October 3, 2025 • 39 mins
Justin Berger takes us behind the curtain of home inspection entrepreneurship, revealing how his business evolved from a simple scheduling concept to the comprehensive team-based approach that's driven 20% year-over-year growth for Home Inspection Collective since 2017.
What sets this conversation apart is Justin's refreshing honesty about the entrepreneurial journey. He candidly shares how self-awareness transformed his business approach when he realized he wasn't "the best home inspector in Asheville." This pivotal moment led him to build a team of specialists rather than trying to excel at everything himself.
The discussion explores unique hiring challenges in licensed industries, where Justin might interview just "one or two licensed individuals throughout the year." Surprisingly, he doesn't seek construction backgrounds when hiring inspectors, instead prioritizing communication skills and customer service experience. Both his current inspectors come from hospitality backgrounds, reflecting his belief that being educators is more important than being technical experts.
Justin's business approach is captured through his EPIC framework: Bringing Energy through positive client experiences, Education for clients and realtors, Planning with purpose, Inspiration for his team and children, and Commitment to employee well-being.
Whether you're considering entrepreneurship, facing hiring challenges, or looking to innovate within an established industry, Justin's journey offers valuable insights into building a thriving business while maintaining work-life balance and never losing sight of what matters most.
Thanks for Listening. You may contact me or our team at https://billgilliland.biz/
All the best!
Bill
Thanks for listening. Please hit the subscribe button, leave us a 5 star review, and share this podcast. You can reach me at williamgilliland@actioncoach.com or at https://billgilliland.biz/
All the best!
Bill
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Hey there, welcome to this episode of Epic
Entrepreneurs.
I am Bill Gilliland, your host.
I am the principal at ActionCoach, business Growth Partners
and one of the founders of theAsheville Business Summit, and I
am super pumped today to haveJustin Berger from the Home
Inspection Collective with me.
So, justin, tell us a littlebit about you and what the heck
(00:24):
the Home Inspection Collectiveis.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
Yeah, thanks, bill.
Yeah, looking forward to havinga conversation with you and all
the listeners that are outthere.
Yeah, home InspectionCollective.
I get asked that all the time,like, why did you go with the
collective?
What is that?
The collective, what is that?
(00:48):
And it actually my businessmodel changed when I first
started the business to what ithas evolved to today.
Originally, I just wanted to bea scheduling company, so I just
wanted to have a handful ofhome inspectors out there that I
trusted that I could send workto or leads to.
And, yeah, I found out quitequickly that that business model
wasn't going to work, becauseit was hard to really protect
(01:11):
any IP that we had and also tokeep other inspectors from
poaching the realtors that we'vebeen working with that send us
leads.
And so we changed the model andsaid you know what, let's build
out a team.
And so we changed the model andsaid you know what?
Let's build out a team, notnecessarily a team at Home
Inspection Collective, but ateam of subcontractors that we
(01:32):
use on a regular basis to helpus, our agents and our clients
with home inspections.
And so that is Home InspectionCollective, and we've been
servicing Asheville since 2017.
Well, asheville and thesurrounding areas since 2017.
Yeah, so, when you say that youhave a team of subcontractors,
(02:00):
tell us more about that model.
Yeah, so, in-house we have twofull-time inspectors, so we have
Sean and Kayshawn, but thesubcontractor side of that is
professionals that were notlicensed to do any type of
formal inspections, and so mostof our clients ask us to do
what's called a termiteinspection or a pest inspection
(02:22):
with our general home inspection, and so we have colleagues that
are subcontractors to us, andone of those would be Jake with
Recon Pest, and so we've teamedup with him since 2017 to do
specific inspections, again,that we're not qualified or
licensed to do.
And then other subcontractorsthat we use is Emma.
(02:43):
She is our chimney sweep and,as you can imagine, her schedule
is filling up quickly this timeof year because everyone wants
to get their wood stove orfireplace cleaned and ready to
now for about six months.
And we're and again, as asubcontractor she's a
(03:05):
subcontractor on paper, butshe's obviously, uh, one of our
team members, um, even thoughshe's compensated a little bit
differently than than our homeinspectors.
And then other subcontractorsthat we use is septic.
So we uh, we have companiesthat we subcontract out to do
septic and well inspections andI think that's it for yeah,
(03:30):
that's it for subcontractors.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
Yeah.
So basically, if you want toget anything inspected around
your house, pretty much you're asource for that.
Yeah, no, that's great, Iunderstand.
I understand the model now solet's jump to the business.
So you I mean you, you startedwith one model.
You kind of it wouldn't saycompletely changed.
(03:53):
It seems like you just morphedit a little bit to be to meet
what the what the market woulddifferently.
But if you had to start fromsquare one, what would you do
differently?
Speaker 2 (04:09):
one.
What would you do differently,man?
That is, that's a greatquestion.
Someone asked me that the otherday and, you know, out of uh,
you know, I've reflected on alittle bit and and my answer
kind of changed a little bitbecause I don't know, I don't
know that I would changeanything.
Um, I have a.
I don't have a lot of quotes,but I have one in particular
that I like, and it's, you know,what got you here, won't get
(04:29):
you there, and so my journey inentrepreneurship, or being a
business owner, has been justone wall after another, one
ceiling after another.
And so would I change anything?
You know, probably not, becauseevery, every obstacle that I
had to, that I was up against, Ihad to find a solution for it.
(04:50):
Um, and so that was, that wasmy answer when I was asked that
before.
But my answer has now changed,um to where, uh, you know, one
of the biggest challenges thatthat I've had to face and that I
will continue to face, is justself-awareness.
(05:10):
Um, my, you know this, this ideathat I was the best home
inspector in Asheville.
You know, I came to thisrealization that, no, I'm not
the best home inspector inAsheville, and then it's like
okay, so what do we do aboutthat?
If you're not the best, how doyou get the best or how do you
find the best?
And so then I just said, okay,we have to build out a team,
(05:33):
let's find someone that's betterthan me at doing home
inspections, and so that kind ofchanged how we looked at our
business personally andprofessionally.
Is that self-awareness to where?
You know, I am constantlytrying to determine what my
strengths are and what myweaknesses are, and if I had to
(05:55):
go back and start over, I wouldidentify what I'm really good at
and what I'm terrible at, andthen I would find those people
and surround myself with thoseindividuals that excel at some
of those things that I'm notLike.
I will never be a bookkeeper, Idon't have the bandwidth to sit
behind a computer and look atnumbers every single day, or
doing my taxes, or doingmarketing or whatever that it is
(06:18):
, and so so I certainly had thismind shift changed of like okay
, stop trying to take on all ofthese things that I shouldn't be
doing, because I'm not good atit and I don't want to learn it,
and let's find someone that'sbetter at it and let's get them
on board with us to help us withthe path of the business that
we want to run and operate, andso self-awareness, that is my
(06:40):
answer.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
I love it.
Yeah, I love it.
Yeah, it's a little bit aboutyou know.
I had a mentor one time saidyou got to learn to commit ego
side.
You got to.
You know, you got to put theego.
You got to put your ego asideand get going on it.
What?
So it sounds like that was agood learning.
What other learnings have youhad as an employer?
Speaker 2 (07:09):
What other learnings have you had as an employer?
You know, one of the strugglesthat we face in our industry and
this isn't specific to mybusiness is hiring.
It's finding just in terms oflike filling the role as a home
inspector.
That will continue to be ourbiggest hurdle and our biggest
(07:33):
challenge, and it is becausewe're a licensed state and so we
have to meet some basicrequirements that allow us to do
a home inspection.
