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June 18, 2025 50 mins

You don’t need a lifelong construction background to build a profitable remodeling business. In this episode of Builder Stories, Dominick Thompson shares how he went from the automotive industry and military service to learning construction and starting Watershed Builders in Charlotte.

Dominick breaks down how he built strong processes and stability into his business from the very beginning. He priced jobs with confidence, hired the right people, and managed growth without overextending. He also shares how trade relationships, clear roles for sales and estimating, and simple social content helped fuel steady growth and referrals.

In this episode you will learn:

  • How to set profit margins that protect your business
  • When to make your first hires and structure your team
  • How trade partners can accelerate your growth
  • Simple content strategies that attract high-quality leads

Listen to the episode to learn more.

Resources:

Learn more about Watershed Builders here.

Own a construction company and want to share your story? Apply to be on an upcoming episode of Builder Stories at https://www.builderstories.com

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Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Eric (00:00):
Welcome to the podcast where we take a deep dive into the stories
behind construction business leaders.
We will share how they got started,how they found success, and the
lessons learned along the way.
I'm your host, Eric Fortenberry.
Welcome to Builder Stories.
Welcome back everybody.
Today.
I'm really excited.

(00:20):
I got a very special guest,one of our larger builders.
Coming in hot.
We got Dom Thompsonwith Watershed Builders.
They're located inCharlotte, North Carolina.
Really excited to have youon the, on the show today.
Dom, welcome to Builder Stories.

Dominick (00:33):
Hey, hey.
Good to be here.
Thank you so much, Eric.
Appreciate you and your team andall the support and uh, yeah,
it's a pleasure to be on the show.

Eric (00:39):
Awesome, man.
Well, as as usual, usual, I like tostart off just kind of give us a little
bit of background, you know, who youare, how you got into construction
in the first place, and what ledyou to start watershed Builders.

Dominick (00:48):
Yeah, sure.
That, um, I have a really unique.
Kind of entry into this business.
You know, I, a lot of peoplegrew up in this business.
They, you know, their daddid it, uncle whatever.
They grew up on the job sites, and theywere, you know, digging ditches with
their, their family, you know, whenthey were 15 and all the war stories.
I don't have any of that.
Um, I, I, I joined this, uh, business.

(01:09):
I. Kind of through the military.
I was in the automotive businessfor 10 and a half years, and I, I
ran that almost 11 years of my life.
And I reached a point where I, I kindof had an opportunity to start over.
Um, I, I, I was married, I was actuallygoing through a separation and, uh, I, I
was just kind of fortunately at a periodof life where even at 29 years old, I
could start my life over and I was in,uh, the automotive business as I fed and.

(01:33):
I didn't wanna be inthat business anymore.
I kind of like lowkey hated thatbusiness because the, of the culture
and just sort of what it was.
And I just wanted an opportunityto kind of create my own destiny.
So, um, I had like a lot of people,uh, I, I grew up, spent a lot of time
watching, say HGPV shows and all theearly days of all these old shows
that we now sort of like laugh about.

(01:53):
Uh, but it was super inspiring to me andI was like, I want to go do more of that.
That's what I want to, I want to go see.
See the before and after.
I wanna be a part of it.
I wanna create it.
But I don't know anything aboutconstruction 'cause I didn't
grow up in this business.
I, I've never, I swung hammers'cause I wanted to, not 'cause
somebody taught me how to.
So, um, at the same time I wantedto go finish my college degree.
Right.
Um, so I had this head trash around.
Uh, this might resonatewith some people too.

(02:14):
It's like I had a lot of head trash aroundnot having a college degree, I thought.
Like, I was born in 81, right?
So graduated high school in nine nine,and I thought, like everybody else in
my generation that was told like, you'vegotta go to college or you won't be
successful, and if you do go to college,you're gonna be successful, right?
Like, that was the messaging.
But I didn't finish, like, I, Ibarely did not quite two years of,

(02:34):
uh, associate's degree work and stuff.
So I was like, I gotta go back to school.
So how am I gonna do this?
I gotta, I gotta pay for college somehowand I want to get into construction,
but I don't really have a way to do it.
So I followed my buddy, or I actually,I asked my buddy who had been in the Air
Force for a number of years and loved it.
And I knew that they wouldpay for school, right?
Because they're like, ohyeah, come join the Air Force.
It's like one week in a month, two week,two weeks a year, and then we'll pay for

(02:54):
your college, the GI Bill, all that stuff.
So, um, I, I went with him to therecruiter's office and I said, Hey,
I'm here because I, I wanna servemy country and pay for college.
So he said, this is great.
What kind of crew do you want to get into?
I'm like, I don't know.
The end game is construction, but I don'tknow what y'all do with construction.
You're in the military.
Everybody flies planesin the air force, right?
They're like, no, we, we've got a wholecareer field dedicated construction.

(03:15):
So it was like, you gotta be kidding me.
So.
Long story short, I, I joined themilitary when I was 29 years old.
I shipped off three days afterChristmas, uh, to basic training.
And I had turned 30 in the means.
It was like a waiting period, andI had turned 30 years old going
to basic training with all these18-year-old kids and 9-year-old kids.
I'm like the old man in the room.
Um, but, but I did that.

(03:36):
And then immediately when youleave basic training, the military
sends you to go to school.
To do what they've hired you to do.
And they hired me to do construction.
So I went to the Naval ConstructionBattalion, uh, which is where
the Navy Seabees train downin Gulfport, Mississippi.
And I lived there forfive and a half months.
And that's where I learned how to build.
That's where I learned everythingfrom, uh, ground up construction

(03:59):
from footings to finish, as I'll say.
So, um, there's some things I kind ofalready knew, but that, that's really
where I really learned how to build.
And, uh, about a month.
Before I graduated my technicaltraining, that's what we called
in the Air force is tech school.
Uh, when I, about a month beforeI graduated tech school, I started
reaching out to people backhome and I was like, Hey, I'm.
Graduating in a month.
I'm coming back to Charlotte.

(04:19):
I'm trying to get into construction.
This is 2011 by the way.
We're like, kind of hit the bottom ofthe recession, but we ain't out of it.
It is like flat, deadpan flat, right.
Um, I, I, I don't know what you weredoing around 2011, but residential
construction was not like thebusiness to get into, uh, in 2011.
So anyway, I knew someone who knew anarchitect who knew the COO of a company

(04:42):
and they put me in touch and I got aninterview and it was like, Hey, um.
The owner of our company islooking for an executive assistant.
Uh, mind you, as is July,I'm turning 31, or excuse me.
Yeah, no, I'm turning 31 inAugust and I'm coming back to
Charlotte without a real job.
Uh, so it's a great reputation.
It was a great opportunity.
So I took that job, uh, as theexecutive assistant to the owner,

(05:04):
16 bucks an hour, going to schoolpart-time, working about 30 hours.
And what I found was like, I justlove the work I. I still hated school.
Like even after all those years,like, I still hate school.
It's awful.
So, um, I, I ended up just doublingdown and my, my boss actually, who
was a Carolina grad, uh, hardcoretar heeled presence in that company,
they were like, Hey, listen man, um,I admire that you wanna go to school.

