June 26, 2024 • 10 mins
In this episode, Ryan Buesser, owner of Buesser Concrete, discusses the importance of mentorship, work ethic, in-house training, and leveraging new technologies. Ryan also provides valuable advice for new construction business owners on hiring smart. Learn about the challenges and successes in the concrete industry, and discover how Buesser Concrete operates across multiple states, maintaining a family-oriented work environment.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Hey everyone, I'm Lou Perez,your host of The Builder Upper Show,
a podcast where we talk about everythingin construction and trades. Now let's get
into it. I would like towelcome our guest, Ryan Busser, owner
of Buser Concrete. Hey, Ryan, how are you doing today? I'm
(00:21):
good? How are you? I'mdoing good? Thanks for being on here.
So just jumping right in. Iknow a lot of listeners were super
interested in this podcast once I toldthem who I'm bringing on. One of
the busiest podcast guests that I've hadso far. I think we've rescheduled like
three or four times just because you'resuper busy. But that's always a good
(00:42):
sign on how business is going.So Ryan, just jumping right in.
When did you get into concrete.We first started in nineteen ninety seven.
Before that, you know, Ikind of helped my dad and some masonry
stuff. But nineteen ninety seven westarted in concrete. Took the learnings from
your dad and that really intrigued you. Is that something you saw when you
(01:04):
grew up that really inspired you toget going on it? I don't know
right away. You know, mydad was a mason. I did a
lot of that when I graduated highschool, I joined the Marines, so
I was there for four years,and then when I got out, I
thought I was going to do themasonry thing, but it didn't really happen
that way, and I started outjust in the concrete side. Nice.
(01:27):
Well, thank you for your service, first and foremost. We really appreciate
it. And you know, speakingto that when you got started, is
there something that you know today thatyou wish you knew when you started?
Oh? Yeah, I mean everyday you think about stuff like that.
But I mean there's so much.I guess. One of the biggest things
(01:49):
that I guess, you know,I mean, you gotta have a good
work ethic. But I have akind of a mentor now I deal with
and work with, and that wouldhave been huge when I first started.
If I'd had that person and atthe beginning, things would have been way
different. That's great feedback. Doyou want to share who that mentor is
or is that something that you wantto hold tight? Oh no, it's
(02:10):
Rocky Genes He I guess you geta construction concrete business school I went to
and it was just an eye opener, and then after that we continued to
go to his stuff and then Ikind of brought him on also just us
direct, and that was huge forus. I mean, eye openers all
the way around. That's yeah,that's great. So that I mean that
(02:31):
was actually going to be another questionthat I asked you about. You know,
how do you scale your business?Does a lot of that tie into
it right there? Oh yeah,I mean definitely like his methods and means
have helped us grow immensely. Soyeah, I I mean I owe a
ton of Rocky. Is there anythingfrom within those insights that you could potentially
(02:53):
share? I guess if you ifyou ever thought about a mentor a coach,
do it. I mean, it'sjust it's it's like I said,
it's a no brainer. I mean, jump on it. Nice. How
big is your company today? Wevery I think we have sixty eight full
time people currently right now the officein the field, and then I have
(03:15):
a friend that does subcontract labor outof another state. I think we were
like one hundred and two people lastsummer. So with the rain and you
know the weather, right now,I believe we're close to about seventy people.
Oh wow. So when you're havingto bring on new folks to grow
(03:36):
within those time frames. Is ithard to bring on new recruits or do
you have a process in place thathelps you with that. A lot of
times that we do the guys thatare already here, if we need someone,
we kind of put the feelers outto them. The good guys that
are here aren't going to bring badpeople in hopefully, and it usually works
out pretty well. You can alwayskind of find labors with what we do,
(03:59):
you know, kind creatu Trying tofind a train finisher is hard.
Sometimes they have bad habits from wherethey came from or stuff like that.
But some of our best people,I mean actually our best people started they
didn't know a thing when they started. So uh, in house training is
huge. You know, you kindof mold them the way you want them.
So that's mostly how we go aboutit. It's nice that you have
(04:23):
that in house training. So isthat something that sets user concrete apart from
others? You know, what isthe benefits of working for you? Benefits?
