January 3, 2024 • 21 mins
In this episode of Building Billions with Brandon Dawson, I sat down with my long-time friend, the remarkably successful Greg Bolt, as we dive headfirst into the thrilling launch of our new venture, "10X Roofing." Buckle up for an engaging conversation where the two of us share our journey spanning over 30 years of friendship and business collaboration.
Discover the secrets behind Greg's phenomenal success, from taking over a family roofing business in 2004, steering it from a modest $3 million in revenue to an astonishing $50 million by 2019. Unveil the pivotal moments, including strategic decisions, growth challenges, and the ultimate sale of the business.
We discuss the critical turning points in Greg's entrepreneurial expedition, shedding light on the transformative impact of implementing sound business strategies, building robust teams, and addressing key operational challenges. This episode also delves into the intricacies of Greg's successful exit strategy in 2019 and his subsequent experience working with the largest consolidator in North America.
But that's not all – get ready for a major announcement as we unveil their latest venture, "10X Roofing." We share our vision of revolutionizing the roofing industry by assisting independent roofing businesses in scaling their operations, creating massive value, and ultimately becoming part of a larger organization.
For roofers and home service professionals seeking a game-changing opportunity to elevate their businesses, this episode is a must-listen. Join the roofing revolution and learn how "10X Roofing" aims to empower entrepreneurs, provide resources, and foster a community where industry leaders can openly share insights, strategies, and success stories.
Tune in to witness the birth of a new era in roofing – where legends are launched, roofs are conquered, and billions are built.
Support the show: http://cardoneventures.com
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
S1 (00:09):
Hey, everybody, this is Brandon Dawson. Welcome back to another
episode of Building Billions with Brandon Dawson. Today, I'm talking
to a really super long term great friend, unbelievably successful guy.
His name is Greg Bolt. And what we're going to
be talking about is the launch of our new business,
ten X roofing. Greg, welcome to the show. Thanks, Brandon.
S2 (00:29):
Nice to see you.
S1 (00:30):
How long have we known each other?
S2 (00:32):
30 plus years.
S1 (00:33):
Oh my gosh, go fast. You had to sign that
NDA that you can't tell anybody any of my secrets.
S2 (00:39):
Yeah, there was like two of them.
S1 (00:41):
Two Indias or two secrets.
S2 (00:43):
Well, it was no. Two NDAs. There was so much
to hide.
S1 (00:46):
So much to hide. That's awesome. We've been friends. I
don't know, it's been over 30 years now. Yeah. And, uh,
we both were out in Oregon together. And when did
you sell your roofing business, 2019? 2019? I remember you
came to me. We were playing golf, and you're like, hey,
I've got this deal on my roofing business. And we
went through it and, uh, I gave you some insight
(01:07):
and all this other stuff, and, and you ended up
doing the deal very successful. But talk about how you
even got in the roofing space in the first place.
S2 (01:15):
So our family started the company in 1951. Wow. And
from 1951 to 2004, uh, the company stayed below 3
million in sales.
S1 (01:28):
And your dad was running, and.
S2 (01:30):
Uh, my uncle started in 51. My dad joined him
in 56. Uh, my cousins, uh, split off and took
another company with my uncle in the late 70s when
they came out of college. And then my brother and
I and my dad kind of ran ABC roofing, uh,
and then my dad stepped away. We bought him out.
What year.
S1 (01:50):
Was that?
S2 (01:51):
That my dad stepped away. Uh, 20, probably about 2010. Nine.
Got it.
S1 (01:58):
So you worked so. So I mean, literally the ultimate
family business. Two brothers. Yeah. Then they split off. One
takes his sons and goes one direction, the other he
has his two sons and and continues building the business.
And you guys worked with your dad for how many
years were you working before you took it over?
S2 (02:17):
I got out of college in 1985, but I started
working about 1978.
S1 (02:21):
So you you all through high school and everything, you
were working in the family business.
S2 (02:25):
Grade school.
S1 (02:25):
Grade school. It's crazy. It's I know that feeling. Um,
and so when you were working in grade school and
then you got into high school, and then as you
got started getting into your 20s and 30s, did you
ever think to yourself, one day I'm going to own
this business?
S2 (02:40):
No. I thought one day I'm going to get out
of the roofing business. But, uh, I enjoyed it. I
ended up being a great career, and it wasn't the
path I thought I was going to have when I
was in high school or even college. But, uh, I
had some great mentors and some great people I worked
with along the way, built some great relationships and wouldn't
(03:01):
change a thing.
S1 (03:02):
We're going to get into some of the details about
how you took the family business over some of the
things you did to grow it, and all that. But
before we do that, I have to share a story, please. So, look,
I'm going to embarrass myself a little bit here, but
in 1995, I believe it was or 96. We have
(03:22):
a mutual buddy and he tells me, hey, look, man, uh,
we all played golf together. And he says, look, uh,
we got to go help Greg and his roofing company
because he has a huge job. He needs help. He
doesn't have the manpower. And and you have to come
help me help him. And I'm like, yeah, sure, whatever, man. Whatever.
