September 19, 2025 • 18 mins
Carving out a specialized niche might seem limiting, but for Garfield Jones of Paver Perfection, it's been the foundation of his entrepreneurial success. Broadcasting from Palm Beach - what Garfield calls "the paver capital of the world" - this episode delves into how focusing exclusively on paver restoration created a thriving business that commands premium prices while fixing other contractors' mistakes.
Garfield doesn't mince words about the hard lessons he's learned running a growing enterprise. "Be the boss. Don't try and be friends with your employees," he advises after sharing how he once had to release his entire team and rebuild from scratch. His candid insights challenge common misconceptions about entrepreneurship, especially the notion that business owners are "made of money." As he explains, "You could start the week off with 40 grand in your business checking account and by the end of the week you're down to five because there's so many expenses."
What truly separates Paver Perfection from competitors isn't just technical expertise (though Garfield is a master certified contractor) - it's his approach to winning clients. Rather than pressuring prospects to close deals, he focuses on education: "I don't go on an estimate to close the estimate. I go on there to educate you." This philosophy consistently wins him high-ticket projects even when competing against lower-priced alternatives. Behind his business drive lies a powerful personal motivation - providing his family opportunities he never had growing up. His integration of family into the business operations creates a unified approach where everyone contributes to their shared success.
Whether you're considering specialization in your industry or struggling with leadership challenges, Garfield's journey offers valuable lessons about finding your niche, maintaining high standards, and building a business aligned with your deepest values. Ready to elevate your entrepreneurial mindset? Listen now and discover how a specialized focus might be exactly what your business needs.
Thanks for Listening. You may contact me or our team at https://billgilliland.biz/
All the best!
Bill
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Hey there, welcome to this week's episode of Epic
Entrepreneurs.
I'm Bill Gilliland, your host.
I am also the principal ofAction Coach, business Growth
Partners and the AshevilleBusiness Summit.
I am super pumped about ourguest today.
I can't wait to hear his story.
It's got to be interesting.
He's found a nice niche andit's working for him, so I can't
(00:23):
wait to tell you.
But hey, just a reminder theAsheville business summit coming
up on September 23rd, it is nottoo late to get your tickets.
Make sure you go out towncsummitcom and pick up your
tickets today.
Um, hey, but let's get on withour guests.
I have got Garfield Jones fromPaver Perfection, so welcome to
(00:45):
the podcast, garfield.
Tell us a little bit about youand your business.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Nice to meet you, man .
Thanks for having me.
My name is Garfield.
I own a company called PaverPerfection.
We specialize in nothing butpaver restoration from paver
stripping to paver sanding topaver sealing.
That's what we do.
Been in business around fiveyears now, and I am Floyd's two
(01:11):
full-time guys at the time.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
How do you, how in the world do you get into a
niche like that?
Speaker 2 (01:18):
Well, getting to a niche like this, let me tell you
it's not easy.
Um, it takes a lot of organicgrowth.
Um, people have to trust you.
It is so many paver ceilingcompanies out here.
Um, one thing that separates usfrom the rest is we're the only
one that advertises paverstripping.
So all these fly-by-nightcontractors that are sealing
(01:38):
pavers and they're turning whitewithin six months or doing
terrible jobs, that's what wespecialize in man, fixing their
mistakes.
And um, in palm beach, man, um,it's like the paver capital of
the world.
Pavers everywhere.
So it's a nice market, man, butit's all about education
because at the end of the day,homeowner's gonna tell you hey,
this is nothing about thedriveway, you know, but um know
(02:02):
it adds property value, addscurb appeal.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
I definitely think paver sealing is the best.
Yeah, yeah, no, it's great.
And I mean, you know, noteverybody gets up.
I mean you probably, when youwere a kid, you probably didn't
get up in the morning and say,hey, I want to be a paver sealer
.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
Yeah, not at all man.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
Yeah, yeah, no, it's good.
Well, we'll take it from there.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
So let me ask you some questions about business.
So if you had to start overfrom square one, what would you
do differently?
Differently, I wouldn't changeanything, except for my
marketing strategy.
So in the beginning I wasn't abeliever in SEO.
I thought it was just a bighigh-time scam, that that you
dumping thousands of dollars inevery month and seeing nothing.
