.

They're done talking.

And most Salespeople.

Not all, but most don't really do that exceptionally well, and I been guilty of that as well.

And I go out there to train new salespeople, and I kind of let you handle this sales call, and I don't let them handle the sales car.

Can't help myself, you know, control the.

The sales.

Sales call, and they'll tell me, you didn't let me say a word.

Oh, I'm sorry.

The next one.

Then I'll let them talk, and I'll pipe in there and.

But then I would say just then I'll always tell them, just ask a question and let them talk.

Don't ask a yes or no question.

Tell me about what you're looking for, what's important to you, the.

What's important to selecting a contractor.

I'll let them just expand on that as much as they can, and then when they're ready to ask you a question, then we can answer the question, then become their expert and someone they feel they can rely on.

You got to build that relationship.

I think it's extremely important, building a relationship or rapport, at least the first meeting with that customer.

There's a lot of roofing salespeople and construction salespeople out there, and you got to make sure that the customer is the most important person in the room and that just your paycheck, trying to sell them something.

So that's a big part of our training, and I think our guys have done a good job of that.

So I wish I had more good salespeople.

I just don't have enough of them right now.

So.

A lot of roots out there.

There you go.

Well, hopefully this recording will attract some new ones, too.

There you go.

Oh, love it.

Yeah, it's.

It can be very lucrative and.

And very rewarding.

You're helping a lot of people out.

You get it, really, because it's.

It's stressful.

You're spending a homeowner spending a lot of money.

It's very intrusive.

Right.

You're tearing up their roof and there's nails everywhere and a lot of noise.

And they have pets.

The pets are going crazy with all the banging of the hammering and the nail guns and all these guys running around.

And unfortunately, it's just a day or two, but it's very intrusive and very expensive, and it's a major investment for them.

Yes.

As a homeowner, we're not trained.

We only do that a few times in our life, and we don't really know how to buy it.

And we don't know what to ask for, you know, or what to watch out for.

And, and then, you know, you, you find out later when, when you've made that expensive mistake you were talking about.

And, and then you're talking about the custom.

Yeah, right, right.

And then.

Yeah.

Well, their customer experience is extremely important.

You want it to be a pleasant one.

It's not always going to be pleasant because writing those checks aren't necessarily not pleasant.

And having to deal with the noise.

But long as they're prepared, they know what do they have.

They have a realistic expectation.

And so that's really on us to make sure we relay that to them in a way that they understand and can appreciate.

They're going to be put out a little bit for about a day, but we'll make it up to you.

We'll be in and out pretty quickly.

We'll clean up your yard, be better than new, and your roof will be beautiful.

And just tell them every step of the way what's happening and over communicate.

And we find that our biggest complaint that we never had when we first started was we just didn't communicate pretty cool, you know, for the customer.

You didn't tell us that the.

Is going to be delivered.

You know, this happened.

Those can be tomorrow morning.

So that we make sure now that we do communicate with the customer.

So they're well informed that our step of the process.

That's.

That's excellent.

Yeah.

I.

One, one couple we interviewed, they're in the flooring business and they said, you know, he said, I always have the conversation with the customer.

There's going to come a time.

I don't know exactly where it's going to be.

There's going to come a time when you're going to have a freakout moment or you're going to get triggered and it's going to be, oh my God, have I made a mistake?

And, and so ready.

Be ready for that.

We'll, we'll talk through it when it happens, but just know that it's probably going to happen.

What a great transparency, you know.

And you talk about writing that big check.

Yeah, there's.

You sign that contract and it's like, did I just do that?

And it's for a roof where I'm not driving in it.

I'm not, you know.

Yeah, right.

Yeah.

It's like, well, it can be as much as a car, but typically you're very committedly priced.

It's usually not, thank goodness.

But, but you know, if you have leaky roof or Oftentimes a lot of business comes from insurance carriers notifying the homeowner you got to replace your roof, you can not renew your policy or your premiums are going to be increased.

Yeah, I've also had that happen to me and a lot of homeowners have.

Majority of us probably have or if they haven't, we will.

And In Florida it's 15 years.

If it roots 15 years expect to get that letter, I betcha.

Yep.

So if you don't start yet, there's.

A dental like now we're.

Now we're under a pressure.

Yes.

And now you better find something quickly.

In the month of November.

So we got the holidays ahead of us and all that.

Great.

It's a lot of fun.

Well, it, this has been such a pleasure.

Thank you so much for spending this time with us.

Is there anything else you'd like to share?

Any of your wisdom?

Michelle?

She has a lot of it.

Well, I also used to own my own businesses before I got into real estate but it was more in the beauty industry, hair removal and makeup and things like that.

So any advice to small business owner.

Because that you did use was just as important as what he does.

Sure.

Though.

Yeah.

I ran my business.

I started it from Nothing, just with zero clients all the way for 10 years before I sold it.

By the time I sold it it, I had a lot of clients.

So it took a long time to build that up.

But it is a lot of hard work, but it's very rewarding.

Any advice to a small business you wanna do words of wisdom you want.

To share also just making the clients happy.

That's exactly how I built my clientele.

Just making sure I was always professional and making my clients happy.

And I got word of mouth.

I barely advertise so I just, you know, kept on getting word of mouth.

And that's what we look for.

Yeah.

Yeah.

That referral business is a huge part of our, our growth and our monthly business is just referrals and it speaks volumes.

Right.

And we get anything from inspectors.

Inspectors refer business to us and you.

I never expected that to happen.

Go on.

You should call Rudy Roofing or they'll still just do a drive by and.

Or some tell our customers that.

But of the final inspection if they know that it's a pretty good job or to get good work.

So they'll do drive by and look at it.

Then we'll go up and look at it too closely because they don't think they need to.

But they're so busy.

So that's a strong testament to the work.

So we're always trying and always, always trying to improve and we've thrived to improve every step and every point of contact with the customer and the roof.

But she's been a big part of that.

Everybody seems to love her, customers love her and the staff loves her.

And so that's a big part of us having a good, solid team.

So thank you.

Yeah.

A lot of concern about, treat.

Concern about people.

That's what I hear here.

And when a well run office, everything else goes down from there.

Right.

Because if you're, if you've got your act together, then it's easier for, for other people to work with you.

Bottom line, for sure.

And it starts with the head and it goes down, trickles down.

They said, you know, well, and the doggies contribute to, they, they keep all the tigers and lions and berries out of the office.

That's important, especially in Florida.

Yeah.

So they're watching.

They, they shower you with affection when you walk in the office.

So that's part of the energy that, you know, builds that calm and, and warm feeling when people are there.

Yeah.

Good job, guys.

Add them to our website.

Well, there you go.

Yes.

Put them on the meet the team page.

There you go.

Yes.

Well, thank you.

Thank you so much.

We really appreciate this time.

I hope for all those that get to see this hello out there and hope there's some value in this for you and look forward to seeing you on the other side.

Thanks.

Well, and if there's anything we can help you with, please let us know.

We're here.

And then the same time zone.

Thank you.

Yeah, same time zone.

I know it's too early to say Happy holidays, but we're just about there with Thanksgiving's next week.

Right?

Next week.

Happy holidays.

Well, enjoy.

Thank you.

Appreciate it.