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TheUPside Podcast
Build a Freedom Machine: The SOS Framework for Business Growth with Jason Phillips
00:40:02
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- [00:01]
A
Welcome to the Upside Podcast, where we help you get unstuck in your life and your business by elevating your thinking and provoking meaningful change from the inside out. I'm your host, Teresa Flood, and I have a very special guest with me today, Jason Phillips. Jason and I go back all the way to my childhood, actually, but he is not here to talk about any childhood stories. He is the owner of Phillips Home Improvements of Contractor Freedom, and you are a staple of small business owners. Really not even a small business anymore, but in Plano, Texas. I mean, you have built this company from the ground up over the past couple decades. And I just want to give you a couple things from his bio, but his Phillips Home Improvements, formerly known as Phillips painting, is an A Plus Better Business rating for over 25 years. 2 Better Business Bureau Torch Award for Ethics and was recognized by the Best place to work in North Texas. And you earned an SBA Small Business Person of the Year award for the Dallas Fort Worth region. What a cool honor. That is amazing. But as you built this business, you are now primarily helping other contractors live a life, a big life of freedom in their businesses, which I think is so awesome that you've gone from success into significance and helping other people really be able to do what you've done. So thank you.
- [01:22]
B
Well, thank you for coming on, for having me. And we haven't each other a really long time.
- [01:27]
A
A really long time. A really, really long time. And you have a beautiful wife, Rochell.
- [01:32]
B
I do.
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A
And you have five beautiful grown children now. I can't even believe that, like, seeing all these babies grow up and you have two grandbabies.
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B
That's right.
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A
You are living a great life, Jason, I'm telling you. Wow, you're blessed.
- [01:44]
B
God is good. I am very blessed. I mean, cool.
- [01:47]
A
So really, to go back, Jason, you were the children's pastor of the church that Tommy and I were youth pastors at, you and Rochelle. And so, yes, a lot of history. And yet, um, here we sit today in a totally different context. Kind of watched you from afar for a while and just seen kind of. Obviously your business has been flourishing for a long time, but seeing kind of what you're doing now with Contractor Freedom. So let's take it back all the way to the beginning, though. Phillips Painting, when you first started. Talk to everybody a little bit. Why did you start a painting company at the time? And what. What was the goal at the time? What did you believe? Did any of this vision that you have now, did you see it back when you started you know, I never.
- [02:28]
B
Intended to actually start a company. I was working at a company, and it was. It really wasn't being run well, and I needed to do something else. And I considered going into. I had a brother that was in the computer business, and I had an opportunity there. And really, one of the former owners of the company I was with came to me and just said, hey, we think you can do this on your own. And I had never even considered that until that moment. Wow.
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A
What do you think they saw?
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B
I'm not sure.
- [03:01]
A
Yeah.
- [03:02]
B
But. But I took it seriously. And I went and I, I, I talked to, you know, all the people that, that I trusted their, Their input. And I really felt, because I had seen some injustices in the contracting world towards, towards employees like me, homeowners not being treated right, and, and even the immigrant workers mistreated. And I felt at the time that I could do better.
- [03:31]
A
Yeah.
- [03:32]
B
Now, I didn't have a grand vision.
- [03:33]
A
Okay.
- [03:34]
B
And in reality, I was, I was, I was broke. I'm talking MC Hammer broke at the time because I was like, six weeks behind on paychecks. Yeah. And anyways, that's, that's a whole nother story, but I just wanted to put food on the table, literally for Friday. For, For. At that time, I had Rochelle and Samantha. It was just. It was just the three of us. And so I used the last few dollars that I had on my Visa card, went down to Office Depot and bought a printer, copier and some paper and printed up some flyers and business cards and went out knocking on doors. So made four appointments that day and sold all four of them, and boom, we were in business.
- [04:16]
A
Okay.
- [04:17]
B
And, you know, I didn't know everything. Didn't know how to run a business. I knew how to do some marketing and some sales, but. So that's how we started.
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A
Yeah. So you really just saw a problem and said, I feel like I can solve this for people. I feel like there's a. There's.
- [04:29]
B
Yeah. And I really felt at that moment, I really felt compelled to do that rather than the other option. And looking back on my life, it really was. It was a God moment. And, Teresa, what. What was probably one of the most difficult times in my entire life bloomed into a blessing for me and even for others that I never dreamed of.