So I wish I would have startedSEO a lot faster than I would
(02:51):
have had a lot more organicgrowth.
Currently we get plenty of jobs, but they're high ticket leads.
I'm currently running about 5Kin advertising in my magazines a
month, you know.
So that's money that could bein my pocket if I started SEO a
long time ago.
Speaker 1 (03:06):
Yeah, so what advertising works best for you?
Speaker 2 (03:11):
Well for us.
So, like I said, we're a nicheplace so we have to reach
customers that are looking forus.
So I advertise in home fix upmags, like one of them is local
living and one of them isresource, and homeowners go in
here and look for things that isgoing to fix up their property
(03:33):
and that's how we reach 90% ofour customers.
On the other hand, I do alittle Facebook ads.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
Yeah, I got it, got it, yeah.
So the advice is get someorganic marketing going as well
as the paid ads.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
Yeah, man, people have to know you.
In Palm Beach we have a repthat says they all say paper
perfection is very expensive butthey do great work and I don't
mind that rep.
We do awesome work and our workis not cheap.
You know, I'm actually a mastercertified contractor in this.
Speaker 1 (04:06):
Yeah, yeah, no, I no.
I love that.
I love it when people in fact,I think that's one of the goals
as a contractor is to get it.
Hey, they're not the cheapest,but they're the best.
Yes, that's, that's what I wantto hear.
So give us some of yourlearnings as a business owner
and employer, since you startedyour business.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
My learnings.
First thing and foremost, man,be the boss.
Be the boss.
Don't try and be friends withyour employees.
You know, it's all right to becool.
I learned the hard way.
You know, I was the guy that Iwas just so friendly, so nice,
and when it looks they're takingadvantage of you and it puts
you in the spot to say somethingbecause, oh, y'all are friends
now, you know.
So that's something I I highlyspeak against, Um, keep it
(04:51):
professional business at alltimes, you know.
Um, that's about it, man.
I think that's the major thingthat held me back a while until
I got out of that and I leteverybody go, man, and I started
over from scratch, you know.
And now we're booming backagain, you know.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
Yeah, that's a hard move.
That's well done on making thatdecision.
That's a tough move to say,well, these guys aren't working
anymore because they've donewhat they can and then move on.
So what are some misconceptionsabout running a business?
Speaker 2 (05:26):
Everybody thinks it's easy.
You know they think it's theeasiest thing Like, uh, uh,
you're made of money.
You know, I tell people I saidyou could start the week off
with 40 grand in your businesschecking account and by the end
of the week you're down to fivebecause it's so many expenses
that goes out, you know.
But yeah, it all comes back,but it's a rotating door.
(05:49):
So I tell business owners, whenyou get into business, man,
save your money.
You know, save your money.
Just because you see a niceamount of checks in there, you
want to go buy this, buy that.
Save your money because thereis seven to eight K a week,
(06:11):
which is terrible, which is it'sa.
It's good to other guys, youknow, but for a company of my
size, with the advertising andstuff we spend, that's terrible.
We're used to 12 to 15 a week.
But the summertime, this iswhat happens every summer.
So you have to save moneybecause at the end of the day,
your employees depend on you andI'm very passionate about that.
(06:33):
I don't call my guys and say,hey, we don't have no work today
, so everybody's staying home.
No, everybody come to work.
We're going to find somethingto do.
Because at the end of the day,you got a family to feed too,
you know, so you need a paycheck.
So that's how I feel about that.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
Yeah, I love it.
What do you attribute yourgrowth to?
Speaker 2 (06:50):
Attribute my growth to man is to wanting better for
my family, man.
You know, I didn't grow up richman.
I kind of grew up kind of poor,you know, but I strived and I'm
here busting my butt because Iwant my kids to have the house
and the backyard and you knowall the stuff that I didn't have
(07:10):
growing up.
So I grind, man.
I wake up every morning sixo'clock, you know, and I don't
come home sometimes till aftersix, you know, because I'm out
there grinding.
Speaker 1 (07:20):
So I love that.
Yeah, you got a good why.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
You got a good reason to get out there.
Yeah, I love that.
So, speaking of, which is your?
Why is your personal?
Your family, what is?
How do you balance that?
The personal life with thebusiness?