(05:27):
I admire that you're doingit, but we really don't need
you to go to school, man.
Like we want.
We need you here.
Grinding 60 hours a week, learningthis business and doing it.
So, um, after a lot of prayerand getting rid of that head
trash said, you know what?
This is like my determining point.
I'm either gonna turn this directionor turn that direction and I decided
to just turn that direction andgo all in with this construction

(05:48):
business and get rid of the school.
But that's what I did and Ijust poured my heart into it.
And within three months my, the ownerof the company said, um, I either keep
executive assistance, um, they eitherget promoted or they get fired, is
like they either get promoted to otherpositions 'cause they're good and they
shouldn't just be my assistant or theyget fired 'cause they suck and they,
they just shouldn't be working here.

(06:09):
I was like, okay, well, we'll seewhich, uh, spectrum I end up on.
Um, ended up getting promoted tosort of an inside sales, kind of
helping with estimating a littlebit of, uh, a little bit of light
sales, um, that sort of thing.
Just sort of worked my way up in thecompany, um, to, to reach a point.
Eight years later I said, you know, Iwanna go out and do this on my own and
kind of write my own story and createmy own brand and, and do this on my own.

(06:29):
So in 2019, May 1st, 2019, Ilaunched Watershed Builders.
That was another pivotalwatershed moment, if you will.
Um.
See, that's a long story of it,but that's, that's how we got here.

Eric (06:40):
That's, uh, that's awesome, man.
I, I always love the story though,when, when people start up, you
know, at, at the bottom and worktheir way up, you know, you learned
it, you put the time in the effort.
Um, you know, it sounds like kindof really learning the, the business
side was, was, was really importantand valuable for you, and that
gave you the confidence to thenstart your own business in in 2019.

Dominick (06:58):
Yeah, that's a good point.
I. That's where I feel like myexperience was a little unique is
that, you know, this whole time, soI worked for that company from 2011
to 2019, and during that time I wasstill drilling as a reservist, right?
So I was serving one week ina month, two weeks, a year,
and then I got deployed twice.
So I was deployed to theMiddle East for seven months.
From 2013 into 14, and then I wasdeployed again for seven months

(07:23):
during 2017 to the Middle East.
And the deployments is reallywhere you're doing the work that
the military hired you to do.
That's where you're building, right?
And so I did that twice and thecompany was like, so good to me.
Um.
Yes.
They let me work my wayup and learn the things.
I mean, I, I started, like I said, assort of an inside sales, which became
what we call our salespeople at thatcompany were called project managers.

(07:44):
Uh, the people in the field who weremanaging jobs were superintendents.
Um, so just as nomenclature,but, so I was a pro, I became a
project manager, estimating andselling, uh, renovation projects.
So I was learning estimating.
I was learning sales.
As a civilian, and then one weekenda month, two weeks a year, and
then two deployments is whereI was learning how to build.

(08:07):
So I was, I was a grunt in the dirtfor the military and I was an office
guy, a white collar guy, uh, workingas a civilian for this company.
So I really gotta see both sides of it.
And in the end, they, um, towardthe end, like the last two years
of my experience with that company,they asked me to start up a new
division of the company and run it.
So they hired me to, to do that.
And, and it was in thatexperience that I learned.
What the heck a p and l was.

(08:28):
Right.
And like how to run asmall business Right.
Under someone else's umbrella.
So, um, but, and, andthe company's phenomenal.
I have nothing but good thingsto say about them today.
Um, but, but I just reached a pointwhere I, I kind of wanted to like,
okay, I feel like I've, I've learnedall the, the basicness, you know,
necessities I needed to learn.
Uh, and I'm ready to go try to do thisthing on my own, like you said, to have

(08:49):
the confidence to go out and do it on myown and just sort of carve my own path.
Yeah.
It's been an awesome ride.

Eric (08:54):
Well also wanna, wanna say thank you for your service.
Appreciate that.
So, so what's your team look like today?

Dominick (09:00):
Yeah, so we're, we're mostly a subcontract company.
I shouldn't say mostly we'rea subcontract business, right?
But any rate, uh, so my team at themoment looks like, uh, of course me, I'm
still, I have my feet in estimating sales.
Um, I. Mostly sales.
I, I sell kind of our, ournew construction projects and
a lot of our, uh, high ticketitem, big complicated remodels.

(09:20):
And I have another salesperson working for us.
His name's Trevor.
He was at Job Trek Connectwas in uh, January.
He had just got hired.
He was like, this is a great opportunityto come to Job Trek, connect and, and get
fired up about, about the software andabout the industry and all this stuff.
So.
Uh, Trevor was with me and he's, he's insales and I have an estimator full-time,
Jonathan, who, who has been with meto the past two Job Trek Connects.

(09:41):
Um, so, so we were there together.
So that's kind of the, thesales side of the business.
On the operation side of the business,uh, I just have three project managers,
and I call them project managers.
These are the people who aremanaging projects, so they're out
in the field, uh, meeting with.
Subcontractors, our trade partners andholding the hands of our customers to make
sure that their project goes smoothly frompoint A to point Z and getting that done.

(10:04):
Then I have a part-time office manager,uh, and, and I actually outsource our
bookkeeping, so there's three PMs and anestimator and a salesperson and myself.

Eric (10:13):
Nice.
How, how long did it takeyou to, to, I, I assume.
Kind of, you started making some hirespretty early on, maybe first couple years.
Like how, how, how long did ittake you to kind of make that
decision to a Dom could no longerwear every hat and do everything?

Dominick (10:27):
Dude, that's the big, and, and man, that, that's a big one.
That's the biggest, that wasa huge struggle at first.
And um, I'd be lying if I said thatit wasn't a struggle now to like, know
when to hire and all that kind of stuff.
Um, my goal, I didn't take a salary.
A regular salary.
I was committed to not takea salary for the first year.
And at that time we didn't havekids and my wife was working

(10:48):
full-time and our expenses were low.
We had no debt except for a mortgagethat was a reasonable mortgage.
And I felt like, man,this is the opportunity.
It was kind of part of the reasonwhy we started the business because
I knew that life would never getless complicated, that it would only
continue to get more complicated.
Um, so it was like, this is the time.
So when I started at, at, yeah,I was wearing all the hats.
I mean, I was wearing the bags,I was packing up the tools in the
morning, going and doing the work,making the four trips to Home Depot.

(11:11):
I, you know, coming back, unloading thetruck again, then at night, and then
trying to do paperwork and things likethat, and estimate jobs somehow at night,
and then taking meetings during the day togo look at the job and this sort of thing.
So, um, I didn't wanna stay there,so my next evolution was okay.
Uh, gotta get myself, gottaget the bags off, right?
So the, the, and I quickly realizedlike the thing that I do well is
work with homeowners and sell jobs.

