Ep 161: The Leadership Lessons Behind Building a Trades Business with Evan Richard

0:00You have to be committed because there's not gonna be results in the beginning. It's gonna take years. You know, the sky is the limit, just like we were talking about earlier. Yeah. Um, if you look at it from the basis of what, what people can make, whether you're a doctor or a lawyer, the, the sky is, the sky's limitless when it comes to having a master plumber's card or an HVAC license because it opens up the door for so many different avenues.

0:24More than anything, it's just showing up every day. I mean, half of the battle is showing up. Yeah, the other half is staying there and sticking it through. You're listening to the Limitless Leadership Podcast, the podcast designed to help automotive repair shops learn how to lead, coach, train, and manage their team better by sharing proven techniques and thought-provoking interviews from industry leaders.

0:47Are you ready to transform your leadership skills by tapping into unrecognized potential to achieve limitless results? Let's get ready for liftoff. It's time to go from great to greater. Here's today's episode. Hello everyone, and welcome back to another episode of the Limitless Leadership Podcast. Before we get started, don't forget to like, comment, subscribe, do all the things you need to on social media to help this podcast impact people and build leaders.

1:17Just like the leader I have sitting in front of me live in person today at my house, my friend, my, my former high school classmate actually played basketball together. Now he is the owner, founder and owner of ER Plumbing, my friend Evan Richard. Evan, thanks for being here, man. Good morning. Thank you for having me. Dude, I'm excited to do this. As you know, Evan, the majority of our audience is in the automotive repair industry, but leadership applies to every industry.

1:46And as Limitless Leadership is getting into more industries, specifically the skilled trades, I'm thinking, who do I know that's in the skilled trades? You were one of the first names that came to mind, so I immediately reached out. We set up this interview, and I'm excited for our audience to get to know you. I'm excited to also learn how you got into what you're doing and how you scaled and grew your business.

2:07I've seen you blowing up on social media, and I'm proud of you first and foremost. But, um, if you would, man, share with the audience who you are, what you do, and how you do it. Promotive is a recruiting partner built specifically for the automotive aftermarket, giving shops a smarter and more reliable way to hire technicians. Their team Promotive brings decades of industry experience together with real recruiting expertise, so they not only understand the work, you can trust that they understand your shop.

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2:56To learn more or start a search, visit gopromotive.com. Book a call, submit an opening, and see how Promotive helps shops hire better. This episode is brought to you by Limitless Leadership, because great teams don't happen by accident, they're led on purpose. If you're tired of wearing all the hats, putting out fires, and wondering why your team won't step up, Limitless Leadership is for you.

3:17They help leaders transition from player to coach who develop people and multiply impact through in-person or online leadership training like the Limitless Leadership Blueprint or their Roots to Results coaching method. Their services are designed to help you tap into unrecognized potential to achieve limitless results and help you create safety and trust in order to provide clarity and direction. So if you're ready to stop managing chaos and start leading with purpose, Head to limitlessleadership.co to book a complimentary discovery call today.

3:47Yeah. So Evan Richard, ER Plumbing Services, 20 going on 26 years as a master plumber and a plumber in the plumbing industry. Started at the bottom by chance, started with a company that actually built our high school, which was Dry Mala. A guy that I went to, we went to church with, gave me the start and they ended up owning a plumbing company and I got a raise to go work for the plumber and I've been a plumber ever since.

4:17So had it not been for the raise into the plumbing side of the business, there's no telling what you'd be doing. Yeah, actually in 2001, I was selling cars at Mackay Chevrolet. I was one of 51 new car salesmen at Katy Freeway and Kirkwood before the Trade Centers fell. Okay. And that pushed me back into construction because nobody was buying cars. Hmm.

4:38Okay. So you started ER back back when? I started, uh, ER in 2019. I really started pursuing it, um, 2017, 2018, just before COVID Went back to school. I've had the option to get my master's license for many, many years, but the, the company I worked for paid me good. I didn't have any reason to, to go get it or, or leave.