Speaker 2 (07:40):
Oh man, there is no balance, man, it's everybody's
part of the business man.
You know, it's just what it is.
My wife is my full-time admin.
You know, she takes all thecalls, does all the scheduling.
My daughter, she takes care ofthe tools.
You know, she charges all thebatteries every day that needs
(08:01):
to be charged.
You know, and everybody know,when daddy come home, he still
has to do estimates, he stillhas to do this, but I'm
definitely going to make timefor them and they understand,
you know.
So that's how I kind of balanceit.
I mean, it's not really abalance, but it's the best I
could do right now.
You know, and they understand,because, like I said, we're in
(08:22):
grind mode, man.
You know we're looking to buy ahouse within the next month.
Actually, we're going throughclosing and stuff right now.
You know, congratulations.
Yeah, man, we didn't just gethere by just getting up and
doing a couple of jobs here andthere.
No, we got here by dedication,you know.
Speaker 1 (08:37):
And getting it done Right.
You got to do what you got todo until you can.
Yeah, I see great futures foryou.
What qualities do you look forin employees?
I mean, you talked about whatyou didn't look for.
Yeah, let's talk about what youdo look for.
Speaker 2 (08:54):
Yeah, number one quality.
And I say, without this I won'thire you.
I don't want you to haveexperience, because everybody
I've hired who are experienced,they don't do it my way, so I
have to retrain them.
You know, one thing I look foris that you got to be teachable.
You know, you can't be thehothead coming in here.
(09:19):
I think you know everything.
You gotta be teachable and yougotta learn how to listen, man,
and take constructive criticism.
You know, um, other than that,you'll go far.
You know, if I could teach youand tell you hey bro, you doing
doing this wrong, this is howyou're supposed to do it, and
then you could learn, thenthere's plenty of room for you
here to grow.
I mean, I have a, I have a, mylead tech, right now.
I think he makes two, 75 a day,you know, and he's killing it.
You know, I'm probably going togive him a raise within the
(09:41):
next two, three months and and Ithink I'm gonna put him at $300
a day because he's worth it.
You know, cause he, he, he getson a job, no complaining and he
gets stuff done.
You know, nah, no complaining,and he gets stuff done, you know
.
Speaker 1 (09:53):
No, yeah, I love that , I love that.
Hey look, you know my taglineis be epic, so we have some.
It's an acronym.
So I'm going to give you whatwhat the letter stands for, and
then I want to get like asentence or two about each
letter.
Just a quick.
We call it a quick fire round,okay, so the B stands for bring
the energy.
(10:13):
We call it a quick fire round.
So the B stands for bring theenergy.
You've obviously got a lot ofenergy.
Speaker 2 (10:17):
Tell me about your thoughts on energy.
Oh man, listen, if you arefired up in the morning, it
don't matter what size the jobis.
I mean, we do a lot of bigticket jobs and cleaning 20,000
square foot of pavers is veryintimidating if you're not
primed and amped up to do it.
So, my guys, breakfast isimportant.
We get breakfast, we make surewe are ready to go and
(10:41):
everybody's ready.
No dead weight, man.
You know, if I'm fired up thenI usually fire up everybody else
and I'm always ready to go.
You know, because everybodylooks at you, everybody's like
okay, the boss is ready, ready,so that means they're going to
be ready I love it.
Speaker 1 (10:59):
I love it.
So the e in epic stands foreducation okay, education.
Speaker 2 (11:06):
I think that's why I win a lot of estimates.
Um, when I first started thisbusiness funny story a lot of
guys told me I wasn't going tomake it in Palm Beach because
Palm Beach is predominantlywhite.
And I'm a black guy, a bigblack guy at that scary big
black guy they call me.
But the funny thing is that Ido more numbers than these same
(11:27):
guys that told me I wouldn'tmake it.
And the reason is why isbecause of education.
I don't go on an estimate toclose the estimate.
Yeah, I want the job.
I go on there to educate youand when I leave you I tell you
I said you don't have to chooseme, but here is why you should,
and this is why you should lookfor when you're getting your
pavers sealed.
(11:47):
And I educate them about thedifferent stuff that's going on
and I leave them with knowledgeof what they need to look for.
And nine times out of 10, man,they get other estimates.
