March 11, 2025 • 26 mins
Unlock the secrets to construction business growth with Greg Junge of Junge Construction, as he shares his journey and expertise in our latest episode. Discover how Greg, a second-generation general contractor, transitioned from remodeling to high-end new construction, emphasizing the importance of strong client relationships and strategic networking.
Explore effective business growth strategies by understanding the art of managing client expectations through clear communication and well-defined contracts. Greg delves into the significance of mentorship, setting boundaries, and continuous education in business success. We also touch upon the emotional aspects of construction projects and how logical contracts can help manage stress and expectations. Find out how staying inspired, even on challenging days, can fuel both personal and professional development, and why Greg believes in balancing hard skills with personal growth.
Bio:
Greg Junge started working on job sites when he was 10 (don’t tell!) alongside his dad, Cato, a general contractor and local business owner. Today, Greg is founder and CEO of Junge Construction, a custom homebuilding firm based in Western North Carolina. He believes in quality over quantity, and is proud to build “legacy” homes to be passed onto your great-grandchildren. Off the job, you’ll find Greg coaching youth mountain biking or camping with his wife, Autumn, and their two girls
Thanks for Listening. You may contact me at https://billgilliland.actioncoach.com/
All the best!
Bill
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Hey there, hope you're having a fantastic week.
Welcome to this week's episodeof Epic Entrepreneurs, and we've
got a real good one.
Today I am talking with GregYoung of Young Construction.
So howdy Greg, welcome to theshow.
Howdy Bill, yeah.
And so tell us, greg, how didyou get into construction in the
(00:24):
first place?
Speaker 2 (00:26):
And so tell us, greg, you know how did you get into
construction in the first place?
Yeah, pretty much.
Well, thanks for having me,bill.
I've always enjoyed doing these, so it's a lot of fun.
The funny thing is, I guess Ijust sort of grew up in it, so
we?
I don't know if I really had achoice to be in construction, it
sort of found me.
I'm a second-generation generalcontractor and I've been doing
(00:55):
it for quite a while now.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
So what do you build?
Do you build new construction?
Do you do remodeling?
What is it that you focus on?
Speaker 2 (01:07):
I've had the pleasure and curse of doing a lot of
remodeling, which is only acurse because it involves a lot
of unknowns, which is great forsome people.
I started getting tired offixing rotten wood and have been
aiming towards new constructionmore over the last few years.
Yeah, a little bit slower, youknow.
(01:30):
It's a little bit weird of abarrier to entry, I feel like
when you're more known as aremodeler, you get a lot of
calls for that, and that's sortof what I grew up doing as well.
So you know, about eight yearsago or so, I decided that I want
(01:57):
to do more new construction,which was more of a turned into
kind of an additions firstversion of new construction.
So at least we were attachingto houses instead of just fixing
their existing spaces, theirexisting spaces.
But yeah, the reason I say it'ssort of a good thing and a bad
thing, because a lot of guysjust do new construction, where
I feel like we were able to seewhat was done wrong so many
times, it kind of makes us alittle bit sharper of a new
construction firm rather thanguys that only do new
(02:19):
construction.
Speaker 1 (02:22):
Yeah, I know, back in 2009 time, france, when it had
a downturn, a lot of people thatwere only did new construction
tried to do remodeling anddidn't do it well, because
that's a difference, it's adifferent, it's really a
different business.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
It's almost like two businesses and right now, as
we're transitioning, it stillfeels like two businesses.
You know it's.
It's very kind of tricky yeah,it's, it's.
Remodeling is very mentallydistracting.
You're almost as involved witha medium sized renovation as a
whole home.
There's a lot of emotions.
There's a lot of you know not Iwouldn't want to say dealing
(03:00):
with the client, but they're,you're in their home.
So it's a lot different.
You know there's there's a lotmore customer, a lot of
different customer facingchallenges than new construction
.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
Yeah, because they're either living in it or even if
it's a second home, they want tobe there some and their house
is torn up.
So, yeah, but it's a goodbusiness.
They're both good businesses,but I do think they're different
businesses.
So I think your think on thatis now.
So one of the things that Iknow you've been working on is
(03:32):
getting into some upper,higher-end neighborhoods.
So tell us a little bit aboutthat process and what you've
learned by doing that.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
Well, it's definitely a process by doing that.
Well, it's definitely a process.
We've learned it takes time andyou need to be patient.
It's definitely been a longroad to break.
That initial entry and upfrontcost is definitely there just
putting in the groundwork forthat.
We're currently very proud ofwhat we've been able to get
(04:06):
started in Bright's Creek, whichis a local community in Mill
Spring here, not Mills River,which we seem to get confused a
lot with, but it's.
You know, the steps aredefinitely.
They're sort of laid out foryou though, which is kind of
great, so you can kind of followthat in.
In this particular circumstance, we needed to come to them with
(04:28):
a house that we wanted to build, so there was a lot of time
involved getting like a reallynice floor plan renowned for the
area and have a reputable namethat we could kind of piggyback
(04:49):
on.
So that was a tactic that weused to make that a little
easier, and it did seem to work.
We've got a homeownerconstruction in there that is
just beautiful and will be areally nice finished product
when it's said and done.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
Yeah, so all right.
So these developments haverules.
They have a way to get in there.
In this case their rules werebasically you had, I mean I'm
sure the floor plan has to beapproved.