(11:32):
That's really what I need tobe spending my time doing.
So, uh, I, I did get it to a pointand I could afford to get to this
point of, of hiring a project manager.
Uh, that was my first hire to getsomebody to help oversee jobs.
And from there, um, really from there,it just became a matter of, okay.
How many projects, uh, can oneproject manager take on at any given
time versus my ability to sell?

(11:54):
Right?
So if I was out selling, selling,selling, I'd reach a point where I
thought, okay, I can clearly see basedon the sales that like this project
manager is not gonna be enough.
Like I've got to hire another person.
Um, and the, and that hiringlearning curve has been tremendous.
I've stubbed my toe and made mistakeson hires than when to let go and.
Things like that.
But yeah, so it, we packed ona, a couple of project managers.

(12:16):
I was at two for a long time.
Um, ended up hiring a third, uh,around the end of 2022, summer
of 2022, something like that.
And, um, I, I realized I neededsomebody to help me in sales.
So I, I hired a sort of a hybrid role.
I was fortunate enough to find somebodywho could come to work for me part-time
as an estimator slash sales, right?

(12:36):
Somebody who could maybe takea lead, kind of run with it.
Sort of estimated on their own and,and sell the job on their own, right.
That was kind of themodel we were going for.
And so he worked with me for a yearand a half or so before we got to a
point where I realized, hey, like.
You're really good at estimating,but you're not great at sales.
And I kind of like knew that, but I waslike frustrated and he was frustrated.

(12:59):
And so we reached a point, itwas like, Hey, we need to shift
you into just an estimating role.
And, and, and then I stillneeded sales support.
So at December last year, sixor so months ago, I hired, uh,
a salesperson to come on board.
So he's just salesJonathan's just estimating.
And that's kind of whatour, our company looks like.
Uh, today with, with thepart-time office managers.

(13:19):
That's kinda the evolution.

Eric (13:21):
Nice.
And, and how early did you decideto outsource the bookkeeping?

Dominick (13:25):
Ooh, how early man?
Late, uh, I, I outsourced,well, let, lemme clarify.
I, I've always had a part-time officemanager helping me with that sort of
thing, and we, I. I don't wanna saywe're like a paperless company, but
we're basically a paperless company.
We do, we do everything digitally.
I've kind of always had this like bigbusiness mentality, even though we're a

(13:47):
small business, I've always operated likewe're a big company 'cause I've always
had scaling in mind and I didn't wantto, I didn't wanna grow a business that
we were gonna have to like turn the shipon operationally or like process wise.
I wanted to just go aheadand adapt processes early.
You could just simply multiply that.
You could just add more people toit, um, and not have to worry about

(14:09):
correcting a bunch of old behaviors.
So I've always had sort of a part-timeoffice manager who was helping me take
like, uh, receipt images and thingsthat we used to store in Google Drive
and get them paired up with QuickBooksonline and this kind of thing.
So, um, I, I would say by the end of thatfirst year and into that, my second year
in business, if I had a part-time officemanager helping me with bookkeeping.

(14:30):
So very early, but.
Not until this year did I hire a, like anactual full-time just bookkeeping company.
That that's all they do.
And I hired, um, I'll give ashout out to Moose Creek on here.
I found them through Job Tread, throughthe, what do you, what do we call
the, in the marketplace Right place?
Yep.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I found 'em in the marketplace.
And um, I wanted some, someone whoknew Job Tread really well and, and

(14:53):
who could, uh, speak job tread, right?
So that when I was calling them about,you know, matching things from cost
items and all this sort of stuff that.
I wasn't speaking far into like a lotof places, couldn't do bookkeeping,
but I definitely wanted one whocould speak job tread language, and
that, that relationship's been great.
They started working for usMarch 1st, uh, this year.
Awesome.
And, uh, they've,they've done a great job.

(15:14):
They're phenomenal.

Eric (15:16):
I mean, that's, it's, it's probably one of the things that, you know, I, I,
I highly recommend people if you don'thave a great bookkeeper, accountant,
CPA, somebody you know, or, or, oryourself who doesn't, you know, really
understand getting your books set up.
You know, it's so important to do thatas early as on, early on as you can.
I mean, you know, I see so many peoplewill go years and years and just.
Not creating good records, you know,not, not not being able to, uh, you

(15:39):
know, track everything that they needto be able to track to themselves.
Uh, you know, keep, keep, keepyourself clean with the IRS and taxes.

Dominick (15:45):
Yeah.
Yeah, I would totally agree.
That's one area thatI've not had a problem.
Um, well, I, I've nothad major problems then.
I've had times when itstarted to pile up on me.
Mm-hmm.
And seasons when it was piling up on meand I said, I gotta get outta this season.
And those are the seasons.
We'd make a change andthings would get better.
So I feel like we're ata scalable point again.
Uh uh.
You've probably experiencedsome of this in business too.

(16:06):
You like kind of scale up and thenyou kind of plateau for a bit and
some things get down and you'relike, okay, I'm gonna figure out how.
Scale this again.

Eric (16:12):
You know, I'm just, I, I keep thinking it's, it's so interesting, you
know, I see a lot of companies who kindof see that sales and estimating role as
the same, you know, the same person likeyou were really hoping and trying to do,
but it really is like such different skillsets, you know, to be able to, you know,
go and, and interact with the customer andhave those, you know, those, those sales
conversations, you know, versus like,Hey, I need to figure out the details.

(16:35):
Take the measurements, kindawhat's gonna go into this.
I mean, it, it's interesting howyou, you know, you, you tried it
and then decided to split Yeah.
Those, those functions.

Dominick (16:43):
Yeah.
Yeah.
I, that's one that it was, um, abit of a delayed aha moment for me.
I should've, I should've probably,all the signs were probably there
for me to come out of the gate withthis mentality that I have now.
Um, but that, I mean, that'spart of the, the growth, right?
You've learned and you'vecorrect and all that.
But, um, are you a disc guy?
Do y'all do disc at all?
Is that a thing?

Eric (17:03):
Uh, I mean, we, we do a different kind of assessment.
Okay.
You know, C has one, they're helpful.

Dominick (17:08):
Yeah.
So like, we do disc, um, mostlyfrom my old Sandler sales days.
We, we did a lot of disc and so whatI discovered was like exactly what you
said, like, my estimator needs to belike an S or a C, like someone who's
very process oriented follows rules.
Like they're, they're allinto the details like.
On the sales side, I needsomebody who's an eye, right?

(17:29):
Somebody who gets like energized bygoing and meeting people and, um,
they know how to have conversations.
They have high emotional intelligence.
And it's been critical.
It's been a, it's been a greatmove, uh, to separate, you know,
the estimating from sales been,I wish I would've done it sooner.
I.