5:00Uh, but my mid-30s, I decided, hey, change, change is, is inevitable. I need to, I need to get off of my, my butt and start working. And, uh, being a project manager for more than a decade, I, I went back and got my master's, uh, slowly started building my business on the side, and then eventually got kicked out of the crow's nest.

5:19Uh, actually, I got kicked out of the crow's nest January 4th, 2020, and then the freeze was literally 90 days later. Yeah. So I always tell people, everybody thinks the freeze was sent for whatever reason. It was sent to keep me from going bankrupt because I didn't have a business. I was, I was 3 months in business. I had I had trucks, I had tools, but I didn't have any business.

5:41And that month was going to be a very, very tough month. And, uh, Valentine's brought a freeze. My phone rang, I don't know, 200 times a day for 90 days straight. You said you're talking, when you said the freeze, so not 2020, you're talking about 2021? 2021. Yeah. Okay. Gotcha. So for those who are unaware, uh, Evan and I are both in the Houston area and there was, uh, people, people in Houston know about the Houston freeze, uh, February 2021.

6:06Was a pretty, pretty, pretty big time because like we don't experience those types of temperatures and it really rocked a lot of, a lot of worlds. So it sounds like that brought a lot of work to you. You talked about getting kicked out of the crow's nest and, you know, launching your own, your own business. Talk, talk to the audience about what it's like to, to step out in faith.

6:30I call it, I call it a step out in faith when you're stepping out in faith and you're starting something new because you don't really know what's what's to come, but you're obviously hopeful for the best. Yeah. What is that like? It's definitely scary. Um, it, when you do it, you have to be committed because there's not going to be results in the beginning.

6:48It's going to take years. Uh, in the first few months, you're going to have lots of sleepless nights. You're going to second-guess yourself all the time because you're new at making those decisions. Yeah. Um, but you have to learn to capitalize off the good decisions and continue to work on the decisions that you made that weren't good and how to prevent those.

7:07Um, it's a, it's a grind. There's no book, there's no one that's going to be able to teach you. You're just going to have to get out there. And it, it's by far, you have to, you have to have faith that God is going to provide. He's always opened the doors for me when he's closed them. And so I've always, you know, put myself out there knowing that, hey, somehow, some way, that phone's gonna ring, that schedule is going to fill up.

7:31I have a lot more security now being 6, 7 years into it. And, you know, when the schedule's not full, knowing that, hey, it's, it's gonna fill up. But, um, it's still trying to this day where some days I'm like, man, the phone's not ringing. What am I doing wrong? And it's not necessarily— it could be the economy, it could be a number of things that drive what is not, and, and the reasons people are using businesses or even spending money for that matter.

7:56One of the, um, one of the best pieces of advice, uh, that I got when I, when I left my corporate job and started my own business was, um, spin slow, save fast. Uh, because to your point, you're gonna have some months where, uh, you may do very well, other months you, you may not do as well. And especially those early days, like you talked about, it's a grind.

8:16In the early days, you said early on, a lot of sleepless nights. I like to jokingly say that a lot of new entrepreneurs probably sleep like a baby. I know I said I slept like a baby, which is— which means I was waking up in the middle of the night bawling my eyes out sometimes because it's terrifying. Yeah, no doubt. It can drive your health in the ground for sure.

8:36And in the beginning, you're willing to do anything and everything to see your business succeed. And then as you kind of grow into your comfort zone of knowing what you're good at and what you're capable of, then you start to direct your time towards more focused patterns and stuff that's going to benefit you and your mental health. I mean, I'm in the emergency business 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

8:57It doesn't matter if I want to take a day off or not. My phone still rings. Mother's Day was a great example. My phone probably rang 8 or 9 times, but I also have to take a step back and realize that, you know, we have families to provide for, we have families to be with on those days. So we're not always available, even though we strive to be there for the customer 24/7, 7 days a week.