You have to be approved as acontractor to even build in
there, who's probably already inthere and is a well-known
architect, to use sort of his Iguess his database and his
(05:42):
reputation to be able to workwith you to get a house into the
development Correct.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
And I think it probably started with referrals,
because the way it seems, Idon't think that they reach out
to anybody that hasn't beenvetted at least two or three
times over by other people.
And then they came to me andasked if we were interested in
participating with theirpreferred builder program and
then that lands you in the inthe lineup for the kind of the
(06:06):
top five builders that they were, you know, refer you to Um and
I think to really get your footin the door you have to bring
that, that floor plan to them to, so you can kind of have some
skin in the game and be apartner with everybody.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
Yeah.
So did you guys have to make aninvestment, like buy some lots
or agree that you were going todo certain things, or was there
any kind of a?
I guess?
I mean that's that's sort ofone way to qualify people, I
guess in some of theseneighborhoods Right, and that's
pretty much how it went down.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
We didn't purchase the lot, but we were.
We were selecting lots and, youknow, looking for a house that
would sit well on a prime lotthat they could then list for
sale.
Essentially, um and uh.
It's a fun.
It's a fun little process.
But Bright's Creek is sort of alittle further removed than a
(06:57):
lot of the other neighborhoodsin the in the area that are
maybe been here almost equallyas long potentially.
But because we're so far fromHome Depot and Lowe's and the
you know all of the commonamenities that a lot of folks
desire, it's been a little bitslower to come up, you know.
So even though it's a beautifulcommunity and beautiful setting
(07:18):
and great golf course, thatdoesn't have everything for the
full family, so to speak.
So they've been building uptheir internal amenities and, as
some of the Western countiesand places in Asheville are sort
of running out of real estate,we're now seeing a pretty good
uptick in interest, even thoughit's more remote.
(07:40):
So it's coming around right now.
Speaker 1 (07:43):
Yeah, it's nice out there, Beautiful, more remote,
so it's um, it's coming aroundright now.
Yeah, it's nice out there, um,beautiful, yeah, it's, it really
is.
Well, let's switch gears alittle bit, tell it.
So let's talk about some of thelessons that you've learned.
I mean, you've been in businessfor a while.
What are some of the biggerlessons that you've learned over
the years?
Speaker 2 (08:01):
some big lessons and some painful lessons.
You know I'm I've been very,I've been very grateful and
lucky that I've learned from somany mentors around me.
So, um, I've been able to avoida lot of like painful mistakes
that I've seen other people make.
So, um, I wish I could give yousome exact examples, but a lot
(08:21):
of them are sort of escaping menow that you know, really, just
client interactions are superimportant.
Managing expectations, I think,is probably one of the biggest
hurdles that we all face, and Iwould imagine that's in all of
our different career paths.
But in construction and inmanaging a whole home's
(08:41):
expectation, there can be somegeneral assumptions that get
missed along the way, and if youdon't clear them up quickly or
you don't have contracts thathave a lot of things in writing
that really guide the client towhat they can expect to get from
you, that's probably one of thebiggest lessons that anybody
that's just starting out shouldgrab onto from this comment.
(09:03):
If you're not coveringeverything in writing and I'd
say it's hard to covereverything in writing, but
there's a lot of importantdetails that need to be covered
in your contracts- yeah, I meanI heard.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
well, first, I heard have mentors, and that's the
first thing I heard.
That's the first big lessonthat I think that people should
take.
The second is that clientcommunication is massively
important.
And the third is it's reallyfour.
Third is managing expectations.
So that's about positioning howthis process is going to work.
(09:36):
And then the fourth one is youneed to put it in writing, and
so that could either be throughcontracts or checklists I'm a
big believer in checklists, andso that even talking to a having
a system that you go throughwith every single client is
(09:58):
important, because that way youget all the bases covered.
At least you've said it, they'vesigned off on it, they've
understand the importance of it.
So those are, that's four orfive big lessons.
I think that could, and itdoesn't matter if you're in
construction or not.
That's 100% across the boardwith any business and dealing
(10:21):
with any customers.
So it's just a big number.
It's just a big number whenyou're building a house, and so
it's a.
It's usually the.
You know, for most people,that's the biggest investment
they'll ever make is whateverthey're investing on their
houses.
So, uh, not everybody, but butmost, most people.
That's it.
So there.
There's a lot of emotion tiedup in there and the contracts
(10:48):
and the expectations and allthat manages the emotions and
brings it back to some logic.
Speaker 2 (10:51):
Yeah, so that's gosh, even expectations for when the
client's going to contact you.
You know if you are in thisbusiness long enough you've
probably gotten plenty of phonecalls and text messages or
things after hours and you knowit's sort of an invasion on your
personal life after a certainpoint.
You know at 11 o'clock at nightto be getting you know text
(11:11):
message.
Barrage of about an exhaust fanin the bathroom can really
disrupt your peace at home.
Speaker 1 (11:18):
Yeah, yeah, no, it'll mess up your mind for sure.
Well, I guess that's.
The fifth lesson is boundaries.
I mean you can position thatstuff.
Hey, look, I'm available, we'llhave a meeting.
I mean, what I like to do ishave a meeting every week, like,
look, let's meet, or everyother week, or whatever the
appropriate timeframe is, butwe're going to have an actual
(11:41):
meeting and we'll just save itfor the meeting.
We'll go over everything weneed to, and it'll be during our
business hours and be a timethat's convenient for you.