Eric (17:44):
Yeah, so, so when you think about your hiring and, and I think
earlier kind of alluded to, you know,it's, it, it's, it can be a little
bit tricky knowing the right time.
Have you, like, do, do you use likean annual budget for your company to
help you sort of forecast your revenueand kind of what's your, what's your,
your overhead and, and needs will be,

Dominick (18:00):
oh, I'm gonna have egg on my face right now.
You're not gonna like whatI have to say about this.
I'm an awful businessman whenit comes to this, but partial
not because I don't care.
Um, not because I don't thinkit's important, like the whip.
Like I hire someone to do mywhip for me because I hate it.
I'm not a details person.
I recognize they're important.
They matter.

(18:21):
I know why, like the information thatcomes from them, how that ought to
affect, you know, decision makingand all these sorts of things.
But, um, to be honest, like mycompany's been profitable, I. Probably,
unfortunately to a fault because it,it's, it's not forced me to be so
in those details where like I'm, youknow, weekly looking at a budget and

(18:41):
comparing estimated versus actuals onthis neat chart and, you know, I'm,
I'm calculating all these percentages,like I'm a dead eye on the disc,
which means I'm a people person.
I, I'll do the details because Ihave to not 'cause I enjoy them.
And so, um, I'm not saying that.
Anyone else should operate this way.
I shouldn't even operate this way, but tobe honest, um, yeah, when you're making,

(19:04):
when I've made hiring decisions, it'sbeen, uh, a lot more gut feeling involved.
It's been more intuitive.
It's been like, okay, what doI know about our lead volume?
What do I know?
Uh, I will say I do.
I. Chart out our production, right?
So I can see on, on a Gantt essentiallythat I created is like, I know this
project is gonna end and this one'sgonna start, and these are the ones that

(19:25):
are assigned to which project manager.
And it's on a graphic for me.
And that worked for mefor forecasting the field.
Um, but I can look at that.
I can look at my sales volume.
I can know, okay, I've got these projectsthat are in pre-construction phase.
What's gonna land, what's gonna not,I know what's in our bank account.
I know how profitable our jobs areat a glance in QuickBooks Online.
I kind of just have taken thatand said, okay, what do I feel

(19:47):
comfortable with and what, and if Ihad to pay someone for a whole year
without them generating revenue, isthat a risk I'd be willing to take?
And honestly, that's kind of been thedetermining factor for some of my hires.
Not necessarily proud of that,but that's the, the real answer.
And, uh, it's panned out okay so far asI scale that that won't be the way we

(20:07):
can do it, but that's how we've done it

Eric (20:09):
today.
Well, we, uh, have been, been workingon a new, uh, financial playbook,
uh, that includes a, an annual, uh,budget template that, sorry, I didn't
actually take and save and use, uh,you know, so, so it might be a good
tool to, to help you guys continue.
Well, I'm here for it.
Yeah.
I mean.
You, you've been, you've, you've,you've been able to operate this as
a very lean, you know, operation.

(20:30):
And so, you know, given your, your,your higher volume, you know, you
got, you know, larger ticket items.
I, I think that sort of helped you, youknow, to, to not necessarily kind of
any given month, you know, you, you maybe struggling with payroll, you know,
seems like you've, you've been able tomanage it, you know, manage it all right.
With that, that size team.
Yeah.
I, I, I don't worry about

Dominick (20:47):
payroll.
I, I think you've gotta charge enoughfor your projects as a business, right?
You gotta charge enough.
You can't, you can't, as an owner.
I, I think one of the things that earlybusiness owners feel is this reluctance
to want to charge for their time andthen to charge enough for their time.

(21:08):
Right.
Um, because they feel like,oh, I, I don't need to charge
'em for that, or, or whatever.
I'll just sink it in 'cause.
In the beginning, you're kind oflike making sure that you're getting
enough sales in and you're kind ofafraid that like if you charge for
your time, that your, your project'sgonna be more expensive than the next
guy and you kind of need the job.
So there's this desperationI've charged for my time from

(21:28):
the beginning, just kind of.
I'm not, maybe it was dumb or naive on mypart, but I've sort of just confidently
said, yeah, I'm, I'm charging for my time.
And even now, I, I charge a fewhours a week of my time because
I'm sort of acting as the executivesuperintendent for our projects.
Right?
Like, I'm functionally, I'mthe operations manager for our
company, our our PMs report to me.
We have weekly meetings, we havemonthly meetings, we have biweekly site

(21:52):
meetings on some of these jobs and.
They call me throughout theweek a lot to ask questions.
And so I'm billing for an averagenumber of hours per week for my time,
for my project manager's time, andthen a healthy profit margin on top
of, um, the work that we're doing.
So, yeah, that's where it's at.
So what,

Eric (22:07):
you know, when, when you, you know, kind of, when you say, you
know, healthy profit margin, I mean,how, how do you go about thinking
what you know, what is healthy?
I mean, is it, you know,relative to your own overhead
and kind of what your costs are?
Is it based on a target,you know, your, your net.
Margin you wanna make?
I mean, how, how did you go about kind ofdefining, 'cause a lot of people really
struggle with how much should I charge?

(22:28):
Yeah.
You know, for, for my jobs.
And that's where, especially earlyon, you know, I, I see people just
really, they, they don't know where.
And so, you know, some peopleout there just say, well
take your cost and double it.
That will present profit margin.
Like, yeah, that would be awesome.

Dominick (22:42):
That world for you man.
Do it.
Because that sounds really great to me.
Yeah.
There's a book back here on theshelf called Markup and Profit.
It is a great book.
If you're, if you're new to runningyour own business, then estimating
your jobs and questioning about,um, questioning about, pretty
sure that's what it's called.
Markup and profit.
It's a great book.
You should read it 'causeit talks all about that.
Right?
You take your overhead and youdo all the math and figure out

(23:03):
what is your profit margin.
I think the challenge, I've readthe book and I, and I did that math.
Then I go to my 20 club meetings and Irealize that like, oh, my 20 club, uh,
partners are, are like charging evenmore, which check, I don't wanna come
back to the fall meeting and everybodyelse is making 25% and I'm making 20.
So I think that just dumb, uh,peer pressure like was, was

(23:27):
enough to make me want to chargemore and, and being comfortable
in the fact that like, hey, um.
We could be at 30% and there arestill the top 10% of remodelers in the
country are still making more than 30%.
So I, I sleep really well at night knowingthat, hey, we're not charging like top
dog profit margins and yet at the sametime, fighting to keep our overhead low.

(23:49):
Um, so again, that on that, it, it wasa little more gut feeling and keeping
an eye on the, uh, at the, at the, youknow, say quarterly, if I'm looking at
our p and l and going, okay, um, how arewe doing with our average job being 25%?
What was the net?
Right.
Or mid-year, what's the net?
We, we've hit an average of 25 gross.
What's the net?

(24:09):
And sort of adjusted that andwe've adjusted it up a few points
over, over the five or six years.
Um, but I didn't startwith a fancy formula.
I, I really didn't.
I, I, I, I started with a looseformula plus some peer pressure.
And the peer pressure hascaused me to just inch it up.
And I think we're at a really safe spot.
You know, our company, if you lookacross the board on remodeling,

(24:30):
uh, projects, 30% gross.
Um.
Across the board.
So, uh, that doesn't factor inthe one new construction project.
That's a 20% margin project that we havegoing right now on a cost plus, but.
Rate.