And there's not a lot of peopleout there that know about our
industry or that are excitedabout our industry or even know
anything about how to get intobecoming a home inspector.
(07:53):
And so every time that we'relooking to build our team, our
internal team with homeinspectors we have, you know,
indeed ads that are out Word ofmouth we're constantly reaching
out to other agents or anyoneelse that knows of a home
inspector that might be lookingto join a team.
But our challenge is like whenwe have such a small pool of
(08:18):
candidates, like I might gothrough one or two, three
licensed individuals throughoutthe year that want to join our
team, and when I'm onlyinterviewing one or two
candidates, I'm hiring thembecause out of a specific need,
that we're busy and we needinspectors and what I found is
(08:40):
if you have one candidate, thenyou are going to hire that one
person.
That's not really set up forsuccess.
I need to have a pool of 10candidates, right, and then I
need to find the best one out ofthe group and bring them on
board to join our team.
And so it starts.
The problem is our industry,because we are a licensed state.
(09:01):
There are several companies outthere that offer pre-licensing
certification, so it's usually120 hours of online training.
Then you have to take 80 hoursof field training, which is not
done here in Asheville.
But the companies that offerthat service, they're selling
other stuff, so they have ahidden agenda, right.
(09:23):
So it's not about gettingsomeone licensed.
They're trying to sell themtheir reporting software.
They're trying to sell themtheir insurance.
They're trying to I mean, youname it.
They're trying to pitch it LikeI get it right of being a
(09:45):
business owner and all thebenefits of it and you can make
a hundred thousand dollars ayear.
You know after one or two yearsof being in the industry and
that's extremely misleading.
And so when I haveconversations with recently
licensed individuals that theyhad this idea that I'm going to
be a business owner.
I'm going to run my ownbusiness and I'm going to make a
hundred grand a year.
All I need is five inspectionsa week.
Right, and it's really.
(10:08):
It's one thing to be licensedand know how to do a home
inspection, but it's anotherthing just to get your phone to
ring, and so.
So our biggest challenge ishaving conversations, finding
talent that are already licensed.
Um and then, and then havingconversations with these newly
licensed individuals like hey, Iunderstand that you might run a
business, but let's talk aboutthat a little bit, because
(10:29):
there's two paths in ourindustry or the business owner,
or you work for anotherinspection company, and,
unfortunately, most of the newbusiness owners that decide to
go that path start their ownbusiness.
They're out of business withinsix months and we lose track of
them because they're no longerinterested in our industry,
(10:50):
because now they're selling cars, you know, down the road, or
they're installing cabinets, or,and so they've, they've, so
they, they were promised thisidea, or they were promised this
you know this really cool gigand an awesome industry with X,
you know, earning potential andthen they're out of business in
a short time period and so sothat's so which?
(11:11):
So I'm challenged.
I'm challenged with trying toidentify people that are
licensed or thinking aboutgetting licensed, and then just
helping them through thatprocess of hey, is this really
something that you're interestedin, like, why do you want to be
a business owner, why do youwant to be a business owner, or
(11:31):
why do you want to be a homeinspector?
And so now it's kind of changedto where now I'm building a
pipeline of non-licensed peopleand now I'm having those
conversations with them earlyand walking them through that
process about being licensed,having a conversation with them
about what's going to be yourmarketing strategy if you're a
business owner, or do you liketaking vacations and not having
your phone ring.
And so if I can help apotential team member decide
(11:56):
what career path might be rightfor them, then at that point we
say, okay, we're going to keepyou on our pipeline, we're going
to help you through thelicensing process, we're going
to keep you on our pipeline,we're going to help you through
the licensing process, and thenat that point then we can start
bringing in some more qualifiedand already licensed individuals
to join our team.
But that is like a six month toa one year play, and so it's
(12:18):
the long game just in terms ofbuilding out our team with
licensed people.
But that is our biggestchallenge is finding the right
people to do the job.
Speaker 1 (12:32):
Yeah, and I get it, I get it.
It seems like you have to playthe long game with that, because
I mean, the other option wouldbe to, every time somebody gets
licensed and comes into themarketplace, you should talk to
them like right away and say,hey look, here's the deal,
here's.
You know, this is the way itgoes.
(12:53):
I know, you know you're likelyto be successful.
If you're successful, that'sgreat.
But if you get out there and itgets hard and you don't, you
know, come see me, we can have achat, we can, we can.
You know, come see me, we canhave a chat, we can make this
work out for you.
So it's an interesting one inthat.
Yeah, and I worked with somelocksmiths.
It's the same deal.
(13:14):
They've got very high licensingstandards and you know it's
hard to be licensed because youknow they have criminal
background checks and all kindof stuff in that.
So, yeah, I'm sure they havethat here too.
That's an interesting one.
So what are some of the commonmisconceptions that you hear
(13:35):
about running a business?
Speaker 2 (13:40):
About running a business.
Yeah, I mean, you've probablyheard it time and time again,
but time freedom that alwaysseems to kind of pop up.
Yeah, and it's hard work.
It is extremely hard work torun a business, especially a
(14:01):
small business or a startup,when you're you're wearing
multiple hats and uh, and sothat's yes.
Just kind of circle back thatif anyone is interested in
starting a business, I mean Iwould start early in finding the
right people to help youthrough that process.
Um, but you know, we've we'vebuilt a business since 2017 that
(14:22):
we're always on call.
So my wife Sonia, she does allthe admin stuff, so she answers
phones, emails, sending outreports, all the scheduling, and
that doesn't stop when we're onvacation, and so we made it
after hours.
We have this internal saying inour business that we answer the
(14:46):
call and and we do.
If someone calls us, likeeither my wife or I will sprint
into the garage to get the mainline before it rings three times
Right, it's just kind of a funthing that we do here, but, um,
but I think that, yeah, timefreedom and then just trying to
separate yourself from abusiness that you're either
(15:08):
passionate about or you have alot of financial investment in.
It's a challenge.
It's a challenge just to kindof step back and take a break,
which is needed and necessary,but it's certainly hard to do.
Speaker 1 (15:26):
So how do you balance the personal and the business
lives?
Speaker 2 (15:33):
I don't know that we do.
Hmm, yeah, I mean it's, it's.
(16:05):
It's a little bit of achallenge too, because you know
my wife works for the businessand so you know when we're
having conversations at dinnerour kids know like hey, we have
a rule we don't talk aboutbusiness and um, but yeah, it's
it.
Speaker 1 (16:10):
it certainly is a challenge that you know.
We, we, you know my wife and I,we we try to separate ourselves
from the business how and whenwe can and not talk about it,
because there's always somethingto talk about.
There's always something to dowith the business.
Yeah, you can talk about it24-7 if you wanted.
I mean, there's no, there's no.
Yeah, there's no, there's noquestion.
That's why I ask it.
It sounds like at least you gotsome boundaries around meal
time anyway, so we did.
Yeah, that's that's, that's agood idea.
So what do you attribute yourgrowth to?
Speaker 2 (16:34):
I wish that I had an answer for that, but I don't
know because we're not reallytracking it.
But I don't know because we'renot really tracking it, and so
you know it's been kind of aninteresting rollercoaster ride
just in terms of business,specifically in real estate,
Because we all know it's prettyvolatile it's.
(16:56):
You know, it's really hot thisyear or we're going to see a
down year, and it's arollercoaster ride, the highs
and lows of it, and we have seen20% growth year after year, and
so you know it's so for us,like I don't, I don't really
(17:17):
focused on things that that Ican't control, or my actions
within my business, and so I sawsomething the other day that
you know real estate sells.
