December 23, 2024 • 37 mins
What if you could turn a rocky past into a foundation for success? In this episode, we introduce you to Toby Ranigan, the inspiring owner of Texas Vets Roofing, who shares his heartfelt story of transformation. Toby opens up about his tumultuous youth, marked by dropping out of school and legal troubles, and how becoming a father and meeting someone who believed in him changed his trajectory. He discusses his entry into the roofing industry out of necessity, learning the ropes by working alongside a seasoned company owner. Today, Toby runs a reputable business known for its integrity and customer service, and even supports community initiatives through a nonprofit organization.
Running a business isn't just about success; it's about navigating the hurdles life throws your way. Toby candidly shares his own experiences with both personal and professional challenges, including the end of a marriage with his business partner and the complexities of mastering back-office operations. His resilience has paid off, with strategic growth and a focus on creating a business that can stand on its own. Toby's approach combines a compelling mix of residential and commercial projects backed by a dedicated sales team, adhering to a robust profit margin goal. His eyes are set on the future, with a clear exit plan in mind and a mission to leave a lasting legacy.
Beyond the spreadsheets and sales strategies, Toby explores the importance of a positive mindset and gratitude in entrepreneurship. His belief that challenges are not just obstacles but opportunities for growth echoes throughout his journey. We also venture into the benefits of being part of the Limitless Roofing Group, which has been pivotal to his business growth. This episode is a testament to the power of resilience, gratitude, and integrity in building not just a business, but a fulfilling life. Toby’s story is sure to inspire anyone looking to transform their struggles into stepping stones for success.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
all right.
Welcome to the limitlessroofing show, where we give you
a seat at the table as we talkwith roofing owners to learn
about their challenges, thingsthey've overcome and just
lessons learned growing business.
And today we've got tobyranigan from texas vets roofing,
and toby actually was one ofthe first Limitless Roofing GPO
(00:27):
members I think you were numberfive.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
So thanks for joining the show man.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
I hear that it's grown quite a bit since then.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
Yeah, we're up to 310 companies at the time of the
recording of this podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
That's really good, A lot of good incentives.
I mean I enjoy it.
I definitely need to use itmore.
I mean it seems like I have somany resources today.
It's like an overload.
It's weird, Like I have so manyresources today and I don't
(01:02):
even use one of them becausethere's just not anyone.
Does that make sense?
Oh, I know.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
I know it's hard.
It's something we're trying tofigure out is just making that
easier for you, as a member, toremember all the deals and use
them on a monthly basis.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:20):
Well, man, I'd love to kick this off and just give
some background.
You're one of the first roofersthat I got to know, coming into
this industry about four yearsago now, but I'd love for you to
give your background, how yougot into roofing and all that
jazz.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
Well, I guess I'll start off with what most people,
I think, already know.
I'm a 9th grade dropout,12-town convicted felon.
I did a couple of stints inprison for drug dealing and
stuff of that nature and thelast time I got out was probably
(01:57):
13 or 14 years ago.
I couldn't find a job.
I tried and you know it was kindof tough and so I was kind of
getting rid of everything that Iowned.
I just had a brand new kid.
I was living with my in-lawsand I met a guy selling a truck
(02:21):
and he owned a roofing companyand I kind of went out with him,
told him I needed a job, and itwasn't a whole lot of training
but I kind of could sit in thepassenger seat literally and
kind of see what he was doingand how he was doing it, and I
had stayed with him for about ayear and then he ended up kind
(02:41):
of letting me go.
But I had taken what I'velearned, saw the opportunity
from this guy and, um, figuredI'd give it a whirl on my own
and it was a pretty slow start.
I don't think I started makingmoney for about two or three
years.
Um, I didn't have groups likelimitless or all the different
(03:03):
Facebook groups, and you know Iwas literally trying to figure
everything out on my own to thebest of my ability.
Fast forward to today.
We have about 10 sales guys.
We have 400 plus five-star REUs.
We've given away 30 or 35groups or more through a
(03:24):
nonprofit that I created and thename of the company, texas
Veterinarian.
I would like to thank one of themore well-known and
well-established companies inthe DFW Metroplex Definitely one
of the more reputable ones.
I think one of the onlycompanies that offer money-back
(03:47):
guarantee if you're not happywith the work legitimately I
have a legitimate reason behindit.
I think the easiest thing forme through all of this has been
just doing the right thingwhenever nobody's looking, and
really keeping customer serviceat the forefront of what I was
(04:09):
doing.
You know, like I tell peopleall the time anybody can tear
your roof off and put a roofback on, um, but whenever it
just comes to like getting toknow my customers and
understanding their needs andunderstanding that we're turning
their home into a constructionsite and being mindful of that,
I think that's kind of whatseparates us from some of the
(04:31):
other companies out there In theDallas-Fort Worth area in Texas
.
Really, you don't have to belicensed, you don't have to do
anything special to be a roofernowadays, and so that element
gets blended in with some of themore reputable, longer-lasting
(04:58):
roofing companies out there.
I know a lot of really goodcompany owners and a lot of good
companies that are out there.
There's way more companies outthere that take advantage and,
uh, you know, they really don'tknow what they're doing.
I have to have grace on thembecause at one time I didn't
know what I was doing and I'mstill learning, but, um, you
(05:19):
know, just keeping that customerand their and the well-being of
their property and thetransparency within at the
forefront of what we do let'sget this in business for almost
13 years now, now that I thinkabout it, with an exceptional
reputation.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
Yeah, you guys are doing great.
And you know, I think peoplehearing your great intro there.
You said dropped out in ninthgrade, yeah, yeah, you know I
think people hearing your greatintro there.
You said dropped out in ninthgrade, yeah.
And dropped out in ninth grade,spent some time in and out of
jail and in and out of prison.
I did what switched?
Because we've all a lot of ushave family members or a cousin
or a nephew or whatever that'sin that boat.
(05:59):
They're in and out of prison,or a nephew or whatever that's
in that boat, they're in and outof prison.
I did prison ministry for sevenyears.
After my conversion experienceto Christ, I went from being a
radical, intense, passionateskeptic to being a radical Jesus
freak and I thought, man, Iwant to be around people a
little bit rougher.
So I did prison ministry forseven years and the recidivism
(06:25):
rate in Texas is like around 70%.
So what changed for you to gofrom being in and out, in and
out to being out now for almost15 years?
Speaker 2 (06:33):
Well, I think this answer changes every time I get
past it, but really it was aplet partner of things.
One was, you know, I met mywife at the time and I had
somebody that kind of believedin me and saw something in me,
and I had a kid and you know,and my spirituality changed.
(07:02):
I'm not really religious, I'mnot a religious thing, I'm more
of a spirituality thing.
I had to come to Jesus meeting.
I've been in church my wholelife and raised around church
and understood it.
As an adult, kind of makingmistake after mistake, I made a
(07:30):
decision to kind of take a lookat the Bible and either was
going to read it and understandit or try to understand it to
the best of my abilities formyself, or I was just going to
be done with it.
One verse that stands out to meis you know, like the lukewarm
you know be hot or be cold, butlukewarm you're going to be spit
(07:52):
out.
And so I was like fuck it, youknow, I'm going to look at this
and I'm going to get anunderstanding and if it makes
sense I'll stick with it and ifit doesn't, you know, I'll just
be agnostic or an atheist orjust not believe.
And I started to believe as anadult, for myself.
Like you know God in my ownunderstanding, not my mom's
(08:13):
understanding, not my grandma'sunderstanding, but in my own
understanding and so I found agood church.
We got involved with the churchand since then, you know, a
thousand things have happened.
You know my faith has gone upand down.