Eric (24:43):
Yeah, I think the size of the project also comes into play here, right?
It's easier to, you know, get ahigher profit margin on a, you know,
a much smaller project than as you getlarger and larger sized project into
the, you know, a new home build, forexample, you know, you're not, you're
not doing a, you know, multimilliondollar home at a 50% profit margin as.
Yeah, not good.

Dominick (25:01):
Yeah, you're right.
I was thinking generally you're right.
But I, I would, um, I would tell any,anybody in my position, especially
a, a younger company, although we'reyoung, um, you should question that.
Like, do you have to charge a lowerprofit margin on a higher ticket item?
Maybe you don't.
Yeah, maybe, maybe that's your head trash.
Maybe you could have put 30%on it and you were just scared.

(25:25):
You weren't confident enough to go in themeeting and sell your project at 30%, so
you gave away 10% for your own head trash.
Yeah.
Like the client might havebeen happy to pay 30, but you
just gave them 10, you know?
So, I don't know.
I would say question that I dogenerally think you're right, like
we're not building a $2 millionhouse at 30% profit margin.
'cause it just starts to get ridiculous.

(25:46):
Uh, you can't be competitivethere, just hire someone else.
So let the market dictate where you're at.
So, but in my market.
My average so far has been 30,uh, on remodeling and, and we're
at 20 on new, new construction.
Yeah.

Eric (25:58):
So, so what does, what's your average project size look like

Dominick (26:01):
anymore?
It's, it's around two 50to 300, somewhere in there.
On average, it's, it's gonna be a,say four or five month long project.
A lot of 'em are, um.
They're like kitchens that havea lot of other stuff bolted on.
Right.
It's like a, a kitchen and we're takingdown a big load bearing wall, and then Oh
yeah, there's this bathroom down the hall.
So it's like a kitchen slashinterior renovation slash one

(26:25):
or two other small spaces.

Eric (26:26):
How, how has that changed over the years since you first started?
Like what, what were some ofyour first couple projects and,

Dominick (26:32):
dude, my, my first project was a re grout.
Was a master bath re grout,it was a handyman job.
Uh, I did sub it out.
I met the, the re I hired it at,like the Dr. Grout or whoever, right.
And I, and I subbed it out,man, I could have scratched
out that grout all day long.
I, but I didn't, I, I subbedit out and I managed it, and
I made how much ever I made.
So we, we go from that to like,um, you know, it was, it's wild.

(26:55):
We started, uh.
What did I say?
May 1st, 2019 is when, when I started thecompany and by July I had $140,000 job.
Um, some, a designer, I, I put a lotof content out on Instagram, behind
the scenes stuff and designers in myarea, this was in 2019, were already
starting to latch on or starting tosee what we were putting out there.
And I had a, a designer, uh, up.

(27:17):
In an area about 45 minutesnorth of here who had a referral,
uh, for someone in Charlotte.
But she, she didn't design down here,so she ended up referring this couple
to me, and it turned into $140,000 job.
And then around the end of 2019,I had two half million dollar
projects to land in my lap.

Eric (27:35):
Well, I think, you know, you, you, you mentioned it earlier,
having some really great tradepartners who you can lean on.
That gives you so much more confidence.
Yeah.
Going in and bidding at that, that,that much higher project, much
larger project than, you know, if youdidn't have that and, and you weren't
confident in those guys, then I couldcertainly see you, you know, maybe,
maybe, uh, backing down or, or gettinga little bit more worried about it.

(27:57):
But, you know, having thatteam there is, is very helpful.

Dominick (28:00):
Yeah.
And I think a homeowner wouldsee through it too, right?
Like if I was nervous, kind of feltlike, uh, I don't know if I should take
this job, but my pride wants to do it,but like I probably shouldn't, like Yep.
Homeowner, designer, everybody'sgonna kind of see through that.
Right.
Um, so yeah, I, I'm really gratefulfor our trade relationships.

Eric (28:16):
It, it, it sounds like too, you've, you've had some really good luck
with getting some great referrals in.
I mean, is that where you would saythe majority of your, your business
has come from, has been referrals?

Dominick (28:25):
It's been mostly referrals, and I would say some of it has been
from architect or designer relationshipsthat I had from my previous employment
back when I, I had a real job.
So, so I say, um, but a lot of it hascome from designers or architects who
have followed us on Instagram for awhile and they go, Hey, um, I mean,

(28:48):
I've been following you for like thepast two years or year, whatever it is.
And, and I just had a, mycontractor relationship goes south
and it's not, well, I don't havelike another builder to lean on.
Would you be interested in grabbingcoffee or something to chat?
I've got this project.
I'd love to get to know you a little bitand find out if this is something that.
We might work on together.
And that, that's happened numerous times.
And now we've done like, repeat projectswith those, with those designers.

(29:10):
And it's been a lot of word of mouth,a lot of relationship building.
'cause that, that's maybe anotherthing in addition to not being a
self performing company, we're,we're not design build either.
Like, so we, we lean on those,uh, architect and, and designer
driven projects and um, try toreally make them look good and, and
do a great job with their clienttaking great care of their client.
And it's led to, to numerousreferrals from designers and

(29:32):
architects along the way.

Eric (29:34):
That's great.
Would, uh.
You know what, can you tell us a littlebit more about the, the Instagram
strategy and kinda like how, howoften are you publishing content?
What's that content look like?
You know, how do youmeasure the success of that?

Dominick (29:45):
Yeah, it's gone through an evolution.
When I first started and I waslike, the bag's on, or like I
was the project manager, right?
I, I would just be like camera in myface showing behind the scenes stuff,
like, stuff that I don't think is sexy.
But that other people look at,and it's like, for them, I think
it's like watching HGTV, right?
They, they get to see behind thecurtain of like, what's going on?

(30:08):
And then I talk to them like, I'mtalking like this, and they feel like
we're just having a, like, I'm havinga conversation with this person.
Um, that, that's notlike a. Some strategy.
It's just like how I do it.
I don't know how else to do it.
So, um, so that's what I would doand I would post as much as possible.
This is 20 19, 20 20, 20 21.

(30:28):
Um, posting quantity of content,I guess is what I'm saying, and
being authentic on the camera and.
Just having a conversation withpeople, showing 'em what's going on.
Look at this, uh, framing situation.
This is what the house looked like before,like we're taking this house from this
to that and, and, you know, follow along.
We'll keep you posted what's going onwith the job and that sort of thing.

(30:48):
Um, we reached a point where I was doingthat a lot and the company was growing.
I had two project managers working forme and I wasn't on in the field as much.
And so, um.
I think also by that time we started toget some professional photography done.
So that, that would be another thing.
When you're talking about Instagramstrategy, if you finish a project,
you need to get a professionalphotographer to shoot that job.