9:20It doesn't work in theory because you can't work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You have to have some time off. So I have to as a business owner now, I have to realize what's important and what's not important and what to chase and what not to chase and what not to get excited over, because you can get excited over the wrong things and it can run you the wrong direction really quick.

9:40Yeah, that's good. I, I like that you're, that you're talking about the, the prioritization of your health, both mental and physical health, um, because you said like it can drive your health into the ground, and, and it can be both, both your mental and physical, probably probably more your mental than, than, than the other, but that's to be debated, I guess. Talk to the audience about, um, how have you been able to not only prioritize your health, but what does that actually look like?

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12:11You know, it starts with a strong schedule. I get up early, I go to bed early. I've always gone to bed early. I've been in bed 9:00, 9:30 for the last 2 decades. That's the only way you could live in the construction industry. And I do my best work between 6:00 and about 10:00 AM. I do my most critical thinking during those points.

12:32I make probably the most of my decisions during those times. Prioritizing my health, what that means to me is taking time away from the busy stress Business is always going to be busy. Business is always going to be there, especially if you're good at what you do, but your health won't be. And so you can be successful, but if you don't take time to go to the gym, work out those frustrations, whether it be stretch or, you know, you could sit in an office chair all day and just stress out your back, or you could be the guy that goes out and tries to take every call and lifts every heater and throws out your

13:07back. For me, it's about balance. I have, you know, 8, 10 hours worth of work that I do in a day. Typically I do it mostly in about 4 hours, 5 hours. And then I try to prioritize either in the morning or the afternoon where it's me time, focus on building my body or building my health, or whether it's my kids or whatever it is that I have to do.

13:30But, uh, don't allow my business to overcome me eating properly. In me taking care of myself, because in the beginning, coming from an office where I had a lot of support and then going to an office where I am the only support, you stop doing those things. And then, you know, months later you realize that, hey, you're, you've, you've fallen apart mentally and physically, and then you break down.

13:54And that, that's ultimately what you don't want to happen is you want to, you want to just find it, find the happy medium. It's hard, but it's going to benefit you in the long run as far as being able to get up and, and take the next challenge without, um, allowing that challenge to just ruin you that day. Evan, I really appreciate the fact that we're talking about this.

14:15Um, I can absolutely relate to what you're sharing in relation to even the things that you're feeding yourself, and not just physically feeding yourself, like things that you eat and drink, but even the things that you're watching, the things that you're listening to, the things that you're surrounding yourself with, the people that you're surrounding yourself with. Um, personally, when I ventured out and started my own, at the time I was calling it a leadership coaching company.

14:38Now we've kind of broadened it. Limitless Leadership is a leadership development company, and we have coaching, training, and speaking, uh, available among other things. But, um, you know, I would, I would have a drink every now and then, and then like the next day I'm on a coaching call and I could just feel like I wasn't as focused. I wasn't as sharp.

14:57Not that I would drink in excess, but You know, I would have a drink or two and then the next day I just, I'm like, I've got to like, these clients, like they deserve my best and not only them, but like my family deserves my best and I'm not giving them my best. And I want to give my best to anyone and everyone.

15:14And so it was, it was early on where I said, okay, I need to change the way I'm eating, change the way I like, so my diet changed. Um, I started eliminating alcohol. I mean, now I might have a drink. You and I talked about this offline. I mean, Maybe a drink once every 6 months or so. It's pretty rare. Um, but what, what it does is it, is it ensures that I am doing my part in giving, in preparing myself to not pour from an empty cup.

15:40And I'm giving my best, as best as I can. A question I have for you is, um, I have a, I have a son who is 13, and he, he and I talked the other day about, uh, he does not want to go to college. And I'm like, hey, I'm okay with you not going to college. And what's crazy is 20 years ago, I'm like, you got to go to college.

15:59I mean, I just, I always believe you got to go to college. Um, and, but now I'm to the point where, and there's, look, I'm just throwing up my own opinion out where, uh, college, man, I mean, you, you are, unless you can get some scholarships, which is possible, but unless you can get some scholarships, you might be starting off heavily in debt at a young age.