(03:42):
And so he says, look, but we got to go
to Home Depot and we got to get you the right,
you know, stuff. So I'm like, cool, that's whatever. So
we go to Home Depot and I buy these new boots,
I buy this great, uh, tool belt, I buy hammers,
he tells me he walks through and picks all the
stuff out I need. And, uh, and so I load
everything up into the trunk of my Mercedes, and I
(04:03):
meet out at the job site, and you're up on
this roof with your crew of people, and there's multiple
ladders going up there, and you're like, hey, man, I'm
glad you guys came. I can use your help. And
you were all excited that we were there. And I
open the trunk of my Mercedes, and I put on
my brand new tool belt with all my stuff, and
I put on my brand new boots, and I come
climbing up the ladders and and I step onto the roof,
(04:25):
and it was a hot tar roof. And within about
15 20 minutes I was stuck on the roof. I
had shit all over my body, and at one point
I'm like, I cannot believe this is what these guys
needed me to do. And I turn around and you
and your whole crew and that guy are all sitting
there looking at me, laughing your asses off. The whole
thing was a prank.
S3 (04:46):
It was good. I felt like.
S1 (04:50):
Such a dumb ass. I had tar all over my
body and you guys are laughing. Every new thing I
had bought at Home Depot was covered with tar. Covered
with tar. Totally ruined. And you guys pranked me. And
I have to tell that story because every time I
tell it, even today, I laugh my ass off.
S3 (05:06):
That's good. That's supposed.
S1 (05:09):
Boy, we had a lot of fun over the last
30 years. We have?
S2 (05:12):
Yeah, it's been good.
S1 (05:12):
You were at my 50th birthday. I mean, we've we've
had a lot of fun together. And you sold your business, so.
So you. So what year did you take your dad?
You bought your dad out?
S2 (05:23):
Uh, we bought him out right there. Right on 10
or 11.
S1 (05:26):
20, 10 or 11 and. And over the 40 years or. Yeah, 50,
60 years from it starting. How big was the business
and how long had it been that size before you
bought it out?
S2 (05:39):
Well, we started it from 1951 to 2004. We never
got more than $3 million in revenue.
S1 (05:46):
That's crazy.
S2 (05:47):
It is crazy.
S1 (05:48):
And in 2004 is about the time you started taking
over the actual operations of the business.
S2 (05:52):
Yeah, we kind of. We hired a consultant. We I
brought in an outside consultant and paid him a bunch
of dough.
S1 (05:58):
How hard was it for you to convince your dad
to let you do that?
S3 (06:02):
Uh, I.
S2 (06:02):
Think the guy was a hell of a salesman, and
so he kind of hook, line and sinker. My dad
and I thought, great. You know, this is fantastic.
S1 (06:11):
I can get some help.
S2 (06:12):
Yeah, and I did. And, uh, we immediately went boom!
From 3 million to 8 million. And we hit what's
commonly known as break.
S1 (06:20):
Point two top and break point two. But you didn't
know that.
S3 (06:22):
At that time.
S1 (06:23):
I didn't even know it at the time.
S2 (06:24):
No, no. But like, if I say it, I mean,
when I sat through the ten x360 and read through
those breakpoints and why you stop and why you go
and how you get through them, it was like reading
the last, you know, 15 years of my life in business, uh,
(06:45):
most of it from two, three and four in the
last seven years. But it was like, I couldn't believe
just how accurate that information was and what it meant
to get through those points and how accurate it was,
how accurate the information was.
S1 (07:02):
And did it help you relive a little bit those
moments when you're looking at that and you can remember, oh,
I remember, oh yeah.
S2 (07:08):
So I remember, you know, my brother coming up to
me and uh, ask me a question about, I don't know,
we were buying something or spending some. I was going
to spend some money on something. He goes. Why are
you going to do that? I said, you know, I
just think it's a good idea. I don't know, I've
never run a $10 million roofing business before, but I
think it's what we need to do. And that's pretty
(07:31):
exemplary of what I think small businesses go through. They go,
I don't know, I just I make good decisions. I'm
going to try it. And it's it. Most of the
time it worked. I'd say it was 90% good on my, um,
execution or my decisions, but there was that 10% that
I was bad. And, you know, it. It hits you. Yeah.
(07:52):
Gets your attention.
S1 (07:53):
Yeah. And what happens with that 10% or 20 or 30%
as it starts digging your confidence and still taking those,
those risks. But you built that business, so you took
it over. You got the consultant, you started following advice.
And then all of a sudden you hit break .28 million.
What are some of the adjustments you had to make
at that point in time?
S2 (08:12):
Well, probably the biggest thing I did was I started
adding people, layers of people. And uh, so I brought
I already had a superintendent. My superintendent came and said, hey,
you need a ops guy. I said, great, you're the guy.
You're the ops guy. Get us a superintendent. So we
started backfilling and building a team so that I could
(08:33):
start focusing, and my brother could start focusing on what
we did well, which was actually customer relations and sales
and vision, you know. So.