(31:11):
If the designer doesn't alreadyhave one, then get one and get your
projects photographed so that youhave those pretty finished photos.
And I'd say that our contenthas been a mix of both, right?
They, it's been a mix of, you know, behindthe scenes stuff and then pretty photos.
'cause people kind ofwanna see both, like.
What it ended up lookinglike kind of thing.
So, um, you know, a couple yearsin, we started to have some of that

(31:31):
professional photography done and Iwasn't in the field as much, which I,
so I started to struggle in the content.
I didn't have as much content 'causeI started spending more of my time
at my desk and on the phone and inmeetings and less on the job site.
So our content started to get like,mostly, uh, it started to wind
down, so there wasn't as much of it.
And it started to becomemostly just pretty pictures.

(31:54):
And I re and I remember like.
In the early days, people usedto come to me and say like,
oh dude, I love that video.
You shot.
You were showing like how you, you, youtore the floor framing outta that house.
Then you were just looking at thedirt and it was just crazy to see
that house to apart like that.
It was like wild and, and peopleused to come up to me like at church
or like wherever and make thesecomments about my content and it.
But then I realized like for a while Iwas like, I'm not getting any content.

(32:16):
Like people aren't sayingthis to me anymore.
And I feel like we wentthrough a dry season.
So, um, I hired someone to kind ofmanage our post, uh, content, like a
calendar and, um, I. I started gettingout on the job site a little bit more
and I actually hired a videographer whois hourly and she goes with me onto a
couple of job sites, uh, maybe once amonth, and we just go shoot BTS stuff,

(32:40):
uh, behind the scenes stuff on job sites.
And then she performs the edits and.
Uh, just, just creates the contentthat lives in a shared folder that
now my social media person who's alsohourly, uh, works for me part-time.
Uh, she works for several buildersactually, and, and a designer I
work with, um, she's coming upwith a content calendar, right?
And, and she's influencing withmy videographer, like, Hey.

(33:03):
We want to title this reel, uh,this, or we want to title it that.
And so we've been able to shake upour content in the past six months to
where it's back to a nice mix of behindthe scenes and pretty finished photos.
Um, and so now we're, we'reposting usually once a day,
um, or something like that.
I'm not gonna pretend tobe the person that knows.

(33:24):
Um.
Anything about virality, right?
Like there's books and people out there onYouTube that can tell you all about that.
I don't know anything about, uh,follower, like grow in your following.
I think we, we don't even have4,000 followers on Instagram,
so we're a really small account.
But, um, but I will say we have a prettydarn engaged audience, and I think
that's because of me being in front ofthe camera and not, not being afraid to

(33:45):
show what's going on on the job sitesand having conversations with people.
I think the engagement has been great.
That I think has made all thedifference when you talk, you know,
tight, connecting this all back to,um, you know, referral business.
I think that's been criticalin, in the referral business.

Eric (34:02):
Do you try to get the, the, the homeowners, are they willing to come
on and share their story and kindof walk through the, the completion
or even any part of the process?
Like, are they usually like,you know, hands off or are they
okay with you shooting their,their property and the project?
Like, do you have to get anyspecial agreements there?
Yeah, that's a good

Dominick (34:19):
question.
I've, I've had a couple of, um, I've hada couple of homeowners be willing to jump
on with me for like an interview, right,where I've been trying to get testimonials
and, um, they knew that I was recording itand I had a couple of questions and just
like you and I are doing this, I wouldsend them a couple of questions just to.
Get conversation moving andask about their experience.

(34:41):
And so, yeah, a couple of them havedone sort of video testimonials with me,
uh, in a format very similar to this.
And now two of those testimonialslive on, on my website.
And I've been really slammed.
I need to get back to doing thisbecause it was really great and I
think, uh, it's served, it servedpeople really well to be able to go on
our website and see like, Hey, there'san interview with homeowners who.

(35:01):
Said, yeah, I was really scared abouthiring a company or I was concerned
that, you know, who I was gonna hire.
They weren't gonna do a good job.
And, but now we've gotour kitchen renovated.
It's amazing.
And all this kind of stuff, kind ofin the, in the vein of like what CGN
does, but, uh, not nearly as well aswhat they do, but, um, but it, but
it was like better to get startedand get it done than not do it.
So that was kinda what we're doing.
So yeah, I've, I've donea couple of those, not.

(35:22):
Live on Instagram, things like that.
But I, I have customers post theirown content and tag us, and they're
showing pictures of their kitchenor, you know, after demo they're
posting, uh, their own content totheir friends and tagging us on there.
So it's, it's been reallyinteractive and really fun.

Eric (35:36):
Yeah, I mean, I, you know, I see so many people who they, they know
that they need to record, you know,they, they, they know that they need
to capture those testimonials, capturethat experience, and like they just.
They just don't do it for whatever reason.
And you know, I, I think it just,you know, this, this goes to show for
everyone out there, I mean, Dom isnot like, you know, this, this social
media influencer, expert, whatever,but like he's telling you, he has built

(35:56):
this business, this referral basedbusiness just by creating content on a
regular schedule and keeping it going.
Like that's, I think that's the numberone thing, is just making sure that
you're consistent and you're putting outgood content where just be real just.
Press record, start talking, showthem what you're working on, share
your challenges, share your wins.
Like, that's, that's what engages people.

Dominick (36:17):
Yeah, that's right.
I, and I, I totally agree and Ithink, uh, I don't do it great.
I just do it.
I don't think I'm great at it.
I don't have a huge following.
I just put stuff out there and,you know, action needs to lead.
Uh, action is what matters.
Not feeling.
Once you've got the action,you will then feel it.

(36:38):
Uh, so if you're waiting around tofeel motivated to do that, um, well,
you're just gonna be waiting forever.
But if you just get going and get infront of the camera and get comfortable
being uncomfortable and be real onthe camera and just talk about what
you do like is exactly what you said.
Uh.
Think

Eric (36:54):
so.
Do you use any

Dominick (36:55):
other platforms or is it only Instagram?
Like?
It's primarily Instagram and I thinkthat's feeding to Facebook as well.
But I think it's organicallyposted to Instagram.
And then now I'm just recentlyhaving content sort of like Retweaked
for LinkedIn, so my social mediaperson will take the same post.
But obviously realizing it's a moreof a corporate audience will sort of.

(37:18):
Tweak the copy a little bitand, and upload it to LinkedIn
so that it, that's there.
But yeah, otherwise, mostly Instagram.
I mean, what we do is, um, so visual andso personal that, um, yeah, it's mostly.
Just on Instagram.
Yeah.
And I think it just validates likeif someone saw your job sign or heard
your name from a neighbor and they'reup at 10 o'clock at night surfing

(37:39):
Instagram, they go, oh yeah, let melook up this company and look you up.
They're either gonna see nothing or,or they're gonna, or they're gonna
see something and you'd rather themsee content there that just further
validates who you are and whatyou're about and, and it shows that.
It's what you said, like if you'reon the job site and you care about
your customers and this and that,it's gonna show more behind the
scenes of who you are and what you'reabout and what your company's about.