- [04:56]
A
Yeah. It's such a beautiful thing, isn't it?
- [04:59]
B
It is.
- [04:59]
A
I think in so many times, the hardest seasons of life tend to be the greatest gifts and blessings if we allow it to be that.
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B
If we allow it.
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A
Yeah.
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B
Yeah.
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A
So those early years, starting a new business, I mean, I haven't looked at it lately. What percentage of entrepreneurs quit? I can tell you, in the real estate, it's. It's. Very few may get past the first year, and I think that's the same for most small business owners. So how did you. How did you hustle in those first years where I'm sure it was very, very challenging? What did you do when you wanted to quit and throw in the towel? Why did you keep going? How did you push through?
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B
Well, in some ways, I'm like the Energizer Bunny. Okay.
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A
Yeah.
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B
I have a ton of energy. I do. I literally initially built it with. With. With grit, prayer and hours.
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A
Yeah.
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B
And. But you get to this point where you hit an effort ceiling, you can't do anymore.
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A
Yep.
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B
And, you know, by that time, hey, the bills were paid, the wife had a new, you know, had a new vehicle.
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A
Yeah.
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B
And. And things were good, but. So the bank account was looking good, but I was bankrupt on time, and so my business was running me at the time. And.
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A
And how many years in did you really start to feel that struggle of thinking this business is running me?
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B
I was between 12 and 18 months.
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A
Okay.
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B
We took off pretty quick. Yeah.
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A
Fast.
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B
It doesn't happen to everybody that fast, but it happens to almost everyone. Eventually.
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A
Eventually, yes. You make it and you're gonna succeed. It does.
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B
And so again, I'm always wanting. At first, I just wanted to put dinner on the table. Right. Well, then I'm like, okay, I want to compete with the big boys in town. And I'm like, okay, I want to beat them. So I've always got that in me. So that actually what. What caused me to get going, well, also became my limitation. And so literally, you know, one night, and I hope I don't cry telling you the story, but I will never forget this night. I was working late in my converted dining room office, and I was working in QuickBooks, entering some material bills, listening to the radio. The house was quiet. Okay. Rochelle. And I think. I think Samara was born by. We had two kids. They were. They were. They were in bed and house was dark. I just had a little radio playing. And. And that song Cats in the Cradle came on. And the lyrics to that song, his song talks about. About a boy who wants to spend time with his dad, but his dad's always working, and he's not now. Maybe later is, you know, and then eventually in the song, you know, the dad's retired and the boy's working and the dad wants to spend time with the boy, and boy's too busy for him. And the message is he grew up just like me. So by this point, tears are streaming down my face. And I literally. Theresa, I. I slammed my hand on the desk and I stood up and I threw my hands in the air. I just said, God, I need help. And I kid you not, I saw a vision in my mind of three options. And the first option was. One, I could throw in the towel. Not a good option. Two, I could pull back. Well, if I pulled back, I just. Honestly, I. I would have. It wasn't an option for me. I would have felt literally like less of a man. I needed to conquer this. The third option was build a team. And that was an obvious. I never built a team before, but that was the obvious option for me. And that's what I decided to do. And that's what changed. That's what changed everything. The first team I built was not a great team. I had a different.
- [08:50]
A
It usually never is.
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B
I had a different vision, but things got markedly better. We went, the business grew. I got, you know, a lot more freedom back.
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A
Yeah.
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B
But I also ended up building a team of. Because of. Because of my vision and my leadership. This is not about the people I hired, but I hired the wrong people, and they were coming for a paycheck, not for a purpose.
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A
Yeah.
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B
And I ended up building a team of people that were. That were selfish, that cared only about themselves, not about the teammates, not about the client. And which is incredibly exhausting as a leader.
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A
It is, because you have to manage those. Kind of lead them.
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B
You have to manage, and you're trying to. So. And. And what happened is, is I came to this point in life where I knew that the season, my life, was changing and that God wanted me to do something better, bigger. And I came to the realization that. That the only way the company was going to get better was if I got better, if I grew as a leader. And so I. I put myself to school, reading, attending seminars, workshops, everything. Devouring books, which. How I became a reader is a whole nother story, because I was not a reader before. And so I tried to bring these people with, but they didn't want to grow anyways. It was not their fault. The whole thing was me, my vision, my leadership. So I eventually had to build a new team. And this time, instead of building a weeping willow that can't sustain the drought and the storms is going to break easy, I wanted to build an oak. I wanted to grow an oak tree. For a team. And so that's what I set out to do. And it took a while, but then my vision was different. I had direction and people that shared those values and connected with that vision began coming to me. And some were attracted to me. And I believe, honestly, I believe God sent others. And that was a new beginning. And I built it different the second time around. Tore the company down by 70% and. And almost to the foundation and paid a. A terrible financial price by choice.