It's the lowest point that it'sbeen in, however many years
that it's been in, and it was alittle confusing to me because
we're up 20% and so I don't, Idon't, so all the outside noise
is not really being reflected inour numbers, and so, um, and
(17:39):
and I'll be honest with youwe've never really had a
marketing strategy, and so mostof our business is word of mouth
, and it's kind of aninteresting business because we
now we have a marketing strategyright, but we're marketing to
someone who's not going to beour client.
Speaker 1 (17:59):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (18:00):
So we market to realtors, who then refer us to
their clients and so, uh, butour business has has always been
built off of word of mouthreferrals, um, from realtors, um
, and that represented probably90,.
You know, 90% of our businessis from those referrals and that
(18:23):
, to me, is a little scary.
I'd like to see it a little bitmore of a 50-50 balance, just
in terms of realtor referralsthan our direct-to-consumer
clients.
And so part of our marketingstrategy now is essentially that
we do have a plan on socialmedia just to build awareness
and brand awareness to apotential buyer.
(18:44):
We have a pay-per-click adcampaign on Google that is
certainly bringing us in somegood leads, but we're still
probably operating at that.
You know, maybe 80 to 90percent of our business is built
off of agent referrals.
Speaker 1 (19:04):
Yeah, I mean, that's historically the way it's worked
.
But you know, I do think it'sout there there is.
There's opportunity for youknow people to get their house
inspected and see what, see whatthe heck's wrong with it, and
fix it.
You know, fix it before theywant to sell it.
Or maybe even if they don'twant to sell it, they may just
(19:24):
want to know what's wrong withit.
So it's an iffy thing.
So what qualities do you lookfor in employees?
Speaker 2 (19:36):
I look for excellent communicators.
I look for excellentcommunicators I don't look for.
I mean, what we do is you haveto have a basic understanding
(19:57):
about construction techniquesand practices and all that.
But so I don't look for anyoneto join our team on the
inspection side that has anytype of construction experience.
And during our interviewprocess, I actually tell them if
you tell me that you know howto wire an outlet, we're going
to, we're going to stop thatconversation and we're going to
talk about some things that area little bit more important for
us, and and how we, as anemployer can meet your needs and
(20:23):
how you as an employee can meetour needs.
Like it has to be a win-win forus both.
And so Sean and Kayshawn, ourtwo inspectors, both have a
background in hospitality,no-transcript, and so my
(21:00):
approach to, and our approach to, home inspections is more about
just being educators.
And, as you can imagine, homeinspectors don't get invited to
a lot of parties, because that'swhat we do.
We walk into someone's home andthen we can't turn it off and
we're like hey, like you know,you have termites in your garage
.
Or hey, do you see that ceilingstain or whatever that it is?
And so, uh, and so we try toseparate ourselves from that and
(21:23):
just be educators and not justhome inspectors and so, um.
So I'm looking for.
The individuals that we'relooking for are someone that has
a really calm demeanor and,again, are just really really,
uh, are just really really.
(21:47):
They put a lot of emphasis onthat communication and having
that human to human connectionduring the home inspection.
Speaker 1 (21:52):
Yeah, I like it.
Yeah, mostly what we see, youknow, in hiring people is that
it's the intangibles, it's notthe skills, it's the you know,
can they talk to people, canthey get it?
So I mean I think that'simportant.
So be EPIC or EPIC.
(22:12):
You know the EPIC and EPICEntrepreneurs is an acronym.
So I want to do a quick fireround here of a couple of words
or sentences about each piece ofthe acronym.
So just give me a couple ofthoughts on the B stands for
bring the energy.
Speaker 2 (22:33):
Bring the energy All right.
So ask me that again Am I inhow it relates to my business?
Speaker 1 (22:40):
And whatever your beliefs are around bringing
energy to your.
I mean, yeah, we're talkingabout business, but yeah, I mean
, what is how?
Speaker 2 (22:47):
you know, how does now give give us a couple
thoughts about energy yeah, weuh, bringing the energy for us
is really that client experience, and that starts when we get
that first interaction.
Whether it's an email, whetherit's a call um, we're always the
(23:08):
first to respond, uh, in groupemails that come out, and so, uh
, yeah.
So it's like, yeah, bring theenergy starts from that first
interaction to the end, thatwe're always looking for
something positive to end any ofour interactions with.
And so, like a home inspection,like we just told them that you
(23:32):
know, it's got termites, it'sgot roofing leaves, it's got all
these things.
But we had that conversationwith them on the deck enjoying
the view that they're going toenjoy for the next, however long
they're going to be enjoyingthat, and so, yeah, so bringing
the energy is just beingenergetic and being excited for
(23:54):
our clients, like they'repurchasing a home.
This should be fun, it shouldbe exciting.
Speaker 1 (23:59):
Right, yep, got it.
So the E is education, andyou've talked about that a
little bit.
So what are your thoughtsaround education?
Speaker 2 (24:10):
My thoughts are how do we get better?
The more we know, the betterequipped we are to to help our
clients.
Um, so that is the.
So that's the education part,like in the field with our guys,
but for me I've I've kind oftaken a different role in my
business.
I no longer do home inspectionsand so I you know I use this
(24:33):
analogy from crawl spaces toclassrooms and, and so now I
teach.
So I am certified by the stateof North Carolina to teach
continuing education classes forrealtors.
So for four hours they get tohear me talk about septics and
termites and issues that we findin home inspections.
(24:55):
And so bring that education.
It goes beyond our team.
I want to, I want to empoweragents to where they are better
qualified when they show up onsite on a listing appointment or
showing appointment that theycan show up to the table and
being that reference for theirclients.
And so, yeah, it's yeah,education is key, yeah.
Speaker 1 (25:18):
And it makes our lives easier as home inspectors
Right is key, yeah, and it makesour lives easier as home
inspectors, right, yeah.
I mean, the whole idea of theacronym was like all right, what
does it take to be successful?
And so when I wrote a book,that's what I wrote it about, so
I had to spell something.
So BEPIC sounded pretty good.
So the P stands for planning.
(25:39):
I don't know very manysuccessful people who don't do
some sort of planning.
Speaker 2 (25:45):
Planning, planning's hard right.
Yep, that is yeah, and I'll behonest with you that that's
that's one gap in our businessis is the planning, Because
there needs to be purpose behindit and you can't just set goals
to set goals, and I've realizedthat this year we set some
(26:06):
pretty ambitious goals for 2025.
And looking at our numbers, youknow, halfway through after Q2,
it's like, okay, we're not evengoing to come close to hitting
these goals that we had.
And so we adjusted.
So we adjusted some of ourplanning and how we were, how we
were going to tackle some ofthe problems that are some of
(26:28):
the goals that we were going totry to achieve, um, for this
year.
But, uh, yeah, but planningthere's, there's gotta be
purpose behind it.
And so, yeah, moving forward,it's like, okay, let's, let's
set our goals.
And then it's as simple as justworking backwards and in one of
the things that we've recentlydone, uh, again, just, you know,
(26:50):
identifying my, my strengthsand my weaknesses is, um, is is
part of that planning.
And so we hired a fractionalCMO who came in on a three month
retainer to help us with that,to help us with our planning.
What is our marketing strategygoing to be for the next 30, 60,
90 days and helping us come upwith the plan and, more
(27:14):
importantly, the execution.
I'm an idea person.
I'm not an executor.