(37:59):
And it's gonna lead to opportunities.

Eric (38:01):
And, and you said you've got, you know, basically just a couple hourly,
you know, people helping with this.
How did you find those people?

Dominick (38:07):
So I reached out so.
My social media person, uh, Jacqueline,she was doing the newsletter and Instagram
posting for an interior designer whoI've kind of become friends with.
And I said, Hey, like, who'sdoing your newsletter and stuff,
like, who's posting this stuff?
And she's like, oh, youneed to talk Jacqueline.
So I called Jacqueline up like, Hey,I'm, I'm struggling with my consistency.

(38:29):
I'm like posting it on my own.
There's no calendar.
I'm like, doing it once a week,but then like I miss four or
five days and then I do it again.
It's like I gotta, I gotta getconsistent 'cause it is been a mess.
And so.
That's how that relationship came to be.
And then, um, the videographerwho I recently hired, she is
just somebody from my church.
Um, I, she's a sister tosomeone I know well from church.

(38:50):
And I said, Hey, is your sisterdoing this videography thing?
Like, what's her goals?
She'd be interested indoing this at all to me.
'cause you know, like someonewho just graduated with.
Sort of a cinematographyrelated type degree.
I was sort of assuming that likethey'd had, that they're gonna just
move to Hollywood and like they don't,they don't wanna be doing my reels.
But, uh, the reality is like, no,like she's happy to do reels for me

(39:10):
on an hourly basis 'cause it givesher a little extra pocket money.
And she, we do it when she'savailable and fortunately she's
available or flexibility's there.
So, um, I think finding people is a matterof asking and putting it outta the world.
Like what you're looking for if youdon't ask and you're not gonna get it.

Eric (39:26):
And, and you're not running any paid, paid advertising, paid media?

Dominick (39:30):
Not on, not on Instagram.
I have started running PPC ads throughthe, the folks who run my website,
but no, I, I'm not currently doingany paid ads on Facebook or Instagram,
but I am starting in the next week.
I'm about to start.
A campaign of reels that would drivepeople to reach out to us and fill out
a contact form, because we've kind ofreached this time of year, uh, it's May

(39:50):
5th, that like, if we're not talking to ahomeowner about their kitchen remodel now,
then it ain't getting done by Christmas.
We got too much going on and granny'sgonna come and it's gonna be a mess.
So, uh, I'm about to create, uh,I just wanna test it out that, I
think that's another thing is likebeing willing to test something out.
Like, yeah, you're gonnahave to throw money at it.
Just to see if it works and then refine.

(40:11):
Uh, but if you're making good profitmargins, then you can afford to
take some risks and put money outthere and test some things out.
So I, I am about to launch somepaid stuff on Instagram to a,
to a target audience in my area.

Eric (40:22):
Awesome.
Yeah, that's, uh.
That's awesome.
You know, I, I think it's so importantthat you, you know, you, you can
make those, those experiments,run those campaigns, but you gotta
check and say, Hey, is it working?
Are we getting traction?
Are we getting the leads, arethe conversations looking good?
Like, are they qualified leads?
Yeah.
You know, and I think that's, that'sone of the things that I, you know,
again, I see a lot of people think,oh, we can just throw some money
at it and then forget about it,and the leads are just gonna come.

(40:44):
And it's like, no, no, no.
You know, you gotta work it.
And you gotta make sure the personwho's managing that for you really
understands the target audienceknows local president, pre uh.
Local targeting, you know, super helpful.

Dominick (40:55):
Yeah, I agree.
And we haven't figured it out.
I would say that's the one part ofmy business we have not figured out.
Like I haven't figured it out where,um, I want to get to the place
where like, okay, I know what works.
I. For watershed builders and now Ican go replicate it somewhere else
because I know that if it works here,it will work there and I can just
go rubber stamp it somewhere else.
The processes that from the operationalprocesses, the backend office processes,

(41:19):
the sales processes, but marketingis one that I haven't nailed down.
I haven't figured out like whatforms of advertising work for us
or, or all that kind of thing.
So you're right, and, andI do have someone doing.
Paid ads for me on Google, uh, with PPC.
So that's a managed thing outside of me.
But I'm gonna manage my own Instagramads and just see how it goes.
And if I reach a point where I'mbanging my head against the wall,

(41:39):
fine, I'll hire somebody to do it.
But I'm kind of a student of it, like.
I enjoy learning about it.
So I'm not, I'm not just being cheapand like trying to save the money,
like the DIY homeowner who doesn'twanna pay you 'cause they've got a
guy who does cabinets or something.
Like, I actually enjoy it.
So I wanna, I wanna learn about itand figure it out and, um, see if

(41:59):
that's where we should spend or not.
And, uh, tweak the ads.
If, if my content stinks andI need to switch it up, great.
I'll switch it up or,and see what happens.
But yeah.

Eric (42:09):
So what's the, what's the five, 10 year plan here?

Dominick (42:12):
Oof, man.
I'm so like, um, gosh, this is anotherone you probably don't wanna ask me about.
Um,
I've, I've learned thatI'm the kind of person I.
That, uh, just likes to,I like the challenge.
I like, I like to just climb amountain and find out what the next
mountain is and then come up witha plan and try to execute and go

(42:32):
climb that mountain, and then goclimb the next one and the next one.
So I'm not just wandering through lifeaimlessly with this business thing.
There is a bit of a goal, you know, my,my, one of my business coaches liken this
to say like, okay, you're in San Diegoand you've gotta get to bu Port Maine.
How are you gonna get to Kennebunkport,Maine if you don't have a roadmap,

(42:54):
like you don't know where you're going?
And, um, I said, well, I, Idon't necessarily need to get
to a specific street addressin Kennebunkport to be happy.
Like, if I just land in the state ofMaine, like I, I think I'd be fine.
There are lots of optionsI could be happy with.
So I do struggle with this, likethe five year plan, like the 10
years, like, I don't know exactlywhat that looks like, but I, but

(43:14):
I think what it looks like is, um.
Number one, we wanna be the go-topremier remodeler in Charlotte in the
surrounding Charlotte area, period.
That might mean that we need tooffer another location north of town.
There's kinda a sub-market north oftown that we wanna attack, um, and
kind of be the go-to source, uh, forremodeling in, in our area, period.

(43:35):
So that, that's goal number one.
Um, I don't know how I'll know whenI've arrived at that, but I feel
like we'll know it and then I wannabe able to go, maybe do it someplace
else that I enjoy spending time.
At one point in time I thoughtthat was Hilton Head Island.
Uh, that might stillbe Hilton Head Island.
That's where my wife and I met.
Um, maybe we have another location thereor maybe it's a different location.