S1 (08:42):
So now you're going into break point three, 10 million,
12 million, and you're sitting in the class and you're
hearing me talk about the three leaders you need in
the company. And you're exactly.
S2 (08:50):
Exactly what.
S1 (08:51):
You and your mind are like. I know I remember
exactly when that happened and what the result was. A building,
that team.
S2 (08:57):
Yeah, it was incredible just exactly what happened to me. Yeah.
Except it took me a long time to do it.
S1 (09:04):
Yeah. And that's that, you know? So really, it's it's
time now for full disclosure, I never really did any research.
I just wrote the story of your business from you.
All the golf.
S3 (09:15):
That's what it looks like.
S1 (09:16):
Yeah. So you you get a royalty now on everything? Yeah.
S3 (09:20):
Okay. Perfect.
S1 (09:21):
Yeah. You're in. So, so look. So. So now fast
forward a little bit more, uh, 2019, we start talking
in 1819, you're starting to get offers on your business, and,
and and I, I sit with you and walk you through. Hey,
this is what they're going to do. This is how
they're going to do it. Here's what they're going to
pay you. Here's the spread. They're going to go out
in the marketplace. I lay it all out, and there
(09:42):
really wasn't a lot of roofing buying companies back then.
There was only a couple, right?
S2 (09:46):
Correct. They were the biggest and the best. And the
other guys were regional flaky. I mean, well, it's okay.
I mean, they just just they just weren't as solid.
There's one company I wanted to sell to and they
were the right company in the right fit and had
the right mentality that fit us and fit really the
(10:07):
roofing industry today because now they're the biggest they're number one.
S1 (10:10):
Number one, it's and when when that was happening and
I laid out on a piece of paper, this is
what the reality of the world is going to be.
This is what they're going to do. This is what
they're going to go to market with. How close was I?
When you go backwards for years. Exactly. Exact?
S2 (10:26):
Yeah. Exact again. You know, sitting in that ten x360,
it was just like this is exactly what happened. I
don't know if you're doing it for my benefit or not,
but obviously you weren't. It was for everybody's benefit. It
just happened to fit exactly my story. Yep.
S1 (10:43):
Now it's still a great story because you sold for
enough money. You never have to work again the rest
of your life unless you choose to do something, which
we're going to have a big announcement at the end
of this podcast. Um, and or did I announce it
at the beginning? I think you did. I already I
already let the cat out of the back. You see?
There you go. So I was so excited. Um, but
(11:05):
you had a huge exit, and then you went and
started working with the largest consolidator in North America for roofing. Correct.
And the last basically five years, 4 or 5 years,
you've been working with them and watching their explosive growth. Yes.
Which is exactly what I said. This is what their
(11:26):
strategy is going to be. Then they're going to go
to a private equity group, then they're going to do this,
then they're going to do that. And that's exactly what
they've done. And so you and I were talking about
this because we have so many roofers in our community,
both commercial and residential. And I said to you, I
don't know when maybe a year ago I said, dude,
(11:46):
I'm getting all these roofers coming in and it sure
would be fun to do something with you. And you
were like, yeah, I've got this commitment and I'm serving
out my commitment and everything. Well, now your commitments up. Yes.
And you're a free agent? Yes. So you and I
were together about 3 or 4 months ago, and you're like, hey,
remember that thing we were talking about? I think we
(12:06):
could go help thousands. Of independent business owners that were
just like your family business grow, create massive value and
eventually become part of a larger organization either through affiliation
or whatever. But creating massive value, growing the business and
having a higher, profitable, successful business take the pressure off
(12:28):
the individual and allow them to really learn how to
build something that can work for them the way you did.
S2 (12:34):
Yeah.
S1 (12:35):
And so you're basically saying, hey, I want to come
out of retirement, not really retirement, but you've been able
to do whatever you've wanted to do the last 3
or 4 years, right?
S2 (12:42):
Yeah, it's been fun.
S1 (12:43):
It's been a great time. Great time. But now you
got the itch.
S2 (12:46):
Yeah. Yeah, I and I really got the itch. And
your ten x360, when I saw how fundamental it was
laid out and how easy it was to understand how to. Uh,
master those four pillars and, you know, roofing. There's some
other pillars I want to add, but I. But that
(13:08):
is something that. Watching people try to run a business
when they don't have financials, right? When they don't have HR, right?
When they don't have operations, right. They have no sales program.
They're getting 2% of their, uh, calls returned, you know,
(13:31):
and they're not following up. They just have no sales
or marketing, uh, system in place. And you've got a system,
you know, roofing, small business. It's a team game, you know,
and I look at what you've got is the perfect
playbook for the small business team that wants to be
the best team they can be.
S1 (13:52):
And you're like, dude, I could lead this charge. Uh,
because in your previous experience working with that massive, high
quality consolidator, basically like the best in the best place,
watching them, you still realize that a majority of the
people that they want to buy, they can't even buy
because they're not operating well enough.
S2 (14:09):
No. A very small percentage that they can buy because
1 to 4 of those pillars are weak and usually
the financial one. Um.
