Starting a Low Voltage Business Part 2

Three successful low-voltage business owners share candid insights and hard-earned wisdom about starting and running your own company in the ICT industry. They discuss everything from tool investments and hiring decisions to managing customer relationships and balancing work-life responsibilities.

• Deciding when to invest in expensive equipment like certifiers ($10,000-$26,000) versus renting
• Creating a professional image with branded vans, storefronts, and uniforms to command higher prices
• Thoroughly vetting potential employees and subcontractors by making them work alongside you
• Learning to say "no" to jobs and customers that aren't the right fit for your business
• Being wary of customers promising future work in exchange for discounted prices
• Making time for administration and paperwork outside regular business hours
• Ensuring your family understands and supports your business commitment
• Developing strong communication skills and learning to listen to customer needs
• Finding a balance between technical expertise and people skills
• Checking your ego at the door and constantly being willing to learn

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Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction to Business Ownership
• 2:17 Tools and Equipment Investments
• 10:39 Building a Professional Image
• 17:36 Hiring Employees and Subcontractors
• 23:18 Balancing Field Work and Administration
• 34:42 Non-Technical Skills for Success
• 38:26 Final Advice for New Entrepreneurs

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Hey, wiremonkeys, welcome to another episode of let's Talk Cabling. So you thought about starting your own low-voltage business.

Speaker 2: 0:06

This is the show for you Welcome to let's Talk Cabling, the award-winning podcast where knowledge is power and the low-voltage industry connects, hosted by Chuck Bowser, rcdd. We're here to empower installers, designers and industry pros with the tips, stories and best practices you need to stay ahead. From copper to fiber, standards to innovation, this is the show that keeps you plugged into success. So grab your tools, turn up the volume and let's talk cabling. Let's talk cabling, your source for low-voltage expertise and connection.

Speaker 1: 0:51

Welcome to the show where we tackle the tough questions submitted by installers, technicians, project managers, estimators, it personnel, even customers. We're connecting at the human level so that we can connect the world. We are connecting at the human level so that we can connect the world. If you're watching this show on YouTube, would you mind hitting the subscribe button and the bell button to be notified when new content is being produced? If you're listening to us on one of the audio podcast platforms, would you mind leaving us a five-star rating? Those simple little steps help us take on the algorithm so we can educate, encourage and enrich the lives of people in the ICT industry.

Speaker 1: 1:24

Wednesday night, 6 pm, eastern Standard Time. What are you doing? You know you get to ask your favorite RCDD questions on installation, certification, design, estimation, project management, even career path questions. But I can hear you now I'm driving my truck on Wednesday nights at 6 pm. I don't want to get into a car accident. I record them and they're available afterwards without you having to get into an accident. And finally, while this show is free and will always remain free, would you click on that QR code right there? You can buy me a cup of coffee. You can schedule a 15-minute one-on-one call with me after hours. Of course you can even buy let's Talk Cablewing t-shirts. Hey, this is editing Chuck.

Speaker 1: 2:03

Last week was part one. This week we continue the conversation with part two and cover some really important information if you're thinking about starting your own low-voltage business. So let's tune back in to where we left off last week. So let's talk about tools and equipment. Right, we're guys. We like buying tools, especially if they're in Milwaukee red or Klein orange or DeWalt yellow. I love how they pick their own thread Thread. I knew that was going to happen. I knew that was going to happen. I've got a mob box sitting here at my feet somewhere doing something. I carry my AV stuff in it. So we're going to go out and buy tools and we'll go out and buy punch tools and snips and hand tools. But we start getting to the higher level things like certifiers, fusion splicers. You know OTDRs. How do you decide when is the right time to buy that? Because you're starting off, you don't have $10,000 to $26,000 or drop for a certifier. How do you approach that problem? Have $10,000 to $26,000 or a job for a?

Speaker 4: 3:06

certifier. How do you approach that problem? I mean, for me, the first time I got a job that required having one was when I started thinking about it. I think I rented certifiers for two or three jobs and I finally realized this is just silly and I'm going to do it for these. I'm going to be doing it for all of them. And the way that we work, where we essentially travel around the country doing cabling For me it's an insurance policy, like if I leave the site, everything's certified. I can say that the client calls you back in a couple months hey, these drops are no longer working properly. I'm like well, they were when we left. We'll come back and troubleshoot them. But something's happened post-install that's caused the issue. That peace of mind alone made a purchase like that pretty easy to pull off. I that peace of mind alone made a purchase like that pretty easy to pull off. I mean, it's just I had to do it, Mr Ryan.