- [11:18]
A
Yeah.
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B
To do it. And because I. I just didn't want to keep going where I was.
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A
Right.
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B
I knew, I knew that there was. I knew that I had a purpose in life to do more. And it. And it wasn't just to build a bigger company and make more money. The purpose was to have a greater impact.
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A
Right.
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B
Because I believe that. I believe that us business owners that, that we're stewards of an opportunity and everything. That, that we. We should be agents of multiplication and our businesses should be agents of multiplication. And rather than running someone's life, the business should. Should serve as a. As a freedom machine that fuels. That fuels you with the. The time and the money to really. To really live out your life's purpose.
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A
Yeah. So.
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B
And so, so that's, that's, that's the journey I went on. And as I did this, I developed with what is. I call the SOS framework.
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A
Okay.
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B
Which S is for self. You've got to start with yourself like I did. And so that, that comes with, you know, doing an integrity check, a character check, developing a vision, learning how to lead and, and learning. Learning how predictable human behavior is. And that's when I discovered psychometric assessments and, and went crazy on those and, and found disc assessments which are just amazing. I got. I've would that made such an impact in my life. I've got like, I think six certifications in disc. It's just so powerful. And it made me a better husband, made me a better father, made me a better leader, a better friend. Better. It's anyway snow story but, but, but so that's the S is starting with self. So the O is others. How to build a team of people. Not people to carry the load, but people that will carry the vision so good. And so that's not easy to do. But once you see how this all works and you need to put people, connect people with work that they're made to do. Someone said long ago, I don't remember who this was, but every man loves to do the work for which he was created. And when you have people that share your values. They believe in the vision. They're getting to use, they're getting to use their talent for something bigger than them. And the work that they're doing is what they're made to do. They're fully engaged. And rather than having people that clock out at 4:59, 59pm You've got people that are staying late by choice, saying just one more, one more call, one more task, one more whatever.
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A
Yeah.
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B
And, and you can, you know, you can, you can buy their hands with a paycheck, but only leadership burns their hearts.
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A
Yeah.
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B
And that's, that's, that's the other, that's the other piece is getting those people in the right roles, following the right leader and the right vision. That, that makes a big difference. And so from there, if people will.
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A
Join you for money, they will leave you for money.
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B
That's right.
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A
Every single time.
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B
Yes. And that's a simple way to put it. I love that.
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A
And, and you can a lot of times when to hire somebody by compensation. And, and yet there will always be eventually somebody who will pay for, offer a better package. And so if it's not about the value or the opportunity or the growth or the vision or the purpose, that's what retains talent In a way.
- [14:38]
B
100%.
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A
Yeah.
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B
And, but, but you know, when we're, when we're young in business, we don't, we don't really understand all those things. I think it's about, we just need to give them more money. More money's not going to solve the problem if they don't believe in you.
- [14:48]
A
It a lot of times just creates more problems that you have to deal with down the road.
- [14:52]
B
And, and you know, there's, there's especially like in the contracting world. And I'm sure, I'm sure there's examples of this in many other areas. But, but your employees are watching what you do. And let me, let me use just like a classic example, two classic examples that I think anybody can relate to. I started out as a painting contractor. Right. Well, it's, let's say it's a, you know, it's, it's, it's hot summer day, it's Friday afternoon. You're trying to finish up a job. You need three gallons of paint. You only have two left. And the paint store is about to close. That means you'd have to go back in the morning. Tomorrow we could just add a little water to that paint. And you know what? The paint may never fail. The customer may never know that you did that. It may never be a problem, but your employees saw what you did. They saw that. So what are they going to do?
- [15:43]
A
That's the standard.
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B
What are they going to do when you're not around? What are they thinking about their own paycheck when you're the one tallying the time and how much they're owed? So now you've now created a system of distrust. You've eroded your credibility and your character. And the same thing. There's another big one is getting paid cash and not reporting it to the irs. Oh, you pay cash. I'll give you a discount if you pay cash. I'm gonna put that in my pocket. Okay. And that's very commonplace.