You know it's been a rollercoaster, but you know, staying
plugged in.
I've done prison ministry inmultiple units.
(08:35):
I've done mission work inmultiple countries.
I've chosen to expand my mind.
I've chosen to expand my mind.
I've chosen to expand myunderstanding of how I've graded
myself.
I've gotten involved inprograms.
(08:55):
You know I've battled withaddictions.
You know I've had all differentkinds of situations in life,
some good, some bad, that kindof molded me into who I am today
.
And so for me, you know, like Iguess it's just been a plethora
of things that have kept me outof prison, and one of the main
(09:19):
things is going back, you know,carrying a message to them and
really being able to relate tothem because I've been there.
You know carrying a message tothem and really being able to
relate to them because I've beenthere, you know like, and
really just kind of getting anunderstanding that you know I'm
in for something more, like Ifound a purpose and I found a
(09:40):
purpose through this business.
You know Like we hire a lot ofex-convicts.
We hire a lot of militarypeople, veterans.
You know people that are downon their luck and show them an
opportunity to kind of changetheir life, change their way of
thinking.
Like the guys that we bring on,I don't think I've ever hired a
(10:01):
seasoned salesperson.
You know like I've been afour-foot driver or worked at
Waterberg or you know struggling, just coming out of rehab or an
institution, and you know theturnover rate is kind of higher
doing like that.
But you know the ones that makeit.
You know that makes it worth it.
You know like I've got guys whoare making $20 an hour, that
(10:23):
are making six figures today.
I've got guys that are, youknow, six or seven times
convicted felons, that have justgotten out of prison, that are
newly married, just bought theirown house, bought a truck.
I really emphasize that yourpast doesn't have to define who
you are today and where you'reat today doesn't have to define
(10:45):
where you're going to betomorrow.
You live in America.
Be whatever you want to betomorrow.
That's the beautiful part aboutit.
It's been a pleasure of thingsthat have kept me out of trouble
as well.
Speaker 1 (11:01):
Yeah, I bet You're having a really encouraging
story, because some peoplelistening to this may think I'm
really struggling right now.
Business isn't going the way.
I thought I've been too heavilydependent on storms and we
haven't had a storm in a year ortwo.
You know that bank accountstarts going down to zero and
(11:22):
you really find out what you'remade of as far as a mental
health stress level perspective.
So I just wonder, with yourdeal, was there like a like when
you think about your identityor the way you thought about
yourself?
Was there any big thing thatyou had to deal with and say,
all right, look, I'm not aconvict anymore, I'm going to go
(11:43):
be an entrepreneur?
Was there anything you had tobattle in negative self-talk
that you had to get over andmove forward?
Speaker 2 (11:50):
with.
Yeah, I just went to therapytwo hours ago.
For me, success became myidentity.
The business became my identityFor somebody that's had nothing
(12:10):
his whole life and then you getsomething you really start to.
For me, I started to hold on tothat.
One way I combated my past is Ithought well, if I tell
everybody about it, then theycan't hold it against me.
But really what I was doing wasjust trying to convince myself
that I'm better today.
(12:32):
In reality, I'm trying to fillthis void in me with success and
money and you know all thedifferent things that are very
temporary.
You know what I'm saying.
Like they don't have a sense ofit.
And so for me, just reallyunderstanding that today I'm
(12:59):
nothing more than a steward of abusiness, like it's not my
business.
I had a higher power when I wasbroke.
I have a higher power with metoday when I'm doing okay and
really worrying about it andworrying about tomorrow.
There's nothing to fix any ofthat.
Like I truly believe today thatI'm walking a predestined path.
Nothing that I can really do isgoing to change it.
(13:23):
Most things are inevitable andI just have to have faith and
continue to put one step forwardand, you know, try to do the
best that I can with my ownability.
But you know my best thing hasgot to be put in prison or go
past it, and so today, justturning my will and my life over
(13:49):
to God as much as often aspossible has been the best thing
for me to overcome identityissues, if you will.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
Yeah, that's good and everybody deals with that,
whether they're aware of it ornot.
I mean, I really got intostudying Navy SEALs for a while,
just reading all the books Icould and YouTube videos and
everything, and found out thatthey created a mental toughness
program for SEALs because youknow they would find out you'd
(14:24):
have some farm boy from Kentuckythat's never swam in the ocean
before and then some guy that'slike chiseled from stone from
Florida, and that guy fails andthe scrawny farm boy from
Kentucky passes Buds and theyfound out it has nothing to do
with physical abilities, it'sall mental.
So they get into a four-stepprogram of mental toughness and
(14:48):
the first thing they deal withis negative self-talk and so
they teach the guys how topractice and it takes practice
because it's not natural.
They teach them how to practicepositive self-love and it's
powerful, it is Some people.
Speaker 2 (15:07):
I guess it can kind of be labeled as arrogant, I
mean.
But you know that's probablyone of the biggest character
defects right now is arrogantand prodigal and egotistical at
times.
But for me I've been a personthat didn't believe in myself.
(15:28):
I've been the person thatlacked confidence and I would
much rather be a little on thearrogant side as opposed to
lacking confidence.
Can you pause on something asopposed to lacking confidence?
Can you pause for a second?
Speaker 1 (15:39):
All right, good stuff .
I mean I really like talkingabout the leader journey,
because that's really what we'reall on.
We're on a journey that we'redealing with ourselves every day
.
There's no way around it.
So I love talking about thatstuff, but let's switch gears
and talk about business.
I love talking about that stuff, but let's switch gears and
talk about business.
Tell me about the kind ofroofing business you've got what
(16:01):
you hope to get in annualrevenue over the next couple of
years.
Speaker 2 (16:11):
I want to get into your sales team, all that kind
of stuff.
Well, I have a residential andcommercial roofing company,
which probably 70, 30residential.
Right now I have about 10 salesguys.
We keep it small because wereally focus on our reputation
and our customer service.
We hold multiple certificationsand we do a lot with right now
(16:34):
we're starting to do a lot withproperty management companies
and independent and we do a lotwith right now we're starting to
do a lot with propertymanagement companies and
independent school districts andcities and municipalities,
which is good.
Guess.
We're anticipating betweeneight and ten million dollars
for the next year.
(16:54):
We've steadily gone up recently.
About a year and a half ago, mybusiness partner and now ex-wife
and I got a divorce,unfortunately, and so this last
year has been kind of rebuildingand getting more involved with
the back office, something thatI wasn't really familiar with at
(17:15):
all.
I'm a salesperson, not abusiness owner, not a back
office person, but I've got somereally key people put into
positions and they seem to bedoing very well and like there's
a lot of new structure therekind of gotten a lot of stuff
figured out that I wasn'tfamiliar with and it was
(17:39):
frustrating, it was a littledisheartening and, you know,
frustrating, I didn't, you know,like I was really down on
myself because it was just a newterritory for me, you know, and
I was really kind of on theverge of just saying screw it,
you know, and giving up, but Ikind of pushed through it, you
(18:02):
know, and it's turned out to bea blessing, it's turned out to
be really better, you know, likenow I'm more familiar with
another side of the businessthat I wasn't familiar with, if
that makes sense.
Speaker 1 (18:16):
Yeah right, you're a smarter business owner because
of it, and now when you delegate, you have the ability to check
in on those back office issuesand functions that you maybe
beforehand you just didn't evenask about.
So let's talk about your.
You said you got about 10 salesguys.
You hope to land at 10 to 12million and this came up today
(18:38):
in our private member chat,which is, what is the net profit
that you hope to secure ifyou're doing 10 to 12 million in
revenue?
Are you aiming for 10 percent,15, 20?
Speaker 2 (18:50):
Between 15 and 20, I mean that's kind of where we've
been running at.