Speaker 1: 3:49

How about you?

Speaker 5: 3:52

Same with certifying. We travel all over. We have guys stationed all over. My biggest thing is, even if the customer states that they don't want certification or it's not necessary, we do it, no matter what it is that insurance policy. I've had customers call and say, hey, this jack hasn't worked since the day you installed it. Well, is it something on your end? Because we got the certification report? We know it's 70 feet, we know it's 290 feet, whatever, and here it's working. And here I mean to some of those customers that we've done a nationwide work and we know we have repetitive issues. We even go as far as plugging a laptop in and making sure it is fully live to plug in and get a report there as well. Sometimes, um the other, I mean, yeah, the with certifiers. I think we bought ours, the second or third one, after like really needing it.

Speaker 5: 4:46

Um, our first one we rented it was like 200 and something, drop uh job and we ended up needing it for like three weeks and it just cost us our arm and like yeah, yeah, because last time I priced the certifier it was 1200 bucks a week yeah, I think this one was like $900 a week and at that point I was like $900 a week. I mean, if I can split that to $900 a month, even if I need to take a loan out at this point to buy a $20,000 certifier, I could. We did Well. That's how I looked at it. It was well. The first customer can pay for the first loan payment and then continue on.

Speaker 1: 5:30

Mr Jeff, how about?

Speaker 6: 5:30

you, how do you decide those big tools, buy them right away or could they wait? I mean, for me, you know tools are a means to convenience, so you got to remember you know I know it's cliche, but it is Time is money and there are things that you certainly want that can kind of speed things up. You know, pierce Ryan and I, we all have probably entered the field of buying. You know certifiers and fiber tools and that kind of stuff. But but I think maybe the folks who are listening right now you know they might have their primary vehicle might be like what they're actually using right now and like for me, I can relate to that. When I started this, you know, nights and weekends, I was using my daily driver, my pickup truck, to go from job to job. And then, you know, taking the toolboxes in and out of the bed of a pickup truck and you know not having certain things, uh, certain times and then having to go to home depot. So like that to me is when I was like you know what getting a van makes a lot of sense right now, and then it goes back to like what we talked about two segments ago with, like licensing and insurance and everything else. So it's like, okay, like I'm gonna, I'm gonna buy a van because I'm gonna save probably an hour at the beginning of the day and the hour at the end of the day. Everything's going to be in this van. I can start to build shelves and have it outfitted the way I want. But it's the hidden costs, it's the extra insurance, it's the you know you're maintaining a second vehicle and you know. So now we're at the point where we have a whole fleet of vehicles. So now we're at the point where we have a whole fleet of vehicles. It has to make sense. Where you're having vehicles that you know does is your growth model being supported by the amount of vehicles.

Speaker 6: 7:14

But you know, for me I think you know, when I think back to like certifiers and fiber tools and like some of the big ticket items in our industry for being their bucket list items for me, like there, things that you know, every year I try to get you know one big investment tool for us, um might put it this way for me it's not like ryan or pierce, for like I've rented things, it's me turning things down once or twice because I don't have the tool I needed and it's like, hey, this is the third time I've been asked to do fiber work. Maybe, you know, I've watched everybody do it. It's time to get my own, because the fourth time it happens I can actually say, yeah, I have one of those, I can do that portion of the job. I don't have to sub that part out. So for me it's just being mindful.

Speaker 6: 8:02

And the same thing with a certifier is you know, before I had one, it was the uh, yeah, we only have a verifier. Is that good enough for you? Part of that half the time is like they don't really. Yeah, yeah, yeah, we just need a pdf, you know. So they don't even realize what they're asking for. It's when you get to that operational on a job store, it's like we, you know, we need this certified, and they know what they're and they know what they're talking about. They know what they're asking for. When I crossed that bridge it was like, ok, it's time to get one.

Speaker 1: 8:29

You know I probably don't use the tools as much as Ryan and Pierce do, but I know that I have one and when jobs come up, I know I'm ready for those jobs and one of the advantages of when you move to, when you move to your van, right, yes, it's saving you time, but you know what A customer is willing to pay you more when they see you pull up in front of their office in a van that's logoed and professional, as opposed to I don't like the term trunk slammer, because trunk slammer some of you do does poor quality work.

