41: The Lev Golosov Episode
On this episode of the Huge Transformations Podcast, Sid Graef sits down with Lev Golosov, founder of Garage Floor Masters, to talk about what it really takes to build a successful home service business from nothing. Lev immigrated from Russia, started in pressure washing with no experience, and eventually grew into multiple service lines, multiple locations, and a more systemized business built around people, persistence, and constant improvement.
This conversation is especially valuable for home service owners who are still in the messy middle of growth. Lev shares lessons from losing $30,000 worth of equipment before Garage Floor Masters ever really got off the ground, why he believes taking care of employees comes before taking care of customers, and how referral systems, reviews, Google, yard signs, and multiple marketing touches all work together. Sid and Lev also talk about AI, entrepreneurship, immigrant mindset, financial discipline, and why the people who win in business are usually the ones who refuse to quit.
Resources:
The Huge Insider Newsletter Signup [https://thehugeconvention.com/]
The Huge Insider Podcast Action Guide [https://thehugeconvention.com/]
The Huge Mastermind Info Page [https://thehugeconvention.com/]
Facebook Group [https://thehugeconvention.com/]
The Huge Convention [https://thehugeconvention.com/]
Garage Floor Masters [https://tennesseegaragefloorcoatings.com/]
Garage Floor Masters Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/garagefloormasters/]
The Dream Manager by Matthew Kelly [https://www.amazon.com/Dream-Manager-Matthew-Kelly/dp/1401388442]
Transcript:
Hello everyone. Welcome to the Huge Transformations podcast. I'm Sid Graef out of Montana. I'm Gabe Torres here in Nashville, Tennessee. And I'm Sheila Smeltzer from North Carolina, we are your hosts and guides through the landscape of growing a successful home service business. We do this by interviewing the best home service business builders in. The industry folks that have already built seven and eight figure businesses and they want to help you succeed. Yep. No fake gurus on this show. Just real life owners that have been in the trenches and can help show you the way to grow profitably. We get insights and truths from successful business builders. And every episode is 100% experience, 0% theory. We are going to dig deep and reveal the good, the bad, and the ugly. Our guests will share with you the pitfalls to avoid and the keys to winning. In short, our guest will show you how to transform your home service business into a masterpiece. Thanks for joining us on the wild. Journey of entrepreneurship. Let's dive in. Welcome back to the Huge Transformations podcast. I am really glad to see you here. Today's gonna be fun, whereas they all are, but this is really cool because we get to interview a good friend of mine. His name is Lev Golo. Lev in Russian means lion. So you're gonna meet my friend, Lev the Lion. We've known each other for about six years, and currently we're in the same. Mastermind together, the huge Mastermind, which is a mastermind that is, that is ideally situated for home service business owners that are at or above that $1 million threshold in annual revenue and want to five x 10 x their business in the next few years. And it's a very. Deliberate Mastermind. It's not just a bunch of guys sharing ideas, but there's a curriculum. We've got leaders and uh, co-host or owners that have grown businesses to. 2 million, 5 million, 40 million. And if you are on a growth trajectory or you want to grow and you feel stuck, you gotta check out the huge mastermind because getting in the room with like-minded business builders that are all at seven figures, eight figures and above, like if you wanna grow to that point, that's the room you need to be in. So with that, let's talk about Lev. Lev and I have known each other for six years. He immigrated from Russia. Over a decade ago and started a home service business with no experience, no money, and no connections. It now operates a almost completely automated multi seven figure business in Knoxville, Tennessee, also Atlanta, Georgia, and they're soon to open a third location. I don't think it's public yet, so I won't say it. You know, love is quiet, spoken, and very modest. But if you listen carefully, you're gonna get nuggets and takeaways and wisdom that could shave years off your learning curve as a small business owner. With that, everything that we talk about, if there all the resources that we mention, um, as well as the huge mastermind, all of that's gonna be in the show notes. You can just poke and click and hit the resource page so you can get all the links. And we made it easy for you. There's a tunnel learning here. Enjoy the conversation with my friend Lev, Lev the Lion. Hey everyone, it's Sid with the Huge Transformation Podcast, and I have my good friend Lev Golo on as a guest today for, to interview. And I'm really excited because Lev, um, we were chatting about something recently by text, and you sent me a photo from six years ago. It was at Responsive Con in Arizona in February of 2000, and I always refer to that event as the day before the world changed. It was the last live event that I was at before COVID hit and everything shut down. Yeah, so it was kind of a momentous. Time and I was really glad you reminded me. Lev has, uh, you, he's got a couple businesses. He's got garage floor masters we're gonna talk about a lot, and also a power washing business out of Knoxville, Tennessee with a partner. And you've been at it for a good while. Everybody, welcome. Lev. Lev, thank you for being here. How are you this afternoon? Hey Syd. Thank you so much. I am honored to be on your podcast. Thank you for inviting me. I'm doing good. Appreciate. Yeah. Everything you said is correct. We met first time, 2020 of, uh, February in Phoenix, Arizona. It was, it was a beautiful, beautiful time, beautiful day. I met a lot of good people, including you. Yeah. Thank you. And that was, it was a ton of fun, um, in a good event. But here, here's what I would like to ask you is like, at that time, put yourself back six years ago where at that conference you have. I don't know how long you'd been in business at the time, but Right. Then you had the power wash business and that was all correct. Yes. Kind of describe it to me, like where were you in business six years ago? What were your, your biggest challenges? How big was your business? Um, what things were you working on? Just kind of paint a picture for everybody. Yes. Um, I actually, me and my partner Eugene, we just started, uh, year prior. 