But they call me back and tellme you were higher than these
other guys.
But we like you, you know, andthat's how.
And I close them bro.
Speaker 1 (12:03):
Yeah, well, you've educated them, you've put them
on the.
Yeah, you're the one who helpedthem figure out how to make the
best decision.
So you obviously know more thananyone else about this and
since you specialize in it, youmust be the guy.
So the P stands for planning.
Speaker 2 (12:20):
Planning.
Planning is key in this game.
Man, it's the rainy seasonright now.
You could go from making $0this entire week because you
can't get a job sealed, becauseyou can't sand it in the rain
and you can't seal it in therain.
You could clean it in the rain,but you can't seal it in the
rain and you can't seal it inthe rain.
You can clean it in the rain,but you can't see seal it in the
rain.
So planning goes into it.
So we plan ahead all our jobs,man.
(12:40):
Everything has to be laid out.
Usually early in the morningit's not raining, so that's the
time we try to get our ceilingin and we prep in the afternoon.
So planning out your schedulein this game right here is a
must.
Speaker 1 (12:54):
Yeah, and I love that .
I love that.
The I stands for inspiration.
Speaker 2 (12:59):
Inspiration man.
A lot of people is crazy, but Iget inspired by the big guys.
I want to have 20 trucks, youknow, I talk, I talk to other
guys that's big in the game andthey got 20 trucks, 20 crews out
there, 10 crews out out there.
You know, um, to me that'sinspiration man.
You know that it could be done,and especially when you hear
(13:20):
their story and realize, man,they came from the same back
cage rump, you know, and thatthat inspires me right there.
Speaker 1 (13:27):
Yeah, they put on their pants the same way we do
exactly.
Yeah, it's the same stuff.
So, all right, this is going tobe a good one for you.
The the C stands for commitmentcommitment man.
Speaker 2 (13:39):
Favor ceiling man.
It's up and down A lot of a lotof a lot of people want to get
into favor ceiling because it'sa higher ticket than pressure
cleaning Way higher ticket.
But you have to be committed.
People don't want to spend themoney to get into it.
The equipment is not cheap.
You know.
You're buying cheap up pump upsprayers and you're trying to do
(14:00):
the job.
It's inconsistent.
So in order to make it in thisgame you got to commit to it.
You can't do oh, I'm going todo roof and ceiling.
You know it's going to coincidewith, it's going to contradict
each other and you're going tohave to choose which one you
want to do or focus on more.
You know.
Speaker 1 (14:19):
I love that.
I love that.
So what words of advice wouldyou offer other business owners
who are looking to grow?
Speaker 2 (14:28):
In my field.
If you're looking to get intothe favorite feeling game, get
some training, man.
There is a lot of free trainingout there.
Get some training, man, thereis a lot of free training out
there.
Get some training.
Get some training.
Pay to shadow somebody.
I did that in my beginning Paida guy to shadow him, just to
see the ins and outs, you know.
(14:49):
And then I attended a bunch oftrainings, man.
I became a master, certifiedtech, you know.
So training is very important,man.
Everybody thinks it's easy.
Any monkey could spray somesealer.
It's not all about the sealer,it's about the prep.
If you're not prepping thesurface properly, you're not
going to make it, man.
And in this game there's nocheap mistake.
(15:11):
You know, to strip off a failedsealer that you put on, you're
looking like three, four grandperiod, you know?
Um.
So it's not a cheap, easy fixif you mess up.
Yeah so yeah training, mantraining I think it's the key I
love it yeah, the prep was allthe key.
Speaker 1 (15:31):
I have a client who does concrete refinishing and
it's all.
Yes, it's all about the prep,it's all about the prep was all
the key.
Speaker 2 (15:37):
I have a client who does concrete refinishing and
it's all about the prep.
Speaker 1 (15:40):
It's not the same, but it's similar to what you're
up to, but it's all about thesame, hey.
Lastly, how does somebody get ahold of you if they want their
pavers sealed?
Oh, man.
Speaker 2 (15:52):
you can reach us at 561-485-2425.
You could look us up onFacebook Paver Perfection.
You could go on our website atwwwpaverperfectionproscom.
We're on Twitter, we're onYouTube.
We're on Instagram PaverPerfection.
