This is going to be my check-in - a letter from the founder. Maybe it comes weekly, maybe every couple of weeks, maybe monthly; I am not sure yet. Either way, it is where I will share an honest update on the business and where we are headed. To start, here is the background: the first eight or so weeks of Clean Save Restoration, from my chair.
The leap
Starting this was a real leap of faith. I left behind a prior career that I loved - one most people would not walk away from. Trading that for demo days and moisture meters probably sounds crazy. But I have been shocked at how much fun I am having.
As a business owner, there is always something you can be doing to make the company better. Honestly, right now it can still feel like I am doing the bare minimum - but I am still getting there, and trying to keep some work-life balance and be there for my family and my kids. I know that won't last forever - I am sure I am in the honeymoon phase, and the really hard days are coming. Business and life have seasons. But this start has been everything I hoped for.
The guys
A huge part of that is the two guys I get to work with. Tielor has been everything I wanted when I hired him, and then some. He has busted his tail, he is coachable, he is on time, and he has taken a real weight off my shoulders. As I start stepping back from the field a little, he has sold the last three inspections completely on his own - without me ever setting foot on the job site. That is exactly what I was hoping for, and he has answered the bell every single time.
Skyler has a motor that does not quit, and he keeps every job site moving. I hired these two for specific roles and they have filled them better than I could have asked. They are a big reason this has been so much fun.
Taking care of people
Something I believe in deeply is culture and taking care of my guys. This work is brutal - I have done it. I will finish two back-to-back demo days, get home, and feel like I just played Thursday Night Football. Beat to hell. So I check in with them, get them what they need to do their jobs well, and take the time to actually talk.
Funny enough, this is the one piece of advice nobody gave me. A lot of people told me the opposite - that employees will burn you and you have to keep it strictly business. We do keep it professional. But my culture is simple: if you work hard for me, I respect you and I appreciate you, and I am going to show it. Lunch here and there, a little extra on the clock, good gear. The small stuff adds up.
The other thing that has caught me off guard is how much we have impressed people already. I have gotten multiple calls from clients we have finished with, just to say thank you and to tell us to keep doing exactly what we are doing. The communication, the professionalism, how we carry ourselves on a job - apparently that is just not the standard anymore. Too many shops have mailed it in. The passion and the care for the customer is gone, and that care is exactly our angle.
The week that tested us
And then there was the week that should have broken us. Our box truck was in the shop because I clipped the side of a bridge and peeled half the top off. That same Monday, I ran over a nail and flattened a tire on my personal car during a Home Depot run, because we were short at a job. Then we lost the moisture meter - a three-day wild goose chase - which, it turns out, I had left at the tire shop.
Every one of those was on me. Tielor picked up the slack and handled all of it without blinking. It would have been easy to point fingers. We didn't. We stayed cool, calm, and collected - and the week that felt like total chaos ended up being the week we got the most praise from clients. People impressed enough that they are now trying to help get our name out on their own. You can't script that.
Where we're at
We are way ahead of where I thought we would be. I am grateful I took the leap back in November, and even more grateful for the people who have taken me under their wing and given me advice along the way. I can't do this alone, and I don't have to - that is the whole point.
So that is the background. From here, I will check in every week or two with where we are and where we are headed. I want this snowball to keep building, and I am glad you are here for it.
- Cole