And most of this stuff's noturgent, you know, so it doesn't
need to be done at 11 o'clock atnight.
So that's, I think.
I think that's, I think that'sawesome.
Well, let's do.
You know EPIC is an acronym, solet me get your thoughts in
(12:05):
about business and growingbusinesses.
The E stands for education, sowhat is the?
What are your thoughts on howthe role education plays in
growing a business?
Speaker 2 (12:18):
I think if you ever stop educating yourself, it's
the first milestone in going outof business.
Speaker 1 (12:29):
It's true, right, You're just going to plateau out
.
I mean, it's always the moreyou learn, the more you earn.
So I love that.
I love that.
How about planning?
I mean, obviously we've got aplan when you build a house.
What is your thoughts aboutplanning a business?
We've got a plan when you builda house.
What is your thoughts about?
Speaker 2 (12:43):
planning a business.
Planning a business yeah it's,I mean it's very important and
I'm getting more and more timeand opportunity to work on that
as we grow more personnel.
You know, sometimes you cankind of just shoot from the hip
and you can see therepercussions of that.
So planning in this business isvery important.
(13:05):
I don't think that there'sanother business that values it
even more than construction.
You know, there's just so muchpre-planning that needs to be
done.
We're managing a lot of movingparts right.
So I think even the best planis not going to be good enough.
So that means you really needto plan well.
Speaker 1 (13:24):
Yeah, and then planning is not just the big
overall plan.
I mean you got the dailyplanning as well.
I mean you got to plan out yourweeks, your days.
Speaker 2 (13:32):
Mini plan yeah.
Speaker 1 (13:34):
Yeah, yeah, it's the plan.
You always said you know youwouldn't I mean I wouldn't build
a house, and I don't think mostpeople would build a house
without a plan.
You know what makes you thinkyou should build your business
without a plan.
So you know it's the same thing, so it's in there.
Well, this is an interestingone.
The I stands for inspiration,and you know, we all know, that
(13:58):
in business you don't get up,fired up every morning.
So where do you either findinspiration, or how do you be an
inspiration, yeah and or be?
Speaker 2 (14:07):
Yeah, and that's a good one, and your statement
about not waking up every dayinspired is definitely a true
one.
This, I think, probablyeveryone would relate that life
can fall out of that trap orthat fall into a trap of not
(14:33):
being inspired and not know evenreally what to do about it.
So I try to do a lot of smalllittle tactics to help me stay
inspired, and parts of them arejust doing difficult things,
things that might be ice bathingor, um, you know, meditating,
um, you know tapping intomotivational uh speakers and
(14:59):
things like that is sort of howI start my day to get the funk
out, If you will.
Um, I can't reallyoveremphasize how much power
that stinking ice bath has.
I'm going on close to two yearsnow of almost daily cold water
submersions and I tell you Imean it started with cold
showers but it's progressed toas cold as 32 degree water and
(15:22):
if you're having a funk, you getout of that water and you are
definitely feeling a little bit.
You're a different person.
Speaker 1 (15:27):
Yeah, no, I think I think it's.
I mean, Rohn said it best workon yourself harder than you do
on your job and you'll besuccessful.
I mean, this is all working onyourself, this is all getting
yourself into state to be ableto be the best you can be to do
your job.
And, frankly, you can inspireothers if you're not inspired.
(15:49):
And so that's awesome, that'sgood stuff.
Yeah, so for all you out there,just take an ice bath and it'll
get you.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
And don't just jump into the ice water because Greg
said so.
You need to educate yourself onwhat the benefits are and how
to do it, and probably stake itslow, because you can actually
cause harm by doing that.
Speaker 1 (16:12):
I wouldn't get yeah, yeah, no, no, you gotta, you
gotta know what you're doing.
But I mean look, I mean turnthe hot water off at the end of
the shower and see how.
See what that does for you.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
First, start a timer and see how long you can.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm not, I'mnot.
Speaker 1 (16:27):
Uh, I've done it and and it's, it is invigorating,
let me put it that way.
It does change your point ofview.
How about how about a?
How about commitment?
The C is commitment and it kindof goes along with inspiration,
right, so you don't get upevery day 100 percent inspired
(16:50):
until after you've had your icebath, and then, and then you got
to commit.
So what?
What's the got to commit tosomething?
What's your thoughts oncommitment?
Speaker 2 (17:00):
I mean, gosh, commitment is such such a big
thing I mean, even committing todo the ice bath is another
thing there, you know.
So it's like you can reallywant to talk yourself out of
that.
And that goes into, um, thedoing difficult things, because
you're going to have to do a lotof difficult things throughout
the day.
And if you're committed tojumping into something so
(17:20):
difficult as to climbing intoice water, well, maybe the
difficult conversation with anemployee might not be as
difficult.
You know you're like I mean, ifI can do that, what else can I
do?
Right?
So if you're committed and Ifeel like, for me this is easy,
because if I say I'm going to dosomething, I feel like I always
have to follow through with itto completion.
So I feel like I'm a committedindividual.
(17:40):
But then you also have to becareful, like what are you going
to commit to?
Because that can be a curse too.
You know, if you're overcommitted, you might also be
pretty unhappy.
You know, if you can't make allyour obligations, so and it's a
trick, growing a business youknow, if you're not committed to
the pain and suffering or tosorry, if you're not committed
(18:00):
to the goal, you're going tofail on the pain and suffering,
because it can be veryoverwhelming.
Speaker 1 (18:04):
Yeah, you'll quit.