Everywhere You'll see the big,bold letters.
You can't miss us.
Speaker 1 (16:12):
I love it, I love it, I love it.
So, letters, you can't miss us.
I love it, I love it, I love it.
So, hey, really appreciate you.
Thanks for coming on thepodcast, really appreciate you
joining us and being a part ofthe Epic Entrepreneurs community
and I know you're a big part ofthe community there in Palm
Beach area.
So, yeah, thanks for all ofthat.
Speaker 2 (16:31):
Appreciate you having me man.
Speaker 1 (16:34):
Yeah, hey, and until next time.
Remember, if you're listeningto this and you're in the
Western North Carolina area, orif you're going to come visit us
, get those tickets to theAsheville Business Summit at
wncsummitcom September 23rd, thebig day.
We look forward to seeing youthere.
Hey, and until next time.
All the best.
Hey there, welcome to this week's episode of Epic
Entrepreneurs.
I'm Bill Gilliland, your host.
I am also the principal ofAction Coach, business Growth
Partners and the AshevilleBusiness Summit.
I am super pumped about ourguest today.
I can't wait to hear his story.
It's got to be interesting.
He's found a nice niche andit's working for him, so I can't
(00:23):
wait to tell you.
But hey, just a reminder theAsheville business summit coming
up on September 23rd, it is nottoo late to get your tickets.
Make sure you go out towncsummitcom and pick up your
tickets today.
Um, hey, but let's get on withour guests.
I have got Garfield Jones fromPaver Perfection, so welcome to
(00:45):
the podcast, garfield.
Tell us a little bit about youand your business.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Nice to meet you, man .
Thanks for having me.
My name is Garfield.
I own a company called PaverPerfection.
We specialize in nothing butpaver restoration from paver
stripping to paver sanding topaver sealing.
That's what we do.
Been in business around fiveyears now, and I am Floyd's two
(01:11):
full-time guys at the time.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
How do you, how in the world do you get into a
niche like that?
Speaker 2 (01:18):
Well, getting to a niche like this, let me tell you
it's not easy.
Um, it takes a lot of organicgrowth.
Um, people have to trust you.
It is so many paver ceilingcompanies out here.
Um, one thing that separates usfrom the rest is we're the only
one that advertises paverstripping.
So all these fly-by-nightcontractors that are sealing
(01:38):
pavers and they're turning whitewithin six months or doing
terrible jobs, that's what wespecialize in man, fixing their
mistakes.
And um, in palm beach, man, um,it's like the paver capital of
the world.
Pavers everywhere.
So it's a nice market, man, butit's all about education
because at the end of the day,homeowner's gonna tell you hey,
this is nothing about thedriveway, you know, but um know
(02:02):
it adds property value, addscurb appeal.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
I definitely think paver sealing is the best.
Yeah, yeah, no, it's great.
And I mean, you know, noteverybody gets up.
I mean you probably, when youwere a kid, you probably didn't
get up in the morning and say,hey, I want to be a paver sealer
.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
Yeah, not at all man.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
Yeah, yeah, no, it's good.
Well, we'll take it from there.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
So let me ask you some questions about business.
So if you had to start overfrom square one, what would you
do differently?
Differently, I wouldn't changeanything, except for my
marketing strategy.
So in the beginning I wasn't abeliever in SEO.
I thought it was just a bighigh-time scam, that that you
dumping thousands of dollars inevery month and seeing nothing.
So I wish I would have startedSEO a lot faster than I would
(02:51):
have had a lot more organicgrowth.
Currently we get plenty of jobs, but they're high ticket leads.
I'm currently running about 5Kin advertising in my magazines a
month, you know.
So that's money that could bein my pocket if I started SEO a
long time ago.
Speaker 1 (03:06):
Yeah, so what advertising works best for you?
Speaker 2 (03:11):
Well for us.
So, like I said, we're a nicheplace so we have to reach
customers that are looking forus.
So I advertise in home fix upmags, like one of them is local
living and one of them isresource, and homeowners go in
here and look for things that isgoing to fix up their property
(03:33):
and that's how we reach 90% ofour customers.
On the other hand, I do alittle Facebook ads.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
Yeah, I got it, got it, yeah.