Speaker 1: 9:01

But a lot of people call themselves trunk slammers because they work out of the personal vehicles and those aren't trunk slammers because they work out of the personal vehicles and those are trunk slammers. Right, it's all about quality, but if you pull up in a van that's logoed and professional and you got shirts on and say you know, you know, let's give you a better day's technology or or whatever company they work for that goes back to Pierce's conversation Charge as much as you can get for it and they're willing to pay for more if you pull up in something that looks professional.

Speaker 6: 9:24

Yeah, absolutely, and I don't know if this kind of falls on the same thread that you're talking about, but, like you know, for the longest time I worked out of my home office and it was only and then, you know, recently, in the last three years is when I actually got a storefront, and that I feel like elevated my professionalism, so like in addition to having the vans that were, you know, parked outside my house for the longest time. It's like now we actually people are like oh yeah, I know where your shop is. So it, you know, that is like. I feel like that is what really took us to the next level is not just the vans, not just the t shirts, not just that, but like having a place on a main road that people drive by every day, even if they don't need you. They are saying, oh yeah, that you know that place on Gooding Ave, that's the, you gotta go there, you know. So that to me, was like really the, the real trifecta of, like you know, business growth.

Speaker 3: 10:23

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Speaker 1: 11:19

Now, at some point, when you have your own business and you start getting more and more business, you start to realize that there's only 24 hours in a day. There's only so much time that you can't do everything. At some point you got to start thinking about subcontracting stuff out, or maybe even hiring somebody for the first time. So, going around the room, I'm going to start with you, mr Pierce what advice do you have for someone hiring an employee the first time, or maybe even doing subcontracting for the first time?

Speaker 4: 11:47

I ask a lot of questions. Don't assume that just because they talk a big game and they know you know they sell them themselves to you that they're going to be that fit If you would. I've been burned too many times by guys who they might be technically good but they're not good with other people. And then I get in front of the client, or you know, maybe they look on paper but in reality they're not that great. So one of the things I've learned to do is one, find good people to ask the right questions and two, cultivate those relationships to keep partnering with them going forward. I mean, the work I do these days still is nationwide, but I've got certain guys I go back to again and again and again because I know they're going to be okay and I can trust them to do the job the right way.

Speaker 1: 12:31

Ryan, what about you?

Speaker 5: 12:33

About the same way. I definitely stress vetting everybody, if it's a 1099 or if it's an employee, um, I strongly strongly recommend making a employee have a trial period with you. Um, stick them at your hip, make them be your sidekick for whatever myth 30, 60, 90 days, whatever. Watch them do things. Don't do the work, make them do it, but watch them do it. Make sure they do it to what your standards are. If they don't stop them, teach them. Don't do the work for them, but teach them Right At that point. That's my biggest thing.

Speaker 5: 13:18

We've had plenty of candidates that come through say, yeah, I can do the whole nine yards. We put them out in the field because we're too busy and we didn't have time to train them. We go back and look at the work and we're like, oh crap, there goes another 30 hours to fix this or whatever. Um, so I, I strongly I, I don't care how busy you are, make time to have them on site with you and train them or watch how they do it, so you make sure your quality of work is the same throughout, right?

Speaker 1: 13:46

You know, when you mentioned that 30 hours, I'm sure that was just off the top of your head, but you know when you have to go back and redo something, if it costs you 30 hours, the true cost isn't 30 hours. It's 30 hours to pay the person to go back and redo it. It's 30 hours of lost revenue on a different job they should have been on and also lost customer confidence in your abilities Correct, and there's a lot of stuff that goes on with that. Mr Jeff, any advice for somebody looking to bring on a subcontractor or hiring somebody for the first time?

Speaker 6: 14:17

Yeah, I think, unfortunately, I probably every person that works here I've probably known for at least 20 years personally. So for me it's just been like this, this dream of mine, and I've brought, I've brought these people along that I've known throughout the industry. Or when I was an IT director, one of my best employees was someone who was an intern of mine at the school I was working at and then just I stayed in contact with and so I think for me that is what I kind of look to. I feel like trust is the most important tool that you have in in in our industry. Um, we could teach someone how to uh, crimp a cab, an end on a cable. We can teach people the right way to. You know, run a cable through a plenum. Um, you can't teach trust. Just like in the nba. You can't treat, teach height, you know like these are. Cable through a plenum. You can't teach trust. Just like in the NBA. You can't teach height. You know Like.