Speaker 1 (27:39):
I am not an executor and plan, but few people
actually do it, so it's a prettyinteresting one.
Okay, the I stands forinspiration.
Speaker 2 (27:53):
Well, for our team, it's inspiring them to get
better every single day and thengiving them the tools that they
need to make that happen.
Um, and then it's.
It's for my children I, I, Ihope that they see me working
hard and their mother workinghard, um, and I would inspire
(28:16):
them to find something thatthey're good with or passionate
about, and inspiring them tostart their own business.
My daughter we pay her to dochores around the house and I
said, listen, sweetheart, she's13.
I said, listen, I'm not goingto pay you until I have an
invoice, perfect.
(28:37):
And it took her three months towrite me an invoice.
And I said, okay, here's theinvoice.
But we haven't really, uh,defined the scope of work.
So define the scope of work,right.
So now I have an understandingabout what you're doing and you
have an understanding about whatyou're doing.
And that took another, you know, three, four weeks.
And the other day she gave mean invoice with the scope of
(28:59):
work and what I owe her.
And now I have to pay up.
And so, yeah, so yeah,inspiring my kids to consider
entrepreneurship in, in whateveractivities that they're
interested in in life.
Speaker 1 (29:16):
Yeah, I love that.
Yeah, I have we.
Yeah, I mean, I'm not going tosay we don't need better and
more jobs, and that seems to bethe focus of politics, because
that's great, that helps theeconomy.
But what I think we need ismore entrepreneurs who create
more jobs.
So it's the.
(29:38):
I think that's where the moneyshould go, in my opinion.
But I'm in the minority still,because it's easier just to
throw money at jobs, I think.
But that's not a politicalstatement.
That's across the aisles,that's left and right, so near
as I can tell that everygovernment wants to throw money
(30:01):
at jobs.
So C?
C stands for commitment.
Speaker 2 (30:09):
Yeah, my commitment is to my team.
It is extremely important to meand this is something that we
talk about often, just in termsof what our team looks like,
just in terms of personnel, andyou know, we, we operate always
(30:33):
around 80% capacity.
Um, and based on our benchmarks, that is the time to hire, and
so we are looking to fill a spotin January, um, and?
But my one of my commitments tothem was like, hey, like I
understand that you probablylove being a home inspector, but
you're providing for yourfamily, and so my commitment to
(30:56):
them was like we're not going tohire another inspector until we
hit certain benchmarks, becauseif I bring on another inspector
, you need to understand that'sgoing to be pulling some work
from you.
And I don't need you stressedout, I don't want you stressed
out about money, I don't wantyou stressed out about the don't
want you stressed out aboutmoney, I don't want you stressed
about, stressed out about thejobs that you're getting or not
(31:17):
getting and and so so thatcommitment is is, and that's
just one example of many that is, you know, I want, I want our
team to really have a I hatecalling it a job, it's not a job
, it's a career I want.
I want them to have a careerthat they enjoy, that they when
(31:38):
they get home at five o'clock.
They've done the best that theypossibly could, and now it's
time for them to spend withtheir family, and and so it's
giving them the right tools tobe able to do that.
Speaker 1 (31:49):
But Perfect, yeah, no , do that.
Perfect, yeah, no, that'sperfect, that's perfect.
Well, there you have it.
Be epic.
That's how you be epic in thehome inspection business.
So what's the next big thingfor the home inspection
collective?
Speaker 2 (32:09):
What's up next, the next big thing?
Man, I'm really excited aboutthis.
But yeah, just in terms ofentrepreneurship, we, you know,
we're always looking foropportunity, and it's funny,
when you're looking foropportunity, you tend to find
opportunity, and so then it'sjust trying to figure out which
opportunities is best for you,or the right ones, or the wrong
(32:30):
ones, right, and so, uh, so someof the challenges that we had
was with our subcontractors onthe septic side.
We determined that we could dothings a little bit differently
to enhance our, our clientexperience, and so we started a
septic business.
So we have local septic that westarted last year.
Um, and then so home homeservice and yeah, you're hearing
(32:54):
it first, but we're launching atech business here in the next
30 days and it's called HomeCast, and it is what you would
expect.
It's a forecast for your home.
One of the things that I talkabout in my continuing education
classes is there are, you know,we've inspected like 10,000
(33:16):
homes right in Western NorthCarolina and it's gotten to the
point that I can really predictwhat we're going to find on that
home inspection.
And so HomeCast is asoftware-based business that
helps agents have a betterunderstanding about what a home
inspector is going to find on aninspection.
(33:40):
But the timing is what'simportant and exciting, because
what the process is now, if youwere to buy a home, an agent is
going to show multiple homes andthen finally find the one.
They have to negotiate it, getit under contract and then all
the inspections come.
And when the inspections come,ultimately there can be
(34:05):
something that's found in thathome inspection where a
potential buyer would be likeyou know what I'm not OK with
this.
Like I know I understandthere's water getting in this
basement and it just kind of hitme the other day like why are
we having that conversation withthe buyer after the inspection
when a lot of these things arepredictable?
They didn't start waterproofingand damp proofing foundations
(34:27):
until the 1980s, even into the1990s.
So taking this idea of homesthat are built in specific time
periods are known to havecertain issues, and so HomeCast
gives agents those tools upfront so they can have those
conversations with their clientsbefore the showing and before
(34:49):
the offer and before the thehome inspection, and so they're
going to have higher closingrates.
You're going to have clientsthat aren't going to be caught
with surprises when a lot, of, alot of these things are known.
It feels like that yeah that'sawesome.
Speaker 1 (35:03):
It feels like the seller ought to be.
You know, may want to repairthose things and get more for
their house.
I mean, a lot of times justdoing the repairs makes their
house more valuable becausethey're going to try to get.
Yeah, I know, you know, I didthat one time I had an inspector
come on a house that we weregoing to sell.
I just had him come out andtell me everything's wrong.
We just fixed it and you knowso there wasn't any.
(35:24):
So when he came back, there wasand the seller got the I mean,
the buyer got the inspection ata lower price because he had
just been there six monthsearlier while we fixed area.
You know, to me I was also on aboard one time at a church and
you know big plant and equipmentessentially, and you know we
just made a prediction of likewhen we were going to have to
(35:46):
fix everything and it seems likethat's what you're doing there,
like all right, this isprobably about the lifetime of
this furnace.
This is probably about what'sgoing to.
You know, you might, you'reprobably going to have this
electrical issue at some point,because this is how old the
house is.
I mean, I think that's, I thinkthat's.
That's awesome.
So well, that's exciting, thatis exciting.
(36:07):
Last question how do people getin touch with you?
Speaker 2 (36:14):
How do you get in touch with you?
Uh, how do you get in touchwith us?
Go to our website,homeinspectioncollectivecom, um,
and make sure to read some ofour reviews about what our
clients are saying andexperience that they had.
We have 580 five-star reviews,um.
So, yeah, check us out onlineand our website.
We'll have a telephone numberthat if you need to reach us the
(36:34):
schedule inspection or justhave questions about home
inspections or the process, orif you're considering a career
in home inspections, like, yeah,find my number online and give
me a shout.
Speaker 1 (36:47):
Yeah, I mean it's not going to go away.
It feels like that's a greatcareer choice.
Yeah, I mean it's.
I mean they's not going to goaway.
It feels like that's a greatcareer choice.
Yeah, I mean it's.
I mean they're always going tobe.
It's always going to be there.
So, and in this area we'restill growing, it's going to
keep growing here.