You know, I don't want to do 10million and make a million
whenever I've done 5 million andmade a million.
More work, less money.
You know, like I'm not tryingto be busy, I'm definitely
(19:11):
trying to be more strategic andproductive and busy today.
I'm definitely trying to bemore strategic and productive
and busy today.
And one thing I've starteddoing this past year is building
the business to where it'ssellable, like being able to
remove myself from it andallowing it to run on its own,
(19:33):
which has been interesting andfun and I'm very fortunate today
, you know, like the business iskind of running on its own, but
really being hyper focused onbuilding a business that's
running on itself, that isattractive enough to sell one
day, not Not that I'm thinkingabout selling, but just having a
(19:55):
certain structure to buildtowards, if that makes sense.
Speaker 1 (20:02):
Yeah, that's great.
I mean I think if you ask mostguys what's your exit plan, it's
pretty wishy-washy.
I mean, there's not really asolid exit plan, but at least to
be working on one is great,because if you don't have a
solid succession plan, you needsome sort of an exit plan so
that you can do something withthe business one day.
Speaker 2 (20:22):
So that's great.
I've done a lot of investing.
I've created pretty decentrevenue with passive income and
investing in a couple ofdifferent businesses passive
income and investing in a coupleof different businesses.
At the end of the day, ifeverything goes to shit, I'll be
all right.
I've been very fortunate inthat aspect over the past 10
(20:46):
years.
Really, just the machine of itall is Texas Best Roofing Having
that thing running on its own.
I'm a pretty simple guy.
If I can make $250,000 a yearoff the business for the
remainder of my life, I meanthat's more than what I need.
(21:06):
Everything that I have rightnow is paid for.
We have very little debt.
You know I'm sitting in apretty decent position.
Are there people out theredoing better?
100%, I mean.
But are there people out theredoing worse?
I'm sure there are, you know.
So I mean, really, at the endof the day, it's all about what
(21:29):
your needs are and being able tolive inside those means.
One thing that I've done is I'vegotten off of social media.
I don't get on that at allanymore Because I found myself
comparing myself to everybody'shighlight reels, if you will,
and that's really no way to livelife.
You know, like I don't need todo.
(21:50):
I mean, I'd love to do $50million.
I did $50 million in a year.
That'd be the last year Iworked, you know like.
But today I enjoy going to workand I enjoy being around the
guys and I enjoy, you know,seeing somebody go from nothing
to something.
You know like, that's mybiggest payout today, you know,
(22:15):
and as I'm teaching these guys,I'm also learning, you know, and
they're forcing me to set mygame up and notice little things
that I can do better to protectwhat I've created.
Speaker 1 (22:27):
Yeah, that's great.
So I've got another question.
I want to ask you about yoursales team.
But before I do that, I want topromote one of our platinum
sponsors that make all thispossible.
So for those of you that arelistening and don't know what
the Limitless Roofing GPO is,what we are is a group
purchasing organization, so wecome together as one big group.
(22:50):
We go to suppliers and vendorsand negotiate group deals and
relationships.
That results in discounts,rebate programs, and we pass the
bulk of that on to our members.
So you join our group and yousave money.
And one of our platinum partnersis Beacon, and Beacon has
created a really generous offerfor our group.
That's pretty exceptional.
(23:11):
You can join our group for freeand you can just ask hey, what
is the Beacon partnership?
Give me more details and you'regoing to learn about the
technology Beacon has in placeto streamline your business, the
amazing customer service theyhave, the coverage they have in
all the major markets.
They have just been anincredible partner and we
(23:31):
strongly recommend, of course,that all of our members of our
group work with Beacon.
So if you want to learn more,just go to
LimitlessRoofingGroupcom.
You can join for free and besure to ask about the Beacon
partnership, all right.
So, toby, I want to ask youanother question.
This is something that comes upall the time in our private
member chat for our Limitlessmembers that are part of our
(23:53):
mastermind chat what does yoursales team look like?
Are the guys doing cradle tograve?
Are they just focused on sales?
You know what does that looklike.
Speaker 2 (24:14):
I teach the way that I was taught.
You know, and some people thatI know really well in this
industry that have done reallygood, you know, like I was
taught cradle to grave if youwill.
You know, like, if you're goingto be good at this job, I'm
very transparent.
I'm going to teach you how torun, manage and maintain a
roofing company, starting,starting with the sell, build
(24:34):
and collect process.
You know.
But we do have a couple ofpeople that just kind of knock
and set appointments.
But you know, like I try to.
It's kind of an a la cartesystem.
You know, if I got a guy thatcomes in and he's hungry and he
wants to kind of know everything, you know I want to feed him
and teach him.
You know, from knocking toinspections, to closing the
(24:58):
deals, to supplements, tocontacting the insurance company
, you know.
And if I have another guy thatwants to just come in and knock
doors and set appointments, youknow we'll allow him to do that.
But my personality type is Iwant to know everything.
I want as least amount ofpeople touching my money as
possible and so if I can learnhow to supplement and not have
(25:20):
to send it to a supplementingdepartment, then I want to do
that.
You know I don't.
I don't have to go to a PA orappraiser or supplement.
You know like and uh, that'sthe only way that I've ever done
it and so that's kind of how Iteach my guys.
You know like, if you are incontrol of your whole sales
(25:42):
process, then you have, um, amuch better understanding of it
from start to finish.
But if you know like, if you'reonly doing a small portion of
it, you're always going to becomplaining about the guy
holding you up.
Well, I'm waiting on thisperson, I'm waiting on that
person.
We'll figure out what thatperson's doing and start doing
it yourself.
You know like, I mean we, wecan handle in-house
(26:05):
supplementing, we can handlecalling the care.
You know we can handle a lot ofthe things for you, but I want
you to be self-sufficientthrough your own contributions.
You know there's a lot ofcompanies out there that will
hire you and give you leads andpay you to just go set leads,
but we're not that company.
You know we expect you for thetype of money you can make in
(26:26):
this industry.
We expect you to do the work,yeah.
Speaker 1 (26:31):
And then do you guys do a lot of door knocking, or is
it mostly online lead gen?
Speaker 2 (26:36):
Door knocking has made me a millionaire, you know.
So like it's something that Ireally love and appreciate and
it kind of separates the menfrom the boys, in my opinion.
But we do lead generation,social media, google referrals.
You know we have a lot ofinbound calls too, but I mean
it's mandatory With us.
(26:57):
You want to knock.
If you don't knock, I'd ratheryou knock and mess up your own
customer.
You'd be frustrated giving me alease and messing up mine.
Speaker 1 (27:05):
So all your guys door knock?
They have to, man, that's great.
And so what do you expect forthem as far as like producing on
an annual basis, revenue wise?
Speaker 2 (27:20):
um, so the way that we have it is, you have to sell
at least two roofs a month tokeep a job.
And so you know, I mean, ifthere's a guy that's out there
killing it, I got a guy that'sdoing like 1.4 million a year,
and then I got a guy that'sdoing 600, and then I got a guy
that's out there killing it.
I got a guy that's doing like$1.4 million a year, and then I
got a guy that's doing $600, andthen I got a guy that's doing
$500.
So, you know, half a million ormore through the year is enough
(27:45):
sales to survive and to liveoff of.
You know, like, once you getover a million, you know like
you're, you're starting to makesome money and you can save and
invest.
But, um, you know, myexpectation is a half a million
a year.
Speaker 1 (28:02):
Yeah, that's, that's nice.
If you've got 10 sales guysthat are meeting that, that
benchmark, that's great.
Speaker 2 (28:09):
Yeah, you know, I mean and I mean and I tell
people all the time.
