Speaker 1 (00:00:00):
<silence> Hey, Joe Nortrup here, co-host of the K-Cup and Kelly Construction Group team member. I just wanted to jump on here for a quick moment to thank everyone. Thank you all for tuning in to our little podcast, the K-Cup. Uh, we dropped our first episode the end of June last year in 2025, really not knowing what we were doing, but decided we were just gonna jump in because we really felt compelled to, uh, start the conversation around the commercial construction industry and all related businesses. We just felt like it was something that we wanted to do, uh, you know, to build a community around our industry that we love and that we’re passionate about. So we want to thank everyone for making it a huge success. By the, the end of the year, less than six months from when we started, the K-Cup had been viewed in six countries and listened to in over 85 cities and downloaded, uh, around 500 times just in that short period of time.
Speaker 1 (00:01:03):
So we consider that a huge success, and we know that it wasn’t possible without you all supporting us and, and tuning into the show. So we hope in 2026 you continue to do that. Please tell a friend, please take a second to hit that subscribe button. It means a lot, even if you’re not watching complete episodes. If you would, just as the episode starts, go ahead and just tap the subscribe button. You’re not gonna get notifications or get spam because of that, but it does help the algorithm see that people are interested in this content, and every time you subscribe, they push the content out to more viewers. So please do that. And in 2026, we want to encourage you to go from being a passive listener to being an active voice in the conversation around our industry. We have some great interviews planned for the coming year. Hopefully these are conversations with professionals in related industries like architecture, engineering, commercial real estate professionals and commercial lenders, subcontractors, uh, from all different trades, uh, just really anybody related to this industry in some way. Uh, we have some, some great conversations planned that we’re hoping are gonna spark conversations around the topics that we’re gonna discuss. So, so stay tuned in 2026. And again, we thank you for all your support and, uh, we look forward to having a great year and look forward to, uh, hearing and seeing your comments. Take care.
Speaker 1 (00:02:33):
When you got a pinhead like mine, the thing, don’t wanna sit up there on top on the top. Now, can you hear me all right?
Speaker 2 (00:02:39):
Yeah, no, I wanna just start off like this. Like, man, what, what you think about 26? What’s, what’s, uh, what’s the outlook going in <laugh>?
Speaker 1 (00:02:48):
I’m always excited about a new year. I’m the eternal optimist, so I look at every new year as just a chance to, uh, make things better. And that’s, that’s how I go into it. I mean, I always think that I’m always looking for something great to happen. So, you know, like I said, eternal optimist. I’m excited about 2026. I think, you know, we have so much potential and, uh, and I’m sure a lot of people listening can relate to that. They know what the potential is. It’s just a matter of consistently doing the little things that turn potential into Right. You know, results.
Speaker 2 (00:03:24):
Yeah. No, I’m super excited about 26
Speaker 1 (00:03:26):
Of, you know, how, how fast a year comes on. Uh, you know, it’s the, it seems like the year the year starts to lag when you hit the holidays and Thanksgiving and, you know, at that point you’re just like, ah, let’s just wrap this thing up and get onto the next one. But then next thing you know, you’re, you’re in that new year and it’s already, you know, 10 days deep, right? And you’re like, wow, have I really prepared for this new year? You know, and and for a lot of people, you know, this is really January, and for a lot of people, if they, if they haven’t already planned out what they’re gonna do for 2026 or haven’t thought about, you know, taking some decisive action in 2026, chances are 2026 is gonna turn out to be a repeat of of 2025. And I don’t know about you, but I think a lot of people would admit that 2025 didn’t produce the results that they were hoping for.
Speaker 2 (00:04:20):
Yeah. I know quite a few people ready to slam the door on 25.
Speaker 1 (00:04:23):
Yeah. Despite, despite, you know, you know, putting forth effort and working hard, but sometimes it’s, it’s not working harder. It’s working smarter, you know, and, and that constant refinement of processes and, and things like that. So that’s what, you know, I wanted to talk about in this episode. I, I can’t, I kinda came up with a list of three things that if you do these three things, one thing’s for sure, it will definitely change the outcome, uh, of 26. It’ll, it’ll make it differ from what happened in 2025 for anybody that applies these three things. And the brutal truth is, is that the way the end, the years do end, you know, with all this just onslaught of holidays, you know, don’t get me wrong, I’m not a ba humbug kinda guy. You sure if you’re getting that vibe, but <laugh> <laugh>, I really could just, you know, I hate, I’m a routine person. I don’t like getting outta my routine. Oh, yeah. I like
Speaker 2 (00:05:20):
My rut
Speaker 1 (00:05:20):
<laugh>. Yeah. I love, I love being in my, my work rut and just staying there because it takes, for me, it takes time to get momentum going and feel like I’m actually getting stuff done. And then for that to be broken, aggravates me. But, but I think for a lot of people, the way that shows up is that they go into this long, you know, from November <laugh> to the end of December, basically it’s like six weeks or so of really not having the mindset of, of being in business and, and what they want to accomplish the next year, because they’re all wrapped up in family stuff and you know what the holidays are, right? Yeah. Especially if you got kids and you know, you’re busy. Yeah. No,
Speaker 2 (00:05:59):
That’s, that’s valid. That’s valid for sure.
Speaker 1 (00:06:01):
Yeah. So the, the chances are that, you know, most people are already starting this year and they don’t have a plan. And if they do, they haven’t really looked at it seriously and implemented the things that they want to implement. So I came, kind of came up with a short list of three things that they could start implementing today going forward, and then the fir by the end of the first quarter, they would see some results from that. And, uh, the three things that I, I wanna talk about, and, and of course I know that you’re gonna help me drill in on these three things and and you’re gonna apply some real world, uh, experience to those things, is one, I think that we all have clients that are costing us money. And so I think we need to take a long look at our client list and probably fire 20% of ’em.
Speaker 1 (00:06:48):
And the reason why you would do that is ’cause then it’s gonna make room and make necessity. You know? ’cause sometimes necessity is what motivates people that to action. You know, you know, you’re compelled to get something done, but fire about 20% of the clients that are costing you money. It, you know, when you really look at everything in total with them, you know, the time that they’re taken away from other opportunities, things like that, the, the actual amount of time that they require for the amount of monies that you receive doing business with them, sometimes they know how to spread that butter really thin, you know, get that extra piece of toast in there and get a little butter spread on that too, you know, for the same, for the out of that one little butter palette, you know, so, or Pat or whatever you call it.
Speaker 1 (00:07:37):
But, uh, so fire some of your clients and we’ll get into the details of that. Focus on that one thing that really makes you money. You know, they say the, the riches are in the niches or niches, however you wanna say that, but what it really amounts to is, and it’s funny, I I, I remember reading something about this this past year, and I, and I remember having the thought to myself, duh, you know, how simple, but really, it’s something that I really never gave a lot of thought to. But really, if you have one thing, no matter what that one thing is, that actually produced a result and had a client respond or whatever in a good way, and you made some money, do more of that. Yeah. Even if it’s not something you’re excited about, it’s, you know, this whole idea of pursuing your passion to make money is kind of a pipe dream.