(43:56):
But I think the pointis that I wanna grow.
I wanna, I wanna grow locally.
I wanna grow in the surroundingarea, maybe open another office.
It selfishly needs to be a placethat I enjoy going to visit.
'cause I'm gonna go and visit andprobably take my family and spend time.
Um, and I think that's it.
And I think ultimately what.
What the goal is, is to put myselfin a position where I can truly

(44:16):
spend time doing the things thatI like in the, in the business.
I, I don't even mean like, I want toget the business to run without me, and
then I'm gonna go play golf all day.
Um, I mean, like, I wanna choosewhat I do next week at work.
Like I wanna say, okay, I knowthat we're framing this job.
I'm not gonna spend theday with the framers.
Go hang out.
'cause I haven't, I haven't been ona job site framing in a long time, or

(44:40):
they're setting tile over here or there.
Or I'm gonna go visit these homeownersand knock on the door who I haven't
talked to 'em in a while and go, Ijust wanna go pick what I wanna do.
I want the freedom.
The freedom of time is, iskind of one of my goals.
'cause my, my kids are, um, wehave an eight week old at home
and a four and a half year old.
Um, and I know you have kidstoo, and you've, you're growing
an awesome business and beyond.

(45:01):
Um, I, I wanna get to apoint where I can like.
Take five weeks off in a summer andgo spend that time in Europe with my
family and, and not have to worry aboutthe business and then come back to the
business and get back to work or, um, Idon't know, go to the keys for four weeks
with my family and go scuba diving andall the things and, you know, all that.
So I, I think the five yearplan is to get my business to

(45:23):
a point where the day-to-day inthe business doesn't need me.
Like I want to be in it, butthey don't need me to be in it.
I think that's, that's the big goal.
And then, you know, I'vegot young kids, right?
I've got what, at minimum 10 years,maybe 15, to even figure out if
my daughter would even want anyinvolvement in the business, right?

(45:43):
So I think the, the five year looksdifferent 10 to 15 years from now.
Because if, if my daughter's like, oh no,daddy, like I really love the business and
I wanna be a part of it, well then that.
We've got the systems, we'vegot people, we've got processes.
I've built something solid thatI could hand to her, but then
the destiny, like the destinationlooks a little different versus No.
Okay.
I'm gonna sell it to one of my employeeswho have been with me for all these years.

(46:06):
So I'm, I'm open, I'm, I'm opento a couple of different outcomes.

Eric (46:10):
Sounds good.
I mean, I, I, I love that idea of,you know, once you've, you've got
this thing, you know, well-oiledmachine, being able to go open up,
you know, another office somewhere.
I mean, you could, again, stillmanage some of that back office stuff
all in that same place and Yeah.
You know, let you expand andgo, go spend some time where you
wanna spend time and For sure.
Yeah.
Yeah.
We're just very, our, my wife and our, our

Dominick (46:29):
kids we're, my wife and I have always been very like, experiential,
like we value experiential things.
Like we don't value, um,material things as much.
So.
I think that's been a big strength in ourfinancial, uh, footing as a business and
being able to, to take lower salaries.
And thank God my wife worked that,that first six months to a year

(46:49):
to support our family, uh, withoutme and believed in my work ethic
just enough to get us through that.
But, um, we want, we want experiences.
I mean, at the end of your life,like your collect collection
of your memories, right?
Like.
We wanna be able to go and just haverich experiences with each other and
value our time that we have together.
So, but I still love this business, man.
I got into this business.
'cause I, I, I love theidea of it and I do love it.

(47:12):
Um, it doesn't feel like work.
I love it every day.

Eric (47:15):
That's, uh, that's, that's the way to do it.
So, as, as, as we wrap up here, Dom,I'm, I'm curious what, you know, what
advice would you give to others whoare maybe earlier on in their career,
or maybe they're going through some,some growing pains, some challenges.
Like is there anything thatyou wish you would've known?
You know.
Five, six years ago when youstarted the business that you know
now that you might do differently?

Dominick (47:34):
Yeah, I think, um, you gotta, you gotta know your why.
You, you've gotta understand likeSimon Sinek's a little bit, you
know, overplayed, but like, knowingyour why is like really important.
Um, because you, you need to beable to make decisions through
that lens in your business, right?
Part of me, part of that for mewas like, okay, I know I wanna

(47:56):
get this business to this place.
Well, okay, that meansI need to hire people.
Well, in order to hire people, Igotta have a plan in place in order
to have, you know, do any of that.
I have to be willing to letgo, uh, of certain things.
So like, that's the other thing I wouldsay is knowing, um, that you're gonna have
to let go of some things, especially forlike a carpenter who, who came to own a

(48:17):
construction business, that they care somuch about the quality of every Mitre.
And like every little bit of the process,like, yes, those things are important
and, and I care about those things too,but like you have to be willing to let
go and allow others to do things for you.
Whether it's things on the job sitewith carpentry or if it's office things

(48:38):
that like you only wanna do or whatever,just understand that like, um, yeah,
you can try to do it all yourself,but like you are putting yourself in
a fish bowl, uh, this big and, and ifyou ever wanted to grow it, like the
fish will keep growing, but you gotta.
Get bigger tanks and, and part of thatis hiring people and trusting them
to make mistakes and allowing themto, to stub their toe and you help

(48:59):
retrain 'em and get 'em back up again.
So I wish I would've, um, known thata little earlier or, or maybe been a
little more confident in that early on.
Um, the third thing I would say is like,picture yourself as the bigger business.
Imagine what that bigger business needsat that time and start doing those things
now when you're not the bigger business.
Because, um, if you put these thingsinto play, whatever those uh, processes

(49:23):
are, or that software you need tobe using, or the budgeting or like
whatever it is, um, this doesn't get.
Easier.
Like the more your companygrows, the messier it gets.
So you gotta do it now.
Uh, if you pretend like you'rebig now, then hopefully you won't
have to deal with the scaling and,and growing will just sort of be a
byproduct and it won't add more stress.

(49:44):
Uh, so I think those three, thosethree things would be what I'd pass on.
Yeah.

Eric (49:48):
Awesome, man.
Well, look, I, I really appreciate youcoming on sharing your story, how you
veiled to build watershed builders.
I mean, thanks a great job.
Quality of your work is awesome.
The Instagram's been funfor me to follow as well.
So thank you.
Keep it up and, uh, yeah, tha thanksfor, thanks for taking the time
to share this with the community.

Dominick (50:03):
Glad to be here.
Appreciate the opportunity, man, and, uh,appreciate all your support and your team.
Shout out to Michael Vi Ary.
I don't say his name right, butanyway, he's, he's my guy There
y'all are, y'all are awesome.
Thanks for everything.

Eric (50:13):
Appreciate it everyone.
Don.

Dominick (50:15):
You bet.
You too.

Eric (50:17):
Thanks for joining us for this episode of Builder Stories.
We hope you enjoyed the conversationand gained valuable insights that can
help you in your journey along the way.
Don't forget to subscribe to the showand leave us a review and as always.
If you or someone you knowhas a story to share, please
contact us@builderstories.com.

(50:37):
We'd love to hear from you.
I'm Eric Fortenberry, and remember,every builder has a unique story.
Keep building yours.
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