S1 (14:22):
And so they're looking at it no matter how big
it is, they're like, oh, well, we can't justify buying
it because it doesn't make any money or it's it
doesn't have the owners structured it wrong or, you know,
the jobs are the wrong kind of jobs or it's
not operationally, it's not run sound enough. So if you
and I just went in and helped all those business
owners fix their business to make them more profitable, more
(14:46):
structurally sound. And more valuable. We'd have a great time
doing it.
S2 (14:54):
Absolutely.
S1 (14:55):
And we have a.
S2 (14:55):
Lot of rules and we're going to help a lot
of people.
S1 (14:57):
We have a lot of roofers and they're great people. Yeah,
they just struggle. I remember I had this group out
of the Midwest. And they were like, oh, we got
we're the biggest were 50 million. And these guys, you know,
there was like six partners and we spent about four
months helping them and working with them. And I was like, man,
you guys are going to end up going out of
business because because of all this stuff you guys are
(15:19):
doing and the fact that you're all doing other things too,
you're like, not no one is in love and owning
the roofing business. You're taking the proceeds from the roofing
business and you're all out trying to do something else,
and you're ignoring the core business. And they're like, no, no,
not six months later, they're out of business. And it
was a $50 million company. Yeah. So, you know, it
doesn't take long to wreck a great business if you
(15:41):
don't put the right attention on it. Conversely, you can
take a business that's struggling and turn it into a
great business very quickly as well. And I think the
point of this podcast is for you and I to
announce basically the launch of our roofing management company. Our
goal is to go out and find 250 to 500 independent.
Family owned or independent roofing businesses and help them grow
(16:06):
5 to 10 times bigger by giving them the resources,
the structure, the infrastructure, the systems, the processes, and help
them create a much higher, uh. And help them create
a much higher quality of life through their business. And
when you and I are sitting around having a cigar
talking about this, I watch you light up. You're like,
(16:27):
I want to do this.
S4 (16:29):
Yeah.
S1 (16:30):
And and so talk a little bit about what if
you could paint your future picture for the next 5
or 10 years, what do you want to create in
this ten x roofing community?
S2 (16:42):
Well, what I really want to create is a place
where roofers can come together and talk openly and share
ideas and learn from each other, learn what's working, what's
not working, and just they will. They'll grow just because
they're motivated. They'll grow because they're getting good information and
(17:05):
they're motivated to use it in a way. They go,
you know, in my case, you know, people say, well,
you did it on your own. Why would I need help?
The reason I think I got on my own and
the reason I succeeded is there's five people yourself, you know,
I had an insurance buddy, I had a engineering buddy.
I had a land buddy or a real estate buddy.
(17:27):
I had a auto parts buddy and I had a
trade show logistics buddy. All of them grew their businesses
and exited before I did they all. So I had
these five great examples of really smart people doing all
the right things. They made mistakes that I didn't have
to make because I watched them. So instead of it
(17:50):
taking me 15 years, maybe it took me 7 or
8 years to grow from 4 to 20 million. But
when I read the playbook you've got, I go, geez,
if I'd have had this, I'd have done it in
three years. I'd have been. In seven years, I might
have been $100 million company. You know, it's not impossible
at all.
S1 (18:10):
And we have business owners doing it. And so I
think that, uh, I think you being in the room
with people that are like, yeah, we're doing this right now,
and we're crushing your confidence. Love you. Because I remember
you ran up to me and you're like, My God, dude,
I'm talking all these people who are absolutely killing it.
I didn't have this. I had to do it the
hard way. If we bring this and we structure it
(18:30):
specifically for roofing. I can go get all these people
and help them. We can kill it with them. And
so that's exactly what we're going to do. Great. And,
and I, I for me to get to work with
a buddy that's been that I've been friends with for
30 years, that we've shared a lot of great experiences
together and now get to go build and conquer. I'm
really super excited about that because. I think it's important
(18:55):
that everyone listening to this understand that when you can
build with people that you already enjoy being around, it
makes the building process, even when you're struggling, that much
more fun because you're overcoming things together. It's like you're
conquering together. And if you don't have that at home
and you're out there pushing by yourself and you're striving
by yourself, and you're carrying the weight of your business
(19:16):
by yourself, or you're in a family business and you're
chewing up your family time together, talking about what's wrong
in the business. And you want an alternative perspective. You
want an alternative result. That's why we've started this business
is for you. If you want to find out how
to grow, scale, create massive value, do it bigger, better,
(19:37):
more impactful for you, the people that work with you
for your family. That's why we're starting this business, the
tin roofing business. And I promise you, without any question,
we will blow this thing through the roof. And you've
already seen the business you are working with. High quality
aggregator and consolidator of independent roofing businesses. You've already seen
(20:00):
them grow to billions of dollars. So, you know it's possible.
S2 (20:04):
Absolutely. Yeah. No question. We're going to do it. Yeah.
Let's go. Let's do.
S3 (20:09):
It. All right.