- [16:13]
A
Yeah.
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B
And look, you're. It's not worth it because you're. Because I guess, okay, you can argue, oh, it's a broken system, blah, blah, blah. I've just got to do what I got to do. Okay, fine. You can take that. But your team is going to see that. What message are you going to send to your team? What message are you sending to your customers? It's not worth the savings. It pays more to do the right thing. And I believe that when we do the right thing and that God will still bless our businesses in spite of that. What everybody else. Sorry, Everybody else in the marketplace is doing.
- [16:51]
A
Yeah, that's so good. And, you know, kind of. I think an overarching theme of what you've kind of talking about is what. What it takes to become a top producer in your field, whether that is as a painting contractor or in real estate or any kind of, what, sales. I think a lot of times a lot of people get promotions, if you will, because they were great producers. It is a totally different skill set to be a great leader and to be a great. To hire well and to create team, to be able to coach people. It is just a totally different skill set. And so it's a mindset shift. You know, when you go make that first hire, you start to leverage what made you great in the season before is not the same. Your choices, whether it's an integrity choice of doing the right thing, isn't just about your personal integrity. It's about the entire company's integrity. What that builds. Yeah, it's just a different skill set. So, okay, I don't hang out. Let's go to your last S. And I want to circle all the way back to how you became a reader, because I'm really curious about it. I want to build the circle of SOS because I need the last s.
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B
The last S is systems.
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A
Okay. Yes.
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B
Okay. So, so simple, repeatable, scalable systems are going to help your, your people, your superstars or your average people, your ordinary people. It's going to help them achieve extraordinary results and repeatable results. As a business owner, we need to know if I, if I double the input, am I going to double the output or only 10% more output? We need to know, we need consistency in our processes. And so sometimes those are guardrails, sometimes those are just simple checklists, whatever they are. But those simple systems are what are going to bring the scalability and the predictability and ultimately guardrail the profits in our business.
- [18:38]
A
Well, and it's really, as a business owner, it's what you own. You don't own the paint or the, the, the wood or the people. You own the systems of the business that create a certain quality of service. And, and if you don't have standards, I heard this great quote, that is, if you're too busy to build systems, you'll always be too busy.
- [18:58]
B
That's right.
- [18:59]
A
And I thought that is, that really sums it up. It's, it's hard to slow down and to document and to create, especially at the beginning when, when you're an entrepreneur, having to do a lot of that yourself because sometimes it's probably out of your disc profile and the things that you like and love to do. And yet if you don't do that, you don't really own a business.
- [19:19]
B
No. You have a sales job and, you know, driving revenue. Driving revenue is important. It's great. But that's not going to solve all your problems.
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A
Right.
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B
You, you're gonna, you're gonna build a massive chaos machine rather than a freedom machine. You've got to have the systems.
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A
Okay, so how did you become a reader?
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B
Okay.
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A
There's a lot of people that level.
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B
With this, let's be honest. All through school, high school, middle school, whatever.
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A
Yeah.
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B
I didn't read a single book cover to cover. I use the Cliffs Notes. I don't even know if that's around anymore. The Playbook.
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A
I mean, I think we just use, they just use AI, I would imagine. Yes.
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B
I was really. I've, I've, I felt I was plenty intelligent. But reading, I was just slow at reading. I would read a page and go, what'd I just read? I was thinking about something else and.
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A
I, you know, because you're reading too slow.
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B
I heard that.
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A
Tommy taught me that.
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B
That's right.
- [20:06]
A
Yeah. You.
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B
Because you're reading too slow.
- [20:08]
A
Yes.
- [20:08]
B
And, but for whatever reason, that's. I was stuck in that loop, and I thought, I'm just not a good reader. Everybody else around me is a good reader. Well, I learned later that I wasn't the only one feeling that way. Yeah, but. So at one time, three of my girls were in competitive cheerleading. At one time, there were three different ages on three different teams. And it was cheer season in the springtime. And so we go to these big events. There's 10,000 cheerleaders. And because the. Their different schedules, we might have to be there at 5:30am for this team to get ready. They go on at 9am Then the other teams have to be there at 11. They go on at 1, and the last one goes on at 6pm Then the award sessions are at 9pm so we're literally there, like, 15, 18 hours, two days a week for, you know, multiple. Multiple times.