Speaker 1 (00:08:28):
It’s really about pursuing what works and, and solving a problem for somebody. And it may be a very mundane thing, and it often is something that’s not, it’s not super sexy or whatever you want to call it mm-hmm <affirmative>. You know? Yeah. But it’s something that, that solves a problem for somebody. And, and they’re willing to pay you for that. And if we have some of those things, uh, that you can look back on in the past year, do more of that thing, whatever that thing is, right? So, so fire some clients that are costing you money or holding you back, focus on one thing that’s made you money that proved to you that it would make you money, and then schedule your growth before you schedule anything else. And, and what I’m talking about there is really just taking the time, you know, we all know that we need to grow as business people if we want our business to grow itself.
Speaker 1 (00:09:20):
So, you know, businesses, businesses are really just people. That’s what businesses are. Yeah. They might provide a service or a product that solves a problem for somebody, but without the people in the business, there is no business. So we need to take growth more seriously as leaders, as, and for the teams, you know, we need to invest in our teams and make sure that, one, they want to be invested in as far as are they willing to even take advantage of growth opportunities? You know what I mean? Like, yeah. There’s some people that they don’t want to grow and learn, they just want to collect a paycheck and then go play Nintendo or whatever their thing is. You know what I mean? Yeah. Is that too outdated? Is that old? Is that showing my age? And Nintendo, they don’t even have Nintendo anymore. I mean, I know what Nintendo is, so we’re good.
Speaker 1 (00:10:07):
Okay. But you know what I mean though, like, it’s like some people have no interest in growing and in, and evolving in their, their role. Yeah, no, that’s true. As your team, as part of your team. But some people do. And then those people, those are opportunities to invest in them. Think about the tools and, and things that you buy for your, your jobs, you know, throughout the course of a year. But how much do we invest in, in teams mm-hmm <affirmative>. You know, in growing their skillset. And, uh, so I, that’s something that we need to think about doing, and we need to also make sure that you’re investing in yourself as a leader. You know, make sure that, you know, you got some sort of, you know, mentorship or some sort of, uh, program in place where you’re being challenged, you’re being held accountable, you know, so that you know that you’re, you’re moving the ball forward.
Speaker 1 (00:10:56):
And, uh, and I just think that’s something that’s always good to reflect on every new year, you know, do you look in the mirror and ask yourself, okay, what are you gonna do to, to make you better this year? Because if you’re not better, you bet your team’s not gonna be any better. Right. ’cause they kind of follow the lead, you know? Yeah. So if you’re setting that example and they see that, then they’re either gonna aspire to it or they’re gonna be like, man, this really ain’t for me taking this stuff too seriously around. Right. You know what I mean? Yeah. Yeah. So those are the three things that I think that, that I’d like to explore a little bit in this episode. Fire some clients, <laugh>, focus on one thing that’s gonna make some money, and then schedule some growth, uh, before you schedule your work. So you’re making sure that time is blocked out to, uh, to grow and develop your skillset, uh, in whatever discipline it is that, that people are engaging in out there in business. Mm-hmm <affirmative>. So, so what do you think about that as far as like, you know, the year just all of a sudden showing up and now we’re already, what, almost 10 days in? Like, what’s your feelings
Speaker 2 (00:11:56):
About that? Yeah, I mean, I think that, I know for me, I mean, I look forward to it. Like it’s a hard reset. Like, like the first week of January, it’s all, all of a sudden gonna be this different thing. Yeah. But, but to your point earlier, it’s just another week. Yeah. It’s, it’s literal just another week. The only thing that’s different is you’ve had some time off the couple of weeks leading up to it. Yeah. Other than that, there’s no real, all of a sudden you’re in this different world. Yeah, exactly. So, so you gotta be real intentional when, when, when you know, preparing and talking about that hard reset. Exactly. If you don’t spend some time, like you mentioned, you know, in, in November and December, thinking about what that looks like and, and, and doing some planning, and all of a sudden you’re in 2026 expecting a new different year, and, and you’re already setting about it the same way you did the year prior, you know?
Speaker 2 (00:12:48):
Yeah. Uh, so de definitely very valid. And I mean, you know, thinking about some of the points that you talked about, you know, firing, firing clients, uh, I mean, that’s a difficult one, you know? Yeah. And, and I’m probably gonna lean to, to the more critical side I’m usually kind of critical of, of myself or, or how I do things. But yeah. Uh, I definitely, I’ve definitely, uh, found myself in that situation where we probably needed to cut ties with somebody and, and, and we didn’t. And yeah, it, it’s, it’s, you know, you work so hard to get clients, you work so hard to grow your revenue. Uh, it’s hard to say no, even, even sometimes when you know it’s not the best situation. Yeah. Uh, you know, there’s, there’s clients that they pay you slow. Uh, there, there’s clients that drag you alone for, for months and months and months to, to not do the job, but yet you keep running through that process with ’em.
Speaker 2 (00:13:39):
Yeah. Uh, there’s, there’s lots of different scenarios where, you know, could lead to a bad client, but Yeah. You know, if, if the person’s difficult to work with in the beginning, they’re probably gonna be difficult to work with throughout the project. Ain’t gonna get better. Huh. <laugh>. So, so just, you know, take some of those signs, uh, and if you’re doing the right things, uh, there’s gonna be a, a better client, there’s gonna be another client out there to replace ’em. It’s hard to trust that. It’s hard to believe that. I know for me, it is for sure. Uh, but, but I agree. I, I mean, I think that there’s lots of clients that you spend a lot of time and effort on that you could take that same time and effort and, and really grow a new client and, and double triple your revenue Yeah.
Speaker 2 (00:14:24):
With another client. Yeah. Uh, so I, I certainly believe that that’s, that’s something good that, you know, companies should look at. They should look at, you know, is there, is there anybody out here that’s dragging us down? Uh, you know, well, maybe you’ve worked with ’em for 10 years and, and, you know, you don’t wanna make that move, but, but go look and see if you’ve, you know, are they really producing for you? Are you really making money with ’em? Yeah. Uh, so no, I agree with, I agree with that. Like I said, I’m probably probably the one that holds on to the clients way too long, just because I’m, I don’t wanna make the move, but yeah. But I definitely, I believe it, I definitely think it’s something that, uh, that, that companies should consider for sure.
Speaker 1 (00:15:03):
Yeah. Uh, you know, it’s funny, uh, I, I have to get this quote in there because it just won’t get leave my head so I can move on to the next thing. But, uh, I think it, Einstein is always given credit for this saying, I don’t know if he actually said this, because this thing’s been around a long time. I’m sure someone said it before him, but maybe in a different language, <laugh>. But, uh, he said the, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting a different outcome. So we definitely don’t want to be insane in 2026 <laugh>.
Speaker 2 (00:15:35):
Yeah. That actually crossed my mind, but I was like, you know what? I’m not gonna say it. You’re not gonna
Speaker 1 (00:15:38):
Go there, <laugh>, come on.