16:19No doubt. You meet, you meet your significant other while they're going to college, heavily in debt. And then you get married, you both have a mound of debt, and then you wonder why divorce rates are as high as they are. And I'm just, I'm going off on a rant. No, I'm with you 100%. I mean, 20 years ago that, and even today they're still trying to tell our young youth that college is the only way.

16:40And let's be honest here, 70% of all the people who graduate from high school, 70% of them are not college material. That's the reality. There's only about 30%. And those are the lawyers, your doctors, uh, the big degrees where you have to have the degree to be in that specific field. Yeah. The greater majority of us are just not really designed or even can't even be entertained long enough to be in those, in those fields, especially men.

17:10Right. I mean, like, like, and, and look, when we guys think we're not men, like we're. We're, we're adolescent boys trying to become men. We think it takes a lot to keep us entertained. And that's why the construction industry and the plumbing industry has been so great for me. I've always enjoyed building things, solving problems. Okay. So think about the construction industry or the plumbing industry, HVAC.

17:33It's, it's a, it's an endless problem that needs to be constantly solved based on experience, based on whatever it is that you're doing. It's, it's a never-ending cycle. It's hard to get bored. It is. And if anyone who says, I don't care if they've been a master for 50 years and they want to give a trade, to actually say that you've mastered the trade is far harder than putting the card in your pocket.

18:00Yeah, that's so good. So, so when I was having the conversation with my son, the— it's like his biggest thing was, I don't want to go to college. And so I'm like, okay, let's talk about this. Like, let's talk about you know, why you may not want to go to college. And if, if not, then, then let's talk about what you are going to do.

18:15And we got on the topic of skilled trades. And so, um, I said like, look, let's, let's talk about skilled trades. Like, let's talk about what might be a possibility for you. Um, of these, I mentioned, uh, I mentioned 6 different— I mentioned automotive, I mentioned, uh, plumbing, roofing, construction, electrical, and HVAC. Of these, which ones do you, uh, have, uh, the, the biggest interest in?

18:38Well, his first question actually was like, 'Which one can I make more money in?' You know, 'Yes, money.' And so I'm like, 'Money aside, let's get there, but money aside, which one of these do you believe you'd find the most joy in doing?' And so he chose between automotive and electrical. And so naturally I'm like, 'Oh, this is awesome.' I mean, I already served— primarily served the automotive repair industry, um, but let's keep going a little deeper, not just scratch the surface, let's get to the root.

19:04And so ultimately what he landed on was he believed he would have the most joy in doing electrical work. So he now wants to be an electrician. And so I'm helping him towards that path of becoming an electrician. I'm so proud of him. I'm excited for him. I look, I don't believe that he needs to go to college if he doesn't want to, but if he wants to do electrical work, then let's talk about it.

19:25So let's get into it. And so right now, that's what we're doing. Here's my long-winded question for you. I'm finally getting to the question. You got, you got children about the same age as mine. Um, a little bit older, but if you're listening or if you're watching this episode, you can watch this episode, uh, on YouTube at The Bearded Leader. And let's say that one of your children wants to get into a skilled trade.

19:48What is the first, like, what, what's some advice you would give to someone who is looking to get into the skilled trades? Well, for, for me, obviously being a master plumber, owning my own plumbing company, I have, uh, the option to do things a little differently than someone who may doesn't hold a plumbing card or own a business. But from my perspective, my 16-year-old son, he's 19 today.

20:10He's held an apprentice card that costs $13. Okay. You apply for the state, you get your card. At that point, any of the hours that he works with me transfer towards his journeyman license, which he needs 8,000 hours, 8,000 man hours to be able to then go take his test to become a journeyman. One year from the date of him becoming a journeyman, he can go take his master's test.