You know Whataburger's hiring.
You know, like, if you want ajob that you can go to or
somebody's going to tell youwhat to do and how to do it
Monday through Friday 9 to 5,then go do it.
But in this industry, myexpectation is how do you expect
(28:30):
me to bet on you if you're notwilling to bet on yourself?
Because at the end of the day,in this industry, if you're
successful it's because of yourhard work.
If you suck, it's because yousuck.
You know like they all blame me,I didn't do this, or I didn't
do that, or other people do this.
But that's a victim mentality,you know, know like, and I don't
(28:52):
really tolerate it a lot.
You know like, because therewards are so great in this
industry.
You know like it's lifechanging.
I've seen so many people'slives changed in the roofing
industry, in the constructionindustry.
You know it's uh, I'veliterally seen it.
You know somebody go fromnothing to something in a matter
of a couple of years.
But today people are just soentitled and so really I think
(29:25):
the hardest part of my jobsometimes is not teaching a guy
to sell, but just teaching a guyto think different, Like
changing a person's mentality inthe way that they think, yeah,
yeah, that's huge.
Speaker 1 (29:35):
Yeah, we've actually started doing something at
Limitless called Culture Indexand it's just a survey that
somebody has to take and it onlytakes like 10 minutes but it's
supposed to be about 97%accurate and it tells you right
out of the gate the kind oftendencies and traits somebody
has.
And that's been really helpfulfor us, because we're
interviewing for sales repsright now as well and we want to
(29:57):
make sure they have certaintraits, because we'll just know
ahead of time that they at leasthave tendencies.
We can't control their attitudethat's one thing that's hard to
coach, but we can definitelyget a look in on their
tendencies and traits as far ashow well it aligns for a sales
role.
Speaker 2 (30:17):
But you know all those little not to interrupt.
But you know we do apersonality test and different
assessments and you know, andwe've had a lot of luck with
that.
I mean, it definitely gives usa different perspective into the
individual, you know, but youknow at the end of the day, you
know like it doesn't take longto separate people in this
(30:40):
industry.
This industry has a way ofdoing away with the people that
are going to make it prettyquick.
Speaker 1 (30:46):
Yeah, especially in the sales role.
So let's we're.
We've got about eight minutesleft.
If you could share one majorpiece of advice with other
roofing owners, after everythingyou've learned and where you're
at, what would that be?
Speaker 2 (31:10):
Enjoy the ride.
Don't focus on the money, focuson the experience, focus on the
ability to change people'slives and, uh, the money will
come.
You know, just enjoy the ride.
I mean it's, it's been fun.
I've really enjoyed it.
I've enjoyed the industry, I'veenjoyed the customers.
I've enjoyed the headaches also.
(31:31):
I guess the biggest piece I'veenjoyed the customers, I've
enjoyed the headaches Also.
I guess the biggest piece ofadvice that I have out there for
people today is quit waking up,aggravated that you got
problems.
Like if it weren't for problems, we wouldn't get paid.
Like, change your mindsetaround problems.
Like I wake up in the morninggrateful and looking for
problems.
(31:51):
Without problems we don't makemoney.
And so, like don't allow these.
I had the same problems today asI did 10 years ago.
The only difference is thecustomer.
You know it's still the samestuff and so don't get caught up
in all of that and really juststay focused on the fact that
you're a business owner today inAmerica and you have the
(32:14):
opportunity to be a provider foryour family and you're in
control of your finances to thebest of your ability.
And you know, nobody's gottenthis perfected, but just you
getting up and doing it everyday speaks volumes about your
character, you know.
Like, just enjoy it, have funwith it.
I mean, it's great that I getto wake up every day and be a
business owner, you know, andsometimes I take that for
(32:36):
granted.
Sometimes I complain a lotabout one of the biggest
blessings in my life.
But yeah, thank God forproblems today.
I love them.
Speaker 1 (32:48):
That's great.
Yeah, I've never heard ananswer like that.
That's so true, man.
If there were any problems,none of us would be in business.
Speaker 2 (32:55):
People bitch about it all day long.
Oh, this is happening, that'shappening.
I'm like, give them to me, I'lltake them.
Speaker 1 (33:03):
Yeah, and enjoying the journey too.
Man, it's like we can't get thetime back, you can't rewind the
tape and all that stress andfretting and worrying.
It's like I had to come to arealization too in business,
because we're, you know,Limitless is young.
We bootstrapped this thing forthe last couple of years and
there's stressors and challengesand stuff.
But I came to kind of a turningpoint in it mentally and I
(33:26):
thought you know what?
What has all the worry andstress that I've put into this
business given me?
What is it purchased for me?
I have nothing to show for it.
The worry, the prayer time, thewaking up at three in the
morning, the mulling overbusiness decisions and how to
deal with obstacles what has itgiven me?
(33:46):
It's given, it's absolutely.
I have nothing to show for it.
So I I decided you know what Ilike, kind of like you, like I'm
getting.
I'm a, I'm a spirit, I'm aChristian, I believe, I believe
in God and I'm giving this tohim.
It's his anyway and I'm notgoing to worry about it anymore.
Speaker 2 (34:02):
Yeah, if it's not going to be modern in five
months, no matter in the nextfive minutes.
You know some of the worstsituations that I've ever come
up against.
That I thought there's justabsolutely no way that it's
going to be all right turns outbeing better than what I could
have imagined.
You know, and that's the humanbrain.
You know like we tend to worryabout stuff before it ever
(34:22):
happens and 90% of the time itdoesn't even come true.
And so today I just I reallydon't do a whole lot of shipping
.
I mean this too shall pass.
I got food on the table, mykids are healthy, my bills are
paid.
I mean I'm living my best lifetoday and you know I'm grateful
(34:44):
for that.
You know, just being gratefultoday really helps.
You know, like, again, at theend of the day, being a business
owner, you do need to watchyour money and you need to
project how much you're going tomake and how much you're going
to get to keep, and all that.
But at the end of the day, likeif you're making more than
$75,000 a year owning your ownbusiness, I mean you're doing
better than 80% of the people inAmerica today.
(35:06):
You know like that's a majorblessing.
Who cares if somebody else ismaking a million?
Who cares if somebody else ismaking a million?
Who cares if they're makingfive million, like if you're
able to provide for your familyand be home on a regular basis
to spend time with your wife andyour kids and you're making a
decent living doing what youwant to do when you want to do
it.
Like people would kill for thatposition.
(35:27):
Quit fretting over it.
Speaker 1 (35:31):
Be grateful.
So true, man.
Well, for those of youlistening, just want to
encourage you to stop worryingand enjoy the journey and be
grateful.
That's such a good reminder.
I mean, we need to be gratitude, man.
It's such a cure all.
So anyway, this is great man.
We could talk easily foranother hour just about life and
business.
But, man Toby, I justappreciate you.
I remember sitting in youroffice a couple of years ago and
(35:54):
I remember you asked how manycompanies do you have in your
group so far?
And I vividly remember saying,man, you'd be number five.
And you're like, oh okay, well,let's go.
It was awesome.
Speaker 2 (36:06):
From small businesses .
You know like I love being apart of because, again, I don't
want to take up too much of yourtime, but I remember when I had
nothing and people gave me ashot.
You know like it changed mylife and I'm so grateful to have
been number five out of 300,plus today.
You know like it may not havebeen a big deal to me to write a
two thousand dollar check orwhatever it was, but at the time
(36:28):
it was huge for you and foryour business and so you know,
thank you for you know lettingme still be a part of it.
You know like I've and foranybody, this is not a shameless
plug, but like I've literallymade back, plus um, every dime
that I've invested.
It's a limitless gpo.