Yeah, if you're not all in,don't understand where you're
going.
I was talking to some guysyesterday and one of them came
out of corporate and he said youknow, I traded a 55,
60-hour-a-week job for an85-hour-a-week job.
Yes, sir, so I mean that waswhat he, but he's committed to
(18:27):
the job and he knows it's notalways going to be that way.
So, yeah, it's pretty, it'spretty interesting.
Um, let me ask you a questionthat I usually, almost always,
ask, which is what do you wishsomebody had told you?
What do you wish you had knownbefore you got into business?
Speaker 2 (18:57):
business.
I'm almost well.
I just turned 40 this past year, in 24, and I started my first
business when I was 19 and I ranit for 17 years and um, so it's
really tough to go back beforethat, and I feel like I did
learn a lot of lessons along theway, but I mean more recently.
I think just things that I'velearned is is a lot of
visualization techniques, andthings like that could have
(19:18):
could have helped me sooner, youknow, um.
I can tell you, though, thatthat's not just an easy.
You better be committed to thatas well, because it's not a
single dose application.
It's like a daily commitment touh, to really like being there
for yourself and working on youryourself and, um, keeping your
(19:38):
head out of the gutter.
And, and you know, I don'tthink anyone needs to tell you
that business is hard, you know,but anything is as hard as you
make it to be.
So I guess there's a lot oflessons in that and those little
statements, but I'm telling younow I'm not an expert at it.
I'm still a student of thatmindset and that pathway, and
I'm personally in one of thosewinter seasons right now where I
(20:02):
don't feel that inspired andI'm having to lean on my
commitment to pull up the I.
So my C needs to lead my Iright now.
Speaker 1 (20:11):
Yeah, no, I understand, I understand that.
Yeah, well, that's right, I meanit's, it's uh, you know where.
That's where I say where do youfind inspiration?
Sometimes, like for me, it'susually a new class or a new
learning or something that or anew goal.
It's just, but it's.
But I've got to sit down andactually do a little reflection
(20:32):
on it.
I'm going to let her, I'm goingto let you in on a secret, and
you already know it, but becauseyou're, because of who you are,
but the listeners out there,I'm going to let you in on a
secret and that is if you wantto grow your business, grow
yourself.
That's all there is to it.
I mean, john Maxwell called itthe law of the lid and basically
said if you're at a certainlevel for those that are seeing
(20:57):
this on video, you see my handyour business can only go to
where that level is.
But as you grow, then thebusiness can come along behind
it.
So if you want to grow yourbusiness, grow yourself.
Speaker 2 (21:09):
And yeah, I think that's true with everything you
want to grow your bank accountor you want to grow your
business.
Grow yourself and yeah, I thinkthat's true with everything.
You want to grow your bankaccount or you want to grow out
of a home that you're living in.
If your mental story is, I'mjust a poor person who lives in
a single wide trailer boy, thatwill keep you there longer than
anything else in your mind.
Speaker 1 (21:23):
Yeah, you'll figure it out.
If you change the message inyour mind that you're a
multimillionaire, even if you'reliving in a single wide right
now.
If you believe it and youcontinue to tell yourself that
you'll be a multimillionaire,your brain will figure out how
to do it.
You'll take the courses, you'lldo the work.
Now, it's not easy.
(21:45):
You've got to do the work andyou've got to become the person
who can be a multimillionaire.
But you've got to, you've gotto do the work that way.
So, uh, excellent stuff.
So, any other advice, anythingthat comes to your mind,
anything you want to say aboutanything about business life.
Speaker 2 (22:14):
Greg, young construction, anything.
Well, I mean the, the, theeducation part, and being a
student of yourself is probablythe biggest takeaway that any
person can can get from any ofthis uh that we're talking about
today.
Um, it's, um, it's.
It is what keeps me going.
I would say like just knowingthat I am going to keep tapping
into it and, um, I've got a.
I'm looking at my whiteboardhere beside me as I'm looking
for inspiration to answer yourquestion or to go deeper, I feel
(22:35):
like I've, just as I learn alesson, I write a little quote
down.
You know, I've got things onthis board Like I was born for
this kind of challenge and don'tmeet me there, beat me there.
Uh, slow is smooth, smooth isfast, and there's just like
there's a lot of little thingson my board here that help me
stay inspired.
I guess, when I'm when I needto look for something, um, yeah,
(22:56):
just keep working on, keepworking on growing, getting
better.
Yeah, you still have.
Speaker 1 (23:01):
you still have to do the business stuff.
You still have to learn thehard stuff, but you got to do
the soft stuff too, working onyourself, so it's a good thing.
So if people are interested inbuilding a nice house, how do
they get a hold of you?
Speaker 2 (23:19):
Yes, if you're looking for a
multimillion-dollar luxury homeon a golf course, look us up on
Facebook for Young Construction.
It's J-U-n-g-e for everybodywho doesn't.
Uh, maybe get a visual on thatone.
I'm a.
I'm a.
My dad is from germany.
It's a german name.
It means young, so we say it asuh as its meaning.
(23:40):
But, um, it's really junga,which is a little difficult to
pronounce.
But, uh, we're on the web.
We got a good website and webpresence, things like that.
You could actually find ourhouse listing on brights creek
website as well.
So, um, if anyone's interestedin that, um, that's a good
resource too as well fantastic,so just check it out on the web.
Speaker 1 (24:02):
We'll get that in the show notes.