Speaker 2 (00:15:40):
Uh, but yeah, I mean, I like, like I, I do, I I think that it’s, uh, it’s a real thing. I mean, you need to really evaluate your clients and, uh, you know, I, I’d mentioned in that one, one little spiel there that if they’re difficult to work with, then probably gonna be a difficult process, uh, you know, to deal with ’em. But also if, if they’re not willing to follow your process, if you have a process that you’re bringing clients on board through a certain process, but Yeah. But if there’s somebody who just wants to see the number or there’s somebody that, that, you know, bucks the way that you usually onboard clients. Yeah. I mean, that may be a sign right there that, you know what, let’s, let’s go a different direction.
Speaker 1 (00:16:18):
Yeah. They, they want to do it their way, regardless of, of being your ship. They, they want to grab the wheel Right. As soon as they get on board. That’s not cool. Yeah. So, so let, let’s give some, some, uh, practical reasons why this matters. So anyone listening, uh, you know, would have some solid reasons as to why they wanna look at their business too, and look at their client list. But for example, and you kind of touched on this time spent on bad clients equals time not spent developing new clients Yeah. Or on clients that, that pay, um, your reputation. It’s not shaped by work that you hide, it’s shaped by work that you show. And what I really mean by that is that chances are, if you’re in a situation where you’re working with a client that’s really just kind of bleeding you out, that’s, it’s probably not a project that you’re gonna highlight anyways, because there’s probably some aspect or aspects to that project that make it just something that you just really want to get it done and make it go away.
Speaker 1 (00:17:19):
It’s not one of those home runs that you want to, you know, hire a professional photographer and use it in your marketing and all that. So keep that in mind as you’re, you know, when you engage in projects with clients like that, that this is not only something that you may not make this, you know, decent money at, but it may also be something that it’s a time block that’s gonna get lost in the archive somewhere, because you’re not gonna be able to really use it to further your business after the fact. And then profit margins, technically profit margins are more important than top line revenue. And I know that there’s nuances to that conversation because there are times, you know, that the old saying is, is that money has to flow, and if money doesn’t flow, you got a problem with your business. So that would, that, you know, the extreme of that could lend, you know, a business owner to think, well, I just need a cash flow and, and I’ll take jobs at 0%, you know, margin to do that.
Speaker 1 (00:18:21):
If I, if I can just pay the bills and keep the lights on and money’s flowing in and out, I’m good. But the reality is, is that if you can focus on projects that you’re gonna get better margins on one, you may able to do less projects. Two, you’ll be able to maybe sharpen your focus on those fewer projects with the bigger margins. So not only do you build your reputation, ’cause you end up with a, a really happy client that was served well, nice project that you can use to market yourself with further and all that. Uh, but you’re gonna make more money. Is is the baseline of that. So
Speaker 2 (00:18:56):
Yeah, I mean, I think clearly that would be a client that, you know, probably needs to be let go at, you know, if you, if you, I mean, as a company, you wanna be able to, uh, you know, you know what the amount of money you wanna make or the margin you wanna make. And, and there’s clients out there that aren’t willing to pay that. Yeah. And that don’t necessarily make them a cheap client. Yeah. But they obviously don’t see the value Yeah. In the way you see it. Yeah, exactly. Uh, and, and, and that’s, that’s important to know and important to realize because Yeah. If if that is the way they see it, then, then maybe it’s not a good fit. Yeah. And, and, you know, just thinking about spending that energy and that time, I mean, construction takes a lot of energy and time Sure does.
Speaker 2 (00:19:37):
And, and the estimating and in the actual construction Yeah. And, and in the project management. Yeah. So if, if you’re gonna spend that amount of time to, to maybe if it’s this person that don’t wanna pay your price, you’re constantly repricing because you’re taking off scope or you’re doing whatever Yeah. To try to get down to the number that makes sense for them, then you’re, you’re, you’re essentially losing money. Yeah. So if you need to go find that client that does see the value that, that you feel like you’re offering and they’re willing to pay that price Yeah. And for that same amount of energy you make the money that you wanna make.
Speaker 1 (00:20:10):
Exactly. Yeah. That’s so true. I mean, and well, people may not fully appreciate that in the commercial industry, really in the construction industry period. Residential or commercial, but in the commercial industry where we primarily focus the, the contractor is just expected to give away a lot of upfront value before he ever gets a job. I mean, think about the whole public bid, you know, scenario. Think of the, the investment that you have in a week’s worth of public bids or in a, or in a 30 day chunk. Yeah,
Speaker 2 (00:20:42):
No, it’s, it’s a
Speaker 1 (00:20:43):
Lot. And yeah. And then same with even private clients. You know, a lot of times, like you say you get tire kickers, they, they, they want this bid and they want it yesterday, but a lot of times they’re not, they don’t fully appreciate that you have a professional, you know, person that’s on, on salary, you know, on your payroll that’s sitting in an office that you had to provide, you know mm-hmm <affirmative>. With a lot of electronic devices that, that cost a lot of money, uh, supported by, you know, a tech company that you pay a monthly premium to, to make sure everything’s working good. And that person has to sit in that office and put this number together for that client. So before they ever get that from you, you’ve already got a, a substantial investment in it. Right. You know, if it’s a, if it’s a half a day or a day or whatever. Yeah. And, uh,
Speaker 2 (00:21:36):
And it actually extends beyond that because I mean, we’re asking a lot of our subcontractor partners and stuff that, that we work with to spend time on it. So, yes. So to your point, there’s quite an investment of time and, and effort that goes into these things that, that oftentimes it’s never realized.
Speaker 1 (00:21:52):
Yeah, exactly. So, you know, point being that is that, that’s just more incentive to really kind of pick and choose, you know, maybe get better at qualifying, uh, on our end, who you want to do business with so that you have less of that, you know, wasted effort or expended energy where there’s really no ROI ever. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (00:22:14):
And there, there are clients out there that, that believe in and understand what it takes, and Yes, there are. And see the, see the value in all that and, and, you know, understands it.
Speaker 1 (00:22:25):
Yeah. I mean, I’ve literally heard, heard a client say here, here and there, you know, look, I know I, I’ll pay you for this, you know, I’ll, I don’t mind paying for your time or whatever. I just need to know what this would cost, you know, so that you know that that person Wow. You know, really understands that it’s not free. I mean, we may provide it at no charge to people, but it’s not free. It costs you money to
Speaker 2 (00:22:47):
Provide it. Yeah. Well, I mean, I think, I know recently we just, you know, here in the first of the year, we, we’ve had a project where the guy come to us said, look, we, we have this much money to spend, this is what we wanna do. We don’t know if we can do all this for that amount of money, but let’s start working on it. Let’s put, let’s price it. Uh, we’ll scale back if we have to. This is what we wanna do. Uh, and he understands the value of, of, of the work that we’re about to put into it. Yeah. And, and he’s, he’s telling us, look, you know, we’re gonna do the job with you guys, uh, and it’s a client that we’ve done work for. So it’s, it’s not like we don’t have a relationship. They, they know who we are, they know how we do things.