It's definitely worth gettingpart of and I mean that's
(36:49):
sincerely and I don't even useit near to the ability that I
can and every dime I put into itI want back.
As a matter of fact, I justsigned up for five years or the
lifetime.
I just signed up for thelifetime, so it's definitely
worth it.
You'll definitely see a goodreturn on it.
The plethora of knowledge thatthey offer is outstanding and
(37:10):
you'll definitely make everydollar that you put into the
back.
Speaker 1 (37:14):
Appreciate it.
Well, toby, it's been greathaving you on the show.
Man, for those of you listening, if you want to learn more
about Limitless, you can go toLimitlessRoofingGroupcom and you
can learn how we'll save youmoney on everything from
shingles to flat roof to generalliability insurance and
everything in between.
All right, man, thanks forbeing on the.
all right.
Welcome to the limitlessroofing show, where we give you
a seat at the table as we talkwith roofing owners to learn
about their challenges, thingsthey've overcome and just
lessons learned growing business.
And today we've got tobyranigan from texas vets roofing,
and toby actually was one ofthe first Limitless Roofing GPO
(00:27):
members I think you were numberfive.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
So thanks for joining the show man.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
I hear that it's grown quite a bit since then.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
Yeah, we're up to 310 companies at the time of the
recording of this podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
That's really good, A lot of good incentives.
I mean I enjoy it.
I definitely need to use itmore.
I mean it seems like I have somany resources today.
It's like an overload.
It's weird, Like I have so manyresources today and I don't
(01:02):
even use one of them becausethere's just not anyone.
Does that make sense?
Oh, I know.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
I know it's hard.
It's something we're trying tofigure out is just making that
easier for you, as a member, toremember all the deals and use
them on a monthly basis.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:20):
Well, man, I'd love to kick this off and just give
some background.
You're one of the first roofersthat I got to know, coming into
this industry about four yearsago now, but I'd love for you to
give your background, how yougot into roofing and all that
jazz.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
Well, I guess I'll start off with what most people,
I think, already know.
I'm a 9th grade dropout,12-town convicted felon.
I did a couple of stints inprison for drug dealing and
stuff of that nature and thelast time I got out was probably
(01:57):
13 or 14 years ago.
I couldn't find a job.
I tried and you know it was kindof tough and so I was kind of
getting rid of everything that Iowned.
I just had a brand new kid.
I was living with my in-lawsand I met a guy selling a truck
(02:21):
and he owned a roofing companyand I kind of went out with him,
told him I needed a job, and itwasn't a whole lot of training
but I kind of could sit in thepassenger seat literally and
kind of see what he was doingand how he was doing it, and I
had stayed with him for about ayear and then he ended up kind
(02:41):
of letting me go.
But I had taken what I'velearned, saw the opportunity
from this guy and, um, figuredI'd give it a whirl on my own
and it was a pretty slow start.
I don't think I started makingmoney for about two or three
years.
Um, I didn't have groups likelimitless or all the different
(03:03):
Facebook groups, and you know Iwas literally trying to figure
everything out on my own to thebest of my ability.
Fast forward to today.
We have about 10 sales guys.
We have 400 plus five-star REUs.
We've given away 30 or 35groups or more through a
(03:24):
nonprofit that I created and thename of the company, texas
Veterinarian.
I would like to thank one of themore well-known and
well-established companies inthe DFW Metroplex Definitely one
of the more reputable ones.
I think one of the onlycompanies that offer money-back
(03:47):
guarantee if you're not happywith the work legitimately I
have a legitimate reason behindit.
I think the easiest thing forme through all of this has been
just doing the right thingwhenever nobody's looking, and
really keeping customer serviceat the forefront of what I was
(04:09):
doing.
You know, like I tell peopleall the time anybody can tear
your roof off and put a roofback on, um, but whenever it
just comes to like getting toknow my customers and
understanding their needs andunderstanding that we're turning
their home into a constructionsite and being mindful of that,
I think that's kind of whatseparates us from some of the
(04:31):
other companies out there In theDallas-Fort Worth area in Texas
.
Really, you don't have to belicensed, you don't have to do
anything special to be a roofernowadays, and so that element
gets blended in with some of themore reputable, longer-lasting
(04:58):
roofing companies out there.
I know a lot of really goodcompany owners and a lot of good
companies that are out there.
There's way more companies outthere that take advantage and,
uh, you know, they really don'tknow what they're doing.
I have to have grace on thembecause at one time I didn't
know what I was doing and I'mstill learning, but, um, you
(05:19):
know, just keeping that customerand their and the well-being of
their property and thetransparency within at the
forefront of what we do let'sget this in business for almost
13 years now, now that I thinkabout it, with an exceptional
reputation.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
Yeah, you guys are doing great.
And you know, I think peoplehearing your great intro there.
You said dropped out in ninthgrade, yeah, yeah, you know I
think people hearing your greatintro there.
You said dropped out in ninthgrade, yeah.
And dropped out in ninth grade,spent some time in and out of
jail and in and out of prison.
I did what switched?
Because we've all a lot of ushave family members or a cousin
or a nephew or whatever that'sin that boat.
(05:59):
They're in and out of prison,or a nephew or whatever that's
in that boat, they're in and outof prison.
I did prison ministry for sevenyears.
After my conversion experienceto Christ, I went from being a
radical, intense, passionateskeptic to being a radical Jesus
freak and I thought, man, Iwant to be around people a
little bit rougher.
So I did prison ministry forseven years and the recidivism
(06:25):
rate in Texas is like around 70%.
So what changed for you to gofrom being in and out, in and
out to being out now for almost15 years?
Speaker 2 (06:33):
Well, I think this answer changes every time I get
past it, but really it was aplet partner of things.
One was, you know, I met mywife at the time and I had
somebody that kind of believedin me and saw something in me,
and I had a kid and you know,and my spirituality changed.
(07:02):
I'm not really religious, I'mnot a religious thing, I'm more
of a spirituality thing.
I had to come to Jesus meeting.
I've been in church my wholelife and raised around church
and understood it.
As an adult, kind of makingmistake after mistake, I made a
(07:30):
decision to kind of take a lookat the Bible and either was
going to read it and understandit or try to understand it to
the best of my abilities formyself, or I was just going to
be done with it.
One verse that stands out to meis you know, like the lukewarm
you know be hot or be cold, butlukewarm you're going to be spit
(07:52):
out.
And so I was like fuck it, youknow, I'm going to look at this
and I'm going to get anunderstanding and if it makes
sense I'll stick with it and ifit doesn't, you know, I'll just
be agnostic or an atheist orjust not believe.
And I started to believe as anadult, for myself.
Like you know God in my ownunderstanding, not my mom's
(08:13):
understanding, not my grandma'sunderstanding, but in my own
understanding and so I found agood church.
We got involved with the churchand since then, you know, a
thousand things have happened.
You know my faith has gone upand down.
You know it's been a rollercoaster, but you know, staying
plugged in.
I've done prison ministry inmultiple units.
(08:35):
I've done mission work inmultiple countries.
I've chosen to expand my mind.
I've chosen to expand my mind.
I've chosen to expand myunderstanding of how I've graded
myself.
I've gotten involved inprograms.
(08:55):
You know I've battled withaddictions.
You know I've had all differentkinds of situations in life,
some good, some bad, that kindof molded me into who I am today
.
And so for me, you know, like Iguess it's just been a plethora
of things that have kept me outof prison, and one of the main
(09:19):
things is going back, you know,carrying a message to them and
really being able to relate tothem because I've been there.
You know carrying a message tothem and really being able to
relate to them because I've beenthere, you know like, and
really just kind of getting anunderstanding that you know I'm
in for something more, like Ifound a purpose and I found a
(09:40):
purpose through this business.