We'll be in there.
So, uh, this has been fun,thanks.
Speaker 2 (24:09):
Thanks, bill.
Thanks for having me on, Ienjoyed it.
Speaker 1 (24:11):
Yeah, hey.
And for any of you who wouldlike to work on yourself or work
on your team or work on yourbusiness, we have a number of
12-week training courses.
We have 12-week leadership, wehave 12-week management, we have
12-week sales and we have a12-week general business
(24:32):
masterclass.
So if you or any of your peoplecould be better managers, sales
peoples or leaders, we'd loveto have a chat with you.
Hey, and until next time, allthe best.
Hey there, hope you're having a fantastic week.
Welcome to this week's episodeof Epic Entrepreneurs, and we've
got a real good one.
Today I am talking with GregYoung of Young Construction.
So howdy Greg, welcome to theshow.
Howdy Bill, yeah.
And so tell us, greg, how didyou get into construction in the
(00:24):
first place?
Speaker 2 (00:26):
And so tell us, greg, you know how did you get into
construction in the first place?
Yeah, pretty much.
Well, thanks for having me,bill.
I've always enjoyed doing these, so it's a lot of fun.
The funny thing is, I guess Ijust sort of grew up in it, so
we?
I don't know if I really had achoice to be in construction, it
sort of found me.
I'm a second-generation generalcontractor and I've been doing
(00:55):
it for quite a while now.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
So what do you build?
Do you build new construction?
Do you do remodeling?
What is it that you focus on?
Speaker 2 (01:07):
I've had the pleasure and curse of doing a lot of
remodeling, which is only acurse because it involves a lot
of unknowns, which is great forsome people.
I started getting tired offixing rotten wood and have been
aiming towards new constructionmore over the last few years.
Yeah, a little bit slower, youknow.
(01:30):
It's a little bit weird of abarrier to entry, I feel like
when you're more known as aremodeler, you get a lot of
calls for that, and that's sortof what I grew up doing as well.
So you know, about eight yearsago or so, I decided that I want
(01:57):
to do more new construction,which was more of a turned into
kind of an additions firstversion of new construction.
So at least we were attachingto houses instead of just fixing
their existing spaces, theirexisting spaces.
But yeah, the reason I say it'ssort of a good thing and a bad
thing, because a lot of guysjust do new construction, where
I feel like we were able to seewhat was done wrong so many
times, it kind of makes us alittle bit sharper of a new
construction firm rather thanguys that only do new
(02:19):
construction.
Speaker 1 (02:22):
Yeah, I know, back in 2009 time, france, when it had
a downturn, a lot of people thatwere only did new construction
tried to do remodeling anddidn't do it well, because
that's a difference, it's adifferent, it's really a
different business.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
It's almost like two businesses and right now, as
we're transitioning, it stillfeels like two businesses.
You know it's.
It's very kind of tricky yeah,it's, it's.
Remodeling is very mentallydistracting.
You're almost as involved witha medium sized renovation as a
whole home.
There's a lot of emotions.
There's a lot of you know not Iwouldn't want to say dealing
(03:00):
with the client, but they're,you're in their home.
So it's a lot different.
You know there's there's a lotmore customer, a lot of
different customer facingchallenges than new construction
.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
Yeah, because they're either living in it or even if
it's a second home, they want tobe there some and their house
is torn up.
So, yeah, but it's a goodbusiness.
They're both good businesses,but I do think they're different
businesses.
So I think your think on thatis now.
So one of the things that Iknow you've been working on is
(03:32):
getting into some upper,higher-end neighborhoods.
So tell us a little bit aboutthat process and what you've
learned by doing that.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
Well, it's definitely a process by doing that.
Well, it's definitely a process.
We've learned it takes time andyou need to be patient.
It's definitely been a longroad to break.
That initial entry and upfrontcost is definitely there just
putting in the groundwork forthat.
We're currently very proud ofwhat we've been able to get
(04:06):
started in Bright's Creek, whichis a local community in Mill
Spring here, not Mills River,which we seem to get confused a
lot with, but it's.
You know, the steps aredefinitely.
They're sort of laid out foryou though, which is kind of
great, so you can kind of followthat in.
In this particular circumstance, we needed to come to them with
(04:28):
a house that we wanted to build, so there was a lot of time
involved getting like a reallynice floor plan renowned for the
area and have a reputable namethat we could kind of piggyback
(04:49):
on.
So that was a tactic that weused to make that a little
easier, and it did seem to work.
We've got a homeownerconstruction in there that is
just beautiful and will be areally nice finished product
when it's said and done.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
Yeah, so all right.
So these developments haverules.
They have a way to get in there.
In this case their rules werebasically you had, I mean I'm
sure the floor plan has to beapproved.
You have to be approved as acontractor to even build in
there, who's probably already inthere and is a well-known
architect, to use sort of his Iguess his database and his
(05:42):
reputation to be able to workwith you to get a house into the
development Correct.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
And I think it probably started with referrals,
because the way it seems, Idon't think that they reach out
to anybody that hasn't beenvetted at least two or three
times over by other people.
And then they came to me andasked if we were interested in
participating with theirpreferred builder program and
then that lands you in the inthe lineup for the kind of the
(06:06):
top five builders that they were, you know, refer you to Um and
I think to really get your footin the door you have to bring
that, that floor plan to them to, so you can kind of have some
skin in the game and be apartner with everybody.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
Yeah.