I guess we're you know, prettyfamily oriented. We have a lot
of brother brothers that work here.Family, you know, dad's sons,
So I think that's big when otherpeople see, hey, the father works
(04:46):
here and the son now works here, But like training setting up that I
mean that that's one of the thingsI wish we did even better, where
we had a better training program.You know, I grew up in the
t trades, you know, Idon't really have a background in business or
a you know, a training anysort of thing like that. So a
(05:06):
lot of it's been trial and errorand hard knocks. So sometimes that could
be sometimes it could be a goodthing, though too good and bad?
Yes, yeah, all right?And then today, do you utilize any
technology within your company and does thathelp you in any way be more efficient?
(05:26):
Oh? Yeah, I guess ILook, we've always tried to stay
ahead on the technology side, youknow, trying new means and methods,
that kind of thing. You know. Outside training, we do a lot
with the World of Concrete. It'sa huge trade show in Las Vegas every
year. I mean, they havecertifications, but it's an eye opener.
(05:48):
I mean you go there and yousee the technology, you see the new
stuff where I mean I have friendsand competitors in the in the trades that
you know, they do the samething every year for thirty years in a
row. And if you go,you go to some of the trade shows
and that stuff. You see thenew technology the anywhere from the software to
(06:10):
you know, the tools that areout there, and you try something new,
you see something new. You know, work smarter, not harder.
So for us, that's been hugefrom pretty much day one. Concrete is
hard enough, Why make it harder? Yeah, exactly and uh no pun
intended either. So and when itcomes to people finding your business, are
(06:32):
you in multiple states? What doyou are you in a specific region?
Where do you typically do work?You know, when I guess when we
started, we were just locals,and then we kind of grew. We
about doubled in size. One year, we worked for a kind of a
national company. They did big industrialplants, and that kind of helped us
(06:56):
grow and stick our footprint out alittle further. But currently I believe,
I mean, I can't say we'veworked in forty four states. We do
a lot in Wisconsin. I've gotguys that you know that kids in ball
they want to be home at night, they don't want to travel. I
got some guys that like to travel. Some guys I think that I'd say
(07:18):
they like the money that comes withthe travel work. So yeah, we
do a lot. We're a lotin Texas, but currently we're in We're
North Carolina, Texas, Wisconsin,Illinois, in Minnesota, so that's where
we where we're at right now.But we do a lot in the in
(07:39):
the South. It's nice for inthe winter time when you know it's too
cold up here. We can kindof get our keep the guys working.
In today's world, the guys wantto work. You know, everyone has
a home and a boat and ansuv. No one wants to get laid
off anymore in the winter time.I personally have not talked to too many
multi state concrete companies. That's that'sgood to know, and it's good for
(08:01):
our listeners to know as well,especially for future hires if they're interested in
travel. I think Buser Concrete's definitelya great candidate to go after and go
apply for you guys. As faras people that want to do business with
you, where should they go lookyou up? Do you guys have a
website domain? Yep, we're youknow, Wwwbewistterconcrete dot com. Actually upgrading
(08:24):
our website. We're working with anawesome audio visual company media company. You
know, they do a lot ofdrone stuff. But yeah, we're really
fine tuning the new website right now, but we're still out there on the
web and then you know the phonethat still works too. Awesome. Yeah,
I can't wait to look forward tothe drone videos that you guys come
(08:46):
out with and showcase the projects.I did look up a few pictures that
you guys do, so it's veryimpressive work that you guys do, So
I know, video just kind ofkind of brings it to life, and
we'll be looking forward to that.We're also on Facebook and Instagram and we're
actually getting a TikTok page going herethat'll be a couple of weeks out.
(09:07):
Yet. Are you going to bethe one doing the TikTok dances or is
that you're going to leave that tothe worker. This is good for me.
The guys like that kind of stuffand I like to just kind of
stand back and watch. And beforewe wrap up, do you have any
advice for new construction owners that you'dlike to share with our listeners? Oh?
Yeah, I mean, you know, we could we could turn this
(09:28):
into a long, long conversation,but I guess I would say for new
people, you know, make sureyou're a good craftsman. If you're in
the trade. And then the biggestthing I would say is hire smart people.
You don't have to be the smartestperson, hire the smartest people.