So the advice is get someorganic marketing going as well
as the paid ads.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
Yeah, man, people have to know you.
In Palm Beach we have a repthat says they all say paper
perfection is very expensive butthey do great work and I don't
mind that rep.
We do awesome work and our workis not cheap.
You know, I'm actually a mastercertified contractor in this.
Speaker 1 (04:06):
Yeah, yeah, no, I no.
I love that.
I love it when people in fact,I think that's one of the goals
as a contractor is to get it.
Hey, they're not the cheapest,but they're the best.
Yes, that's, that's what I wantto hear.
So give us some of yourlearnings as a business owner
and employer, since you startedyour business.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
My learnings.
First thing and foremost, man,be the boss.
Be the boss.
Don't try and be friends withyour employees.
You know, it's all right to becool.
I learned the hard way.
You know, I was the guy that Iwas just so friendly, so nice,
and when it looks they're takingadvantage of you and it puts
you in the spot to say somethingbecause, oh, y'all are friends
now, you know.
So that's something I I highlyspeak against, Um, keep it
(04:51):
professional business at alltimes, you know.
Um, that's about it, man.
I think that's the major thingthat held me back a while until
I got out of that and I leteverybody go, man, and I started
over from scratch, you know.
And now we're booming backagain, you know.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
Yeah, that's a hard move.
That's well done on making thatdecision.
That's a tough move to say,well, these guys aren't working
anymore because they've donewhat they can and then move on.
So what are some misconceptionsabout running a business?
Speaker 2 (05:26):
Everybody thinks it's easy.
You know they think it's theeasiest thing Like, uh, uh,
you're made of money.
You know, I tell people I saidyou could start the week off
with 40 grand in your businesschecking account and by the end
of the week you're down to fivebecause it's so many expenses
that goes out, you know.
But yeah, it all comes back,but it's a rotating door.
(05:49):
So I tell business owners, whenyou get into business, man,
save your money.
You know, save your money.
Just because you see a niceamount of checks in there, you
want to go buy this, buy that.
Save your money because thereis seven to eight K a week,
(06:11):
which is terrible, which is it'sa.
It's good to other guys, youknow, but for a company of my
size, with the advertising andstuff we spend, that's terrible.
We're used to 12 to 15 a week.
But the summertime, this iswhat happens every summer.
So you have to save moneybecause at the end of the day,
your employees depend on you andI'm very passionate about that.
(06:33):
I don't call my guys and say,hey, we don't have no work today
, so everybody's staying home.
No, everybody come to work.
We're going to find somethingto do.
Because at the end of the day,you got a family to feed too,
you know, so you need a paycheck.
So that's how I feel about that.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
Yeah, I love it.
What do you attribute yourgrowth to?
Speaker 2 (06:50):
Attribute my growth to man is to wanting better for
my family, man.
You know, I didn't grow up richman.
I kind of grew up kind of poor,you know, but I strived and I'm
here busting my butt because Iwant my kids to have the house
and the backyard and you knowall the stuff that I didn't have
(07:10):
growing up.
So I grind, man.
I wake up every morning sixo'clock, you know, and I don't
come home sometimes till aftersix, you know, because I'm out
there grinding.
Speaker 1 (07:20):
So I love that.
Yeah, you got a good why.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
You got a good reason to get out there.
Yeah, I love that.
So, speaking of, which is your?
Why is your personal?
Your family, what is?
How do you balance that?
The personal life with thebusiness?
Speaker 2 (07:40):
Oh man, there is no balance, man, it's everybody's
part of the business man.
You know, it's just what it is.
My wife is my full-time admin.
You know, she takes all thecalls, does all the scheduling.
My daughter, she takes care ofthe tools.
You know, she charges all thebatteries every day that needs
(08:01):
to be charged.
You know, and everybody know,when daddy come home, he still
has to do estimates, he stillhas to do this, but I'm
definitely going to make timefor them and they understand,
you know.
So that's how I kind of balanceit.
I mean, it's not really abalance, but it's the best I
could do right now.
You know, and they understand,because, like I said, we're in
(08:22):
grind mode, man.
You know we're looking to buy ahouse within the next month.
Actually, we're going throughclosing and stuff right now.
You know, congratulations.
Yeah, man, we didn't just gethere by just getting up and
doing a couple of jobs here andthere.