So did you guys have to make aninvestment, like buy some lots
or agree that you were going todo certain things, or was there
any kind of a?
I guess?
I mean that's that's sort ofone way to qualify people, I
guess in some of theseneighborhoods Right, and that's
pretty much how it went down.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
We didn't purchase the lot, but we were.
We were selecting lots and, youknow, looking for a house that
would sit well on a prime lotthat they could then list for
sale.
Essentially, um and uh.
It's a fun.
It's a fun little process.
But Bright's Creek is sort of alittle further removed than a
(06:57):
lot of the other neighborhoodsin the in the area that are
maybe been here almost equallyas long potentially.
But because we're so far fromHome Depot and Lowe's and the
you know all of the commonamenities that a lot of folks
desire, it's been a little bitslower to come up, you know.
So even though it's a beautifulcommunity and beautiful setting
(07:18):
and great golf course, thatdoesn't have everything for the
full family, so to speak.
So they've been building uptheir internal amenities and, as
some of the Western countiesand places in Asheville are sort
of running out of real estate,we're now seeing a pretty good
uptick in interest, even thoughit's more remote.
(07:40):
So it's coming around right now.
Speaker 1 (07:43):
Yeah, it's nice out there, Beautiful, more remote,
so it's um, it's coming aroundright now.
Yeah, it's nice out there, um,beautiful, yeah, it's, it really
is.
Well, let's switch gears alittle bit, tell it.
So let's talk about some of thelessons that you've learned.
I mean, you've been in businessfor a while.
What are some of the biggerlessons that you've learned over
the years?
Speaker 2 (08:01):
some big lessons and some painful lessons.
You know I'm I've been very,I've been very grateful and
lucky that I've learned from somany mentors around me.
So, um, I've been able to avoida lot of like painful mistakes
that I've seen other people make.
So, um, I wish I could give yousome exact examples, but a lot
(08:21):
of them are sort of escaping menow that you know, really, just
client interactions are superimportant.
Managing expectations, I think,is probably one of the biggest
hurdles that we all face, and Iwould imagine that's in all of
our different career paths.
But in construction and inmanaging a whole home's
(08:41):
expectation, there can be somegeneral assumptions that get
missed along the way, and if youdon't clear them up quickly or
you don't have contracts thathave a lot of things in writing
that really guide the client towhat they can expect to get from
you, that's probably one of thebiggest lessons that anybody
that's just starting out shouldgrab onto from this comment.
(09:03):
If you're not coveringeverything in writing and I'd
say it's hard to covereverything in writing, but
there's a lot of importantdetails that need to be covered
in your contracts- yeah, I meanI heard.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
well, first, I heard have mentors, and that's the
first thing I heard.
That's the first big lessonthat I think that people should
take.
The second is that clientcommunication is massively
important.
And the third is it's reallyfour.
Third is managing expectations.
So that's about positioning howthis process is going to work.
(09:36):
And then the fourth one is youneed to put it in writing, and
so that could either be throughcontracts or checklists I'm a
big believer in checklists, andso that even talking to a having
a system that you go throughwith every single client is
(09:58):
important, because that way youget all the bases covered.
At least you've said it, they'vesigned off on it, they've
understand the importance of it.
So those are, that's four orfive big lessons.
I think that could, and itdoesn't matter if you're in
construction or not.
That's 100% across the boardwith any business and dealing
(10:21):
with any customers.
So it's just a big number.
It's just a big number whenyou're building a house, and so
it's a.
It's usually the.
You know, for most people,that's the biggest investment
they'll ever make is whateverthey're investing on their
houses.
So, uh, not everybody, but butmost, most people.
That's it.
So there.
There's a lot of emotion tiedup in there and the contracts
(10:48):
and the expectations and allthat manages the emotions and
brings it back to some logic.
Speaker 2 (10:51):
Yeah, so that's gosh, even expectations for when the
client's going to contact you.
You know if you are in thisbusiness long enough you've
probably gotten plenty of phonecalls and text messages or
things after hours and you knowit's sort of an invasion on your
personal life after a certainpoint.
You know at 11 o'clock at nightto be getting you know text
(11:11):
message.
Barrage of about an exhaust fanin the bathroom can really
disrupt your peace at home.
Speaker 1 (11:18):
Yeah, yeah, no, it'll mess up your mind for sure.
Well, I guess that's.
The fifth lesson is boundaries.
I mean you can position thatstuff.
Hey, look, I'm available, we'llhave a meeting.
I mean, what I like to do ishave a meeting every week, like,
look, let's meet, or everyother week, or whatever the
appropriate timeframe is, butwe're going to have an actual
(11:41):
meeting and we'll just save itfor the meeting.
We'll go over everything weneed to, and it'll be during our
business hours and be a timethat's convenient for you.
And most of this stuff's noturgent, you know, so it doesn't
need to be done at 11 o'clock atnight.
So that's, I think.
I think that's, I think that'sawesome.
Well, let's do.
You know EPIC is an acronym, solet me get your thoughts in
(12:05):
about business and growingbusinesses.
The E stands for education, sowhat is the?
What are your thoughts on howthe role education plays in
growing a business?
Speaker 2 (12:18):
I think if you ever stop educating yourself, it's
the first milestone in going outof business.
Speaker 1 (12:29):
It's true, right, You're just going to plateau out
.
I mean, it's always the moreyou learn, the more you earn.
So I love that.
I love that.
How about planning?