2019 officially we opened in September of 2019. When we start our pressure washing business, we had zero knowledge. Um, I didn't even know that that kind of service exists at this kind of business. So we started doing, you know, old school, grabbing the wand and blasting the all that PSI on a siding and, um. After the first job, which was awful, right? I, I, I start thinking like, this is not correct. Like, how will people make money if we spend two of us with ladder and one pressure washer? It took us like, I don't know, uh, three hours to do one side of the house and how people make that money, you know? And client was asking very cheap, like $150 or something. So then we start. From get go. That was a good experience. It's actually turning point for me. I would say that, uh, I realized that running business is not just, you know, physically running around, um, doing things with your hands. It's about gaining knowledge and, um, you know, becoming better and improve yourself. So that's why same year, 2019, we decided to go to, um, there was another training. At Nashville. Uh, pressure washing training was absolutely free, but back then we could not afford anything else. Mm-hmm. And it was amazing and we were amazed how, uh, what people were talking, uh, about pressure washing and, uh, you know, they make so much money. Back then, it was like a lot of money for us. First time we met, uh, Rob Anderson, he was a speaker there and, uh, also Pat Clark was there. So, and that's where we. You know, took a journey of learning, um, not working on business, but, uh, not working in the business, but working on it. So, and, uh, soon as I learned there's other places that you can go out and, uh, learned from experienced guys. Um, I, you know, jumped on it, and that's where I first time I met you in February, that following year in, uh, Phoenix, Arizona. Yeah. So when, when, uh, you and your partner Eugene first started, what was your, what was your biggest goal? Like when you just, you, you guys spent, you know, three hours on one side of the house. What was your biggest goal at that time? So at that time, it was no goal. Uh, we would just, okay, let's try, let's start. Uh, that was the, the whole, the, the biggest goal was to start it and then, uh, when. We went to Nashville training when people were talking that, oh, they do a million in revenue per year. And that's where our, you know, reality shattered basically saying, oh, by doing pressure washing you can do that much so, and um, that's was our first financial goal is, uh, million dollars in revenue. Yeah. Okay, good. And you answered my next question was like, after you met Rob and, and Pat Clark and listened to, you know, met somebody who is further just, they're not smarter, they're just further down the road and you go, oh, here's an opportunity that you didn't see. So at that point then you started you getting hungry and looking for more education to, to shorten your learning curve, right? Yeah. Then, um, did, did you guys get to that seven figure mark in that business? I know you, you added another business and shifted a few years down the road. Yes. Uh, not in pressure washing, but because as soon as we, you know, start growing learning, we start adding new services and, and the same year we just added, uh, Christmas slides. Okay. And, um. Because the winter time here for us in Knoxville is not the best for pressure washing. So that's why we, you know, instead of staying at home, you know, for Christmas season, we're like, okay, we need to do something else and, uh, let's figure out what we can do. And then we learn about Christmas lights and that's when we took another training, went to Atlanta, and, um, with, uh. Well, I forgot the name of the Chris Christmas industry training. Um, but anyways, we've got that training from them and that was another eye-opening that for that short period of time, people make as much as. People do throughout the year, right? Yeah. And, and we're like, okay, that's different numbers. There's different interesting goals. And that's how we jumped on it. And we slowly combining multiple services basically. Yeah. We, we hit our, our, our goal That's, yeah, to answer that question, but not in necessarily just brush washing industry here. Sure. And then when did you start the garage floor coating business? The epoxy polys. Bardic. You have garage floor masters? Yeah. Our garage floor masters business. We started in, uh, 2022. No, actually we started 2021, but we had very rough start. I will, I'll tell you about that. Uh, so I, I wanna, I remember the story. I want to hear it again. Yes. We'll make a big point here. Yeah, uh, there's a lot of good learning points in that story, but anyways, soon as uh, we started, we decided to do, uh, our new journey, uh, in garage floor coding business. Uh, we opened up company garage floor, masters, and first thing we did a thing that was a not very smart move. Um, we bought a lot of equipment. From the get go. So we bought equipment, grinder, tra uh, trailer. We've got all the vacuums and all the necessary tools and, and as soon as we bought it, all our trailer was stolen with all the equipment in it. So we were like negative 30,000 right away from the, from the get go. Yeah. And because of that we had to pause it, this business for a year. We did few jobs because we already