Speaker 6: 15:20

These are the things that I just feel like a person's character is the most valued tool that they can bring to a better day's technology and if you don't have that, you don't last here and that's you know that's a hard thing to. It's hard to say I don't trust this person, you know. But like you, it's a domino effect. The customer is trusting us. I need to be able to trust the people implicitly that I'm sending to their place of business or their home, because we do both. So that that's that's like, and I always say about even myself I'm 49 percent technician, I'm 51 percent a people, person first and foremost, and I know that a lot of our work comes because of the ability to communicate. Like you said earlier, that's my biggest strength, not being a technician, so it's getting the customer to feel comfortable, trusting me and then, in return, an extension of that is knowing that the people under me are just as trustworthy.

Speaker 1: 16:36

Right are just as trustworthy Right. One of the another big hurdle for people who are starting their own low, low voltage businesses you know, they, they, they think about it. They go out and do the job. They go pull the cable, terminate the cable, test the cable and stuff they put in their eight, 10, 12 hours a day, five days a week. But guess what? You're not done. You know, you still got to work on those proposals. You still got to do those estimates. You still got to do your invoicing. You still got to do your taxes. You still got to do marketing. There's all this other stuff. How do you balance field work with doing all that other stuff that you got to do as a business owner? You first, mr Pierce, I don't.

Speaker 4: 17:13

There's honesty for you right there. Yeah, I mean've last couple years I've set aside a dedicated day, usually a monday, in the office to do that kind of stuff. But let me hear, I'm in a hotel right now. I'll be doing it. When we finish this call. I'll be doing invoices tonight and some other paperwork. So I mean, you just kind of have to figure out a system that works for you and everybody's different in that regard how about you, ryan?

Speaker 5: 17:36

how the same uh, I don't have it nailed down yet. I mean we have people that help and do a lot of it, but at the end of the day, rick and I have final say on things. So we still have to go back and, uh, review those things, and it could be two o'clock in the morning. I'm like, oh, I can't sleep, so might as well pull out the laptop and do something. Um, I know at least Jeff and I have talked, and it's been past midnight a couple times, so I know we're both burning the oil trying to get things done. So I think it's pretty common in any business that owners are burning the oil late at night.

Speaker 1: 18:12

It doesn't shut off right. No, because I could be sitting at at. Uh, you know, my wife and I we went to dinner saturday night and we're sitting talking and it thought crossed my mind yeah, okay, I'll put that away and made a note on my phone.

Speaker 5: 18:26

Stuff you don't ever stop thinking you know, and uh, it's a, it's a good thing, that's the curse. At the same time, yes, um, yes, because, like I said, I think it was midnight last night and we're watching tv and my wife falls asleep on the couch and all of a sudden I think of something. I go grab my laptop and I'm working till three o'clock in the morning. That's because something popped in my brain. Um it, I don't think I know there's eventually there's a way to get to that point. I just don't think it will ever be in my books to get to that point, because I still like to be hands on and still deal with the business and know everything about the business. I know there's owners and different companies out there, that they're not as involved or whatnot, but I don't think that I'll ever get to that point.

Speaker 6: 19:13

What about you, jeff? Yeah, I mean, um, you got to remember I left my comfortable desk job, uh of 20 something years to go listen to jamaican music and climb a ladder all day long. So, like that to me, like, like that's ultimate freedom to me is being able to like I, like I did life backwards. Most people try to work, climb ladders at the beginning of their career and have a nice cush desk job after that. That's not how life's going for Jeff right now and I'm totally okay with it. People always say, oh, you're the owner, you shouldn't be doing that. I don't care what you think. There's a bit who don't have businesses that say that I'm happy, I'm happy and even if they did have a business like it doesn't matter. I think back to when I was miserable working at this place and now, like, I get to do what I want to do. I, you know so for me, like that's it. But uh, you know ryan brought something up and you know he's absolutely right. We have talked very late into the night. Uh, ryan's gotten phone calls at 2 am from customers. I've had the same thing.