S1 (20:09):
Hey listen, thanks for following listening to this podcast. It's
both a podcast talking about successful entrepreneurs doing it the
hard way, having an exit. But it also is an
announcement of launching our next roofing business in partnership with
my buddy Greg. And if you're a roofer, if you're
in the home services space and you want to have
a conversation with us, all you need to do is
hit the link. All you need to do is DMs.
(20:31):
All you need to do is send us an email, uh,
pick up the phone, have a conversation, and we'll be
happy to walk you through exactly what we're doing. So
for those of you watching this show and listening to it,
I hope we inspired you about what it takes to
be a successful entrepreneur. Be sure to leave your likes.
Be sure to share. Leave us some comments. Appreciate you
watching the show. And this is another episode of Building
(20:51):
Billions with Brandon Dorsey.
Hey, everybody, this is Brandon Dawson. Welcome back to another
episode of Building Billions with Brandon Dawson. Today, I'm talking
to a really super long term great friend, unbelievably successful guy.
His name is Greg Bolt. And what we're going to
be talking about is the launch of our new business,
ten X roofing. Greg, welcome to the show. Thanks, Brandon.
S2 (00:29):
Nice to see you.
S1 (00:30):
How long have we known each other?
S2 (00:32):
30 plus years.
S1 (00:33):
Oh my gosh, go fast. You had to sign that
NDA that you can't tell anybody any of my secrets.
S2 (00:39):
Yeah, there was like two of them.
S1 (00:41):
Two Indias or two secrets.
S2 (00:43):
Well, it was no. Two NDAs. There was so much
to hide.
S1 (00:46):
So much to hide. That's awesome. We've been friends. I
don't know, it's been over 30 years now. Yeah. And, uh,
we both were out in Oregon together. And when did
you sell your roofing business, 2019? 2019? I remember you
came to me. We were playing golf, and you're like, hey,
I've got this deal on my roofing business. And we
went through it and, uh, I gave you some insight
(01:07):
and all this other stuff, and, and you ended up
doing the deal very successful. But talk about how you
even got in the roofing space in the first place.
S2 (01:15):
So our family started the company in 1951. Wow. And
from 1951 to 2004, uh, the company stayed below 3
million in sales.
S1 (01:28):
And your dad was running, and.
S2 (01:30):
Uh, my uncle started in 51. My dad joined him
in 56. Uh, my cousins, uh, split off and took
another company with my uncle in the late 70s when
they came out of college. And then my brother and
I and my dad kind of ran ABC roofing, uh,
and then my dad stepped away. We bought him out.
What year.
S1 (01:50):
Was that?
S2 (01:51):
That my dad stepped away. Uh, 20, probably about 2010. Nine.
Got it.
S1 (01:58):
So you worked so. So I mean, literally the ultimate
family business. Two brothers. Yeah. Then they split off. One
takes his sons and goes one direction, the other he
has his two sons and and continues building the business.
And you guys worked with your dad for how many
years were you working before you took it over?
S2 (02:17):
I got out of college in 1985, but I started
working about 1978.
S1 (02:21):
So you you all through high school and everything, you
were working in the family business.
S2 (02:25):
Grade school.
S1 (02:25):
Grade school. It's crazy. It's I know that feeling. Um,
and so when you were working in grade school and
then you got into high school, and then as you
got started getting into your 20s and 30s, did you
ever think to yourself, one day I'm going to own
this business?
S2 (02:40):
No. I thought one day I'm going to get out
of the roofing business. But, uh, I enjoyed it. I
ended up being a great career, and it wasn't the
path I thought I was going to have when I
was in high school or even college. But, uh, I
had some great mentors and some great people I worked
with along the way, built some great relationships and wouldn't
(03:01):
change a thing.
S1 (03:02):
We're going to get into some of the details about
how you took the family business over some of the
things you did to grow it, and all that. But
before we do that, I have to share a story, please. So, look,
I'm going to embarrass myself a little bit here, but
in 1995, I believe it was or 96. We have
(03:22):
a mutual buddy and he tells me, hey, look, man, uh,
we all played golf together. And he says, look, uh,
we got to go help Greg and his roofing company
because he has a huge job. He needs help. He
doesn't have the manpower. And and you have to come
help me help him. And I'm like, yeah, sure, whatever, man. Whatever.
(03:42):
And so he says, look, but we got to go
to Home Depot and we got to get you the right,
you know, stuff. So I'm like, cool, that's whatever. So
we go to Home Depot and I buy these new boots,
I buy this great, uh, tool belt, I buy hammers,
he tells me he walks through and picks all the
stuff out I need. And, uh, and so I load
everything up into the trunk of my Mercedes, and I
(04:03):
meet out at the job site, and you're up on
this roof with your crew of people, and there's multiple
ladders going up there, and you're like, hey, man, I'm
glad you guys came. I can use your help. And
you were all excited that we were there. And I
open the trunk of my Mercedes, and I put on
my brand new tool belt with all my stuff, and
I put on my brand new boots, and I come
climbing up the ladders and and I step onto the roof,
(04:25):
and it was a hot tar roof. And within about
15 20 minutes I was stuck on the roof. I
had shit all over my body, and at one point
I'm like, I cannot believe this is what these guys
needed me to do. And I turn around and you
and your whole crew and that guy are all sitting
there looking at me, laughing your asses off. The whole
thing was a prank.