You can put good people around youand you'll do good great advice. Well,
(09:50):
thank you for being on our show. We really appreciate it, and
please everyone like, subscribe, comment, and share the Builder Upper show with
anyone in the construction industry. Willsee you next time. If you're a
(10:11):
construction contractor and would like to appearas a guest on our podcast, write
us an email. It's Lou atlumberfi dot com.
Hey everyone, I'm Lou Perez,your host of The Builder Upper Show,
a podcast where we talk about everythingin construction and trades. Now let's get
into it. I would like towelcome our guest, Ryan Busser, owner
of Buser Concrete. Hey, Ryan, how are you doing today? I'm
(00:21):
good? How are you? I'mdoing good? Thanks for being on here.
So just jumping right in. Iknow a lot of listeners were super
interested in this podcast once I toldthem who I'm bringing on. One of
the busiest podcast guests that I've hadso far. I think we've rescheduled like
three or four times just because you'resuper busy. But that's always a good
(00:42):
sign on how business is going.So Ryan, just jumping right in.
When did you get into concrete.We first started in nineteen ninety seven.
Before that, you know, Ikind of helped my dad and some masonry
stuff. But nineteen ninety seven westarted in concrete. Took the learnings from
your dad and that really intrigued you. Is that something you saw when you
(01:04):
grew up that really inspired you toget going on it? I don't know
right away. You know, mydad was a mason. I did a
lot of that when I graduated highschool, I joined the Marines, so
I was there for four years,and then when I got out, I
thought I was going to do themasonry thing, but it didn't really happen
that way, and I started outjust in the concrete side. Nice.
(01:27):
Well, thank you for your service, first and foremost. We really appreciate
it. And you know, speakingto that when you got started, is
there something that you know today thatyou wish you knew when you started?
Oh? Yeah, I mean everyday you think about stuff like that.
But I mean there's so much.I guess. One of the biggest things
(01:49):
that I guess, you know,I mean, you gotta have a good
work ethic. But I have akind of a mentor now I deal with
and work with, and that wouldhave been huge when I first started.
If I'd had that person and atthe beginning, things would have been way
different. That's great feedback. Doyou want to share who that mentor is
or is that something that you wantto hold tight? Oh no, it's
(02:10):
Rocky Genes He I guess you geta construction concrete business school I went to
and it was just an eye opener, and then after that we continued to
go to his stuff and then Ikind of brought him on also just us
direct, and that was huge forus. I mean, eye openers all
the way around. That's yeah,that's great. So that I mean that
(02:31):
was actually going to be another questionthat I asked you about. You know,
how do you scale your business?Does a lot of that tie into
it right there? Oh yeah,I mean definitely like his methods and means
have helped us grow immensely. Soyeah, I I mean I owe a
ton of Rocky. Is there anythingfrom within those insights that you could potentially
(02:53):
share? I guess if you ifyou ever thought about a mentor a coach,
do it. I mean, it'sjust it's it's like I said,
it's a no brainer. I mean, jump on it. Nice. How
big is your company today? Wevery I think we have sixty eight full
time people currently right now the officein the field, and then I have
(03:15):
a friend that does subcontract labor outof another state. I think we were
like one hundred and two people lastsummer. So with the rain and you
know the weather, right now,I believe we're close to about seventy people.
Oh wow. So when you're havingto bring on new folks to grow
(03:36):
within those time frames. Is ithard to bring on new recruits or do
you have a process in place thathelps you with that. A lot of
times that we do the guys thatare already here, if we need someone,
we kind of put the feelers outto them. The good guys that
are here aren't going to bring badpeople in hopefully, and it usually works
out pretty well. You can alwayskind of find labors with what we do,
(03:59):
you know, kind creatu Trying tofind a train finisher is hard.
Sometimes they have bad habits from wherethey came from or stuff like that.
But some of our best people,I mean actually our best people started they
didn't know a thing when they started. So uh, in house training is
huge. You know, you kindof mold them the way you want them.
So that's mostly how we go aboutit. It's nice that you have
(04:23):
that in house training. So isthat something that sets user concrete apart from
others? You know, what isthe benefits of working for you? Benefits?
I guess we're you know, prettyfamily oriented. We have a lot
of brother brothers that work here.Family, you know, dad's sons,
So I think that's big when otherpeople see, hey, the father works
(04:46):
here and the son now works here, But like training setting up that I
mean that that's one of the thingsI wish we did even better, where
we had a better training program.You know, I grew up in the
t trades, you know, Idon't really have a background in business or
a you know, a training anysort of thing like that. So a
(05:06):
lot of it's been trial and errorand hard knocks. So sometimes that could
be sometimes it could be a goodthing, though too good and bad?