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A
Hats off to all dance and cheer parents.
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B
Yeah.
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A
I would just like to say that I have basketball and theater girls, so hats off to all dance and cheer parents.
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B
It's like. Anyway, so I'm. I'm sitting there, and the cheer routines are 2 minutes and 30 seconds, and they're throwing each other in the air. It's awesome.
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A
Yeah, but it's two minutes.
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B
But there's. There's. You're wading through hundreds of teams before. So I'm just sitting there, poured out of my mind, of course. Rochelle, she's taking notes on every other team, and she's really engaged with what's going on, like their baubles and their interviews.
- [21:27]
A
Amazing.
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B
Okay. And I'm just bored out of my mind. So I had the idea one day. I said, you know what? I'm going to bring my iPad with the Kindle app, and I'm going to have my iPhone with the audible app. They didn't mix together at this time. And my Bose QuietComfort headphones.
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A
Okay.
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B
And so I would play the book and listen and read on my Kindle. And all of a sudden, I stayed focused, and I could say, speed it up. And I started chewing through books, and Rachelle would say, tap me on the shoulder, say, they're up next. I'd put the headphones to stand up, cheer on the team. It was great. And I'd go back to listening, and I started chewing through books and making notes and implementing new systems and came up with a lot of tasks. So that right there, when I connected the listening and the seeing of. Of the book at the same time just changed my world.
- [22:21]
A
Do you follow along with your Finger.
- [22:23]
B
I did, but now they can go. They've got the, the words highlight on something like a full version. Right. And so, and so, but, but now I can, I can actually, without that, I can read better. So I, I read every morning while I'm sitting on the recumbent bike. Yeah, I read every morning. And so reading is a. Has made a huge impact in my life. A huge, huge impact in my life. And I'm so glad. I'm so thankful. And honestly, I attribute that whole thing to a prayer that I prayed when I discovered or came to the realization I need to become a better leader. And I said, God, I am not a good reader. And I'm asking you, I need an upgrade in my skills. Will you help me become a better reader? And it literally was like a month or two later when all this happened.
- [23:08]
A
Yeah. Sometimes we just forget to pray the simple prayers and let God do the things that God can do and just be faithful then to, to walk it out.
- [23:15]
B
Yeah, that's right.
- [23:17]
A
So good. So, and I did kind of want to ask you about that. I think we've got a good feel just from some of what you've said. But how does your. Because your faith is a big part of who you are. It's a big part of the driver of your business and your family. How does that show up in the office? How does that show up with contractor freedom? How does that show up in a secular environment?
- [23:38]
B
That's a great question.
- [23:38]
A
Faith show up.
- [23:40]
B
So. It starts with my personal core values. My first core value is faith. Faith in God. Another word for faith is trust. And along with that comes risks. And if you're going to trust people, you're going to have to risk being hurt.
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A
Sure.
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B
And so that's, that's my first core value. So my business mirrors me, and I believe every business mirrors the owner.
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A
Yeah.
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B
Their strengths, their weaknesses and their values.
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A
It's a great look at the mirror.
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B
And it really is. And so, so the, the way we conduct business is we're committed to ethical business practices. And here's, here's the, here's, here's another thing. So in so many businesses, let's just say corporate world and even a small business, that we will grind up people to earn a profit, and that's profit over people. But I learned from the Bible and the example set by me is that people are very valuable. And if God the Father is going to send his son to redeem all the people, not the people that loved him, just everybody, the enemies, everybody. If I'm going to be a good example for him, witness for him. I need to do the same thing. So I need to choose people over profit. But even that, especially among believers, gets out of balance because we will care for the people so much that we don't have accountability conversations. We don't hold, we don't, we don't measure results and KPIs. So there needs to be a balance between people and profits. People in numbers, people in results. Because if you don't make the profits, you can't get the people.
- [25:36]
A
Yeah.
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B
And if you don't have the people, if you don't have the people, you can't earn the profits or you're back in, you're back in small business prison. So that's a key. And we're very upfront with people that in the onboarding process that, hey, these are two things that are both very important. And that's why we want to get the right people in the right roles. We don't want to just hire someone because they're a values fit. That's great. Their values fit. Maybe they belong on our team.