Speaker 2 (00:23:25):
Yeah. But they understand the time and the effort that it takes. They understand that, you know, everything that goes into it. So, so they’re kind of giving us the numbers. They’re kind of, they’re giving us this, this information in the beginning. Yeah. They don’t wanna waste our time, and they don’t want their time wasted. Yeah. Uh, so that’s a, that’s a great example of a client that, like, we we’re not gonna fire those guys. That’s right. They, uh, you know, they’re, they’re gonna pay the price that, that we feel like is valuable or, or that we’re worth, and, and they see the value there. Yeah. Uh, so, so that would be an, that would be an example of a client that, that you’d wanna pick up, you know?
Speaker 1 (00:24:03):
Absolutely. Yeah. I mean, they’re, they’re obviously, uh, familiar with the process and they appreciate the effort that it takes to, to get the ball rolling. And they have, they’ve already in, you know, a lot of times you have to manage the expectations of clients as you’re onboarding them, because their expectations a lot of times aren’t realistic just because it is, not because they’re, you know, of any bad motive, it’s just they’re, they lack experience in the process or whatever. But every once in a while you get clients like this, that they’ve managed their own expectations. Mm-hmm <affirmative>. They’re telling you up front, look, we know, uh, that we have a dream list here. It’s a wishlist. Yeah. But we wanna see what you can come up with and how much of that we can get accomplished. We can scale things back if we need to, but let’s, let’s get to work.
Speaker 1 (00:24:49):
And like you said, that’s a great client. So let’s give some action items on this first step about firing some clients. Um, uh, what, what could someone actually do? Well, you’d wanna start by making a list of, of your clients, make a client list from 2025. And then, you know, you wanna figure out whatever that number of clients is, figure out what the number would be to look at 20% of the, of the client list. So then, like, you know, if you have a hundred, and then you’d want to look at 20 people, right? And then out of that 20, you’d want to pick a percentage of those that have really kind of cost you money at the end of the day. Mm-hmm <affirmative>. And not made you money. Uh, things that would help you figure that out would be like, you know, how they paid, or if they paid <laugh>, uh, you know, they require a lot more time than what they paid for.
Speaker 1 (00:25:39):
You know, were they always very needy and wanted extra time? Uh, did they cause a lot of stress during the project? Mm-hmm <affirmative>. That what really was undo, it was just because their expectations weren’t really matching, you know, the process. And then, uh, you know, if, if they don’t align with the way that you like to do business, maybe it’s someone that’s, you know, wanting to cut corners and do things that you’re just not comfortable with and, and, you know, you’d really rather just not do business with them. So, yeah. That, those are some action items. You can create an exit plan for that bottom, uh, percentage that bottom 20% or or less, whatever, whatever you’re comfortable with. But by creating an exit plan, you know, for, for clients, in other words, you don’t just call ’em up and say, Hey, you guys suck and I’m gonna get rid of you today. So thank you. Nice doing business with you, but no more. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (00:26:27):
And maybe you even make some effort to replace that client before you kinda off, you know, yeah, yeah. Off boredom or
Speaker 1 (00:26:33):
Whatever. Yeah. That would be really smart. You know, it would take some e some effort to do that, but some, some planning and follow through. But yeah, that would be even better if he could do that and then ease him off that way. And then, of course, you know, you can draft some a script prior to having these conversations, but this is good exercise to have these kind of conversations and then just, you know, have a referral script in mind. Say, look, you know, I, I really don’t think that, you know, our, our situation’s gonna benefit either one of us going forward, but, you know, I’d like to refer you to this, this contractor or this person. I think they can take good care of you and be more in line with, with what you’re after. Yeah. You know, something like that.
Speaker 2 (00:27:15):
Well, I mean, for me, I look, I’m very, I like to be very transparent. Yeah. Typically <laugh>. But, uh, I, you know, I may not make it that transparent when I’m offloading a client. I, I, yeah. I mean, maybe I would, maybe I wouldn’t, uh, I guess we’re
Speaker 1 (00:27:28):
Tack would be the word of the day, I think
Speaker 2 (00:27:30):
On that one. Yeah. I mean, you know, you can always be too busy. Right. You can always, uh, yeah. Have too many irons in the fire. Yeah. Uh, but I mean, I think there’s, there’s ways to, I mean, yeah, maybe I’m second guessing myself now that I’m saying it, but I mean, yeah, you want to be, you definitely can be transparent. I mean, the way you’re suggesting it is, is it is probably the right way to do it. Yeah. But, but I, I, you know, me going back to the critical self, I don’t really wanna completely let go of that person. Yeah. Completely. Yeah. So I, I would probably lean in towards that. I’m, you know, there’s a lot of stuff going on. We’re busy, we can’t handle this project at this time or whatever. Yeah. Uh, but, but even that in itself ends up leading that customer to somebody else anyway. Yeah. Uh, so I don’t know. I mean, maybe, maybe transparency and just that script written for that, you know, that breakaway might be the right move.
Speaker 1 (00:28:24):
<laugh>. I mean, I think there’s a learning opportunity there for even a client where, you know, they may, they may, you know, have a minute, a moment of reflection and, and, you know, say, wow, I, you know, was I really that difficult? They didn’t wanna work with me. No, that’s a great point. And it could be a growth, a growth moment for them. And, and you never know, they may come back with a completely different attitude and a better expectation at another time and say, you know, I, I really do wanna do business with you. What do we gotta do to make this happen? You know? So
Speaker 2 (00:28:51):
Yeah. This, this, I’m just sitting here talking about this, this kind of <laugh>, it shows you that sometimes like indecisive indecisiveness is, uh, can be a killer. Yeah. And it, I I’m actually seeming a little indecisive, like with this client that we’re firing right here, so. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, maybe you do, maybe you just make it clear cut and cut ’em loose.
Speaker 1 (00:29:13):
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I think it could be a positive experience, even though it’s, it’s not, you know, fun. Yeah. It could still be positive. So I, I, I also like to make application across the industry. You know, we, everything that we talk about as commercial, uh, contractor, a general contractor in the commercial space, uh, we know that we have complimentary industries that we work with all the time. Realtors, lenders, and, uh, architects and engineers. So some, some points for, you know, across the industry for this for 0.1 about firing some people off your client list. Uh, contractors fire the client that, uh, nickel and dimes you to death. You know, like whenever you’re, you’re, uh, in a project and they’re wanting to make a change, uh, real estate agents, you could stop chasing buyers that aren’t pre-qualified. You know, send ’em to a banker first and get ’em pre-qualified.
Speaker 1 (00:30:06):
And, and then, you know, you got somebody that can actually pull the trigger and you’re not just out, uh, passing the time looking at properties, lenders, you can, uh, drop referral partners. So, you know, listen up real estate agents, ’cause I just told you to refer ’em to a lender, but, but lenders drop referral partners that are consistently sending you impossible clients. They’re never gonna qualify for a loan. And, uh, you know, so don’t waste your time on that. Yeah. And then architects, you know, you wanna walk away from clients that don’t value design and don’t value timelines. Like they don’t appreciate that, you know, once we get this ball rolling, we kind of have to get momentum going and to keep moving. And that’s gonna require participation on your part, you know, so anyways, that’s 0.1. Fire some clients. <laugh>. Any last, uh, thoughts on that one?