I don't think you know thatpeople are.
You know, we had a disaster inthe, in the not and not like a
(37:08):
lean, but in the COVID, and morepeople moved here.
So it wasn't like people left,they came instead of leaving.
So it's going to continue.
So, hey, thanks for being partof our community, Thanks for all
you're doing, Thanks for beingan entrepreneur, Thanks for
acting on your ideas.
I mean that's just awesome.
(37:28):
So, yeah, we certainly knowyou're going to be continuously
successful.
Yeah, thank you, Bill hey, anduntil next time, all the best.
Hey there, welcome to this episode of Epic
Entrepreneurs.
I am Bill Gilliland, your host.
I am the principal at ActionCoach, business Growth Partners
and one of the founders of theAsheville Business Summit, and I
am super pumped today to haveJustin Berger from the Home
Inspection Collective with me.
So, justin, tell us a littlebit about you and what the heck
(00:24):
the Home Inspection Collectiveis.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
Yeah, thanks, bill.
Yeah, looking forward to havinga conversation with you and all
the listeners that are outthere.
Yeah, home InspectionCollective.
I get asked that all the time,like, why did you go with the
collective?
What is that?
The collective, what is that?
(00:48):
And it actually my businessmodel changed when I first
started the business to what ithas evolved to today.
Originally, I just wanted to bea scheduling company, so I just
wanted to have a handful ofhome inspectors out there that I
trusted that I could send workto or leads to.
And, yeah, I found out quitequickly that that business model
wasn't going to work, becauseit was hard to really protect
(01:11):
any IP that we had and also tokeep other inspectors from
poaching the realtors that we'vebeen working with that send us
leads.
And so we changed the model andsaid you know what, let's build
out a team.
And so we changed the model andsaid you know what?
Let's build out a team, notnecessarily a team at Home
Inspection Collective, but ateam of subcontractors that we
(01:32):
use on a regular basis to helpus, our agents and our clients
with home inspections.
And so that is Home InspectionCollective, and we've been
servicing Asheville since 2017.
Well, asheville and thesurrounding areas since 2017.
Yeah, so, when you say that youhave a team of subcontractors,
(02:00):
tell us more about that model.
Yeah, so, in-house we have twofull-time inspectors, so we have
Sean and Kayshawn, but thesubcontractor side of that is
professionals that were notlicensed to do any type of
formal inspections, and so mostof our clients ask us to do
what's called a termiteinspection or a pest inspection
(02:22):
with our general home inspection, and so we have colleagues that
are subcontractors to us, andone of those would be Jake with
Recon Pest, and so we've teamedup with him since 2017 to do
specific inspections, again,that we're not qualified or
licensed to do.
And then other subcontractorsthat we use is Emma.
(02:43):
She is our chimney sweep and,as you can imagine, her schedule
is filling up quickly this timeof year because everyone wants
to get their wood stove orfireplace cleaned and ready to
now for about six months.
And we're and again, as asubcontractor she's a
(03:05):
subcontractor on paper, butshe's obviously, uh, one of our
team members, um, even thoughshe's compensated a little bit
differently than than our homeinspectors.
And then other subcontractorsthat we use is septic.
So we uh, we have companiesthat we subcontract out to do
septic and well inspections andI think that's it for yeah,
(03:30):
that's it for subcontractors.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
Yeah.
So basically, if you want toget anything inspected around
your house, pretty much you're asource for that.
Yeah, no, that's great, Iunderstand.
I understand the model now solet's jump to the business.
So you I mean you, you startedwith one model.
You kind of it wouldn't saycompletely changed.
(03:53):
It seems like you just morphedit a little bit to be to meet
what the what the market woulddifferently.
But if you had to start fromsquare one, what would you do
differently?
Speaker 2 (04:09):
one.
What would you do differently,man?
That is, that's a greatquestion.
Someone asked me that the otherday and, you know, out of uh,
you know, I've reflected on alittle bit and and my answer
kind of changed a little bitbecause I don't know, I don't
know that I would changeanything.
Um, I have a.
I don't have a lot of quotes,but I have one in particular
that I like, and it's, you know,what got you here, won't get
(04:29):
you there, and so my journey inentrepreneurship, or being a
business owner, has been justone wall after another, one
ceiling after another.
And so would I change anything?
You know, probably not, becauseevery, every obstacle that I
had to, that I was up against, Ihad to find a solution for it.
(04:50):
Um, and so that was, that wasmy answer when I was asked that
before.
But my answer has now changed,um to where, uh, you know, one
of the biggest challenges thatthat I've had to face and that I
will continue to face, is justself-awareness.
(05:10):
Um, my, you know this, this ideathat I was the best home
inspector in Asheville.
You know, I came to thisrealization that, no, I'm not
the best home inspector inAsheville, and then it's like
okay, so what do we do aboutthat?
If you're not the best, how doyou get the best or how do you
find the best?
And so then I just said, okay,we have to build out a team,
(05:33):
let's find someone that's betterthan me at doing home
inspections, and so that kind ofchanged how we looked at our
business personally andprofessionally.
Is that self-awareness to where?
You know, I am constantlytrying to determine what my
strengths are and what myweaknesses are, and if I had to
(05:55):
go back and start over, I wouldidentify what I'm really good at
and what I'm terrible at, andthen I would find those people
and surround myself with thoseindividuals that excel at some
of those things that I'm notLike.
I will never be a bookkeeper, Idon't have the bandwidth to sit
behind a computer and look atnumbers every single day, or
doing my taxes, or doingmarketing or whatever that it is
(06:18):
, and so so I certainly had thismind shift changed of like okay
, stop trying to take on all ofthese things that I shouldn't be
doing, because I'm not good atit and I don't want to learn it,
and let's find someone that'sbetter at it and let's get them
on board with us to help us withthe path of the business that
we want to run and operate, andso self-awareness, that is my
(06:40):
answer.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
I love it.
Yeah, I love it.
Yeah, it's a little bit aboutyou know.
I had a mentor one time saidyou got to learn to commit ego
side.
You got to.
You know, you got to put theego.
You got to put your ego asideand get going on it.
What?
So it sounds like that was agood learning.
What other learnings have youhad as an employer?
Speaker 2 (07:09):
What other learnings have you had as an employer?
You know, one of the strugglesthat we face in our industry and
this isn't specific to mybusiness is hiring.
It's finding just in terms oflike filling the role as a home
inspector.
That will continue to be ourbiggest hurdle and our biggest
(07:33):
challenge, and it is becausewe're a licensed state and so we
have to meet some basicrequirements that allow us to do
a home inspection.
And there's not a lot of peopleout there that know about our
industry or that are excitedabout our industry or even know
anything about how to get intobecoming a home inspector.
(07:53):
And so every time that we'relooking to build our team, our
internal team with homeinspectors we have, you know,
indeed ads that are out Word ofmouth we're constantly reaching
out to other agents or anyoneelse that knows of a home
inspector that might be lookingto join a team.
But our challenge is like whenwe have such a small pool of
(08:18):
candidates, like I might gothrough one or two, three
licensed individuals throughoutthe year that want to join our
team, and when I'm onlyinterviewing one or two
candidates, I'm hiring thembecause out of a specific need,
that we're busy and we needinspectors and what I found is
(08:40):
if you have one candidate, thenyou are going to hire that one
person.
That's not really set up forsuccess.
I need to have a pool of 10candidates, right, and then I
need to find the best one out ofthe group and bring them on
board to join our team.
And so it starts.
The problem is our industry,because we are a licensed state.