sold them. Uh, we had to deal with the rental equipment, which is actually a smart thing to do, uh, in the beginning because the equipment's pretty expensive. Yeah. And especially now in the then year after we went full blast, you know, we bought more equipment. We already had more sales on, on our books, so. That was a rough start, but, um, a lot of things, uh, you learn on the way. Yeah. So a lot of people with a setback like that, it's like, we haven't made any money yet. We haven't done a job. We've invested heavily 30, 40 grand and then. It stolen. People would just go, forget it. I'm gonna get a job at Costco. I quit. Yeah. What, I mean, you said you waited a year, but what were, how was it that you and your partner were so determined? You go like, I, we are not gonna quit this thing? I don't think there is, uh, one answer to it. And overall, I think it all comes to, um. Entrepreneurship and the path that you choose. I, the p uh, people who've been in business, uh, as an entrepreneurs for, uh, many years, they'll, they'll probably tell you the same thing, that if tomorrow I'll lose everything, uh, you know, it's not gonna take me long to come back to where I am right now because it just, you, you learn a lot. So I'm, I'm very grateful. Uh, to be, uh, on this journey, not just for the sake of money, but there's so much knowledge you gain as a human as well, you know, as a human being, how to be in society, you know, how be, um, focused and persuasive and all other good stuff. And, um, I guess that's the, that's the reason why we just, you know, continued because we already took that journey and there's no way back, you know? Yeah, you can always, you, you can always work for someone. There's a plenty of jobs. True. And even when people said there is no jobs, you know, that's a lie. It's, there's no jobs that you want to do. But there is a lot of jobs. Let me ask you this as a sidebar, like Yeah, because I, I've heard it often and, uh, without dipping into like the age of AI and robots, but like the world we live in now, in the past few years, people are like, there's no jobs. There's no work. I can't drive from our warehouse to my house without seeing opportunity. Yeah. I'm like that building needs to be painted. The hospital here needs to be painted so bad, like, oh, for sure. They have to get it done. Who's gonna do it? I mean. Things in people's yards. A broken mailbox. They're somebody, one of our neighbors, we had a big windstorm two months ago. Bunch of trees got blown over, uh, the big, um, pine trees here. They don't come uprooted. They break like halfway up and then you've got a big chunk. I'm like, I see these lying around in people's yards. I'm like, there's an opportunity. Rent a chainsaw, knock on a door or do it the other way. Sell it, then get the equipment and, uh. Just make it happen. So do you see the world that way now, like eyes of opportunity? Absolutely. Yes. Uh, I think my partners don't like me very much for that because I, I'm a dreamer in a, in a lot of ways and always something new comes to me and like. Throwing those ideas and they were like just rolling their eyes saying like, okay, here we go again. New business reopening. Yeah. So, no. Yes, I, I definitely do see opportunity everywhere. And with that, when, when you mentioned about ai, new technology, uh, this is, I look at it as a, um. Having, uh, additional challenge for you so you can adjust to it. It's like, um, when you have in your market a competition, right? You only become better when you have a competition, when you compete against someone. And if you only want in a market, there's no new waste for you. Everything's smooth. Everyone know. Know about you. There's no one else. Uh, but when the competition comes in, you start thinking about new ideas, new approaches, so you become better. Mm-hmm. So good, healthy, you know, um, competition's always good and that's what I look at. AI and new technology. Okay, there's a new thing comes out, what are you gonna do? You're gonna complain about it or you're gonna try to adjust and be part of it or benefit out of it, something like that. Yeah. Yeah. So what, what are some of the ways that, and I'm stepping ahead, but what are some of the areas that you guys have started to implement and utilize AI or ways that you want to use AI in your, is it yours? Like yours is a hands on physical business. Yeah. You sell a job, you've gotta get in there, grind a floor, put down the coating. Somebody's gotta get their hands really dirty, but there's a lot of room for ai. So how do you use it now? Um, um, honestly, we using on a minimal level, but, uh, it does help a lot because even though this is, you know, it's called blue, blue color type of business that, uh, you, you know, go do hands-on type of stuff, um, the business still business, you know, you still have to build your systems. You still have to, uh, uh, create a smooth work environment and, um. To improve yourself again in your company. So that's where the help of AI comes in, you know, um, checklists and, and, uh, protocols and stuff like that. It just, you don't, you don't rely on it completely. You just use your knowledge to, um, to help with putting it together basically. Yeah. So, um, basic stuff we use, you know, chat, GPT and, uh, Claude. Um. Uh, some other gener, uh, picture generating stuff that, you know, helps, um, with booklets and, and whatnot. Yeah. Yeah. So we use, um, I use a. I just, I fondly call it the ten eighty ten process. Okay. Like that, where I use an LLM to, if I've got an idea or a task or project that needs to be done, I'll spend 10% of the energy, or like the first 10% is me defining it and defining a prompt, and really getting it as crystal clear as I can. Then the next 80% is ai, like putting out a, you know, a result Then. The last 10% is I review it, maybe reprompt it, or just, you know, take it all and then edit it, you know, re rewrite, make sure it's accurate. But it enabled me to, you know, to get projects complete