You know Like we hire a lot ofex-convicts.
We hire a lot of militarypeople, veterans.
You know people that are downon their luck and show them an
opportunity to kind of changetheir life, change their way of
thinking.
Like the guys that we bring on,I don't think I've ever hired a
(10:01):
seasoned salesperson.
You know like I've been afour-foot driver or worked at
Waterberg or you know struggling, just coming out of rehab or an
institution, and you know theturnover rate is kind of higher
doing like that.
But you know the ones that makeit.
You know that makes it worth it.
You know like I've got guys whoare making $20 an hour, that
(10:23):
are making six figures today.
I've got guys that are, youknow, six or seven times
convicted felons, that have justgotten out of prison, that are
newly married, just bought theirown house, bought a truck.
I really emphasize that yourpast doesn't have to define who
you are today and where you'reat today doesn't have to define
(10:45):
where you're going to betomorrow.
You live in America.
Be whatever you want to betomorrow.
That's the beautiful part aboutit.
It's been a pleasure of thingsthat have kept me out of trouble
as well.
Speaker 1 (11:01):
Yeah, I bet You're having a really encouraging
story, because some peoplelistening to this may think I'm
really struggling right now.
Business isn't going the way.
I thought I've been too heavilydependent on storms and we
haven't had a storm in a year ortwo.
You know that bank accountstarts going down to zero and
(11:22):
you really find out what you'remade of as far as a mental
health stress level perspective.
So I just wonder, with yourdeal, was there like a like when
you think about your identityor the way you thought about
yourself?
Was there any big thing thatyou had to deal with and say,
all right, look, I'm not aconvict anymore, I'm going to go
(11:43):
be an entrepreneur?
Was there anything you had tobattle in negative self-talk
that you had to get over andmove forward?
Speaker 2 (11:50):
with.
Yeah, I just went to therapytwo hours ago.
For me, success became myidentity.
The business became my identityFor somebody that's had nothing
(12:10):
his whole life and then you getsomething you really start to.
For me, I started to hold on tothat.
One way I combated my past is Ithought well, if I tell
everybody about it, then theycan't hold it against me.
But really what I was doing wasjust trying to convince myself
that I'm better today.
(12:32):
In reality, I'm trying to fillthis void in me with success and
money and you know all thedifferent things that are very
temporary.
You know what I'm saying.
Like they don't have a sense ofit.
And so for me, just reallyunderstanding that today I'm
(12:59):
nothing more than a steward of abusiness, like it's not my
business.
I had a higher power when I wasbroke.
I have a higher power with metoday when I'm doing okay and
really worrying about it andworrying about tomorrow.
There's nothing to fix any ofthat.
Like I truly believe today thatI'm walking a predestined path.
Nothing that I can really do isgoing to change it.
(13:23):
Most things are inevitable andI just have to have faith and
continue to put one step forwardand, you know, try to do the
best that I can with my ownability.
But you know my best thing hasgot to be put in prison or go
past it, and so today, justturning my will and my life over
(13:49):
to God as much as often aspossible has been the best thing
for me to overcome identityissues, if you will.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
Yeah, that's good and everybody deals with that,
whether they're aware of it ornot.
I mean, I really got intostudying Navy SEALs for a while,
just reading all the books Icould and YouTube videos and
everything, and found out thatthey created a mental toughness
program for SEALs because youknow they would find out you'd
(14:24):
have some farm boy from Kentuckythat's never swam in the ocean
before and then some guy that'slike chiseled from stone from
Florida, and that guy fails andthe scrawny farm boy from
Kentucky passes Buds and theyfound out it has nothing to do
with physical abilities, it'sall mental.
So they get into a four-stepprogram of mental toughness and
(14:48):
the first thing they deal withis negative self-talk and so
they teach the guys how topractice and it takes practice
because it's not natural.
They teach them how to practicepositive self-love and it's
powerful, it is Some people.
Speaker 2 (15:07):
I guess it can kind of be labeled as arrogant, I
mean.
But you know that's probablyone of the biggest character
defects right now is arrogantand prodigal and egotistical at
times.
But for me I've been a personthat didn't believe in myself.
(15:28):
I've been the person thatlacked confidence and I would
much rather be a little on thearrogant side as opposed to
lacking confidence.
Can you pause on something asopposed to lacking confidence?
Can you pause for a second?
Speaker 1 (15:39):
All right, good stuff .
I mean I really like talkingabout the leader journey,
because that's really what we'reall on.
We're on a journey that we'redealing with ourselves every day
.
There's no way around it.
So I love talking about thatstuff, but let's switch gears
and talk about business.
I love talking about that stuff, but let's switch gears and
talk about business.
Tell me about the kind ofroofing business you've got what
(16:01):
you hope to get in annualrevenue over the next couple of
years.
Speaker 2 (16:11):
I want to get into your sales team, all that kind
of stuff.
Well, I have a residential andcommercial roofing company,
which probably 70, 30residential.
Right now I have about 10 salesguys.
We keep it small because wereally focus on our reputation
and our customer service.
We hold multiple certificationsand we do a lot with right now
(16:34):
we're starting to do a lot withproperty management companies
and independent and we do a lotwith right now we're starting to
do a lot with propertymanagement companies and
independent school districts andcities and municipalities,
which is good.
Guess.
We're anticipating betweeneight and ten million dollars
for the next year.
(16:54):
We've steadily gone up recently.
About a year and a half ago, mybusiness partner and now ex-wife
and I got a divorce,unfortunately, and so this last
year has been kind of rebuildingand getting more involved with
the back office, something thatI wasn't really familiar with at
(17:15):
all.
I'm a salesperson, not abusiness owner, not a back
office person, but I've got somereally key people put into
positions and they seem to bedoing very well and like there's
a lot of new structure therekind of gotten a lot of stuff
figured out that I wasn'tfamiliar with and it was
(17:39):
frustrating, it was a littledisheartening and, you know,
frustrating, I didn't, you know,like I was really down on
myself because it was just a newterritory for me, you know, and
I was really kind of on theverge of just saying screw it,
you know, and giving up, but Ikind of pushed through it, you
(18:02):
know, and it's turned out to bea blessing, it's turned out to
be really better, you know, likenow I'm more familiar with
another side of the businessthat I wasn't familiar with, if
that makes sense.
Speaker 1 (18:16):
Yeah right, you're a smarter business owner because
of it, and now when you delegate, you have the ability to check
in on those back office issuesand functions that you maybe
beforehand you just didn't evenask about.
So let's talk about your.
You said you got about 10 salesguys.
You hope to land at 10 to 12million and this came up today
(18:38):
in our private member chat,which is, what is the net profit
that you hope to secure ifyou're doing 10 to 12 million in
revenue?
Are you aiming for 10 percent,15, 20?
Speaker 2 (18:50):
Between 15 and 20, I mean that's kind of where we've
been running at.
You know, I don't want to do 10million and make a million
whenever I've done 5 million andmade a million.
More work, less money.
You know, like I'm not tryingto be busy, I'm definitely
(19:11):
trying to be more strategic andproductive and busy today.
I'm definitely trying to bemore strategic and productive
and busy today.
And one thing I've starteddoing this past year is building
the business to where it'ssellable, like being able to
remove myself from it andallowing it to run on its own,
(19:33):
which has been interesting andfun and I'm very fortunate today
, you know, like the business iskind of running on its own, but
really being hyper focused onbuilding a business that's
running on itself, that isattractive enough to sell one
day, not Not that I'm thinkingabout selling, but just having a
(19:55):
certain structure to buildtowards, if that makes sense.