Speaker 6: 20:18

It's having that support system at home, I think, is really important. My wife was all in on me doing this because she knew this is what I needed to be happy. I was miserable when I had that desk job. It was a great job, it was a great environment, but I wasn't realizing what I needed to be happy. When my wife did and she said you know you need to go off on your own, you need to do this. I got your back and like, uh, you know, I know that's going to mean that you are not going to be home, um, some nights you're going to go back to the office and do paperwork, or you know you're you're going to be doing this on saturdays. So I think that's the most important. It's a family. When you do this, it is a true family decision, and please don't do this without talking to your support system and you, just you just stole my thunder.

Speaker 1: 21:08

I'm sitting thinking well, I can't wait for you to finish. I can't wait for you to finish because you have to have a good solid foundation, a good solid relationship with your spouse yeah, and communicate with your spouse, and they have to also understand the same vision yeah, and if it's not a spouse, it's a family, it's it's.

Speaker 6: 21:24

You know, I mean, um, it's the same thing for you know, with my wife, I mean, you know, she chose her career, she, she's a nurse, she works holidays, like this is something that we've adapted to as a family because, you know, this is you do this for the people that you love it and, and you know so, for me it's the same thing. Like, yeah, I'm not punching in on christmas on purpose, but, like you know I do, we do service a couple of restaurants and, um, they have a couple thanksgivings ago they needed a modem and, uh, the isp is closed. We, we have, we have modems in stock. We were able to call the 1-800 number, get the mac address and they were able to get back online, um, on thanksgiving morning.

Speaker 6: 22:05

So these are things like, yeah, it's not just like hey, uh, I'm ready to go off on my own, I'm going to do this, I'm going to. You know it's it's. No, you got the people you know, your family, your parents, you know, you got to know that the people in your life are behind you. That's when you're going to be the most successful is when other people have your back, absolutely.

Speaker 3: 22:26

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Speaker 1: 23:10

Let's shift the conversation now into things that you wish that you'd known before you started. Again, that aspiring business owner they don't know what mistakes they're going to make, but now that you guys have been doing your businesses for years, now you kind of know the mistakes that you've made. What's something that you wish somebody would have sat down and told you before you launched a low-voltage business? Mr Pears?

Speaker 4: 23:37

That it's okay to say no, and by that I mean you don't have to take every job that comes in front of you and every bid that crosses your desk. You can turn stuff down and still be successful and still do just fine.

Speaker 1: 23:49

Love that. I absolutely love that. It is OK to say no, it is OK to fire customers Just saying, mr Ryan, how about you?

Speaker 5: 24:00

One thing is put trackers on anything that's expensive.

Speaker 1: 24:05

That sounds like there's some stories behind that.

Speaker 5: 24:08

We've had a couple of certifiers Wachoff job sites because technicians did not keep up with them and those are 15 to 20 grand a piece depending on when you buy them. Another thing is, I've learned the hard way multiple times and, as you say, we're in the communication field. We suck at communication. Yep, communicating to your spouse. There'll be hours upon hours I do not communicate with my wife because something's gone haywire at a job site. And boy, as soon as I get off that job site I did it, my wife lets me hear it. So I always communicate with your spouse. If something's going haywire, just say, hey, something's bad, I need to take care of it. I'll let you know, I'll keep you updated, that type of thing. I've learned that the hard way. But those two things will keep your life a little bit easier, I would say.

Speaker 1: 24:58

You know, just again, as we're sitting here talking, my brain's always thinking. It's like hey, I need to have the certifier manufacturers come on and talk about what happens when a certifier gets stolen, because the certifiers have to be sent back once a year to be recalibrated. If you report it to them, they should have your serial number and just say, hey, this is a stolen certifier. But then again there's a lot of people don't certify their or don't calibrate the certifiers every year.

Speaker 5: 25:25

Yeah, I mean we, we had a job that, um, actually, I think pierce helped on or uh helped facilitate that was down in georgia and a certifier was used and it hadn't been uh, calibrated since 2014 I think it was yeah, and they were certifying.

Speaker 4: 25:41

I mean, that happened just this year or maybe twice in a while, and they tried to tell us that everything was perfect.

Speaker 5: 25:46

Yeah, you know, and tables weren't working, et cetera.

Speaker 4: 25:50

No, it was a nightmare.

Speaker 6: 25:51

Yeah, it's like a vehicle. I mean you wouldn't not change the oil in one of your work fans. You know, like this is it's attention.