that I've had for years. Like a lot of it's SOPs Yeah. Or checklists that I just, I get bogged down in the details. I'm, I'm a visionary guy like you. I don't like to do all the details. I'm like, make this happen. Yeah. But somebody has to make it happen now. It's my buddy Chad. Chad. Yes, that's true. Uh, it's, it's actually a lot of helpful Yeah. Uh, helpful stuff, man. I know a lot of people against all AI things, you know, but you take best out of it. That's, that's what I think. Yeah. Yeah. Agreed. Alright, so let's, I'm gonna go way back in time, then we're gonna come back to the present. So, back in. So you immigrated from Russia and the Village was the name of the town you're from? Uh, Yosh, Ola City, Yosh, Ola. But my parents, they're from Village. Yeah. Okay. It's, it's a very small town, uh, Republic and Small Town city. Uh, Yosh, Ola, size of Knoxville. Uh, a population probably, um, 300. Thousand. No more than that. Maybe more right now, but it's very small town. Yeah. Yeah. And uh, when you first told me that, I was like, I'm gonna look this, I looked on, on Google Maps to find, 'cause I, I was like, that's gotta be central Russia somewhere. And it's like, is it 600, 800 miles east of Moscow? It's a ways, it's 600, 600 miles from Moscow. Yeah. East. Yeah. But it's still Western Russia. It's not even in the center. Exactly. That's what I was reminded. Russia is like, is it 2200 miles east to west or something? God, it's a giant country. It is, yes. Uh, well, if you look at the whole map, yes, we are, um, very close to two big cities, the capital, um, but it's still 600 miles away, you know, from my, from the capital. Yeah. So, um, one of the first times we had a real conversation, we were having a cigar at the standard in Nashville, Tennessee, and we're talking about when you came here and, and you made a statement that it didn't surprise me, but it wasn't something that I think about because race here in the States, you know, capitalism is part of the whole drill. And you mentioned that you're the only crazy person in your family. You didn't say it like this, but that you. Believed in you. You like, you were optimistic and wanted to be an entrepreneur, and literally there was no one in your family, your background or even that you knew from your, your home, uh, city that thought that way. They were like, basically if you put it here in America, they would go get a job at the post office. Just get a good job and, and don't be crazy, and you responded. That's the same, same thing, yes. Uh, well, I would not say the whole city like this, but, uh, my surrounding for sure, the family, uh, my family, they, they, there's no entrepreneurs in my family. I would say I'm a first one. And, um, that's very standard mentality, especially from post-Soviet, uh, union countries where you study well, um. Be a good person and get a job, create a family, you know, die happily. So, uh, the, that because they relied on the government, you know, the system was built that way. And, um, when. I was born in Russia, I was not born in Soviet Union. And there's a lot of gates were open of, you know, opportunities and, uh, mentality still stayed the same for the previous generation, but the new generation of, um, us, me, uh, we had opportunity to take. So, um, I guess it's the fact that I had this, you know, dreamer mentality that helped me to actually. Uh, you know, be different, break out. And I'm the only one from my, uh, graduation year who moved to Moscow, the biggest city by myself. Mm-hmm. Um, to study. I went to university, I graduated and then, uh, I saw the opportunity to, um, chase American Dream, and that's how I came here. Yeah. Yeah. And did, um, hold on. I have to make a change. Look at that. My screen froze. Okay. I'm back. Um, coming to the United States and you ended up in Tennessee, in eastern Tennessee, in Knoxville, in that area, as being a, a Russian immigrant, what were the advantages? What were the disadvantages in, you know, sort of the, the American South starting a business? Advantages, I would say that I had something to compare to. Um, when you live, you, when you are in the same pond, you grew up and all you know is your surrounding your reality. But when you coming from different reality and you see, um, what opportunities you didn't have back there. And, and you do have it in here, you just, uh, see the world differently. Uh, you, you just start starting asking questions, why people don't take that opportunity, why people don't do this. And I think that is the advantage. So I, that I could compare. Disadvantage is obviously knowing the language and um, adjusting to culture. Well, communication side of it. Yeah. Yeah. Do you feel like from, like from a sales or business perspective, it helped you to stand out in the marketplace? I mean, it'd be easy for a customer to go, you know, that Russian guy rather than just maybe Yeah, maybe, yeah. In some places, yeah. Because people were, um, interested in the people in South, uh, where, where I'm at in Knoxville, Tennessee, um, very. Uh, they, they're very interested in other people. So, and, um, that gave them opportunity, um, to learn something from about Russia too through, through me. And, uh, so that was one of the points. Maybe the, they helped me to win the job as a salesperson. Yeah. Yeah. All right, we'll come back to present day. This, um, so garage floor masters, you guys, you have, you operate in two locations, right? Yes. Okay. So what are I want to ask you about, what were some of the, in your, your growth in your journey from zero to solid seven figures, multiple, uh, services. Like what were some of the biggest challenges that you had to overcome to as you grew your business? Um, it's, uh, it's learning the importance of, uh, delivering the service that, uh. You, you don't just do a good job. So, because that should be your core thing that you do. If you do something, you do it good, right? Otherwise don't do it at all. But the challenge was to what