20:35So, you know, if you start young, I didn't start until I was, I was 20, 20. I got my, I got, I turned out as a journeyman at 24. So 21, I was an apprentice, 20, 21, and takes roughly about 4 years to get your, your apprenticeship. Gotcha. And then, you know, the sky is the limit, just like we were talking about earlier.

20:57If you look at it from the basis of what, what people can make, whether you're a doctor or a lawyer, the sky is, the sky is limitless when it comes to having a master plumber's card or an HVAC license because it opens up the door for so many different avenues. Yes, you could just be one chuck in a truck and you could work for yourself and you could be very happy and you could make six figures.

21:19You'd make more than that. But you, you can also own a business that does, you know, a couple million dollars a year and has several trucks. So there's, you know, the guy that owned the Memorial City Mall is a great example. He's a master plumber. Okay. I don't believe he owns it anymore, but the guy who built Memorial City Mall and owned it for many years, he was a master plumber by trade and he ended up in the real estate business.

21:42So it's, it's transferable to other businesses because we all, we all need a plumber. We all need an AC guy. You're never going to not need one. That's right. Um, the right now the issue is not having enough of them. And I, I, I went to schools for years that had the trades programs, the college nights where we'd set up the booth and we had all the fancy technology that we use as plumbers.

22:05I worked for a really high-dollar plumbing company, uh, did lots of commercial work. And as soon as the parents realized that we were plumbers, they would immediately grab their kid and start going the other direction. Wow. And, um, funny enough. We would talk to them regardless. I talked to them. I tell them, look, if they're not college material, you're going to end up back here in 2 years anyway.

22:26The only difference is you're going to be 2 years older. You're going to be 2 years behind and be starting out to buy. If you go to college, you're going to pay $70,000 a year plus your room and board and all the woes that go with going to school. And I don't have anything against school, but what are you going to use that school in real life to actually make you money with?

22:45This is what boils down and we're not asking our kids that question. Whereas I went to, you know, someone paid me $8 an hour to start as a plumber and I worked my way up from sweeping, you know, the floors and going and go for this and go for that all the way to where I've sat next to the VP of a company that did $33 million a year.

23:05Wow. So it's about how much time and work and dedication you're willing to put in it. And I, I put my, I put my, my fair share in, I put 16, 17 years in to get to the very highest of the top as commercial elite that I could be at, uh, and found that, hey, I wasn't happy. I really wanted to be a small business owner.

23:24I really wanted to be in control and manage my own destiny and involve my own family and see the returns for my children rather than the guys that I was just a name to. So let, now let's talk about, let, let's fast forward back to where you're at now. So, uh, Euro Plumbing, how many, how many plumbers do you have on the team?

23:44Like, what does your team look like? Um, talk, talk about where, where you're at now. So right now we've, I've got 4 trucks on the road. That are wrapped, um, 3 licensed plumbers that run those trucks. I've got 1 apprentice, which is my son. I've got 2 people that work in the office, my wife and her sister. I answer the phone, they take care of the books, take care of the paperwork for me.

24:06Um, life is good as far as that's concerned. I've had the volume or the people now for almost 5 years solid. Okay, so, um, These guys have been with me, they're like family. You treat, you treat people like family and they stay with you like family. And these guys I've known for a long time. Um, some, you know, like Mike, the other master that works for me, uh, we've known each other almost 15 years now.

24:31That's awesome. And so he brings a lot to the table because he is a master. So he brings a whole nother set of, uh, education and knowledge that, you know, instead of just having 20 years, 25 years in the business, now I've got 45 years worth of experience in the business. So he brings another dynamic. One of the things he talked about, he used the word, used the word legacy before we got started.

24:52And, um, and specifically, I believe that as leaders, we truly get to lead today to make an impact for tomorrow. What does it look like to lead today to make an impact for tomorrow? In other words, what kind of legacy are you leaving? The beautiful thing about Euro Plumbing is that you are creating your legacy and your family, your, your actual family is in the business, but you're also creating more family because of the growth that, that you've had and the leadership that you instill on your team.