I mean, obviously we've got aplan when you build a house.
What is your thoughts aboutplanning a business?
We've got a plan when you builda house.
What is your thoughts about?
Speaker 2 (12:43):
planning a business.
Planning a business yeah it's,I mean it's very important and
I'm getting more and more timeand opportunity to work on that
as we grow more personnel.
You know, sometimes you cankind of just shoot from the hip
and you can see therepercussions of that.
So planning in this business isvery important.
(13:05):
I don't think that there'sanother business that values it
even more than construction.
You know, there's just so muchpre-planning that needs to be
done.
We're managing a lot of movingparts right.
So I think even the best planis not going to be good enough.
So that means you really needto plan well.
Speaker 1 (13:24):
Yeah, and then planning is not just the big
overall plan.
I mean you got the dailyplanning as well.
I mean you got to plan out yourweeks, your days.
Speaker 2 (13:32):
Mini plan yeah.
Speaker 1 (13:34):
Yeah, yeah, it's the plan.
You always said you know youwouldn't I mean I wouldn't build
a house, and I don't think mostpeople would build a house
without a plan.
You know what makes you thinkyou should build your business
without a plan.
So you know it's the same thing, so it's in there.
Well, this is an interestingone.
The I stands for inspiration,and you know, we all know, that
(13:58):
in business you don't get up,fired up every morning.
So where do you either findinspiration, or how do you be an
inspiration, yeah and or be?
Speaker 2 (14:07):
Yeah, and that's a good one, and your statement
about not waking up every dayinspired is definitely a true
one.
This, I think, probablyeveryone would relate that life
can fall out of that trap orthat fall into a trap of not
(14:33):
being inspired and not know evenreally what to do about it.
So I try to do a lot of smalllittle tactics to help me stay
inspired, and parts of them arejust doing difficult things,
things that might be ice bathingor, um, you know, meditating,
um, you know tapping intomotivational uh speakers and
(14:59):
things like that is sort of howI start my day to get the funk
out, If you will.
Um, I can't reallyoveremphasize how much power
that stinking ice bath has.
I'm going on close to two yearsnow of almost daily cold water
submersions and I tell you Imean it started with cold
showers but it's progressed toas cold as 32 degree water and
(15:22):
if you're having a funk, you getout of that water and you are
definitely feeling a little bit.
You're a different person.
Speaker 1 (15:27):
Yeah, no, I think I think it's.
I mean, Rohn said it best workon yourself harder than you do
on your job and you'll besuccessful.
I mean, this is all working onyourself, this is all getting
yourself into state to be ableto be the best you can be to do
your job.
And, frankly, you can inspireothers if you're not inspired.
(15:49):
And so that's awesome, that'sgood stuff.
Yeah, so for all you out there,just take an ice bath and it'll
get you.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
And don't just jump into the ice water because Greg
said so.
You need to educate yourself onwhat the benefits are and how
to do it, and probably stake itslow, because you can actually
cause harm by doing that.
Speaker 1 (16:12):
I wouldn't get yeah, yeah, no, no, you gotta, you
gotta know what you're doing.
But I mean look, I mean turnthe hot water off at the end of
the shower and see how.
See what that does for you.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
First, start a timer and see how long you can.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm not, I'mnot.
Speaker 1 (16:27):
Uh, I've done it and and it's, it is invigorating,
let me put it that way.
It does change your point ofview.
How about how about a?
How about commitment?
The C is commitment and it kindof goes along with inspiration,
right, so you don't get upevery day 100 percent inspired
(16:50):
until after you've had your icebath, and then, and then you got
to commit.
So what?
What's the got to commit tosomething?
What's your thoughts oncommitment?
Speaker 2 (17:00):
I mean, gosh, commitment is such such a big
thing I mean, even committing todo the ice bath is another
thing there, you know.
So it's like you can reallywant to talk yourself out of
that.
And that goes into, um, thedoing difficult things, because
you're going to have to do a lotof difficult things throughout
the day.
And if you're committed tojumping into something so
(17:20):
difficult as to climbing intoice water, well, maybe the
difficult conversation with anemployee might not be as
difficult.
You know you're like I mean, ifI can do that, what else can I
do?
Right?
So if you're committed and Ifeel like, for me this is easy,
because if I say I'm going to dosomething, I feel like I always
have to follow through with itto completion.
So I feel like I'm a committedindividual.
(17:40):
But then you also have to becareful, like what are you going
to commit to?
Because that can be a curse too.
You know, if you're overcommitted, you might also be
pretty unhappy.
You know, if you can't make allyour obligations, so and it's a
trick, growing a business youknow, if you're not committed to
the pain and suffering or tosorry, if you're not committed
(18:00):
to the goal, you're going tofail on the pain and suffering,
because it can be veryoverwhelming.
Speaker 1 (18:04):
Yeah, you'll quit.
Yeah, if you're not all in,don't understand where you're
going.
I was talking to some guysyesterday and one of them came
out of corporate and he said youknow, I traded a 55,
60-hour-a-week job for an85-hour-a-week job.
Yes, sir, so I mean that waswhat he, but he's committed to
(18:27):
the job and he knows it's notalways going to be that way.
So, yeah, it's pretty, it'spretty interesting.
Um, let me ask you a questionthat I usually, almost always,
ask, which is what do you wishsomebody had told you?
What do you wish you had knownbefore you got into business?
Speaker 2 (18:57):
business.
I'm almost well.