Speaker 1 (20:02):
Yeah, that's great.
I mean I think if you ask mostguys what's your exit plan, it's
pretty wishy-washy.
I mean, there's not really asolid exit plan, but at least to
be working on one is great,because if you don't have a
solid succession plan, you needsome sort of an exit plan so
that you can do something withthe business one day.
Speaker 2 (20:22):
So that's great.
I've done a lot of investing.
I've created pretty decentrevenue with passive income and
investing in a couple ofdifferent businesses passive
income and investing in a coupleof different businesses.
At the end of the day, ifeverything goes to shit, I'll be
all right.
I've been very fortunate inthat aspect over the past 10
(20:46):
years.
Really, just the machine of itall is Texas Best Roofing Having
that thing running on its own.
I'm a pretty simple guy.
If I can make $250,000 a yearoff the business for the
remainder of my life, I meanthat's more than what I need.
(21:06):
Everything that I have rightnow is paid for.
We have very little debt.
You know I'm sitting in apretty decent position.
Are there people out theredoing better?
100%, I mean.
But are there people out theredoing worse?
I'm sure there are, you know.
So I mean, really, at the endof the day, it's all about what
(21:29):
your needs are and being able tolive inside those means.
One thing that I've done is I'vegotten off of social media.
I don't get on that at allanymore Because I found myself
comparing myself to everybody'shighlight reels, if you will,
and that's really no way to livelife.
You know, like I don't need todo.
(21:50):
I mean, I'd love to do $50million.
I did $50 million in a year.
That'd be the last year Iworked, you know like.
But today I enjoy going to workand I enjoy being around the
guys and I enjoy, you know,seeing somebody go from nothing
to something.
You know like, that's mybiggest payout today, you know,
(22:15):
and as I'm teaching these guys,I'm also learning, you know, and
they're forcing me to set mygame up and notice little things
that I can do better to protectwhat I've created.
Speaker 1 (22:27):
Yeah, that's great.
So I've got another question.
I want to ask you about yoursales team.
But before I do that, I want topromote one of our platinum
sponsors that make all thispossible.
So for those of you that arelistening and don't know what
the Limitless Roofing GPO is,what we are is a group
purchasing organization, so wecome together as one big group.
(22:50):
We go to suppliers and vendorsand negotiate group deals and
relationships.
That results in discounts,rebate programs, and we pass the
bulk of that on to our members.
So you join our group and yousave money.
And one of our platinum partnersis Beacon, and Beacon has
created a really generous offerfor our group.
That's pretty exceptional.
(23:11):
You can join our group for freeand you can just ask hey, what
is the Beacon partnership?
Give me more details and you'regoing to learn about the
technology Beacon has in placeto streamline your business, the
amazing customer service theyhave, the coverage they have in
all the major markets.
They have just been anincredible partner and we
(23:31):
strongly recommend, of course,that all of our members of our
group work with Beacon.
So if you want to learn more,just go to
LimitlessRoofingGroupcom.
You can join for free and besure to ask about the Beacon
partnership, all right.
So, toby, I want to ask youanother question.
This is something that comes upall the time in our private
member chat for our Limitlessmembers that are part of our
(23:53):
mastermind chat what does yoursales team look like?
Are the guys doing cradle tograve?
Are they just focused on sales?
You know what does that looklike.
Speaker 2 (24:14):
I teach the way that I was taught.
You know, and some people thatI know really well in this
industry that have done reallygood, you know, like I was
taught cradle to grave if youwill.
You know, like, if you're goingto be good at this job, I'm
very transparent.
I'm going to teach you how torun, manage and maintain a
roofing company, starting,starting with the sell, build
(24:34):
and collect process.
You know.
But we do have a couple ofpeople that just kind of knock
and set appointments.
But you know, like I try to.
It's kind of an a la cartesystem.
You know, if I got a guy thatcomes in and he's hungry and he
wants to kind of know everything, you know I want to feed him
and teach him.
You know, from knocking toinspections, to closing the
(24:58):
deals, to supplements, tocontacting the insurance company
, you know.
And if I have another guy thatwants to just come in and knock
doors and set appointments, youknow we'll allow him to do that.
But my personality type is Iwant to know everything.
I want as least amount ofpeople touching my money as
possible and so if I can learnhow to supplement and not have
(25:20):
to send it to a supplementingdepartment, then I want to do
that.
You know I don't.
I don't have to go to a PA orappraiser or supplement.
You know like and uh, that'sthe only way that I've ever done
it and so that's kind of how Iteach my guys.
You know like, if you are incontrol of your whole sales
(25:42):
process, then you have, um, amuch better understanding of it
from start to finish.
But if you know like, if you'reonly doing a small portion of
it, you're always going to becomplaining about the guy
holding you up.
Well, I'm waiting on thisperson, I'm waiting on that
person.
We'll figure out what thatperson's doing and start doing
it yourself.
You know like, I mean we, wecan handle in-house
(26:05):
supplementing, we can handlecalling the care.
You know we can handle a lot ofthe things for you, but I want
you to be self-sufficientthrough your own contributions.
You know there's a lot ofcompanies out there that will
hire you and give you leads andpay you to just go set leads,
but we're not that company.
You know we expect you for thetype of money you can make in
(26:26):
this industry.
We expect you to do the work,yeah.
Speaker 1 (26:31):
And then do you guys do a lot of door knocking, or is
it mostly online lead gen?
Speaker 2 (26:36):
Door knocking has made me a millionaire, you know.
So like it's something that Ireally love and appreciate and
it kind of separates the menfrom the boys, in my opinion.
But we do lead generation,social media, google referrals.
You know we have a lot ofinbound calls too, but I mean
it's mandatory With us.
(26:57):
You want to knock.
If you don't knock, I'd ratheryou knock and mess up your own
customer.
You'd be frustrated giving me alease and messing up mine.
Speaker 1 (27:05):
So all your guys door knock?
They have to, man, that's great.
And so what do you expect forthem as far as like producing on
an annual basis, revenue wise?
Speaker 2 (27:20):
um, so the way that we have it is, you have to sell
at least two roofs a month tokeep a job.
And so you know, I mean, ifthere's a guy that's out there
killing it, I got a guy that'sdoing like 1.4 million a year,
and then I got a guy that'sdoing 600, and then I got a guy
that's out there killing it.
I got a guy that's doing like$1.4 million a year, and then I
got a guy that's doing $600, andthen I got a guy that's doing
$500.
So, you know, half a million ormore through the year is enough
(27:45):
sales to survive and to liveoff of.
You know, like, once you getover a million, you know like
you're, you're starting to makesome money and you can save and
invest.
But, um, you know, myexpectation is a half a million
a year.
Speaker 1 (28:02):
Yeah, that's, that's nice.
If you've got 10 sales guysthat are meeting that, that
benchmark, that's great.
Speaker 2 (28:09):
Yeah, you know, I mean and I mean and I tell
people all the time.
You know Whataburger's hiring.
You know, like, if you want ajob that you can go to or
somebody's going to tell youwhat to do and how to do it
Monday through Friday 9 to 5,then go do it.
But in this industry, myexpectation is how do you expect
(28:30):
me to bet on you if you're notwilling to bet on yourself?
Because at the end of the day,in this industry, if you're
successful it's because of yourhard work.
If you suck, it's because yousuck.
You know like they all blame me,I didn't do this, or I didn't
do that, or other people do this.
But that's a victim mentality,you know, know like, and I don't
(28:52):
really tolerate it a lot.
You know like, because therewards are so great in this
industry.
You know like it's lifechanging.
I've seen so many people'slives changed in the roofing
industry, in the constructionindustry.
You know it's uh, I'veliterally seen it.