other values that we can deliver to our clients, what is the matter to them? Um, so they will choose us or, or someone else. And that part, it was challenging to learn. And, um, systemize it. Yeah. Did you, like, was it a challenge to learn or understand that maybe you are not, your customers like to see it through the customer's eyes that Yes. Rather than through your own eyes? That's true. And, um, I tell my guys all the time, uh, you know, even, even I am not my own customer, the, the services that we offer, I cannot afford myself so. Yeah. And, and that's why it was also, you know, a challenge for us to shift that mindset about, oh, in the beginning you're trying to give an answer for your customer, saying like, oh, he probably doesn't need that. Oh, he pro it is gonna be, probably gonna be too expensive for him. But when you shift from that mindset where you, like, like you mentioned, you're not your own customer, then it's clear. Yes. What was, uh, it's gotta be challenging to operate two locations. What's, what's one of the key factors or challenges that you had to overcome to operate in two places? It's, uh, people, we're still in the home service industry. Well, in the service industry, in the trade business, uh, all, everything comes down to people. So you do have to have good, um, relationships and, uh, good approach. To make sure, take care of your people, uh, your employees, your management, uh, make sure they in, they have all the tools that they need in order to deliver that service. And you are always there to support. So our biggest thing is, was to, and still is to learn it. How to be better in, uh, supporting. Yeah. Have you, um. Red or do you guys use the concepts from the book? Um, dream Manager, are you familiar with that? Uh, no. I didn't get to that book yet. Okay. I did not. It's funny, someone gave me a copy. It sat on my bookcase for two years. I never opened it. I was like, oh, that sounds like gr great book. It's this, it's tiny. I mean it's thin. And I'm like, yeah, yeah, yeah. And then, um, one day I was on a flight to Arizona. I'm like, I'm gonna take that book. I bet I can read it on one flight. I did. And it, I was like, oh my God, if I had read this two years ago, and it was, but it, it, in summary, it was what you were saying, it's like, how can I support my employees? How can I do more for them and take care of them? Because if you take care of them, they'll want to perform better, but also they stay longer and it builds, you know, a depth of culture. Um. And you know, in a lot of home service businesses, like we are in window cleaning, you've been in power washing and still are. And it's like, I worked so hard for so long with the idea that I was gonna find the right employees that would stay with me forever or 10 years, you know? And the dream manager, the company that they're using it as example is janitorial. And they said, if you can get people to stay on average three years, you can build a company. And I was like, oh. I, I was trying for, you know, to knock every ball over the fence instead of just hitting a single. Mm-hmm. And that shift in perspective end up now we have, we have retention that we've never experienced, but for four years we haven't lost a, an employee. That's, that's amazing. Uh, what I wanted to say that, um, from the beginning we, um. I placed our three focuses in a certain order, and I always tell, always tell my employees about it. So the first. Uh, it's our employees. It's you guys that we wanna make sure you're happy, you know, you have all the necessary tools to do the job that we do. Second is our customers, you know, because that's who gives us money and, um, we wanna make sure they happy as well. And the third place is money because if we reach the first two steps properly, uh, then money will come. Yeah, so, and that's why, you know, the first place our employees, because customers come and go. Uh, you know, but you keep your employees in the house close to you. So that's why they are focused, number one, for sure. So, um, I don't know if you spent, like, I think most people spend too much time on Instagram or TikTok or whatever. I, myself included, but I see a lot of young guys, excuse me. See a lot of young, young men particularly that have started a power wash business or they started a window cleaning business and they're talking about door knocking, or they're like, I've gotta, you know, earn my first $5,000, and they're just young and hustling. And trying to make it happen, but really don't have any experience. But they're video documenting the whole thing and broadcasting it, which is kinda interesting. What would your advice be to, you got a couple young guys, two guys, they're in college and they're like, dude, are we gonna work at Jimmy John's again this summer? And the one's like, I saw this video about starting power washing business. Let's do that. What's your advice for the young guys that start up that actually say, this is a viable, like this could be a business. What are you gonna tell 'em? 'cause now you're the wise man. You've got the experience wise, man, it's a big stretch, but have some experience for sure. But, but biggest thing, well, I just wanted to say that I, yes I do, um, watch some social media videos, shorts, um, and I see those guys as well and actually makes me. You know, exciting and, and happy because I, I still remember that drive because when you grow, you get to the point where you don't have that, uh, excitement. I would say that to, you know, selling the job the first job, or, you know, finishing it to, to pleasing, uh, level of your customer, right. And, um. And it's so exciting to watch when they're like so happy that, oh, I did 5,000, I did 10,000. It's great. And, um, well, the, I guess the. What I would say that clo uh, look close to your finances. That's the number one. Whatever you sell, this is not go, it does not go to your pocket. There's Uncle Sam. There is, uh, other expenses that you have that you wanna