Speaker 1: 25:58

It's attention to detail. If you're not paying attention to how you know when the last time your certifier was calibrated, then how's the customer going to be certain that the jacks term made the exact right way behind their 552 jacks in their billet?

Speaker 5: 26:11

Yeah, oh, it's attention. I've had those conversations with uh, we're team blue, which is trend networks. That's who we use for our certifiers. I've had conversations with their development team. Probably we put air Apple tags in here or whatever to track these things. At this point. I've gone as far as taking apart myself on two of them and putting Air tags in them. We put them in the carrying case, we put them in the devices themselves. At this point, just because that's $15,000, $20,000 that could easily walk away.

Speaker 4: 26:41

You must carry secrets.

Speaker 1: 26:43

Yeah, I have four listeners and three of them are on the show today. There you go.

Speaker 5: 26:50

I mean, that's a business move in my respect that I really wanted to make sure we continue to do.

Speaker 5: 26:57

Just because if they do walk away, there's no guarantee that someone has to put that thing on the internet. So you actually use it Because you can create all the tests on the actual devices themselves. So you never really have to connect it to the internet. So even if they put an IMEI tracker or something on it that as soon as it connected to the internet it would lock it, that won't necessarily help at the end of the day.

Speaker 1: 27:22

Jeff, what was one thing that you wish someone that sat down and told you about before you launched your business?

Speaker 6: 27:27

Yeah, I mean I think Pierce kind of reminded me of what I wanted to talk about. Certainly it's okay to say no, certainly okay to fire customers, but the one piece of advice I would have is don't get sucked into a customer saying give me a good price on this job. I got tons more work for you and I care I bit that worm hook line and sinker the first three or four. Like you know, when I really started in with like customers I had multiple sites, multiple locations, multiple jobs, developers who are building. I'm like, yeah, I want, I want to get laced up with that guy. You know, if that's happened to me 10 times, I could think of maybe three times where the customer has been a repeat customer. They just want the best deal they can and you know loyalty means nothing to them. So you know that would be the advice like be very leery of the person who leads with that and says like give me a good deal on this one and and you got the rest of my work forever.

Speaker 1: 28:30

Um, it rarely happens yeah, and when I used to ask me projects because you write, almost every customer call you up and says, yeah, can you show open your pencil a little better? My, my, my, my response is always the price is the price. If you you want the price to come down, let's talk about changing something in the design. Maybe, instead of doing Cat 6A, maybe go to Cat 6. Or maybe talk about doing a different topology, maybe doing like consolidation points. Get our average run links down, Because the price is the price.

Speaker 6: 28:56

Yeah, and you know to handcuff yourself to future jobs before you've even done the first job. You know that's a two-way street. I mean you might not want to do work for them. Um, you know, there's always just like, oh, I can't wait to get more work, more work. But no, I mean you can say no, like I don't want to work for this person anymore, just just like two weeks ago that it has to be a mutually beneficial relationship between you and the customer.

Speaker 1: 29:22

You both have to get benefits out of it and it can't be lopsided. Because if it's lopsided, that's why it goes through so many little bullies contractors, because they're notorious for how they treat their little bullies contractors. And what happens is everybody wants to go work because they got all these gazillion locations. But when they find out how to price this stuff and then they make you be lower the next year and then lower the next year, eventually the contract say you know what we're done.

Speaker 4: 29:44

So is it yeah?

Speaker 6: 29:46

and that is like the thing that I, the person that I just referencing, that was the thing too. Like you, you get caught up and they're like, oh, I'm finally getting calls from like a known, you know entity in town. And it's like then you, you peel back the layers of the onion and you realize it's not all it's work cracked up to be working for this place. So it's like, yeah, don't get fooled by the you know the panache of of business. That's the one thing that you know. Another piece of advice I would have yeah, the dangling carrot right, that's that.

Speaker 1: 30:14

that allowed you, right, customers will always start dangling in front of you. Um, I, the only time I would even consider the dangling carrot is if I already had an existing relationship with that customer and there was some level of trust already there. Right, like I would. It was just some Joe blow first time job, uh, here's the price. Then you have you. Don't talk about other jobs, I'll be more than happy to talk about those when it was come down the pipe. But this price is this price and there it is. You know a lot of people don't realize that. Uh, running your own business, you know it's not always life on easy straight. It's not always streets of gold. It's not always easy decisions. Sometimes you've got to make hard decisions. Sometimes you've got to get up at 2 am, as Ryan said, and do stuff like that. Let me ask you guys this question. It's a two-part question have you ever thought about quitting or questioned why was this the right move? You know, starting your business, and how did you get past that? Starting with you, mr Pierce.