25:20I'll ask you, Evan, what does leadership mean to you? Oh, it means a lot. It means a lot. More than anything, it's just showing up every day. I mean, half of the battle is showing up. Yeah, the other half is, is staying there and sticking it through. They can talk about— so when you say showing up, because that doesn't just mean that you're, you're present, it means that you're truly being present.

25:43Can you elaborate on what showing up really means for the listener? Yeah. So I'm a hands-on business owner. 99% of the time when you call my phones, you're gonna get me on the phone, which is a pretty rare occurrence. You're not gonna call the 25 competitors of mine and speak to the Master Plumber when you call. It's just not gonna happen. They're too busy.

26:01I make myself fully exposed when it comes to that because I stand at the forefront. I want to be the guy that speaks to you first. I want to be the guy that understands what your service is. Our needs are, and then schedule is usually based on that. So I'm very hands-on. We're not— we don't have a lot of— we don't have any pushy sales type gimmicks.

26:23I sell people what they need the most when they need it. And I've made a huge reputation off of myself because I don't upsell people like the majority of the groups out there that are paid by the service call. My guys aren't— we're not set up that way. And so we're there to— we're there to service the community and that what is kind of like the old mom-and-pop fashion, late '90s type businesses that we used to see a lot of.

26:49Very hands-on, very personal. So I not only want you as a customer, you know, today, but I want you a customer 10 years from now. So not here to win off of you. We're really just here to provide a good service. And that leadership that I show in the beginning, when you go and look at our reviews, I've got almost close to 400 reviews, 5-star reviews, and every one of them are personal.

27:11They mention our names. I mentioned who the tech was. Who the plumber was or what we did that day. And it makes a big difference when you go to select someone, when you see, hey, it's really a family-owned business. It's not a corporate business branded as a family business. ER is your initials. It is. And there's very few people today that are willing to put their name as the forefront of any of their brands.

27:34And I have nothing to fear. I've made a great life and living off of serving the community for more than 2 and a half decades and just providing reliable services and just fixing people's problems. That's powerful. Um, you know, offline you mentioned how a lot of your customers, um, you know, there's emergencies that occur and people will call you all the time for emergencies, but there's also a lot of folks who, um, if they need to wait for you guys, I know, I know they don't have a long wait, but if they need to wait, They're gonna wait because of who you guys are, the quality that you provide, the service you provide.

28:12It goes a long way. And something that you, that you alluded to just now is the importance of, of thinking about the end in mind. It's so easy for all of us in any kind of service-based business, business to be thinking about what the transaction's gonna look like today. So, and cuz you mentioned upselling and there's a lot of organizations out there who will upsell when it's not necessary because they're so focused on getting everything they can today.

28:35Yeah. Bottom line, revenue, the numbers up. But you know, Evan, like if we take care of our guests and serve our guests, love our guests through the process, then they're gonna, they're gonna call you back. There are so many more of them than there are of me. Yeah. And it, it, it, it doesn't make sense for, yes, I could upsell and yes, I could push my million dollar revenues to say $2 million, but it doesn't really provide a service to upsell if, if they're happy with the service that they're getting.

29:04There's no reason to upsell, right? I want the customer when they have the little problem. I want the customer when they have the big problem. So when you have the big problem, I won't take advantage of you. And when you have the little problem, I don't take advantage of you. I just want you to consistently call me. So that is how I've built a customer base of 5,000+ customers and, uh, where we service over 1,000 customers yearly, every year continuously.

29:28And I have people that have called me back from 5 years ago, like, hey, I haven't used you in 3 years, but I knew as soon as I need something, Hey, you're the guy to call because you, A, didn't, you know, rake me over the coals when I needed a water heater. And I, you know, I had water raining down through my ceiling.

29:43Yeah. $20,000 worth of damage. Uh, you know, so John Moore and I hate to name names, but the big corporate style companies, the ones you see on, on TV that are putting on those ads, uh, it's $59, $89 to get in the door. It sounds really great. I am not ever going to be that cheap to get in the door. I'm going to be honest with you.