Speaker 2 (00:30:57):
Uh, no, I mean, I think that, I mean, like I say, I think it’s good advice. Uh, I, I said that and then I went all around the world <laugh> trying not to fire the client. Well, it’s good.
Speaker 1 (00:31:09):
It’s good to have that tension of, of back and forth and, and trying to figure it out, you know?
Speaker 2 (00:31:13):
Yeah. But no, I think it’s, I think it’s good advice. I think it’s something that can definitely help a lot of people. Uh, it’s just one of those moves that you gotta make and, and then you, you see the fruits of it.
Speaker 1 (00:31:22):
Yeah. You free up resources so that you can pursue something that, that, the, the point is, is, and I think that’s what you’re getting at. Like, when you let go, you have to pursue, then, you know, the, the other side of that equation, which is to fill that space back up. Yeah. You don’t wanna let people go and then just, you know, twirl
Speaker 2 (00:31:41):
Your thumbs up. I would, I would definitely lean towards trying to fill that gap before I cut loose.
Speaker 1 (00:31:45):
Yeah. That would be ideal if you could do that, if you could manage that. All right. So let’s talk about this second, the second step out of the three, the three steps to make 2026 a great year. And that’s to commit to one revenue stream that, uh, that really produce results for you in the prior year. And then double down on that. So the, the reality is, is that for most, most business owners is, you know, you’re just, you’re spread out like scrambled eggs on a big skillet. You know, you’re just doing too many things at once mm-hmm <affirmative>. And, uh, so when, when you’re spread thin like that, obviously it, it, you know, you go down a lot of, uh, paths and some of ’em have ROIs at the end of ’em, and some of ’em don’t. Why
Speaker 2 (00:32:28):
Do I feel like this is directed at me?
Speaker 1 (00:32:30):
<laugh> nothing personal. Now, <laugh>, uh, are your ears burning <laugh>? Uh, but seriously, uh, you know, when you’re spread too thin, it’s, it’s very difficult to, to really focus on those things that you know, you should be putting your energy into. And, uh, and the way that, you know, what you should put energy into is, is when you look at the books, what actually paid the bills that year, and then focus on those things ex, you know, analyze well, is this something that’s kind of a niche pursuit? You know, is this something I could specialize in? Or what could I do as far as my processes and how the company, the team is structured to, to make that something that we could do more of, you know, things like that. So why this matters, you know, for those listening, uh, three reasons why it matters. To double down on things that actually produced in ROI one spec specialization usually equals premium price.
Speaker 1 (00:33:29):
You know, they say the riches are in the niches because when you can specialize even just a little, it usually means that your, your margin’s gonna go up. Um, focus equals faster execution. So the more you focus on, on, uh, you know, a smaller, uh, you know, target, so to speak, the sharper that focus is gonna get, and your ability after some reps of doing the same thing over and over, your ability to do that faster and more succinctly, uh, gets better. So, faster execution, faster execution means that you have more opportunity for more volume, and that obviously is gonna create more revenue. And then of course, like I said, the riches are in the niches, and it, that is cliche, but, uh, nowadays everyone says that. But, but the reality is, it’s true. Uh, if you can find a problem to solve that’s a specialized problem or in a, in a niche area, and, and you don’t mind doing the same, you know, mundane thing over and over again, as long as it’s paying, you know, whatever that is, like for a plumber, I’m sure they, they make some good money just changing out toilets.
Speaker 1 (00:34:38):
It’s not the best job in the world as far as, you know, what, it’s not like, again, it’s not a sexy job. You know, you don’t go around telling people to impress ’em. Yeah, I changed out five toilets a day, but when you get that check on Friday and you see what you got paid for changing out those five toilets, you’re like, that’s money. That’s good. Yeah, I’ll do more of that. Gimme, gimme a hundred toilets to change out. Right? So that, that’s kind of the point. So no matter what your business is, you can figure out what that thing is. And, uh, and then to, you know, actions that you can take is just identify what those high margin service or products are that you, uh, you know, serve out to your clients, and then make a commitment to try for the first quarter.
Speaker 1 (00:35:20):
Try to make that 60 to 70% of what you pursue in that first quarter. And, and just really focus on it. Give yourself 90 days to see if you can actually make that happen as far as, uh, sharpening your focus on whatever that was that produced the, the best ROI for you. And then if you’re able to do that again, like we said, kind of build some systems around that so that you can do more of that Yeah. With, with the team that you have available to you. So how do you feel about the idea, like in 2026 and looking back on 2025, how do you feel about, or is there, like I, I’m, I haven’t had the chance to really talk to you about this as far as our company’s concerned, but how do you feel about focusing on, in areas where you felt like you had some home runs and then kind of avoiding the areas that weren’t so, you know, great weren’t so prosperous?
Speaker 2 (00:36:12):
Yeah, I mean, I think there’s definitely a few things that we’re kinda leaning into this year, uh, just based off the results from last year. Uh, but I mean, I would say that I’ve seen more of a change in this through the years. I mean, definitely, uh, definitely had the tendency to try to search out other revenue, uh, arms mm-hmm <affirmative>. And, uh, and found out that trying to do a bunch of things at once can be difficult. Yes. Uh, so I think that we’ve, you know, this kind of goes back to the podcast that we had sometime back where, you know, just kind of the power of being able to say no. Yeah. Uh, there, there’s jobs that come along that just aren’t a good fit, that’s for sure. And, and sometimes it’s, sometimes those take you down a little rabbit hole where maybe you do one, you’d think, oh, man, I can go make some money doing this.
Speaker 2 (00:36:59):
And you, you start trying to do this other thing that’s not commercial general contracting or Yeah. You know, whatever our focus is. Yeah. And, uh, and, and you can get sidetracked. And that’s definitely happened. I mean, I’ve been doing this for a while and, uh, I would say that quite a few years I’ve ventured off into other stuff that <laugh> that I thought that I could do this and that, and, uh, you know, go make a lot of extra revenue or whatever and, and found it to be quite, you know, quite difficult. And then, and then the thing that you actually do focus on maybe suffers a little bit. Yeah. Uh, so I mean, I think that’s a great point. I think you gotta realize what you’re good at and, and, and to your point, not just what you’re good at, but but what’s making you money. Yeah. And, and, and then go pour into that. Yeah. And, and really, really grow that. And I think that would be a very, uh, a very positive way to, to, you know, to change 26.
Speaker 1 (00:37:56):
Yeah, absolutely. So let’s make some application for, uh, of this principle across the industry. ’cause it’s kind of fun to see what you could do if you’re in these different roles, uh, in the industry for contractors to apply this principle. It would be pick one type of project. You know, like say you’re a residential contractor, you might do, you might pick out kitchen remodels and just say, I’m just gonna do kitchen remodels. I’m gonna sell the, the snot out of those, and I’m gonna do every kitchen remodel. I can get my hands on and make those pay, uh, for commercial, uh, contractors, commercial build outs, you know, white box build outs. You could just go after everybody that you think may have a white box build out they need done. And just pursue that market to that, you know, make everybody in the area know that this is what you specialize in.