(09:01):
There are several companies outthere that offer pre-licensing
certification, so it's usually120 hours of online training.
Then you have to take 80 hoursof field training, which is not
done here in Asheville.
But the companies that offerthat service, they're selling
other stuff, so they have ahidden agenda, right.
(09:23):
So it's not about gettingsomeone licensed.
They're trying to sell themtheir reporting software.
They're trying to sell themtheir insurance.
They're trying to I mean, youname it.
They're trying to pitch it LikeI get it right of being a
(09:45):
business owner and all thebenefits of it and you can make
a hundred thousand dollars ayear.
You know after one or two yearsof being in the industry and
that's extremely misleading.
And so when I haveconversations with recently
licensed individuals that theyhad this idea that I'm going to
be a business owner.
I'm going to run my ownbusiness and I'm going to make a
hundred grand a year.
All I need is five inspectionsa week.
Right, and it's really.
(10:08):
It's one thing to be licensedand know how to do a home
inspection, but it's anotherthing just to get your phone to
ring, and so.
So our biggest challenge ishaving conversations, finding
talent that are already licensed.
Um and then, and then havingconversations with these newly
licensed individuals like hey, Iunderstand that you might run a
business, but let's talk aboutthat a little bit, because
(10:29):
there's two paths in ourindustry or the business owner,
or you work for anotherinspection company, and,
unfortunately, most of the newbusiness owners that decide to
go that path start their ownbusiness.
They're out of business withinsix months and we lose track of
them because they're no longerinterested in our industry,
(10:50):
because now they're selling cars, you know, down the road, or
they're installing cabinets, or,and so they've, they've, so
they, they were promised thisidea, or they were promised this
you know this really cool gigand an awesome industry with X,
you know, earning potential andthen they're out of business in
a short time period and so sothat's so which?
(11:11):
So I'm challenged.
I'm challenged with trying toidentify people that are
licensed or thinking aboutgetting licensed, and then just
helping them through thatprocess of hey, is this really
something that you're interestedin, like, why do you want to be
a business owner, why do youwant to be a business owner, or
(11:31):
why do you want to be a homeinspector?
And so now it's kind of changedto where now I'm building a
pipeline of non-licensed peopleand now I'm having those
conversations with them earlyand walking them through that
process about being licensed,having a conversation with them
about what's going to be yourmarketing strategy if you're a
business owner, or do you liketaking vacations and not having
your phone ring.
And so if I can help apotential team member decide
(11:56):
what career path might be rightfor them, then at that point we
say, okay, we're going to keepyou on our pipeline, we're going
to help you through thelicensing process, we're going
to keep you on our pipeline,we're going to help you through
the licensing process, and thenat that point then we can start
bringing in some more qualifiedand already licensed individuals
to join our team.
But that is like a six month toa one year play, and so it's
(12:18):
the long game just in terms ofbuilding out our team with
licensed people.
But that is our biggestchallenge is finding the right
people to do the job.
Speaker 1 (12:32):
Yeah, and I get it, I get it.
It seems like you have to playthe long game with that, because
I mean, the other option wouldbe to, every time somebody gets
licensed and comes into themarketplace, you should talk to
them like right away and say,hey look, here's the deal,
here's.
You know, this is the way itgoes.
(12:53):
I know, you know you're likelyto be successful.
If you're successful, that'sgreat.
But if you get out there and itgets hard and you don't, you
know, come see me, we can have achat, we can, we can.
You know, come see me, we canhave a chat, we can make this
work out for you.
So it's an interesting one inthat.
Yeah, and I worked with somelocksmiths.
It's the same deal.
(13:14):
They've got very high licensingstandards and you know it's
hard to be licensed because youknow they have criminal
background checks and all kindof stuff in that.
So, yeah, I'm sure they havethat here too.
That's an interesting one.
So what are some of the commonmisconceptions that you hear
(13:35):
about running a business?
Speaker 2 (13:40):
About running a business.
Yeah, I mean, you've probablyheard it time and time again,
but time freedom that alwaysseems to kind of pop up.
Yeah, and it's hard work.
It is extremely hard work torun a business, especially a
(14:01):
small business or a startup,when you're you're wearing
multiple hats and uh, and sothat's yes.
Just kind of circle back thatif anyone is interested in
starting a business, I mean Iwould start early in finding the
right people to help youthrough that process.
Um, but you know, we've we'vebuilt a business since 2017 that
(14:22):
we're always on call.
So my wife Sonia, she does allthe admin stuff, so she answers
phones, emails, sending outreports, all the scheduling, and
that doesn't stop when we're onvacation, and so we made it
after hours.
We have this internal saying inour business that we answer the
(14:46):
call and and we do.
If someone calls us, likeeither my wife or I will sprint
into the garage to get the mainline before it rings three times
Right, it's just kind of a funthing that we do here, but, um,
but I think that, yeah, timefreedom and then just trying to
separate yourself from abusiness that you're either
(15:08):
passionate about or you have alot of financial investment in.
It's a challenge.
It's a challenge just to kindof step back and take a break,
which is needed and necessary,but it's certainly hard to do.
Speaker 1 (15:26):
So how do you balance the personal and the business
lives?
Speaker 2 (15:33):
I don't know that we do.
Hmm, yeah, I mean it's, it's.
(16:05):
It's a little bit of achallenge too, because you know
my wife works for the businessand so you know when we're
having conversations at dinnerour kids know like hey, we have
a rule we don't talk aboutbusiness and um, but yeah, it's
it.
Speaker 1 (16:10):
it certainly is a challenge that you know.
We, we, you know my wife and I,we we try to separate ourselves
from the business how and whenwe can and not talk about it,
because there's always somethingto talk about.
There's always something to dowith the business.
Yeah, you can talk about it24-7 if you wanted.
I mean, there's no, there's no.
Yeah, there's no, there's noquestion.
That's why I ask it.
It sounds like at least you gotsome boundaries around meal
time anyway, so we did.
Yeah, that's that's, that's agood idea.
So what do you attribute yourgrowth to?
Speaker 2 (16:34):
I wish that I had an answer for that, but I don't
know because we're not reallytracking it.
But I don't know because we'renot really tracking it, and so
you know it's been kind of aninteresting rollercoaster ride
just in terms of business,specifically in real estate,
Because we all know it's prettyvolatile it's.
(16:56):
You know, it's really hot thisyear or we're going to see a
down year, and it's arollercoaster ride, the highs
and lows of it, and we have seen20% growth year after year, and
so you know it's so for us,like I don't, I don't really
(17:17):
focused on things that that Ican't control, or my actions
within my business, and so I sawsomething the other day that
you know real estate sells.
It's the lowest point that it'sbeen in, however many years
that it's been in, and it was alittle confusing to me because
we're up 20% and so I don't, Idon't, so all the outside noise
is not really being reflected inour numbers, and so, um, and
(17:39):
and I'll be honest with youwe've never really had a
marketing strategy, and so mostof our business is word of mouth
, and it's kind of aninteresting business because we
now we have a marketing strategyright, but we're marketing to
someone who's not going to beour client.
Speaker 1 (17:59):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (18:00):
So we market to realtors, who then refer us to
their clients and so, uh, butour business has has always been
built off of word of mouthreferrals, um, from realtors, um
, and that represented probably90,.
You know, 90% of our businessis from those referrals and that
(18:23):
, to me, is a little scary.
I'd like to see it a little bitmore of a 50-50 balance, just
in terms of realtor referralsthan our direct-to-consumer
clients.