S3 (04:46):
It was good. I felt like.
S1 (04:50):
Such a dumb ass. I had tar all over my
body and you guys are laughing. Every new thing I
had bought at Home Depot was covered with tar. Covered
with tar. Totally ruined. And you guys pranked me. And
I have to tell that story because every time I
tell it, even today, I laugh my ass off.
S3 (05:06):
That's good. That's supposed.
S1 (05:09):
Boy, we had a lot of fun over the last
30 years. We have?
S2 (05:12):
Yeah, it's been good.
S1 (05:12):
You were at my 50th birthday. I mean, we've we've
had a lot of fun together. And you sold your business, so.
So you. So what year did you take your dad?
You bought your dad out?
S2 (05:23):
Uh, we bought him out right there. Right on 10
or 11.
S1 (05:26):
20, 10 or 11 and. And over the 40 years or. Yeah, 50,
60 years from it starting. How big was the business
and how long had it been that size before you
bought it out?
S2 (05:39):
Well, we started it from 1951 to 2004. We never
got more than $3 million in revenue.
S1 (05:46):
That's crazy.
S2 (05:47):
It is crazy.
S1 (05:48):
And in 2004 is about the time you started taking
over the actual operations of the business.
S2 (05:52):
Yeah, we kind of. We hired a consultant. We I
brought in an outside consultant and paid him a bunch
of dough.
S1 (05:58):
How hard was it for you to convince your dad
to let you do that?
S3 (06:02):
Uh, I.
S2 (06:02):
Think the guy was a hell of a salesman, and
so he kind of hook, line and sinker. My dad
and I thought, great. You know, this is fantastic.
S1 (06:11):
I can get some help.
S2 (06:12):
Yeah, and I did. And, uh, we immediately went boom!
From 3 million to 8 million. And we hit what's
commonly known as break.
S1 (06:20):
Point two top and break point two. But you didn't
know that.
S3 (06:22):
At that time.
S1 (06:23):
I didn't even know it at the time.
S2 (06:24):
No, no. But like, if I say it, I mean,
when I sat through the ten x360 and read through
those breakpoints and why you stop and why you go
and how you get through them, it was like reading
the last, you know, 15 years of my life in business, uh,
(06:45):
most of it from two, three and four in the
last seven years. But it was like, I couldn't believe
just how accurate that information was and what it meant
to get through those points and how accurate it was,
how accurate the information was.
S1 (07:02):
And did it help you relive a little bit those
moments when you're looking at that and you can remember, oh,
I remember, oh yeah.
S2 (07:08):
So I remember, you know, my brother coming up to
me and uh, ask me a question about, I don't know,
we were buying something or spending some. I was going
to spend some money on something. He goes. Why are
you going to do that? I said, you know, I
just think it's a good idea. I don't know, I've
never run a $10 million roofing business before, but I
think it's what we need to do. And that's pretty
(07:31):
exemplary of what I think small businesses go through. They go,
I don't know, I just I make good decisions. I'm
going to try it. And it's it. Most of the
time it worked. I'd say it was 90% good on my, um,
execution or my decisions, but there was that 10% that
I was bad. And, you know, it. It hits you. Yeah.
(07:52):
Gets your attention.
S1 (07:53):
Yeah. And what happens with that 10% or 20 or 30%
as it starts digging your confidence and still taking those,
those risks. But you built that business, so you took
it over. You got the consultant, you started following advice.
And then all of a sudden you hit break .28 million.
What are some of the adjustments you had to make
at that point in time?
S2 (08:12):
Well, probably the biggest thing I did was I started
adding people, layers of people. And uh, so I brought
I already had a superintendent. My superintendent came and said, hey,
you need a ops guy. I said, great, you're the guy.
You're the ops guy. Get us a superintendent. So we
started backfilling and building a team so that I could
(08:33):
start focusing, and my brother could start focusing on what
we did well, which was actually customer relations and sales
and vision, you know. So.
S1 (08:42):
So now you're going into break point three, 10 million,
12 million, and you're sitting in the class and you're
hearing me talk about the three leaders you need in
the company. And you're exactly.
S2 (08:50):
Exactly what.
S1 (08:51):
You and your mind are like. I know I remember
exactly when that happened and what the result was. A building,
that team.
S2 (08:57):
Yeah, it was incredible just exactly what happened to me. Yeah.
Except it took me a long time to do it.
S1 (09:04):
Yeah. And that's that, you know? So really, it's it's
time now for full disclosure, I never really did any research.
I just wrote the story of your business from you.
All the golf.
S3 (09:15):
That's what it looks like.
S1 (09:16):
Yeah. So you you get a royalty now on everything? Yeah.
S3 (09:20):
Okay. Perfect.