You know somebody go fromnothing to something in a matter
of a couple of years.
But today people are just soentitled and so really I think
(29:25):
the hardest part of my jobsometimes is not teaching a guy
to sell, but just teaching a guyto think different, Like
changing a person's mentality inthe way that they think, yeah,
yeah, that's huge.
Speaker 1 (29:35):
Yeah, we've actually started doing something at
Limitless called Culture Indexand it's just a survey that
somebody has to take and it onlytakes like 10 minutes but it's
supposed to be about 97%accurate and it tells you right
out of the gate the kind oftendencies and traits somebody
has.
And that's been really helpfulfor us, because we're
interviewing for sales repsright now as well and we want to
(29:57):
make sure they have certaintraits, because we'll just know
ahead of time that they at leasthave tendencies.
We can't control their attitudethat's one thing that's hard to
coach, but we can definitelyget a look in on their
tendencies and traits as far ashow well it aligns for a sales
role.
Speaker 2 (30:17):
But you know all those little not to interrupt.
But you know we do apersonality test and different
assessments and you know, andwe've had a lot of luck with
that.
I mean, it definitely gives usa different perspective into the
individual, you know, but youknow at the end of the day, you
know like it doesn't take longto separate people in this
(30:40):
industry.
This industry has a way ofdoing away with the people that
are going to make it prettyquick.
Speaker 1 (30:46):
Yeah, especially in the sales role.
So let's we're.
We've got about eight minutesleft.
If you could share one majorpiece of advice with other
roofing owners, after everythingyou've learned and where you're
at, what would that be?
Speaker 2 (31:10):
Enjoy the ride.
Don't focus on the money, focuson the experience, focus on the
ability to change people'slives and, uh, the money will
come.
You know, just enjoy the ride.
I mean it's, it's been fun.
I've really enjoyed it.
I've enjoyed the industry, I'veenjoyed the customers.
I've enjoyed the headaches also.
(31:31):
I guess the biggest piece I'veenjoyed the customers, I've
enjoyed the headaches Also.
I guess the biggest piece ofadvice that I have out there for
people today is quit waking up,aggravated that you got
problems.
Like if it weren't for problems, we wouldn't get paid.
Like, change your mindsetaround problems.
Like I wake up in the morninggrateful and looking for
problems.
(31:51):
Without problems we don't makemoney.
And so, like don't allow these.
I had the same problems today asI did 10 years ago.
The only difference is thecustomer.
You know it's still the samestuff and so don't get caught up
in all of that and really juststay focused on the fact that
you're a business owner today inAmerica and you have the
(32:14):
opportunity to be a provider foryour family and you're in
control of your finances to thebest of your ability.
And you know, nobody's gottenthis perfected, but just you
getting up and doing it everyday speaks volumes about your
character, you know.
Like, just enjoy it, have funwith it.
I mean, it's great that I getto wake up every day and be a
business owner, you know, andsometimes I take that for
(32:36):
granted.
Sometimes I complain a lotabout one of the biggest
blessings in my life.
But yeah, thank God forproblems today.
I love them.
Speaker 1 (32:48):
That's great.
Yeah, I've never heard ananswer like that.
That's so true, man.
If there were any problems,none of us would be in business.
Speaker 2 (32:55):
People bitch about it all day long.
Oh, this is happening, that'shappening.
I'm like, give them to me, I'lltake them.
Speaker 1 (33:03):
Yeah, and enjoying the journey too.
Man, it's like we can't get thetime back, you can't rewind the
tape and all that stress andfretting and worrying.
It's like I had to come to arealization too in business,
because we're, you know,Limitless is young.
We bootstrapped this thing forthe last couple of years and
there's stressors and challengesand stuff.
But I came to kind of a turningpoint in it mentally and I
(33:26):
thought you know what?
What has all the worry andstress that I've put into this
business given me?
What is it purchased for me?
I have nothing to show for it.
The worry, the prayer time, thewaking up at three in the
morning, the mulling overbusiness decisions and how to
deal with obstacles what has itgiven me?
(33:46):
It's given, it's absolutely.
I have nothing to show for it.
So I I decided you know what Ilike, kind of like you, like I'm
getting.
I'm a, I'm a spirit, I'm aChristian, I believe, I believe
in God and I'm giving this tohim.
It's his anyway and I'm notgoing to worry about it anymore.
Speaker 2 (34:02):
Yeah, if it's not going to be modern in five
months, no matter in the nextfive minutes.
You know some of the worstsituations that I've ever come
up against.
That I thought there's justabsolutely no way that it's
going to be all right turns outbeing better than what I could
have imagined.
You know, and that's the humanbrain.
You know like we tend to worryabout stuff before it ever
(34:22):
happens and 90% of the time itdoesn't even come true.
And so today I just I reallydon't do a whole lot of shipping
.
I mean this too shall pass.
I got food on the table, mykids are healthy, my bills are
paid.
I mean I'm living my best lifetoday and you know I'm grateful
(34:44):
for that.
You know, just being gratefultoday really helps.
You know, like, again, at theend of the day, being a business
owner, you do need to watchyour money and you need to
project how much you're going tomake and how much you're going
to get to keep, and all that.
But at the end of the day, likeif you're making more than
$75,000 a year owning your ownbusiness, I mean you're doing
better than 80% of the people inAmerica today.
(35:06):
You know like that's a majorblessing.
Who cares if somebody else ismaking a million?
Who cares if somebody else ismaking a million?
Who cares if they're makingfive million, like if you're
able to provide for your familyand be home on a regular basis
to spend time with your wife andyour kids and you're making a
decent living doing what youwant to do when you want to do
it.
Like people would kill for thatposition.
(35:27):
Quit fretting over it.
Speaker 1 (35:31):
Be grateful.
So true, man.
Well, for those of youlistening, just want to
encourage you to stop worryingand enjoy the journey and be
grateful.
That's such a good reminder.
I mean, we need to be gratitude, man.
It's such a cure all.
So anyway, this is great man.
We could talk easily foranother hour just about life and
business.
But, man Toby, I justappreciate you.
I remember sitting in youroffice a couple of years ago and
(35:54):
I remember you asked how manycompanies do you have in your
group so far?
And I vividly remember saying,man, you'd be number five.
And you're like, oh okay, well,let's go.
It was awesome.
Speaker 2 (36:06):
From small businesses .
You know like I love being apart of because, again, I don't
want to take up too much of yourtime, but I remember when I had
nothing and people gave me ashot.
You know like it changed mylife and I'm so grateful to have
been number five out of 300,plus today.
You know like it may not havebeen a big deal to me to write a
two thousand dollar check orwhatever it was, but at the time
(36:28):
it was huge for you and foryour business and so you know,
thank you for you know lettingme still be a part of it.
You know like I've and foranybody, this is not a shameless
plug, but like I've literallymade back, plus um, every dime
that I've invested.
It's a limitless gpo.
It's definitely worth gettingpart of and I mean that's
(36:49):
sincerely and I don't even useit near to the ability that I
can and every dime I put into itI want back.
As a matter of fact, I justsigned up for five years or the
lifetime.
I just signed up for thelifetime, so it's definitely
worth it.
You'll definitely see a goodreturn on it.
The plethora of knowledge thatthey offer is outstanding and
(37:10):
you'll definitely make everydollar that you put into the
back.
Speaker 1 (37:14):
Appreciate it.
Well, toby, it's been greathaving you on the show.
Man, for those of you listening, if you want to learn more
about Limitless, you can go toLimitlessRoofingGroupcom and you
can learn how we'll save youmoney on everything from
shingles to flat roof to generalliability insurance and
everything in between.
All right, man, thanks forbeing on the.
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