- [26:03]
A
Yeah.
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B
But do we have a right role for them?
- [26:06]
A
Right.
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B
There's a lot. And I made this mistake early on a lot. I got great people, but I didn't have the right role or I put them in the wrong role. And what happens is then they, then they flounder, they're, they're disengaged. I'm unhappy with their performance. Now we're having conversations about that and things just spiral down. It becomes a negative. A negative loop.
- [26:27]
A
Yeah.
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B
That you want.
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A
It's not really caring for people.
- [26:30]
B
That's right.
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A
When we're not setting them up to succeed, when we're not helping them be their best self, when they're not in an environment where they're going to thrive, it doesn't mean they're bad people. And I think that's one of the things as a leader is the goals and the results aren't a definition of who somebody is. It is, it is. You know, a lot of times. Is this the right seat. The bus for you?
- [26:50]
B
Yeah, exactly.
- [26:51]
A
Or is this the right bus? Is this the right bus or the right seat in the bus? And let's help you find what that looks like.
- [26:56]
B
And that's.
- [26:57]
A
But it's, it's a hard, it's a hard balance.
- [26:59]
B
But once you understand, okay, the, the, the disc assessments, you know, D is for dominance, is for influence, S is for supportive, and C is for conscientiousness. This isn't the only thing, but it is a key indicator that reveals someone's predictable behavior, especially under stress. And what work environment doesn't have some stress and problems to solve? And you, when you can see that, okay, this, this, this role, this job, whatever it is, let's just say sales for a second. Okay. It needs. It does. What does job not provide? It doesn't provide stability. What does it provide? Opportunity.
- [27:40]
A
Yeah.
- [27:40]
B
Okay. Opportunity. Okay. So let's look at the person. Do we want a person that likes to take risks, or do we want a person that values stability? And so that's just one example. What does the job provide? What does the job need? What does the person provide? What does the person need when those things can mesh? That's what I call role alignment.
- [28:01]
A
Yeah.
- [28:01]
B
And. And it has nothing to do with skill set or experience.
- [28:04]
A
It's all behavioral.
- [28:05]
B
It's. Yeah, it's all, It's. It starts on the inside. And so experience is great. Okay. But if you have a great training program and here's. Then you can, you can train them quickly. Here's the other thing. When you have the right alignment in just about any typical small business, we're not, we're not, we're not doing brain surgery here. The right person can figure it out because they're already innately attracted to solving the problems that the job, the role presents.
- [28:33]
A
That is so good. Well, I think there's a lot of capable people who are miserable in roles because they develop the skill set around it. So they're good at it.
- [28:41]
B
Yes.
- [28:42]
A
And they're miserable because it just drains their energy.
- [28:44]
B
But. And they're addicted to that paycheck.
- [28:46]
A
Right.
- [28:46]
B
It's. It's. What am I going to do? So how long? It's. They're like that, that frog in the water that's heating up and it's going to boil.
- [28:53]
A
Yeah.
- [28:54]
B
And so sometimes people, people need to just make the leap.
- [28:57]
A
Yeah. Well, if you're, if you're in an environment that suits that natural behavior style, your stress is lower, your productivity is higher. Doesn't mean you can't flex and do other things.
- [29:06]
B
But it drains you.
- [29:07]
A
But it drains you. Right. So your, your stress will go up, your productivity will go down, and overall fulfillment.
- [29:14]
B
So then how do you feel when you go home to your family? Not good.
- [29:17]
A
Drained. Tired.
- [29:18]
B
And what are they gonna get?
- [29:19]
A
Cranky.
- [29:20]
B
Okay.
- [29:20]
A
Yeah.
- [29:20]
B
Initially, when I was, when, when before I started building a team, I was working 18 hours a day, like literally like seven days a week. And I would, I would, I would come Home or get out of my office, wherever. And the kids were in bed. The wife was in bed. The house was quiet. I go over to the microwave, open the door, pull out my little plate with. With my lift up the paper towel and look at my cold leftovers to see what she made for dinner. Yeah. But then what I realized is I wasn't the only one getting cold leftovers. My family was getting my cold leftovers. Yeah. And my business was getting the best of me. And the worst part is I was letting it happen. I had to make a change.