S1 (09:21):
Yeah. You're in. So, so look. So. So now fast
forward a little bit more, uh, 2019, we start talking
in 1819, you're starting to get offers on your business, and,
and and I, I sit with you and walk you through. Hey,
this is what they're going to do. This is how
they're going to do it. Here's what they're going to
pay you. Here's the spread. They're going to go out
in the marketplace. I lay it all out, and there
(09:42):
really wasn't a lot of roofing buying companies back then.
There was only a couple, right?
S2 (09:46):
Correct. They were the biggest and the best. And the
other guys were regional flaky. I mean, well, it's okay.
I mean, they just just they just weren't as solid.
There's one company I wanted to sell to and they
were the right company in the right fit and had
the right mentality that fit us and fit really the
(10:07):
roofing industry today because now they're the biggest they're number one.
S1 (10:10):
Number one, it's and when when that was happening and
I laid out on a piece of paper, this is
what the reality of the world is going to be.
This is what they're going to do. This is what
they're going to go to market with. How close was I?
When you go backwards for years. Exactly. Exact?
S2 (10:26):
Yeah. Exact again. You know, sitting in that ten x360,
it was just like this is exactly what happened. I
don't know if you're doing it for my benefit or not,
but obviously you weren't. It was for everybody's benefit. It
just happened to fit exactly my story. Yep.
S1 (10:43):
Now it's still a great story because you sold for
enough money. You never have to work again the rest
of your life unless you choose to do something, which
we're going to have a big announcement at the end
of this podcast. Um, and or did I announce it
at the beginning? I think you did. I already I
already let the cat out of the back. You see?
There you go. So I was so excited. Um, but
(11:05):
you had a huge exit, and then you went and
started working with the largest consolidator in North America for roofing. Correct.
And the last basically five years, 4 or 5 years,
you've been working with them and watching their explosive growth. Yes.
Which is exactly what I said. This is what their
(11:26):
strategy is going to be. Then they're going to go
to a private equity group, then they're going to do this,
then they're going to do that. And that's exactly what
they've done. And so you and I were talking about
this because we have so many roofers in our community,
both commercial and residential. And I said to you, I
don't know when maybe a year ago I said, dude,
(11:46):
I'm getting all these roofers coming in and it sure
would be fun to do something with you. And you
were like, yeah, I've got this commitment and I'm serving
out my commitment and everything. Well, now your commitments up. Yes.
And you're a free agent? Yes. So you and I
were together about 3 or 4 months ago, and you're like, hey,
remember that thing we were talking about? I think we
(12:06):
could go help thousands. Of independent business owners that were
just like your family business grow, create massive value and
eventually become part of a larger organization either through affiliation
or whatever. But creating massive value, growing the business and
having a higher, profitable, successful business take the pressure off
(12:28):
the individual and allow them to really learn how to
build something that can work for them the way you did.
S2 (12:34):
Yeah.
S1 (12:35):
And so you're basically saying, hey, I want to come
out of retirement, not really retirement, but you've been able
to do whatever you've wanted to do the last 3
or 4 years, right?
S2 (12:42):
Yeah, it's been fun.
S1 (12:43):
It's been a great time. Great time. But now you
got the itch.
S2 (12:46):
Yeah. Yeah, I and I really got the itch. And
your ten x360, when I saw how fundamental it was
laid out and how easy it was to understand how to. Uh,
master those four pillars and, you know, roofing. There's some
other pillars I want to add, but I. But that
(13:08):
is something that. Watching people try to run a business
when they don't have financials, right? When they don't have HR, right?
When they don't have operations, right. They have no sales program.
They're getting 2% of their, uh, calls returned, you know,
(13:31):
and they're not following up. They just have no sales
or marketing, uh, system in place. And you've got a system,
you know, roofing, small business. It's a team game, you know,
and I look at what you've got is the perfect
playbook for the small business team that wants to be
the best team they can be.
S1 (13:52):
And you're like, dude, I could lead this charge. Uh,
because in your previous experience working with that massive, high
quality consolidator, basically like the best in the best place,
watching them, you still realize that a majority of the
people that they want to buy, they can't even buy
because they're not operating well enough.
S2 (14:09):
No. A very small percentage that they can buy because
1 to 4 of those pillars are weak and usually
the financial one. Um.
S1 (14:22):
And so they're looking at it no matter how big
it is, they're like, oh, well, we can't justify buying
it because it doesn't make any money or it's it
doesn't have the owners structured it wrong or, you know,
the jobs are the wrong kind of jobs or it's
not operationally, it's not run sound enough. So if you
and I just went in and helped all those business
owners fix their business to make them more profitable, more
(14:46):
structurally sound. And more valuable. We'd have a great time
doing it.
S2 (14:54):
Absolutely.
S1 (14:55):
And we have a.
S2 (14:55):
Lot of rules and we're going to help a lot
of people.