And so part of our marketingstrategy now is essentially that
we do have a plan on socialmedia just to build awareness
and brand awareness to apotential buyer.
(18:44):
We have a pay-per-click adcampaign on Google that is
certainly bringing us in somegood leads, but we're still
probably operating at that.
You know, maybe 80 to 90percent of our business is built
off of agent referrals.
Speaker 1 (19:04):
Yeah, I mean, that's historically the way it's worked
.
But you know, I do think it'sout there there is.
There's opportunity for youknow people to get their house
inspected and see what, see whatthe heck's wrong with it, and
fix it.
You know, fix it before theywant to sell it.
Or maybe even if they don'twant to sell it, they may just
(19:24):
want to know what's wrong withit.
So it's an iffy thing.
So what qualities do you lookfor in employees?
Speaker 2 (19:36):
I look for excellent communicators.
I look for excellentcommunicators I don't look for.
I mean, what we do is you haveto have a basic understanding
(19:57):
about construction techniquesand practices and all that.
But so I don't look for anyoneto join our team on the
inspection side that has anytype of construction experience.
And during our interviewprocess, I actually tell them if
you tell me that you know howto wire an outlet, we're going
to, we're going to stop thatconversation and we're going to
talk about some things that area little bit more important for
us, and and how we, as anemployer can meet your needs and
(20:23):
how you as an employee can meetour needs.
Like it has to be a win-win forus both.
And so Sean and Kayshawn, ourtwo inspectors, both have a
background in hospitality,no-transcript, and so my
(21:00):
approach to, and our approach to, home inspections is more about
just being educators.
And, as you can imagine, homeinspectors don't get invited to
a lot of parties, because that'swhat we do.
We walk into someone's home andthen we can't turn it off and
we're like hey, like you know,you have termites in your garage
.
Or hey, do you see that ceilingstain or whatever that it is?
And so, uh, and so we try toseparate ourselves from that and
(21:23):
just be educators and not justhome inspectors and so, um.
So I'm looking for.
The individuals that we'relooking for are someone that has
a really calm demeanor and,again, are just really really,
uh, are just really really.
(21:47):
They put a lot of emphasis onthat communication and having
that human to human connectionduring the home inspection.
Speaker 1 (21:52):
Yeah, I like it.
Yeah, mostly what we see, youknow, in hiring people is that
it's the intangibles, it's notthe skills, it's the you know,
can they talk to people, canthey get it?
So I mean I think that'simportant.
So be EPIC or EPIC.
(22:12):
You know the EPIC and EPICEntrepreneurs is an acronym.
So I want to do a quick fireround here of a couple of words
or sentences about each piece ofthe acronym.
So just give me a couple ofthoughts on the B stands for
bring the energy.
Speaker 2 (22:33):
Bring the energy All right.
So ask me that again Am I inhow it relates to my business?
Speaker 1 (22:40):
And whatever your beliefs are around bringing
energy to your.
I mean, yeah, we're talkingabout business, but yeah, I mean
, what is how?
Speaker 2 (22:47):
you know, how does now give give us a couple
thoughts about energy yeah, weuh, bringing the energy for us
is really that client experience, and that starts when we get
that first interaction.
Whether it's an email, whetherit's a call um, we're always the
(23:08):
first to respond, uh, in groupemails that come out, and so, uh
, yeah.
So it's like, yeah, bring theenergy starts from that first
interaction to the end, thatwe're always looking for
something positive to end any ofour interactions with.
And so, like a home inspection,like we just told them that you
(23:32):
know, it's got termites, it'sgot roofing leaves, it's got all
these things.
But we had that conversationwith them on the deck enjoying
the view that they're going toenjoy for the next, however long
they're going to be enjoyingthat, and so, yeah, so bringing
the energy is just beingenergetic and being excited for
(23:54):
our clients, like they'repurchasing a home.
This should be fun, it shouldbe exciting.
Speaker 1 (23:59):
Right, yep, got it.
So the E is education, andyou've talked about that a
little bit.
So what are your thoughtsaround education?
Speaker 2 (24:10):
My thoughts are how do we get better?
The more we know, the betterequipped we are to to help our
clients.
Um, so that is the.
So that's the education part,like in the field with our guys,
but for me I've I've kind oftaken a different role in my
business.
I no longer do home inspectionsand so I you know I use this
(24:33):
analogy from crawl spaces toclassrooms and, and so now I
teach.
So I am certified by the stateof North Carolina to teach
continuing education classes forrealtors.
So for four hours they get tohear me talk about septics and
termites and issues that we findin home inspections.
(24:55):
And so bring that education.
It goes beyond our team.
I want to, I want to empoweragents to where they are better
qualified when they show up onsite on a listing appointment or
showing appointment that theycan show up to the table and
being that reference for theirclients.
And so, yeah, it's yeah,education is key, yeah.
Speaker 1 (25:18):
And it makes our lives easier as home inspectors
Right is key, yeah, and it makesour lives easier as home
inspectors, right, yeah.
I mean, the whole idea of theacronym was like all right, what
does it take to be successful?
And so when I wrote a book,that's what I wrote it about, so
I had to spell something.
So BEPIC sounded pretty good.
So the P stands for planning.
(25:39):
I don't know very manysuccessful people who don't do
some sort of planning.
Speaker 2 (25:45):
Planning, planning's hard right.
Yep, that is yeah, and I'll behonest with you that that's
that's one gap in our businessis is the planning, Because
there needs to be purpose behindit and you can't just set goals
to set goals, and I've realizedthat this year we set some
(26:06):
pretty ambitious goals for 2025.
And looking at our numbers, youknow, halfway through after Q2,
it's like, okay, we're not evengoing to come close to hitting
these goals that we had.
And so we adjusted.
So we adjusted some of ourplanning and how we were, how we
were going to tackle some ofthe problems that are some of
(26:28):
the goals that we were going totry to achieve, um, for this
year.
But, uh, yeah, but planningthere's, there's gotta be
purpose behind it.
And so, yeah, moving forward,it's like, okay, let's, let's
set our goals.
And then it's as simple as justworking backwards and in one of
the things that we've recentlydone, uh, again, just, you know,
(26:50):
identifying my, my strengthsand my weaknesses is, um, is is
part of that planning.
And so we hired a fractionalCMO who came in on a three month
retainer to help us with that,to help us with our planning.
What is our marketing strategygoing to be for the next 30, 60,
90 days and helping us come upwith the plan and, more
(27:14):
importantly, the execution.
I'm an idea person.
I'm not an executor.
Speaker 1 (27:39):
I am not an executor and plan, but few people
actually do it, so it's a prettyinteresting one.
Okay, the I stands forinspiration.
Speaker 2 (27:53):
Well, for our team, it's inspiring them to get
better every single day and thengiving them the tools that they
need to make that happen.
Um, and then it's.
It's for my children I, I, Ihope that they see me working
hard and their mother workinghard, um, and I would inspire
(28:16):
them to find something thatthey're good with or passionate
about, and inspiring them tostart their own business.
My daughter we pay her to dochores around the house and I
said, listen, sweetheart, she's13.
I said, listen, I'm not goingto pay you until I have an
invoice, perfect.
(28:37):
And it took her three months towrite me an invoice.
And I said, okay, here's theinvoice.
But we haven't really, uh,defined the scope of work.
So define the scope of work,right.
So now I have an understandingabout what you're doing and you
have an understanding about whatyou're doing.
And that took another, you know, three, four weeks.
And the other day she gave mean invoice with the scope of
(28:59):
work and what I owe her.