No, we got here by dedication,you know.
Speaker 1 (08:37):
And getting it done Right.
You got to do what you got todo until you can.
Yeah, I see great futures foryou.
What qualities do you look forin employees?
I mean, you talked about whatyou didn't look for.
Yeah, let's talk about what youdo look for.
Speaker 2 (08:54):
Yeah, number one quality.
And I say, without this I won'thire you.
I don't want you to haveexperience, because everybody
I've hired who are experienced,they don't do it my way, so I
have to retrain them.
You know, one thing I look foris that you got to be teachable.
You know, you can't be thehothead coming in here.
(09:19):
I think you know everything.
You gotta be teachable and yougotta learn how to listen, man,
and take constructive criticism.
You know, um, other than that,you'll go far.
You know, if I could teach youand tell you hey bro, you doing
doing this wrong, this is howyou're supposed to do it, and
then you could learn, thenthere's plenty of room for you
here to grow.
I mean, I have a, I have a, mylead tech, right now.
I think he makes two, 75 a day,you know, and he's killing it.
You know, I'm probably going togive him a raise within the
(09:41):
next two, three months and and Ithink I'm gonna put him at $300
a day because he's worth it.
You know, cause he, he, he getson a job, no complaining and he
gets stuff done.
You know, nah, no complaining,and he gets stuff done, you know
.
Speaker 1 (09:53):
No, yeah, I love that , I love that.
Hey look, you know my taglineis be epic, so we have some.
It's an acronym.
So I'm going to give you whatwhat the letter stands for, and
then I want to get like asentence or two about each
letter.
Just a quick.
We call it a quick fire round,okay, so the B stands for bring
the energy.
(10:13):
We call it a quick fire round.
So the B stands for bring theenergy.
You've obviously got a lot ofenergy.
Speaker 2 (10:17):
Tell me about your thoughts on energy.
Oh man, listen, if you arefired up in the morning, it
don't matter what size the jobis.
I mean, we do a lot of bigticket jobs and cleaning 20,000
square foot of pavers is veryintimidating if you're not
primed and amped up to do it.
So, my guys, breakfast isimportant.
We get breakfast, we make surewe are ready to go and
(10:41):
everybody's ready.
No dead weight, man.
You know, if I'm fired up thenI usually fire up everybody else
and I'm always ready to go.
You know, because everybodylooks at you, everybody's like
okay, the boss is ready, ready,so that means they're going to
be ready I love it.
Speaker 1 (10:59):
I love it.
So the e in epic stands foreducation okay, education.
Speaker 2 (11:06):
I think that's why I win a lot of estimates.
Um, when I first started thisbusiness funny story a lot of
guys told me I wasn't going tomake it in Palm Beach because
Palm Beach is predominantlywhite.
And I'm a black guy, a bigblack guy at that scary big
black guy they call me.
But the funny thing is that Ido more numbers than these same
(11:27):
guys that told me I wouldn'tmake it.
And the reason is why isbecause of education.
I don't go on an estimate toclose the estimate.
Yeah, I want the job.
I go on there to educate youand when I leave you I tell you
I said you don't have to chooseme, but here is why you should,
and this is why you should lookfor when you're getting your
pavers sealed.
(11:47):
And I educate them about thedifferent stuff that's going on
and I leave them with knowledgeof what they need to look for.
And nine times out of 10, man,they get other estimates.
But they call me back and tellme you were higher than these
other guys.
But we like you, you know, andthat's how.
And I close them bro.
Speaker 1 (12:03):
Yeah, well, you've educated them, you've put them
on the.
Yeah, you're the one who helpedthem figure out how to make the
best decision.
So you obviously know more thananyone else about this and
since you specialize in it, youmust be the guy.
So the P stands for planning.
Speaker 2 (12:20):
Planning.
Planning is key in this game.
Man, it's the rainy seasonright now.
You could go from making $0this entire week because you
can't get a job sealed, becauseyou can't sand it in the rain
and you can't seal it in therain.
You could clean it in the rain,but you can't seal it in the
rain and you can't seal it inthe rain.
You can clean it in the rain,but you can't see seal it in the
rain.
So planning goes into it.
So we plan ahead all our jobs,man.