Speaker 1 (00:38:43):
You’re the, you’re the white box build out guy. Yeah. Or whatever, uh, real estate agents focus on one in real estate. They’ll call it a farm area or neighborhood, but focus on a farm area and then really put your energy into that. Know every nook and cranny of that farm area, you know, know the status of every property in there as far as solds and comps mm-hmm <affirmative>. And, and all that, uh, lenders specialize in, in one loan type. If you, if there’s a certain, uh, loan product that you just, you know, when you look back over 25 and you had all these different loan products, and this one you sold, you know, 150 of those, you might want to try to do some more of that type of loans products if you can. And then architects own a certain building type. Like you could specialize if you’re a designer and, you know, maybe even young architects that work for a bigger firm.
Speaker 1 (00:39:35):
You know, if you’re looking to step out on your own at some point, and there’s a niche that you like, that you’re gifted at, or just really enjoy doing, start specializing on that. You know, you have to do a lot of reps to, to be able to come innovative in a certain niche mm-hmm <affirmative>. But you never know what you might come up with that, you know, might really hit a home run for you. So those are some ways to apply this, uh, across the industry. So for us, uh, here at Kelly Construction Group, um, what do you see us doing to apply this?
Speaker 2 (00:40:07):
Well, you asking the hard questions now, huh?
Speaker 1 (00:40:09):
<laugh> the best for last.
Speaker 2 (00:40:11):
Yeah. I mean, no, I think that we really, uh, you know, we’ve talked a lot about, uh, design build and, uh, you know, kind of trying to, you know, control where your next job might come from Yeah. Rather than just kind of sitting on the bid in, in the bid. We’re all waiting on the next one to pop up. Yeah. So I think we wanna really kinda let, you know, lead into those types of jobs where we’re connected with clients early on, uh, you know, getting their project in design and, uh, kind of building our pipeline through our design, knowing that we have, you know, these jobs coming up as soon as, uh, design’s complete. Yeah. Uh, I think that’s, that’s what we’re really trying to lean into. And, and that’s what we like. I mean, that, that fits our culture. You know, we’re, we’re, we talk about it all the time, but we’re very team oriented. Uh, and that really translates to that type of project as well. You know? Yeah. You, you take ’em from a team approach in the beginning. Uh, you’re working with the same team the whole time. Uh, just, I think that that’s the really the direction we want to kind of, you know, lean and, and I think that would, I think that’s gonna make 2026. Good.
Speaker 1 (00:41:21):
Yeah. So we wanna start catching clients earlier in the, in the, in the, you know, the sales rotation or whatever you wanna call it, that they’re earlier in the journey. Uh, like you said in in the, you know, we’ve talked about this a great deal the last couple months, and we’re working on improving that, and we’ve set some processes up to where we’re gonna be able to do more of that, but we’re just gonna start being more proactive about reaching out to people and finding out, you know, what their needs are. Uh, you know, what would be a great, uh, scenario for them if they decided to have a project. You know what I mean? Mm-hmm <affirmative>. Like, like, how would they like to see that unfold? Things like that. And, uh, and just start getting involved earlier in the conversation. So, um, and I, and I think that should produce some great results, so I’m excited about that.
Speaker 1 (00:42:10):
I know you are too. Taking a little more proactive approach to moving more towards that design build, um, you know, scenario or vibe or whatever you want to call it, and having more control over the pipeline. All right. Sounds good. Well, this third step, uh, schedule your growth before you schedule your work. And, you know, we talked a little bit about this, about, um, you know, about the importance of growing, uh, professionally, but, you know, the reality is, is that although, you know, most business owners would say, yeah, growth’s important, but at the end of the day, you know, if, if, uh, if they don’t have a pre-made schedule that, that, you know, growth activities are included in, they’re gonna go either put out a fire that’s that’s brewing currently, or they’re gonna go do something that’s gonna make ’em, you know, some money real quick. So I feel like these, I feel like these headphones wanna fall off from this pinhead I have over here.
Speaker 2 (00:43:10):
There’s no way they’re falling off <laugh>.
Speaker 1 (00:43:13):
I’ll have to get some Velcro on my ears.
Speaker 2 (00:43:15):
<laugh>. It’d be like a rubber band if you grab it. <laugh>.
Speaker 1 (00:43:19):
Yeah. So, uh, so anyways, most, most people you know, are, are gonna avoid the learning part. It seems like there’s an aversion to learning and growing these days. And I don’t know if, if our phones and reels have made this a reality, you know, because it’s easy to just keep getting those quick dopamine hits by scrolling reels and watching YouTube. But the reality is, is that, you know, you want to get a really good dopamine hit, you know, have some good personal growth, professional growth that produces some kind of really tangible result. And that’s, that’s pretty rewarding too. But sounds
Speaker 2 (00:43:57):
Great.
Speaker 1 (00:43:57):
Sounds great. Sounds different when I say it, huh? <laugh>, you just gotta figure out how to get there, right? That’s the hard part. But that’s, that’s where the work comes in.
Speaker 2 (00:44:08):
I tried to schedule everybody some growth classes. Problem is they were after work, so nobody wanted to attend <laugh>.
Speaker 1 (00:44:13):
Yeah. That might be a problem. You won’t want to ease into the after the work activities if you can just get the during work hour, hour activities going
Speaker 2 (00:44:22):
Properly. Yeah. No, everybody was up for those. Everybody was up for those <laugh>.
Speaker 1 (00:44:28):
All right. Especially if it’s golf.
Speaker 2 (00:44:30):
Right? We’ve been trying to spend a, uh, we’ve been trying to plan a, a weekend growth seminar for five years now, <laugh>.
Speaker 1 (00:44:38):
That’s funny. That explains a lot. <laugh>. All right. So what are we gonna do to move this from planning stage into execution stage?
Speaker 2 (00:44:49):
Yeah. I mean, I think that, uh, I mean, obviously that’s good. You know, the first thing that I, when you first said that I, I was thinking, you know, plan for your business or, or plan in your business for growth, meaning, you know, if we want to do $25 million in sales, like what do we think our operating costs are gonna look like? What do we think that, you know, our sales plan needs to be in that type of thing. Uh, so my mind was kind of headed the wrong direction. And, and I think that’s very important to do in, in the company, but you know, from what you’re talking about, you know, I think that you’re talking about growing yourself, you know, me as a leader, our project managers or project managers, superintendents, the superintendent, like prepare yourself and, and yeah. Be ready when the growth happens.