make sure you lay them out properly. That's the number one rule I would say your finances. Which I, I still, we still struggle with that because, you know, it's not easy thing to do. Um, second I, and the biggest thing I would say, don't give up. That's the, that's what I would say. Because like you mentioned earlier, you know, uh, when we, we, we, when we had our rough start with our pressure, uh, our garage floor coating business, um, we could have just said, okay, that's it. It's not gonna work out. Um, but if you have that drive, keep it lit and, um, keep grinding, keep going because it doesn't matter who's on top right now. Um, person who wins, it's the last man, the last person standing that who wins. Yeah. Mm-hmm. So, and you, you touched on this as you, um, as you grow and you become more successful, it's easy to get comfortable. Yeah, not, not have that fire anymore. What do you do to stay excited about your business? Oh, I, I don't need anything because like I, I said earlier, I have a lot of ideas that come in my head where throughout the journey, we, we made so many changes and I, I taught myself like, if nothing changes, so that. Uh, that means we are losing. So we always have to, we also, we always have to do something in some improvement in all the levels. You know, there's, you always look over the systems that you have, you try to improve them. Um, if everything works, that means something's not working. That's interesting. Yeah. You need to look a little deeper. What are some of the, um. Let, let me ask you for some practical tools or strategies that you use in business that's helped you succeed, that you can share with other people. Start with, with marketing. What are some of the tools or strategies you guys use to market and sell your services that have been effective or like have a really good ROI? Well, marketing's, um. It's very complicated subject. I would say I'm not an expert in marketing. I did not study for it. Just disclaimer, you know, uh, what I, what I'm saying is just my personal experience and thoughts. Don't take it as a, as a rule, but, um, what I think it's, it's very deep, uh, strategies that you have to have for each business that you have. If so, first of all, you have to look at what kind of business you have. What kind of services you offer, and this is how you're gonna determine who would be your ideal customer. Mm-hmm. Uh, then you're gonna search for that ideal customer. So the person who will willingly give you money for the service that you offer, and you build your marketing around that avatar. And, um, depending on the business in service, there's different. In my opinion, different approaches to marketing. So I'll give you an example with pressure washing for, uh, it's very low, small ticket type of service, right? Usually around 500 to a thousand dollars, uh, average ticket. Yeah. Uh, depending where you are, of course. And, uh, so we have to see who is your avatar. The people who can afford that. And for that price, uh, you are obviously gonna look for people who own the house. They don't rent it. Yeah. And then you're gonna look on the income, and income is in this type level of business. It doesn't have to be big because ticket is not, is is large. So, and, uh. In the, on the marketing side, like on social media for example, that's probably good approach in a, a get go. So we use the social media like Facebook, Instagram, where people can see and visualize act of, uh, service that you offer. You know, they see before and after dirty house, clean house, and, um. That is pleasing for them and they also know why you're doing it. They know the reason why it needs to be done. So, uh, that would be your probably ideal customer over there. But, uh, the biggest thing about marketing there, there is no, um, one technique or structure of marketing exists. So the marketing works when you try all of it. If you do only one thing, uh, it doesn't mean, uh, it's gonna, you're gonna be the, uh, it doesn't mean it's gonna take your business to the next level. Marketing works only when you use multiple touches. Yeah. But some of them, some directions, you know, some streams are way better than others, depending on the business. Yeah, yeah, for sure. We, how do you track your. Your marketing, do you use a, a tool for that, whether it's responsib bit or something else? Uh, we used to work with Responsib bit for our pressure washing business, but now, right now we, we work with agency. Okay. Okay. And currently what marketing channel has the, has the best ROI for your, for garage floor Masters? For garage floor Masters right now, or Google. Google works the best. Google. PPC. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Interesting. Um, we have a team meeting for our company every Monday and Wednesday. Monday is all review last week. What are your wins? Let's look ahead for this week, how are we gonna succeed? And then Wednesday is a little more granular and we'll, we'll, uh, we'll do role play practice, so like how to ask for upsell, things like that. And we, uh, put um. Responsible bid the pie chart on the big screen and just showed 'em, like for our residential customers over the last 30 days, this is where they came from. It was Google search, existing customers, referrals, that, that, that all the way around and was surprised to see that dollar for dollar our best. It wasn't our biggest performing, um, channel, but our best performing channel as far as cost to acquire and ticket size. Was lawn signs. Mm-hmm. Everything we do with people that see a lawn sign, spend more money and have a higher closing rate than almost anything we do. Anything but a referral. It's the only one that was better. Yeah. And I was, I was like, well, I can't believe that. I just, I I was gonna stop putting out lawn signs. 