30:04My call fee starts at $175. And that's what differentiates me from the guy that's just trying to get in the door to upsell you versus, hey, I know my value. I want you to understand that I know my value. And if you're willing to wait for my value, I'm going to provide you an excellent service. And those are the customers that are willing to wait.

30:22I'm in the me now business. Whereas I, when people call, they need, they want it now. And they don't wait. There's 25 other people that they can call and get business from immediately. So, uh, I try to create a culture of, hey, what sets me apart from the other guys? And what sets me apart is, A, you're getting a family-friendly service. We're going to recommend what we would recommend in our own home, and that's it.

30:44I'm never going to sell you something I don't feel comfortable with because at the end of the day, I don't want to sell you something that you're not going to be happy with. I want to be able to know that when I leave there, 100% satisfaction. That you're going to call me back next time because I gave you exactly what I promised you.

30:59You get what you pay for, and that applies to any industry. Um, love that, man. I think that is— I think you're delivering a lot of great information. Let me, let me ask you a question based on, you know, in the automotive industry, uh, for the last 60 years in a row, the California Bureau of Automotive Repair has done surveys for automotive repair customers, and The top 2 complaints based on this survey for 16 years running have been, I didn't know what was done in my vehicle.

31:26I didn't know why it was done. I can only assume that those questions are also applied in plumbing, in electrical, in HVAC, roofing, construction, and so forth and so on. How important, Evan, is it for you to be able to educate your customers on exactly what you're providing and why you're providing it? So that's a great— is a great question because I don't necessarily sell people that I am a great salesman.

31:50I could sell You know, I could sell just about anything to anybody if I wanted to bad enough, but when it comes to your sales technique, uh, and how we pursue the customer, it's through education. Uh, letting them know what the service entails, what the service's benefits are, what to expect in the outcome a year from now, and how routinely am I going to have to have this service again.

32:15Um, I'd rather you upfront know that, hey, once this is an issue, it's always going to become an issue. You know, you're going to have to keep an eye on it. I may be able to resolve it for a certain amount of time, but it's going to come back. Uh, AC drain clogs are a great example. We— I get calls all the time behind the AC guys.

32:31Hey, AC guy's been in my house, he did this and did that, and it's still not working. And we come behind him and we do the, the correct and the proper drain cleaning. The problem that was at hand at the first time, it just wasn't getting dealt with. Question for you. I, I, I've got to believe that, um, I mean, you just gave a good example of how you're coming, you're coming behind somebody else's work at times.

32:52Have you guys partnered with other industries, other, like a specific AC company that's a preferred partner, or another, like, what does that look like? So I, yeah, I've partnered, uh, with a few over the years. Um, I, I've partnered with people that I've never even physically met, okay, which is, it's odd, but when you do good business and other businessmen like you see that, they just go automatically.

33:18A few, uh, Steve Slaton is a great example. I personally I've never met Steve Slayton. He's been in business for 2 and a half decades. Okay. He does appliance repair. He refers me and I refer him. Um, and it's a great relationship because he knows, hey, I'm not going to upsell his customers. He doesn't upsell his. He's there to provide that service and he's got a ton of business just based on what he does.

33:39So he, when he runs into a water heater, he refers me, they call me and I immediately have a built rapport with them and it's an easy sell. That's awesome. Um, same thing goes with several of the local AC companies. Um, I've got some in my neighborhood that I deal with. I've got some that are more strategically located towards Houston. Um, but when they have an issue or they take a call that's plumbing related, it comes to me and vice versa.

34:04When I take a call and it ends up being AC related, I usually refer them to one of them. So it's a trade-off. Um, being a good business owner. Is about net— you have to network. Networking is key. I spend on average 2 or 3 hours a week networking. Okay. Between a group of between 20 and 40 business owners, mostly men. Don't get me wrong, I do network with a lot of women business owners, but mostly service type based businesses.