Speaker 4: 31:09

Yes, I thought about quitting straight out of the gate. I mean, I don't think any of us would say no. It's always been perfect and great and wonderful when I've had challenges or I've had those moments of doubt. If you would, for me it's I've slowed down. So slow down, break whatever it is you're looking at into smaller, manageable chunks, if you would, or smaller problems to deal with, and step through those, and almost anything is surmountable if you do it that way. If you look at a big problem like how the hell am I going to pay this or how am I going to tackle this design job, you'll never get through it that way. You got to break it down to manageable pieces.

Speaker 1: 31:45

That's actually a project management theory. Right there it's. How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time, you break the problem down into smaller things and you clear each other. That's perfect Project management advice 101. Right there for you, mr Ryan. How about you?

Speaker 5: 31:59

I can't say I necessarily wanted to quit. There's been days that I wanted to go home and like go to bed and like get a fresh day the next day Because I can. I'll be honest, I can never see myself working for somebody again. It's just not the mentality I like and it's not. I may put myself through hell, but it's not somebody I want to. I don't want to work for someone else and have dictate them, dictate my hell. I'd rather be the one that living my hell and dictating my own hell at that point. Oh, that's the way I've looked at it. Like I said, I don't think I've necessarily ever wanted to quit, but there's been days I'm like, okay, let's go home, let's uh calling quits for that day, regroup whatever. But there's I don't. But there's been days I'm like, okay, let's go home, let's uh calling quits for that day, regroup whatever. But there's I don't think there's ever been a time that I'm saying, yeah, let's pack, stop.

Speaker 1: 32:51

And let's unplug, unplug recharging the batteries, and that's why it's good and and and this is one of the one of the one of the one of the things but the business owners got to be careful of is because they get so gung-ho getting their business going that they tend to neglect their family life or their other outside stuff. At some point you have to disconnect to recharge your battery, and that's when you need to have that on. Mr Jeff, what about you? Have you thought about quitting?

Speaker 6: 33:17

You know, I can't say, when you're self-employed and you feel like quitting, you're quitting on yourself and that's. That's just not how I would be programmed. So, yeah, there's. There's certainly the you know like ryan saying, uh, time to time to cash them in today, guys, but you know, you, you've made a conscious decision to enter self-employment and, um, you know, quitting on this job you're, you're quitting on the man in the mirror and um, yeah, that's that, that wouldn't be um in my wheelhouse. Uh, but yeah, there are days that are harder than others. There are clients that are harder than others and you're like you know what I? I want to quit this client, client, I don't want to work for this client anymore. But no, you're self-employed, you can't quit on yourself.

Speaker 3: 34:11

Let's take a short break. Are you trying to reach the technicians, project managers and decision makers of the ICT industry? Then why aren't you advertising on let's Talk Cabling industry? Then why aren't you advertising on let's Talk Cabling? With over 150,000 impressions a month across podcasts, youtube and social media, this isn't just a show. It's the go-to resource for the low-voltage industry. We spotlight the tools, training and technology shaping the future of structured cabling, and your brand could be front and center. Don't just get noticed, get trusted. Email, chuck at advertising at letstalkcablingcom, and let's connect your brand to the right audience today.

Speaker 1: 34:58

What's the biggest non-technical skill? You know because people starting a little village business they've got a lot of good technical skills. What's the biggest non-technical skill that a business owner needs to know to be successful in this industry? Pierce.

Speaker 4: 35:13

Listen, and by that I mean what we often find with our clients is we'll go in with our idea of what is probably the best solution for what they need. But if you listen to them and ask them the right questions the non-technical side of it, if you will, you oftentimes learn what they're really after and you can give them a better solution that fits their problem a lot better. The challenge I've seen is guys who go in and they think it's a one size fits all or they'll just shoehorn their idea into this to be the solution, and that doesn't always work.