S1 (14:57):
We have a lot of roofers and they're great people. Yeah,
they just struggle. I remember I had this group out
of the Midwest. And they were like, oh, we got
we're the biggest were 50 million. And these guys, you know,
there was like six partners and we spent about four
months helping them and working with them. And I was like, man,
you guys are going to end up going out of
business because because of all this stuff you guys are
(15:19):
doing and the fact that you're all doing other things too,
you're like, not no one is in love and owning
the roofing business. You're taking the proceeds from the roofing
business and you're all out trying to do something else,
and you're ignoring the core business. And they're like, no, no,
not six months later, they're out of business. And it
was a $50 million company. Yeah. So, you know, it
doesn't take long to wreck a great business if you
(15:41):
don't put the right attention on it. Conversely, you can
take a business that's struggling and turn it into a
great business very quickly as well. And I think the
point of this podcast is for you and I to
announce basically the launch of our roofing management company. Our
goal is to go out and find 250 to 500 independent.
Family owned or independent roofing businesses and help them grow
(16:06):
5 to 10 times bigger by giving them the resources,
the structure, the infrastructure, the systems, the processes, and help
them create a much higher, uh. And help them create
a much higher quality of life through their business. And
when you and I are sitting around having a cigar
talking about this, I watch you light up. You're like,
(16:27):
I want to do this.
S4 (16:29):
Yeah.
S1 (16:30):
And and so talk a little bit about what if
you could paint your future picture for the next 5
or 10 years, what do you want to create in
this ten x roofing community?
S2 (16:42):
Well, what I really want to create is a place
where roofers can come together and talk openly and share
ideas and learn from each other, learn what's working, what's
not working, and just they will. They'll grow just because
they're motivated. They'll grow because they're getting good information and
(17:05):
they're motivated to use it in a way. They go,
you know, in my case, you know, people say, well,
you did it on your own. Why would I need help?
The reason I think I got on my own and
the reason I succeeded is there's five people yourself, you know,
I had an insurance buddy, I had a engineering buddy.
I had a land buddy or a real estate buddy.
(17:27):
I had a auto parts buddy and I had a
trade show logistics buddy. All of them grew their businesses
and exited before I did they all. So I had
these five great examples of really smart people doing all
the right things. They made mistakes that I didn't have
to make because I watched them. So instead of it
(17:50):
taking me 15 years, maybe it took me 7 or
8 years to grow from 4 to 20 million. But
when I read the playbook you've got, I go, geez,
if I'd have had this, I'd have done it in
three years. I'd have been. In seven years, I might
have been $100 million company. You know, it's not impossible
at all.
S1 (18:10):
And we have business owners doing it. And so I
think that, uh, I think you being in the room
with people that are like, yeah, we're doing this right now,
and we're crushing your confidence. Love you. Because I remember
you ran up to me and you're like, My God, dude,
I'm talking all these people who are absolutely killing it.
I didn't have this. I had to do it the
hard way. If we bring this and we structure it
(18:30):
specifically for roofing. I can go get all these people
and help them. We can kill it with them. And
so that's exactly what we're going to do. Great. And,
and I, I for me to get to work with
a buddy that's been that I've been friends with for
30 years, that we've shared a lot of great experiences
together and now get to go build and conquer. I'm
really super excited about that because. I think it's important
(18:55):
that everyone listening to this understand that when you can
build with people that you already enjoy being around, it
makes the building process, even when you're struggling, that much
more fun because you're overcoming things together. It's like you're
conquering together. And if you don't have that at home
and you're out there pushing by yourself and you're striving
by yourself, and you're carrying the weight of your business
(19:16):
by yourself, or you're in a family business and you're
chewing up your family time together, talking about what's wrong
in the business. And you want an alternative perspective. You
want an alternative result. That's why we've started this business
is for you. If you want to find out how
to grow, scale, create massive value, do it bigger, better,
(19:37):
more impactful for you, the people that work with you
for your family. That's why we're starting this business, the
tin roofing business. And I promise you, without any question,
we will blow this thing through the roof. And you've
already seen the business you are working with. High quality
aggregator and consolidator of independent roofing businesses. You've already seen
(20:00):
them grow to billions of dollars. So, you know it's possible.
S2 (20:04):
Absolutely. Yeah. No question. We're going to do it. Yeah.
Let's go. Let's do.
S3 (20:09):
It. All right.
S1 (20:09):
Hey listen, thanks for following listening to this podcast. It's
both a podcast talking about successful entrepreneurs doing it the
hard way, having an exit. But it also is an
announcement of launching our next roofing business in partnership with
my buddy Greg. And if you're a roofer, if you're
in the home services space and you want to have
a conversation with us, all you need to do is
hit the link. All you need to do is DMs.
(20:31):
All you need to do is send us an email, uh,
pick up the phone, have a conversation, and we'll be
happy to walk you through exactly what we're doing. So
for those of you watching this show and listening to it,
I hope we inspired you about what it takes to
be a successful entrepreneur. Be sure to leave your likes.
Be sure to share. Leave us some comments. Appreciate you
watching the show. And this is another episode of Building
(20:51):
Billions with Brandon Dorsey.
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