(12:40):
Everything has to be laid out.
Usually early in the morningit's not raining, so that's the
time we try to get our ceilingin and we prep in the afternoon.
So planning out your schedulein this game right here is a
must.
Speaker 1 (12:54):
Yeah, and I love that .
I love that.
The I stands for inspiration.
Speaker 2 (12:59):
Inspiration man.
A lot of people is crazy, but Iget inspired by the big guys.
I want to have 20 trucks, youknow, I talk, I talk to other
guys that's big in the game andthey got 20 trucks, 20 crews out
there, 10 crews out out there.
You know, um, to me that'sinspiration man.
You know that it could be done,and especially when you hear
(13:20):
their story and realize, man,they came from the same back
cage rump, you know, and thatthat inspires me right there.
Speaker 1 (13:27):
Yeah, they put on their pants the same way we do
exactly.
Yeah, it's the same stuff.
So, all right, this is going tobe a good one for you.
The the C stands for commitmentcommitment man.
Speaker 2 (13:39):
Favor ceiling man.
It's up and down A lot of a lotof a lot of people want to get
into favor ceiling because it'sa higher ticket than pressure
cleaning Way higher ticket.
But you have to be committed.
People don't want to spend themoney to get into it.
The equipment is not cheap.
You know.
You're buying cheap up pump upsprayers and you're trying to do
(14:00):
the job.
It's inconsistent.
So in order to make it in thisgame you got to commit to it.
You can't do oh, I'm going todo roof and ceiling.
You know it's going to coincidewith, it's going to contradict
each other and you're going tohave to choose which one you
want to do or focus on more.
You know.
Speaker 1 (14:19):
I love that.
I love that.
So what words of advice wouldyou offer other business owners
who are looking to grow?
Speaker 2 (14:28):
In my field.
If you're looking to get intothe favorite feeling game, get
some training, man.
There is a lot of free trainingout there.
Get some training, man, thereis a lot of free training out
there.
Get some training.
Get some training.
Pay to shadow somebody.
I did that in my beginning Paida guy to shadow him, just to
see the ins and outs, you know.
(14:49):
And then I attended a bunch oftrainings, man.
I became a master, certifiedtech, you know.
So training is very important,man.
Everybody thinks it's easy.
Any monkey could spray somesealer.
It's not all about the sealer,it's about the prep.
If you're not prepping thesurface properly, you're not
going to make it, man.
And in this game there's nocheap mistake.
(15:11):
You know, to strip off a failedsealer that you put on, you're
looking like three, four grandperiod, you know?
Um.
So it's not a cheap, easy fixif you mess up.
Yeah so yeah training, mantraining I think it's the key I
love it yeah, the prep was allthe key.
Speaker 1 (15:31):
I have a client who does concrete refinishing and
it's all.
Yes, it's all about the prep,it's all about the prep was all
the key.
Speaker 2 (15:37):
I have a client who does concrete refinishing and
it's all about the prep.
Speaker 1 (15:40):
It's not the same, but it's similar to what you're
up to, but it's all about thesame, hey.
Lastly, how does somebody get ahold of you if they want their
pavers sealed?
Oh, man.
Speaker 2 (15:52):
you can reach us at 561-485-2425.
You could look us up onFacebook Paver Perfection.
You could go on our website atwwwpaverperfectionproscom.
We're on Twitter, we're onYouTube.
We're on Instagram PaverPerfection.
Everywhere You'll see the big,bold letters.
You can't miss us.
Speaker 1 (16:12):
I love it, I love it, I love it.
So, letters, you can't miss us.
I love it, I love it, I love it.
So, hey, really appreciate you.
Thanks for coming on thepodcast, really appreciate you
joining us and being a part ofthe Epic Entrepreneurs community
and I know you're a big part ofthe community there in Palm
Beach area.
So, yeah, thanks for all ofthat.
Speaker 2 (16:31):
Appreciate you having me man.
Speaker 1 (16:34):
Yeah, hey, and until next time.
Remember, if you're listeningto this and you're in the
Western North Carolina area, orif you're going to come visit us
, get those tickets to theAsheville Business Summit at
wncsummitcom September 23rd, thebig day.
We look forward to seeing youthere.
Hey, and until next time.
All the best.
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