I just turned 40 this past year, in 24, and I started my first
business when I was 19 and I ranit for 17 years and um, so it's
really tough to go back beforethat, and I feel like I did
learn a lot of lessons along theway, but I mean more recently.
I think just things that I'velearned is is a lot of
visualization techniques, andthings like that could have
(19:18):
could have helped me sooner, youknow, um.
I can tell you, though, thatthat's not just an easy.
You better be committed to thatas well, because it's not a
single dose application.
It's like a daily commitment touh, to really like being there
for yourself and working on youryourself and, um, keeping your
(19:38):
head out of the gutter.
And, and you know, I don'tthink anyone needs to tell you
that business is hard, you know,but anything is as hard as you
make it to be.
So I guess there's a lot oflessons in that and those little
statements, but I'm telling younow I'm not an expert at it.
I'm still a student of thatmindset and that pathway, and
I'm personally in one of thosewinter seasons right now where I
(20:02):
don't feel that inspired andI'm having to lean on my
commitment to pull up the I.
So my C needs to lead my Iright now.
Speaker 1 (20:11):
Yeah, no, I understand, I understand that.
Yeah, well, that's right, I meanit's, it's uh, you know where.
That's where I say where do youfind inspiration?
Sometimes, like for me, it'susually a new class or a new
learning or something that or anew goal.
It's just, but it's.
But I've got to sit down andactually do a little reflection
(20:32):
on it.
I'm going to let her, I'm goingto let you in on a secret, and
you already know it, but becauseyou're, because of who you are,
but the listeners out there,I'm going to let you in on a
secret and that is if you wantto grow your business, grow
yourself.
That's all there is to it.
I mean, john Maxwell called itthe law of the lid and basically
said if you're at a certainlevel for those that are seeing
(20:57):
this on video, you see my handyour business can only go to
where that level is.
But as you grow, then thebusiness can come along behind
it.
So if you want to grow yourbusiness, grow yourself.
Speaker 2 (21:09):
And yeah, I think that's true with everything you
want to grow your bank accountor you want to grow your
business.
Grow yourself and yeah, I thinkthat's true with everything.
You want to grow your bankaccount or you want to grow out
of a home that you're living in.
If your mental story is, I'mjust a poor person who lives in
a single wide trailer boy, thatwill keep you there longer than
anything else in your mind.
Speaker 1 (21:23):
Yeah, you'll figure it out.
If you change the message inyour mind that you're a
multimillionaire, even if you'reliving in a single wide right
now.
If you believe it and youcontinue to tell yourself that
you'll be a multimillionaire,your brain will figure out how
to do it.
You'll take the courses, you'lldo the work.
Now, it's not easy.
(21:45):
You've got to do the work andyou've got to become the person
who can be a multimillionaire.
But you've got to, you've gotto do the work that way.
So, uh, excellent stuff.
So, any other advice, anythingthat comes to your mind,
anything you want to say aboutanything about business life.
Speaker 2 (22:14):
Greg, young construction, anything.
Well, I mean the, the, theeducation part, and being a
student of yourself is probablythe biggest takeaway that any
person can can get from any ofthis uh that we're talking about
today.
Um, it's, um, it's.
It is what keeps me going.
I would say like just knowingthat I am going to keep tapping
into it and, um, I've got a.
I'm looking at my whiteboardhere beside me as I'm looking
for inspiration to answer yourquestion or to go deeper, I feel
(22:35):
like I've, just as I learn alesson, I write a little quote
down.
You know, I've got things onthis board Like I was born for
this kind of challenge and don'tmeet me there, beat me there.
Uh, slow is smooth, smooth isfast, and there's just like
there's a lot of little thingson my board here that help me
stay inspired.
I guess, when I'm when I needto look for something, um, yeah,
(22:56):
just keep working on, keepworking on growing, getting
better.
Yeah, you still have.
Speaker 1 (23:01):
you still have to do the business stuff.
You still have to learn thehard stuff, but you got to do
the soft stuff too, working onyourself, so it's a good thing.
So if people are interested inbuilding a nice house, how do
they get a hold of you?
Speaker 2 (23:19):
Yes, if you're looking for a
multimillion-dollar luxury homeon a golf course, look us up on
Facebook for Young Construction.
It's J-U-n-g-e for everybodywho doesn't.
Uh, maybe get a visual on thatone.
I'm a.
I'm a.
My dad is from germany.
It's a german name.
It means young, so we say it asuh as its meaning.
(23:40):
But, um, it's really junga,which is a little difficult to
pronounce.
But, uh, we're on the web.
We got a good website and webpresence, things like that.
You could actually find ourhouse listing on brights creek
website as well.
So, um, if anyone's interestedin that, um, that's a good
resource too as well fantastic,so just check it out on the web.
Speaker 1 (24:02):
We'll get that in the show notes.
We'll be in there.
So, uh, this has been fun,thanks.
Speaker 2 (24:09):
Thanks, bill.
Thanks for having me on, Ienjoyed it.
Speaker 1 (24:11):
Yeah, hey.
And for any of you who wouldlike to work on yourself or work
on your team or work on yourbusiness, we have a number of
12-week training courses.
We have 12-week leadership, wehave 12-week management, we have
12-week sales and we have a12-week general business
(24:32):
masterclass.
So if you or any of your peoplecould be better managers, sales
peoples or leaders, we'd loveto have a chat with you.
Hey, and until next time, allthe best.
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