- [30:07]
A
Okay, so let's talk a little bit about making those first hires. Because I think for a lot of people making a hire, one of the biggest challenges is the letting go. It's the trusting somebody else to do it. When you feel like you're the only one who can do it perfectly, nobody is going to meet your standards. My customers only want to work with me. I mean, all of these limiting beliefs around leverage and succeeding through others. So how did you learn. I'm assuming that was a challenge for you a little bit. I think it is for most people. How did you learn to let go in? How did you change the mindset around that and embrace.
- [30:43]
B
Well, first of all, I made a lot of mistakes. I made a lot of mistakes. And that mindset is absolutely a limiting factor for you and for your people. Because even when you, sometimes when you hire people, it's easy to just give them tasks to do rather than responsibilities to own. And the owner still becomes the bottleneck. And they can't grow like that. Even if you've got great people. And if they can't grow, they're going to leave.
- [31:13]
A
Right.
- [31:14]
B
So. So just realize I was at the point where I was like, yes, I need people. So I was, I was to that frustration level. So I didn't personally.
- [31:24]
A
There was no convincing you, but a.
- [31:25]
B
Lot of people really do.
- [31:26]
A
Yeah.
- [31:27]
B
Especially if they're, you know, say they're craftsmen of some sort. They're very quality conscious. Those people really like to see on high sea. You got it. Okay. They, they. So, but here's. Here's what a lot of the. Several of the. Of the contractors that I work with have said something like this. We're not making enough profit on our jobs. And I really believe that we're doing more quality than the customer actually appreciates. And what I've. I'm also saying, yeah, and you're not getting paid for that additional quality because you haven't developed your sales process.
- [32:07]
A
It's not duplicatable and scalable.
- [32:09]
B
It's not. And if they don't see the value, if they're not getting real value from it, don't do it. I mean, there's a reason why you can buy a car for 20,000 and a car for $200,000. What do you appreciate? What does your client need? What do they want? What's the value that they need?
- [32:26]
A
That's really good. Okay, so your son Josiah is running your business now, which is pretty incredible to see that kind of legacy for your family. And you're running Contractor Freedom, doing that as, as a primary. It sounds, I mean, I know you're still involved in doing both. So talk a little bit just about Contractor Freedom and kind of what, what is your vision? What do you see in that world of entrepreneurs? How are you helping them develop that leadership? What does that look like?
- [33:00]
B
Okay, that's.
- [33:00]
A
I know so much in the real estate space of helping entre. I think it's so cool to see and I would imagine there's probably not a lot of people doing that in that specific world.
- [33:09]
B
There's a few.
- [33:09]
A
It's not my world, so I don't know.
- [33:11]
B
Yeah, there's a few. There's not a lot of. Some industries have a lot of manufacturer support and organization and frameworks and business models. You follow?
- [33:21]
A
Okay.
- [33:22]
B
In the unlicensed trades, especially like painting, roofing. Yeah, there, there's not much support. Everybody is reinventing the wheel constantly. And what I thought I had a unique story. They're everywhere. Everywhere. There's. So. Yeah, so the, the way that, the way that we're, we're helping them is one, we have a coaching program. Two, we host sales boot camps because most of them can deliver great product, but they're all competing on price and that's just a race to the bottom.
- [33:57]
A
Right.
- [33:57]
B
And they don't know how to really sell for value. And coincidentally, you know, like I've got data that proves that our highest paying customers are also our happiest ones. It's, it's the message. There is, it's. You think it's about the price, Mr. Contractor? It's not about the price. It's about the value. It's about the value for them and the customer experience. So we, we help them with their sales process to replace what they have with a real proven F7 sales process. We, we, we teach them how to lead, how to manage, how to hire people, how to, how to implement systems. And just all the stuff that I had to build along the way were just our wisdom Our warnings and the way we do things, we're sharing that with them.
- [34:43]
A
That's so awesome. Okay, what message would you hope that every entrepreneur hears from your story? What would be just the big message to anybody stuck in the messy middle of their business that you would hope.
- [34:57]
B
If they're stuck. If they're stuck in the middle, they probably at the point where they realize that money isn't everything they wanted. Maybe they started out wanting a bigger house, more cars, whatever. But most people come to the realization that what? That something that's way more valuable than money is their time, and so is the freedom. The freedom there. And I would say that freedom is designed and follow someone. Get a mentor, get a coach. Not someone that can teach theory, but someone who has done what you are trying to do that can show you the way. You can shortcut decades of trial and error and iterations. If you can do that, so good.