Speaker 1: 35:46

Yep, that's solid advice right there, because you see that even on social media, on the low-volume social media platforms, where somebody will say something and then somebody else will say, well, no, it's got to be this, this and that, well, that's fine for that scenario, but for access control, that's not what you do right, and again, just don't listen. Control, that's not what you do right, and again just don't listen, jeff.

Speaker 6: 36:06

What's one non-technical skill that a business owner needs? Um, but like I said earlier, I'm I'm 49 technician, 51 people person. So I would say that the technical skill, like we've said, over and over, communication, communication, communication, uh, but for me, um it. You got to be able to check your ego at the door. You will not grow if you think that you are the smartest person in the room at all times. If you're done learning, you're done here. You know there's just. You should always be learning, and you know, for me, especially in like. You know, obviously we're members of technology, we surround ourselves with like-minded people, but you got to be able to ask questions and not worry about what that means about you as a person. You got to have self-confidence. You got to be able to not be afraid to ask the dumb question. I asked a question today. Not be afraid to ask the dumb question. I asked a question today.

Speaker 6: 37:06

Um, someone was abbreviating something and I could not, for the life of me, figure out what those letters were. Uh, turns out they were making up an abbreviation. It was like they were adding a letter to it. That we'll have enough. We don't need to make up new ones.

Speaker 6: 37:20

So you know, for me, in that scenario, I was just like I'm not going to be afraid to ask a question here because I I look, I can't just sit here like a dummy, like I'm not contributing to the conversation if we're not speaking the same language. I mean, you're using acronyms that you might as well speak, be speaking chinese, if you're saying something that I don't know what it means. So I'm gonna ask what it means and come to find out he was doing the wrong thing, he was abbreviating something the wrong way, but so I think it's one of those things. Don't be afraid to ask questions and don't be worried about what the impression will be of you if you ask a question that you might perceive as dumb, because one of two things can happen Either maybe what today happened, where the person saying something that isn't real, or you actually learned something, and which is the number one goal anyway. So don't be afraid to ask a question, check your ego out the door, be a alum for the journey.

Speaker 1: 38:21

Last question, and this is an easy one. So right now I want you to, when you give me the answer, think about the person who's listening to this podcast right now. They're sitting on the fence thinking about starting their own company. What would you say directly to them, starting with you, Mr Pierce?

Speaker 4: 38:37

My response would be to do it. Trust your instincts and don't be afraid to ask for help.

Speaker 5: 38:45

Ryan Spot on. Do it, Don't worry about any. Don't worry about failure. There's people out there that will support you once you do it.

Speaker 6: 39:01

I mean as simple as that. What about you, jeff? My answer would be a little different. Um, I would say, uh, make sure you're prepared first. Uh, before you're ready to take this leap, because, um, you know, there's a lot of people that are counting on your success and you need to make sure that you feel like you're in a great place for success first. Um, so I would say, do it when you're ready, because I'm a walking example of that.

Speaker 6: 39:24

I probably could have been like Ryan and done this right from the jump. I had a baseline of skills, I had a great personality. I could have done this out of high school, but I wasn't ready. Then my wife was encouraging me to do this for the last 20 years. I wasn't ready to. So do it. It's a great move, but you got to be ready, you got to be all in and then, like everything we've talked about today, listen to us and realize that this is real. Like those nights and weekends aren't yours anymore. You don't do this if you're not ready to give it your all, because it's going to take all of your all. You don't get to leave at 5 o'clock, there's work to be done after work, and don't do any of this until you're ready to do it.

Speaker 1: 40:16

Gentlemen, I appreciate the knowledge that you just dropped on the people Because, like I said, most questions I get outside of technical questions are business-related or starting their own business. I appreciate you guys taking the time, being patient, waiting a year for this thing finally done and stuff. I appreciate you guys coming on the show.

Speaker 6: 40:35

Thank you. Thank you, chuck, true honor Thanks.

Speaker 2: 40:38

Thanks for listening to let's Talk Cabling, the award-winning podcast where knowledge is power and the low-voltage industry connects. If you enjoyed today's episode, don't forget to subscribe, leave a review and share it with your crew. Got questions or ideas for the show? Chuck wants to hear from you. Stay connected, stay informed and always aim for excellence Until next time. Form and always aim for excellence Until next time. Keep those cables clean, your standards high and your future bright. Let's Talk Cabling empowering the industry, one connection at a time.