'cause they're a headache. Yes. They're a, they're a valuable headache. I was like, hell yeah. We're gonna double down on this. Yeah. Uh, what, uh, we found that multiple touch marketing, uh, always works the best when you don't just focus on one thing. Again, like I said, uh, you, you do online, Google. Social media, that's what everyone do. There's a lot of agencies to, to work with. Mm-hmm. Um, but it does not mean if you pay someone, that means you can sit back and relax and wait for all those leads coming in. So at the same time, you do other stuff like loan signs or yard signs, uh, you do flyers. Um, you, you ask for a referral. You have to have a referral system because that's. The cheapest and, uh, op cheapest marketing. Yeah. When you did a good job, they can offer, uh, they can recommend you to their friend or family. Um, and you don't pay for it, you know? You already did. And this client basically pays for your future customer marketing. Yeah. Yeah. What's, can you describe your, uh, referral marketing program? Like, do you have a system for it? For, yes. Um, we do offer dollar amount for every client that we book from this person. Yeah. So it's pretty simple. Um, but it's effective. It works. People, people like it. And, um. And we also, uh, have some neighborhood, um, packages, you know, when multiple people do at the same time. Uh, but in the referral side, it's, it's pretty simple as dollar amount straightforward. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Do you, um, only ask for referral after the work is done or before? I mean, do you have that multiple ask stages and things like that set up? Uh, we have, yeah, we ask probably about. Six, five or six time. Yeah. Um, we do you, do you want me tell you all the steps that we take? Yeah. I think it'd be helpful for, for a lot of people listening. Yep. So referral and review. This is, uh, one package that what we ask of our customers, because reviews, it's part of the marketing as well, that helps your, um, Google positioning go up. That Google sees your company very active, uh, when you have, when you actively collect those reviews. And, uh, it's very interesting that I found out about it, that, uh, if you put like, uh. A hundred review, you, you work hard and you did like a hundred reviews. Mm-hmm. And then you, you think, okay, that's it. Let's, let's stop. Um, but the truth is that you'll constantly have to get those reviews. So the Google sees that your account is active. Active, and, uh. The people interested in it. So that's why, uh, Google will start, continue pushing you up. So, um, but what you see sometimes when there's big companies that they gain their a thousand reviews and they don't worry about it no more because they're the biggest, they're the, you know, best on the market. That's what, uh, how they present themselves and yes. That part also helps, but constant, uh, gaining those reviews is very important for your positioning. And, um, and it's not me talking as a experts. Uh, so coming back to referral and review package, um, when customer calls, when we book the job, we. Tell them that what is our goal? Our goal is to perform well. So they will be so happy that they can easily recommend us to their friends, families, or uh, coworkers. Yeah. So that is already the first mentioning that gets in their brain and, um. Helps them to actually do something about later on. Uh, the second time when our, um, technicians come out to a job site before they actually start work, they talk about referral and review, um, as well. Same script, nothing, nothing complicated. They would say, well, today my job is to perform my best, so you'll be so happy that you can recommend this to someone else. And leave as a five star review and, um, at the end they do ask it again. So it's when they happy they saw the result, that's the best time. It's a hot client of yours who's ready to do anything to make you happy. Yeah, because they're so happy. And, uh, you ask for a referral review. And we do have, uh, multiple systems for that. Either automatically sends the link after the job is completed through our CRM system or, um. We also have, uh, hands on flyers with the QR code where they can scan right away in front of you. Okay? Uh, there is a aggressive approaches that we have, uh, when we make them do it in front of you. Uh, okay. This is not for everyone, and I'm not saying that's the what you have to do, but that's when you. Can read people and how they act with you, that's when you can be that way as well. So it's, it's, um, you know, mirroring, uh, psych psychological approach as well. So, and yeah, that's why we have the, uh, little cards with QR code on it so they can scan it and give you your review right away. Yeah. And, uh. After we finished, and if you still didn't get the review or referral, we have same using the, uh, follow-up system where, um, either through your CRM or there's other software that you can use, that they will send message, text message, or an email asking for referral and review. Uh, three more times. Throughout the life, customer life. So, and that's what helps us to gain reviews. Plus we give some bonuses, cash bonuses for our technicians for getting five star review. Yeah, them do, doing good job. And um, so that motivates them as well. And for clients. We also obviously mentioned that if one of your friends will, uh, book a job with us, um, then. You'll get the cash bonus as well. Yeah, no, that's good. It's good to, I mean, you've, you've got to have anything that you want to succeed. You can't just rely on luck and what you just described as a system that when you do it, when your team does it, when your techs do it results in longevity more, work better for the business, better for your technician, better for more customers. I, I really love that. So while we wrap up, um. You've already given some really great advice. Number one was know your finances because that no matter how good of a salesperson or technician or anything else you are, if you don't do your money right, you, it's hard to succeed. And you talked about how. Focus you are on taking care of your employees so that they're happy. Um, what's another