- [35:47]
A
Okay, what have I not asked you about?
- [35:52]
B
How about if I could do it all over again, what would I do?
- [35:56]
A
That's a great question.
- [35:58]
B
So I have two answers to that.
- [36:00]
A
Okay.
- [36:02]
B
The first one would be if I could go back, you know, approximately 30 years and learn any one thing and put one tool in my toolbox. It would be learning disc, because that has helped me in every relationship in my life, personal and professional, and it is so simple and so powerful. That's the first thing. The second thing is this is I never dreamed big enough because I didn't want to fail. I set up goals for myself that were almost guaranteed to be achieved because I don't like to lose. And that's something I learned about myself. I would dream bigger. That's what I would do.
- [36:55]
A
That's awesome. Okay. Since you're a reader and leaders are readers, give everybody maybe your top three book recs. Maybe the book that you think every entrepreneur needs to read, and then maybe a couple that you've read over the last year that you absolutely love.
- [37:12]
B
Okay, so one would be Darren Hardy. Who? Not how.
- [37:17]
A
Okay, great book.
- [37:18]
B
Amazing book. Another one would be Crucial Conversations.
- [37:23]
A
Oh, okay. I've not read that one.
- [37:24]
B
I believe the subtitle is Tools for Talking when the Stakes are High. That's a book to study, not to read. It's a book to study.
- [37:31]
A
Have you read Fierce Conversations? Is it similar to that?
- [37:33]
B
No, but it's on my list.
- [37:35]
A
Okay.
- [37:35]
B
It's on my list. I have not read that one yet.
- [37:37]
A
Okay. But I haven't read that one in years. That is a great book. Has some great frameworks for Fierce Conversations.
- [37:42]
B
Okay. So it's probably very similar. My leadership team and I reread Crucial Conversations every January.
- [37:50]
A
Okay. I'm gonna put it on my list for this year.
- [37:53]
B
And so it's something I truly want to master, and I feel I've mastered it. So I'm still. I'm a student forever.
- [38:00]
A
Communication.
- [38:02]
B
So that. That is. That is an incredible book. And you know, another interesting book is just about spiritual book. Chase the lion.
- [38:14]
A
Chase the lion. I've seen that one.
- [38:16]
B
Oh, wait, it skates my mic.
- [38:18]
A
Because I asked. You can't remember. I know. I'm sorry.
- [38:19]
B
Slides. That's okay. We can figure it out.
- [38:21]
A
And no worries.
- [38:23]
B
Anything by John Maxwell. Absolutely love John Maxwell. You know, the 21 irrefutable laws of leadership, the five levels of leadership. Those are like great foundational books on.
- [38:34]
A
I think if somebody's starting a leadership journey, those are. Yeah, like, those are the groundwork.
- [38:39]
B
Absolutely.
- [38:40]
A
For sure. They're timeless.
- [38:43]
B
So those. Those are. Those are really. Those are really my favorites. And I know you recently did a podcast on habits, and I love. Yes, I love Atomic Habits.
- [38:53]
A
Yes.
- [38:53]
B
Made a huge difference. January, Atomic habits and also tiny habits. Oh, B.J. fogg talk. He presents something called the Fogg model, which is an interesting concept that matters not just in your own habits, but even in influence and in sales.
- [39:10]
A
Okay, I'll have to check that one out, too.
- [39:12]
B
That's a great book, too.
- [39:14]
A
I love it. Thank you for those. And thank you for coming on with. It's been my honor.
- [39:18]
B
What a what?
- [39:18]
A
Oh, my gosh. This is so valuable. You dropped so much gold all throughout the conversation. And tell everybody how they can connect with you online. Obviously. Phillips Home Improvement. If you live in Dallas, Texas area, that's who you need to be going for your. Your home improvement painting needs.
- [39:33]
B
And on Facebook, we are Contractor Freedom. And on Instagram, Contractor Freedom Live.
- [39:39]
A
Perfect. All right. Thank you, Jason.
- [39:41]
B
Thank you.
- [39:42]
A
All right, everybody, that wraps another episode of the Upside. And when you invest in your personal growth every single day, it is going to yield you great returns. Thank you for being an Upsider. Be sure to go to teresaflood.com and subscribe. We send you valuable extra information every single week, and we'll see you next week on the Upside.