Yes, yeah, all right?And then today, do you utilize any
technology within your company and does thathelp you in any way be more efficient?
(05:26):
Oh? Yeah, I guess ILook, we've always tried to stay
ahead on the technology side, youknow, trying new means and methods,
that kind of thing. You know. Outside training, we do a lot
with the World of Concrete. It'sa huge trade show in Las Vegas every
year. I mean, they havecertifications, but it's an eye opener.
(05:48):
I mean you go there and yousee the technology, you see the new
stuff where I mean I have friendsand competitors in the in the trades that
you know, they do the samething every year for thirty years in a
row. And if you go,you go to some of the trade shows
and that stuff. You see thenew technology the anywhere from the software to
(06:10):
you know, the tools that areout there, and you try something new,
you see something new. You know, work smarter, not harder.
So for us, that's been hugefrom pretty much day one. Concrete is
hard enough, Why make it harder? Yeah, exactly and uh no pun
intended either. So and when itcomes to people finding your business, are
(06:32):
you in multiple states? What doyou are you in a specific region?
Where do you typically do work?You know, when I guess when we
started, we were just locals,and then we kind of grew. We
about doubled in size. One year, we worked for a kind of a
national company. They did big industrialplants, and that kind of helped us
(06:56):
grow and stick our footprint out alittle further. But currently I believe,
I mean, I can't say we'veworked in forty four states. We do
a lot in Wisconsin. I've gotguys that you know that kids in ball
they want to be home at night, they don't want to travel. I
got some guys that like to travel. Some guys I think that I'd say
(07:18):
they like the money that comes withthe travel work. So yeah, we
do a lot. We're a lotin Texas, but currently we're in We're
North Carolina, Texas, Wisconsin,Illinois, in Minnesota, so that's where
we where we're at right now.But we do a lot in the in
(07:39):
the South. It's nice for inthe winter time when you know it's too
cold up here. We can kindof get our keep the guys working.
In today's world, the guys wantto work. You know, everyone has
a home and a boat and ansuv. No one wants to get laid
off anymore in the winter time.I personally have not talked to too many
multi state concrete companies. That's that'sgood to know, and it's good for
(08:01):
our listeners to know as well,especially for future hires if they're interested in
travel. I think Buser Concrete's definitelya great candidate to go after and go
apply for you guys. As faras people that want to do business with
you, where should they go lookyou up? Do you guys have a
website domain? Yep, we're youknow, Wwwbewistterconcrete dot com. Actually upgrading
(08:24):
our website. We're working with anawesome audio visual company media company. You
know, they do a lot ofdrone stuff. But yeah, we're really
fine tuning the new website right now, but we're still out there on the
web and then you know the phonethat still works too. Awesome. Yeah,
I can't wait to look forward tothe drone videos that you guys come
(08:46):
out with and showcase the projects.I did look up a few pictures that
you guys do, so it's veryimpressive work that you guys do, So
I know, video just kind ofkind of brings it to life, and
we'll be looking forward to that.We're also on Facebook and Instagram and we're
actually getting a TikTok page going herethat'll be a couple of weeks out.
(09:07):
Yet. Are you going to bethe one doing the TikTok dances or is
that you're going to leave that tothe worker. This is good for me.
The guys like that kind of stuffand I like to just kind of
stand back and watch. And beforewe wrap up, do you have any
advice for new construction owners that you'dlike to share with our listeners? Oh?
Yeah, I mean, you know, we could we could turn this
(09:28):
into a long, long conversation,but I guess I would say for new
people, you know, make sureyou're a good craftsman. If you're in
the trade. And then the biggestthing I would say is hire smart people.
You don't have to be the smartestperson, hire the smartest people.
You can put good people around youand you'll do good great advice. Well,
(09:50):
thank you for being on our show. We really appreciate it, and
please everyone like, subscribe, comment, and share the Builder Upper show with
anyone in the construction industry. Willsee you next time. If you're a
(10:11):
construction contractor and would like to appearas a guest on our podcast, write
us an email. It's Lou atlumberfi dot com.
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