And now I have to pay up.
And so, yeah, so yeah,inspiring my kids to consider
entrepreneurship in, in whateveractivities that they're
interested in in life.
Speaker 1 (29:16):
Yeah, I love that.
Yeah, I have we.
Yeah, I mean, I'm not going tosay we don't need better and
more jobs, and that seems to bethe focus of politics, because
that's great, that helps theeconomy.
But what I think we need ismore entrepreneurs who create
more jobs.
So it's the.
(29:38):
I think that's where the moneyshould go, in my opinion.
But I'm in the minority still,because it's easier just to
throw money at jobs, I think.
But that's not a politicalstatement.
That's across the aisles,that's left and right, so near
as I can tell that everygovernment wants to throw money
(30:01):
at jobs.
So C?
C stands for commitment.
Speaker 2 (30:09):
Yeah, my commitment is to my team.
It is extremely important to meand this is something that we
talk about often, just in termsof what our team looks like,
just in terms of personnel, andyou know, we, we operate always
(30:33):
around 80% capacity.
Um, and based on our benchmarks, that is the time to hire, and
so we are looking to fill a spotin January, um, and?
But my one of my commitments tothem was like, hey, like I
understand that you probablylove being a home inspector, but
you're providing for yourfamily, and so my commitment to
(30:56):
them was like we're not going tohire another inspector until we
hit certain benchmarks, becauseif I bring on another inspector
, you need to understand that'sgoing to be pulling some work
from you.
And I don't need you stressedout, I don't want you stressed
out about money, I don't wantyou stressed out about the don't
want you stressed out aboutmoney, I don't want you stressed
about, stressed out about thejobs that you're getting or not
(31:17):
getting and and so so thatcommitment is is, and that's
just one example of many that is, you know, I want, I want our
team to really have a I hatecalling it a job, it's not a job
, it's a career I want.
I want them to have a careerthat they enjoy, that they when
(31:38):
they get home at five o'clock.
They've done the best that theypossibly could, and now it's
time for them to spend withtheir family, and and so it's
giving them the right tools tobe able to do that.
Speaker 1 (31:49):
But Perfect, yeah, no , do that.
Perfect, yeah, no, that'sperfect, that's perfect.
Well, there you have it.
Be epic.
That's how you be epic in thehome inspection business.
So what's the next big thingfor the home inspection
collective?
Speaker 2 (32:09):
What's up next, the next big thing?
Man, I'm really excited aboutthis.
But yeah, just in terms ofentrepreneurship, we, you know,
we're always looking foropportunity, and it's funny,
when you're looking foropportunity, you tend to find
opportunity, and so then it'sjust trying to figure out which
opportunities is best for you,or the right ones, or the wrong
(32:30):
ones, right, and so, uh, so someof the challenges that we had
was with our subcontractors onthe septic side.
We determined that we could dothings a little bit differently
to enhance our, our clientexperience, and so we started a
septic business.
So we have local septic that westarted last year.
Um, and then so home homeservice and yeah, you're hearing
(32:54):
it first, but we're launching atech business here in the next
30 days and it's called HomeCast, and it is what you would
expect.
It's a forecast for your home.
One of the things that I talkabout in my continuing education
classes is there are, you know,we've inspected like 10,000
(33:16):
homes right in Western NorthCarolina and it's gotten to the
point that I can really predictwhat we're going to find on that
home inspection.
And so HomeCast is asoftware-based business that
helps agents have a betterunderstanding about what a home
inspector is going to find on aninspection.
(33:40):
But the timing is what'simportant and exciting, because
what the process is now, if youwere to buy a home, an agent is
going to show multiple homes andthen finally find the one.
They have to negotiate it, getit under contract and then all
the inspections come.
And when the inspections come,ultimately there can be
(34:05):
something that's found in thathome inspection where a
potential buyer would be likeyou know what I'm not OK with
this.
Like I know I understandthere's water getting in this
basement and it just kind of hitme the other day like why are
we having that conversation withthe buyer after the inspection
when a lot of these things arepredictable?
They didn't start waterproofingand damp proofing foundations
(34:27):
until the 1980s, even into the1990s.
So taking this idea of homesthat are built in specific time
periods are known to havecertain issues, and so HomeCast
gives agents those tools upfront so they can have those
conversations with their clientsbefore the showing and before
(34:49):
the offer and before the thehome inspection, and so they're
going to have higher closingrates.
You're going to have clientsthat aren't going to be caught
with surprises when a lot, of, alot of these things are known.
It feels like that yeah that'sawesome.
Speaker 1 (35:03):
It feels like the seller ought to be.
You know, may want to repairthose things and get more for
their house.
I mean, a lot of times justdoing the repairs makes their
house more valuable becausethey're going to try to get.
Yeah, I know, you know, I didthat one time I had an inspector
come on a house that we weregoing to sell.
I just had him come out andtell me everything's wrong.
We just fixed it and you knowso there wasn't any.
(35:24):
So when he came back, there wasand the seller got the I mean,
the buyer got the inspection ata lower price because he had
just been there six monthsearlier while we fixed area.
You know, to me I was also on aboard one time at a church and
you know big plant and equipmentessentially, and you know we
just made a prediction of likewhen we were going to have to
(35:46):
fix everything and it seems likethat's what you're doing there,
like all right, this isprobably about the lifetime of
this furnace.
This is probably about what'sgoing to.
You know, you might, you'reprobably going to have this
electrical issue at some point,because this is how old the
house is.
I mean, I think that's, I thinkthat's.
That's awesome.
So well, that's exciting, thatis exciting.
(36:07):
Last question how do people getin touch with you?
Speaker 2 (36:14):
How do you get in touch with you?
Uh, how do you get in touchwith us?
Go to our website,homeinspectioncollectivecom, um,
and make sure to read some ofour reviews about what our
clients are saying andexperience that they had.
We have 580 five-star reviews,um.
So, yeah, check us out onlineand our website.
We'll have a telephone numberthat if you need to reach us the
(36:34):
schedule inspection or justhave questions about home
inspections or the process, orif you're considering a career
in home inspections, like, yeah,find my number online and give
me a shout.
Speaker 1 (36:47):
Yeah, I mean it's not going to go away.
It feels like that's a greatcareer choice.
Yeah, I mean it's.
I mean they's not going to goaway.
It feels like that's a greatcareer choice.
Yeah, I mean it's.
I mean they're always going tobe.
It's always going to be there.
So, and in this area we'restill growing, it's going to
keep growing here.
I don't think you know thatpeople are.
You know, we had a disaster inthe, in the not and not like a
(37:08):
lean, but in the COVID, and morepeople moved here.
So it wasn't like people left,they came instead of leaving.
So it's going to continue.
So, hey, thanks for being partof our community, Thanks for all
you're doing, Thanks for beingan entrepreneur, Thanks for
acting on your ideas.
I mean that's just awesome.
(37:28):
So, yeah, we certainly knowyou're going to be continuously
successful.
Yeah, thank you, Bill hey, anduntil next time, all the best.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist
It’s 1996 in rural North Carolina, and an oddball crew makes history when they pull off America’s third largest cash heist. But it’s all downhill from there. Join host Johnny Knoxville as he unspools a wild and woolly tale about a group of regular ‘ol folks who risked it all for a chance at a better life. CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist answers the question: what would you do with 17.3 million dollars? The answer includes diamond rings, mansions, velvet Elvis paintings, plus a run for the border, murder-for-hire-plots, and FBI busts.