Speaker 2 (00:45:36):
Yes. Uh, you know, and I mean, I think that that’s super important. I think that, you know, personal growth and leadership growth and all that can seem a little, uh, you know, I don’t know if corny is the right word, but <laugh>, it, it gets a little weird until you actually start doing it, and then you see people kinda get inspired. Yeah. Uh, and then, and then also just, just as a, you know, as a leader, when when I do hear this kinda stuff, it, it makes me think like, wow, like one thing that I’ve been listening to and, and one thing that I know you’re gonna ask this question, so I’m gonna go ahead and put the answer out there. <laugh>, one thing that I, that I’d like to do in 2026 and soon in 2026 is, is find out like what it’s, what it’s like to work with me as a leader. Like, I don’t really know what that’s like.
Speaker 1 (00:46:22):
Is this gonna be anonymous <laugh>?
Speaker 2 (00:46:23):
I mean, most it can be, it certainly can be <laugh>, but, uh, I mean, it can be that bad. ’cause a lot of you guys have been here for a long time. But, uh, but I am curious to know like, what that looks like and, and, uh, you know, if if there’s things that I can do to, to be better, and I know there is, uh, then, then what does that look like? You know what I mean? And, and I, and honestly, I think that anonymous probably is the way to go about that, because you want people to be completely honest. And, and, and I know that can be a hard conversation if, uh,
Speaker 1 (00:46:55):
You know, back in my day <laugh>, we still had wooden spoke wheels. Uh, we had a little thing called the suggestion box. Yeah, yeah. We just dropped suggestions in there and Yeah. And then go up front and listen to the boss scream in his office as he read the suggestions.
Speaker 2 (00:47:11):
<laugh>. Yeah. No, I’m definitely not looking for suggestions. I just, maybe, you know, I, I guess I better be really conscious about how I word this
Speaker 1 (00:47:20):
<laugh>. Yeah. All right. Well, that’s good. I mean, that, that sounds like a great plan. Uh, I mean, obviously any feedback that you get, like that could be beneficial, you know? Yeah. And it, I, I think that to, if you’re steering, if, if your team is the ship that you’re steering and like, we talked about this a little earlier, you know, whatever you’re doing, it doesn’t matter if you have the best product it was ever invented that solved this particular problem. If you don’t have a team around it and the team’s not cohesive, the team’s not bought in, the team’s not, doesn’t function even remotely properly, then it doesn’t matter. ’cause the thing’s just gonna sit in the warehouse or on the shelf or whatever, and, and mm-hmm <affirmative>. You’re not gonna have a business. The business is the people just like, just like the business on the other end of that equation are the people who buy your products or services.
Speaker 1 (00:48:20):
It’s people on both ends. So it, it’s interesting to me, it’s like a lot of, a lot of businesses will invest in the latest tools and they’re buying all the belt, you know, all the good stuff and shiny objects, but when it comes to their people, it’s like, Hey, you know, I’d like to go to this course that’s gonna make me a better, uh, you know, project manager or whatever it is, you know, or this, I’d like to take this safety course and get caught. You know, it’s like, ah, what are you talking about? That’s stupid. I got money for that. You know what I mean? Yeah, yeah. It’s so, it’s sometimes invested in people. It’s, it’s, it’s hard to see the value in it, but the reality is, is that you go have a conversation with somebody that’s really successful, that’s, you know, that makes a, a substantial living.
Speaker 1 (00:49:05):
They don’t even use the same vocabulary we use a lot at different levels. You know what I mean? Yeah. It’s because they’ve, they’ve done some training. They’ve had mentorship, they’ve had, they’ve have had training that has trained them to that next level. ’cause there really is a whole nother, uh, you know, vernacular that people use at different levels of success and stuff. So investing in teams and debt, investing in processes and in your people does pay dividends. And I’m not saying that you have to be at this super high level. I’m just saying that if you want them to be good at what they do, there has to be a process in place to make sure that they’re meeting those marks. Yeah. I mean, I think whatever that is, you know,
Speaker 2 (00:49:43):
I mean, this just goes back to everything we’ve been talking about. I mean, you can’t expect the company to grow if the people aren’t growing. Exactly. And if you aren’t growing as a leader. Yeah, that’s right. And, and yeah, there’s, there’s such thing as on the job training. Yeah. <laugh>. But, but, uh, see what I did there. But there’s a, but there’s certainly, there’s certainly room and, and, and definitely a need for, for, you know, growth for all your people through, through, you know, other programs and Yeah. Other things outside of on the job training <laugh>.
Speaker 1 (00:50:20):
No, I agree. I mean, I, I, I think that’s, I, I think there’s real opportunity there as far as, you know, getting ROI on that, of course, like I said, you have to, it’s, it’s like everything. You have to make sure that one, you’re, your, your, your culture, the, you know, you’re hiring the, the kind of people that want to grow, want to improve and are bought in so that they’re, yeah. They’re not looking to just, you know, stockpile a bunch of skills and then go down the road, right? Someone offers ’em a dollar more an hour or whatever, you know? Yeah. That type
Speaker 2 (00:50:51):
Of thing. Find the ones that are willing to do it on nights and weekends, <laugh>
Speaker 1 (00:50:55):
Nights and weekends. Yeah. <laugh>. Yeah. Anyhow, so anyway, so obviously most business people, again, think that growth’s important, but really what do we do to plan for growth? That’s, that’s really what this point is all about. Scheduling your growth first before you schedule your work. And, uh, that way, you know, you’re gonna get that, that stuff done. You know, like you said, the woo woo woo stuff or <laugh> Yeah. The corny stuff is, is gonna happen first because that will compel you to get it done so that you can move on to your, you know, your ROI tasks that are gonna, you know, return. Yeah. Give you your return. So, but it matters. Let’s, let’s give the, you know, the, the why it matters. Uh, list out real quick, the three points. You can’t grow what you don’t prioritize. So if you, if you don’t prioritize, uh, development in your company, it just isn’t gonna happen.
Speaker 1 (00:51:48):
You’re gonna stay right where you are year after year. Uh, the problem is the market doesn’t stay where you are year after year. So if you’re not getting better and sharper, there’s gonna be certain markets and certain years that are just gonna kick your butt. Uh, reactive businesses survive where proactive businesses thrive. They take it to the next level, and then your future revenue depends on what you do today, not on what you did yesterday. So whatever you finish yesterday doesn’t even matter anymore. It, it matters what we want to do tomorrow and what we’re setting our sights on, you know, in the future. So anyways, thoughts on that?
Speaker 2 (00:52:26):
Yeah, I mean, I think that you just have to be intentional. You know, have a plan for it. Have a plan for who you want trained and how you won’t trained. Yeah. And, and get that on a schedule. I mean, that sounds very simple, but that’s really what it boils down to. If it gets scheduled, it gets done. If it don’t get scheduled, it don’t get done. Yeah. Uh, so if you think leadership’s important, if you think, you know, growth of your team’s important, then, you know, find which avenue you want to go and, and get it on the calendar.
Speaker 1 (00:52:55):
Yeah. So like the action steps that I put on this, this step on step number three was to block five hours out a week on your calendar right now for growth stuff. So that would be an hour a day say now that that might be too much. I don’t know. That might be way ambitious. So
Speaker 2 (00:53:14):
It was like they’d be superman by next month or two.