piece of advice? What's the advice you would give young love starting out? Because now you know how it can turn out and like to, I dunno, what's, what's the advice you'd give to your younger self or to the, the younger guys? They've got a couple of employees. Maybe they're, you know, you know that zone where it just, it feels like you should be succeeding. You hired people, but it only feels like there's more work. Um, put, uh, give yourself, um, higher goals, I would say. So you have to have that aim to, you know, to become better and stronger. Uh, because the building business, a lot of times, uh, people see it just, uh, um. It's, uh, people see it about money, right? I mean, we all do it for money at the end, for sure. But you wanna make sure that you don't become slave of your business and, um, you, you build a business. So you can easily either sell it or give it in the hands of management. And it will still work for you, right? So I would say focus on the systemizing everything and don't perfect it. Just start, you know, start making it. Just use it. Whatever you have already is a system, but put it on a paper and make sure you follow it. I would say that that's it. There's a lot of advices, you know, we can talk about and different levels, but. That one. I would say the what? I see the major stuff. Yeah. Alright, good, good. And that. The last thing, I know a lot of, I've experienced it, I'm sure you have, but I want to ask. A lot of times when someone says, I'm gonna go in business for myself, they're friends or family is like, you are crazy. Just get a job. But a few years down the road when you start seeing success, they turn around and go, oh, you're so lucky. You're so lucky without seeing the blood, sweat, and tears. Have you experienced that? Um, not in a direct way like you pictured it, but every I think everyone experienced that, but, uh, a lot of times people, you know, the biggest, uh, nonbelievers, it's your close people that your family. Right. You probably heard that too. That Yeah. And they don't do it because of out of hate. They do it because, uh, they worry about you that you're gonna fail. You know, like a parent doesn't want your child to fail. And, uh, that's why they say just, just don't do it. You know, it's gonna be a lot of headache. Yeah. Yeah. We did experience that. Yes. Okay. They go play it safe, play it safe. It's hard to, um, when I talk to our people here, I go, you cannot coast up a mountain. If you want to get to the peak, it's gonna be hard. That's true. You gotta work for it. I like, and it takes a little crazy, but Oh, a lot. Yeah. So. Well, I tell you what I am, I am grateful to have you as my crazy Russian friend. Um. I'm really glad that we've had a chance to share the journey as well and be a part of, now we're a part of the same mastermind. It's a lot of fun and it's, it's a privilege to be your friend and watch you grow. Thank you for spending some time with us. Love. Thank you. Same goes to you. I'm thankful for people around me and I'm so grateful to that. I found you guys. That's, uh. I just wanna say the Mastermind and went through multiple names, but, uh, the idea stays the same, and it's very, very important to have, uh, people like that who can support you, who been through same stuff that you have, maybe even more, well, probably more. And they, they don't think that you're crazy, right? They think that you're not crazy enough. And that's great. That's right. Yeah. That that really is one of the hidden benefits is a community that understands you, that you can grow with. Yeah. Yeah. Thank you guys. Thank yous. Yeah, you as well. Alright. Until next time. I believe we'll actually see each other about 32 days from today in Nashville, Tennessee. So yeah, I'm looking forward to it. Thank you, Lev. You too. Till next. Cigar and whiskey. Hello my friend. This is Sid. Thank you again so much for taking your time to listen to today's episode. I hope you got some value from it. And listen, anything that was covered, uh, any of the resources, any of the books, any of the tools, anything like that is in the show notes. So it's easy for you to find and check it out. And also, I wanna let you know the mission for the huge convention and for this. Podcast is to help our blue collar business owners like you and I to gain financial and time freedom through running a better business. And we do that in four ways. Number one is our free weekly newsletter. It's called a Huge Insider. I hope you subscribe. It is the most valuable newsletter for the home service industry. Period, paid or otherwise, and this one's free. Next is the huge foundation's education platform. That is, we've got over 120 hours of industry specific education and resources for you. And every month we do, uh, a topical webinar and we do question and answer with seven and eight figure business owners. And it's available to you for a $1 trial for seven days. 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And it is a network, and a mentorship and a mastermind of your peers, and we help you understand and implement the Freedom operating system. We can go into more detail, but you can get all the information on all four of these programs and how we'll help you advance your business quickly just by going to the huge convention.com. And scroll down, click on the freedom path. Or of course you can find the links here in the show notes. So, sorry, I feel like I'm getting a little bit wordy, but I just wanna let you know of the resources that are available to you to help you accelerate and advance your beautiful, small business. So keep on growing, keep on learning, keep advancing. And if you'd like to show. Go ahead. I mean, if you would go and take 90 seconds and give us a review on iTunes, then subscribe and share it, man. It would really mean the world to us. It would help other people. And as we continue our mission to help people just like you and me. So thanks again for listening. We'll see you in the next episode.