Speaker 1 (00:53:17):
<laugh>, you one would hope <laugh> anyways, uh, just as a starting point, you know, we could dial that back to 30 minutes a week, you know, if that’s, if that’s more in line with, with what we want to do. But anyways, uh, that’s a suggestion as far as an action step. Block out some time per week. Make it early in the day for your calendar so you can get it done. Uh, John suggests you come in two hours before your start time to get that done. <laugh>, grow on your own time, grow on your own time, and then define what growth means to you. So, you know, as a, you might be a, a business owner out there that, you know, you’re a one man show or something, and so you gotta figure out what’s growth gonna be so you can keep your business moving forward and you’re still producing.
Speaker 1 (00:54:01):
So it could be things like, you know, you gotta buy out time to network and relationship build. ’cause you’re always got your, you know, your tools on and you know that you’re just, it’s easy to put your bags on and go to work and, and not do that kind of stuff. So you have to block it out and make yourself do it. Uh, content creation and marketing. We know the digital economy is real. We know that, uh, that’s where marketing and sales is heading to brand building and all that. So are you doing anything at all, uh, digitally, uh, online to promote your business? Uh, learning a new skill or certification? We talked about that. There’s always, uh, you know, mentorship programs and different kind of training programs, no matter what discipline you’re in, in a, in a business, in a team setting where, you know, your team members could go and, and receive some advanced training and get really good at what they do, uh, learn a new skill, certification, outreach to ideal clients, that’s something that you might wanna block out as part as your business development.
Speaker 1 (00:55:00):
That’s growth. Uh, you know, you know, as a leader, that’s really one of your primary jobs as a, as a founder, is like, once you get to a certain level with your team and, and your structure, um, and you have time, you know, freed up to start pursuing other things, you really, business development, new growth, things like that is something that, you know, the founder, the CEO oftentimes takes on. And that takes shaping in a lot of forms. Lunches, coffees, uh, whatever, you know, recreational things, occasionally with clients, whatever it takes. And then strategic planning. Uh, you know, there’s things that you can do strategically where you can look at the whole business, look at the processes, look at the projects on the board, how things are going, and, and make some moves instead of just letting things unfold as they would actually proactively go in and say, well, let’s do this first, that second this first, and, you know, and we’re gonna move this over here and, and we’re all gonna focus on this right now, and let’s knock this out and then do that. You know, just putting some thought into how the business is flowing and what you might be able to do to make it, uh, you know, produce a better ROI in the end that make it more efficient or whatever. So anyways, your thoughts on, on the, you know, that, that step, step number three. Yeah,
Speaker 2 (00:56:23):
No, that’s super important. I mean, I think what I’m probably gonna do is bring my Dale Carnegie rep back out, <laugh>, see if I can’t get you. Sucked guys. Signed up for some Thursday night growth classes. <laugh>. No kidding. I’m kidding. I know that we have a couple things that we’ve been talking about doing, and, uh, there’s a couple of groups that, that, uh, that we’ve been invited to join and, and, and are looking to join. And I think by joining those groups, we’re gonna grow in, in some of the ways that we’re, we’re, we’ve talked about here. Uh, so I think that that’s gonna be our approach in 26. Uh, you know, right now we don’t have anything really planned as far as, you know, any kind of individual sessions for any of our PMs, supers, anything like that. Yeah. I mean, I’m sure we’ll end up with some of that stuff throughout the year, but I know right now we have those couple of groups that, that we’re gonna be attending and, uh, I think that we’re gonna see some significant growth, uh, for ourselves, you know, through those connections and, and through those relationships.
Speaker 2 (00:57:22):
Yeah. So looking forward to that. I think that’s one of the, the biggest ways that, that I can see right off that we’re trying to do something a little different.
Speaker 1 (00:57:29):
Yeah. Yeah. I look forward to that. ’cause that’s something that we haven’t done a lot of up to this point. Um, just getting a little more, uh, proactive about, you know, being involved in, uh, the community and, you know, pursuing, developing relationships and, you know, and of course not looking for anything upfront. You know, it’s, it’s being genuine about it and just really, uh, you know, making yourself available to people and, and all that. And it just naturally turns into, uh, you know, improving business overall. So, uh, let’s make application across the industry. I like this little part. Contractors for growth scheduled time for estimating new projects and relationship building with suppliers and subs. That’s kind of a great, uh, suggestion, especially for like, you know, back to like the one man band type of thing. You know, if you’re running a company, those are things that’s probably suffering because you’re, you’re out there doing the work and stuff when you really need to start trying to figure out how you’re gonna step back and do stuff like this.
Speaker 1 (00:58:31):
The way to get it done is schedule it. Yeah. So make sure you’re estimating that next project. If, if, uh, you know, you’re the one that’s gonna do it so that when this project ends, you got another one, uh, ready to send your team to, or for you to go to. If you’re one man, abandon it still. And then the other thing, uh, relationship building that’s so important. We’ve learned that and, and we are working on that actively. It’s really hard when you’re a small company and maybe one or two guys or, or gals or whatever. Uh, you just have to buy out time and do that. And, and it’s, it can be difficult ’cause you have to slow your pace down, you know, and, and just kind of be present, which can be hard to do when your mind’s out there on the job, right?
Speaker 1 (00:59:13):
You know, pulling wire or pulling rope or whatever it is. You know, real estate agents block out time for sphere outreach, open houses, community events. So you gotta get yourself out there in that community lenders schedule time for realtor partner meetings, and, uh, and then follow up on applications. So that’s relationship building there for lenders with the people who are gonna bring ’em clients, which is, uh, real estate agents, which we, we pursue that a lot ourselves too, because we know that, uh, they really are ground zero for a lot of developers and, and people looking to build a project. And then architects dedicate time to, you know, develop your own portfolio. Kind of talked about that. Young architects out there. You might be working for, you know, a firm, but at some point you’re gonna wanna, you know, you wanna scale your business and scale your income.
Speaker 1 (01:00:02):
And, uh, it’s probably gonna mean doing something on your own. So start building your portfolio, uh, attending industry events and networking with people. And, uh, and, you know, you can also pursue thought leadership opportunities, uh, get really good at what you do, and, and then share that with other people through articles, books, whatever. So, uh, closing it all down, three things for 2026 to be better than what 2025 was. We wanna fire some clients. We talked about the details of that. And the details will be in the show notes. Focus on one thing that made you money last year and do more of that. And then schedule growth before you schedule your work so that you’re continuing to move your, your business forward and not just staying stagnant where you are right now. So, closing thoughts, John? Yeah, man.
Speaker 2 (01:00:51):
Excited about 26. Go put some of these things to, uh, to action here. Sounds good. Can’t wait to see the
Speaker 1 (01:00:57):
Results. Sounds, I know. Sounds good, man. Ready to go. All right, sounds good. So if you enjoyed this episode, tell somebody about it. Welcome back to the K-Cup. Welcome back to 2026. Hope that you’re tuning back in. Uh, we had a little hiatus there during the holidays, but we’re back at it. And, uh, we are glad that, uh, you joined us for this episode. So y’all take care. Cut. Cut. <laugh>.