34:32And it's been very, very good for me. I've been a part of a men's networking group for about 4 years now. And And you've actually come and joined us and been a part of that. And just, it really helps having a group that you can rely on or lean on. I think ultimately in the type of industry that you're in and any skilled trade specifically, trust is a big, is a big thing because a lot of times your customers have no idea how to do any kind of plumbing work.

35:02Or they just had a bad experience with someone who's come to their house and hasn't done a service right. So it, so it caused them to lose even more trust, right? I mean, already it's like, I don't really know how to do plumbing work. I'm dependent on this person and I'm trying to trust this person, but I have, I already had a bad experience.

35:16So, uh, it goes a long way when you can network in these events or get at these, uh, at these groups and build rapport with these groups. Everyone can like word of mouth referrals is the best form of marketing, right? And so the, the more, the more you can get into these groups and network and build relationships, that's what builds trust. Relationships build trust.

35:38The relationships that you're forming build trust. So when anyone refers ER Plumbing to another person, they can trust they're getting the right company. Well, and not what sets me apart from the other guys, and I said this before, when you call, you're speaking to a master plumber. Imagine if you were calling and you were speaking to just some nonchalant person that has no experience in plumbing, that's just taking down notes.

36:04Whereas I'm able to dissect, hey, what the problem is, offer a solution, offer most likely pricing, and, and give them a peace of mind. Hey, you've got the right person on the phone. Everything that my guys do after I touch it is the result of what questions I ask, uh, and my dissertation of what the issue was to begin with so that when they get there, A, they're prepared.

36:30And the customer's also preparing because you got to prepare the customer for what they're getting. You've got to prepare your people for what they're going to see. And so knowing that up front and then being in the forefront— so I touch every single call before they get to it, and, and that helps because that goes back to being a leader. There's nothing I won't do that, that they have— that they're not going to do 100 more times.

36:53Yeah, you know, I, I try to, I try to not necessarily baby it, but I try to direct it to where it's the least path of resistance, the most education, and you get the most benefit. I mean, you're making it easy for everyone. You're preparing everyone. You're, you're making sure that, that, that your team member as well as their customers prepared. Well, ultimately, when the pressure's on, we don't rise to the occasion.

37:13We fall to our highest level of preparation. Last question I'll ask you, Evan. Actually, I got two more, but, but one I ask on every episode, which is what is the best advice you've ever received from a coach or a mentor? Oh man, that's a hard one, but it's a good question. Um, I've received a lot of advice over the years. Uh, probably the best is, uh, you know, I'd have to say never, never quit, uh, trying to better yourself, whether it be on a daily basis.

37:39Um, we all get complacent, you know, it's, it's very easy. You can become successful, but then you become complacent because of that success, because you kind of get nurtured and you're like, oh yeah, I've got I've made it. And the reality is, uh, success is, um, it's all in the eyes of the beholder because it changes constantly. You can be successful one day and the next day completely unsuccessful.

38:02So in order to be successful in the long run, it's, it's always trying to find new ways to build yourself. Love that. If you, if you just sit around and say what I've always done is always going to work, well, eventually there will be a hungrier lion will come by and he will eat you up. And, and there's a lot of young guys out there.

38:23I mean, I'm at, I'm in my mid-forties. Um, yeah, I'm the average age of a plumber, maybe 56 years old, but I'm getting up in there, uh, to where I'm towards the upper end, but I don't need to stay relevant if I'm providing a service that sets me apart from the rest. That's so good. Uh, last question. So for anyone listening or watching this episode who is in the Houston area, um, which areas specifically in around Houston do you serve and how can they get in touch with you and your plumbing?

38:52So we're based out of Katy locally, serve anywhere within about a 30 to 40 mile radius. Cypress, Rosenberg, Richmond. I will go as far as Sealy. I do like to stay on the west side of Houston. I said the west side is the best side. Always. No, no, Houston is just so big. It takes you an hour to get from— Yeah, exactly.

39:15The 99 corridor and I-10 is my primary spot. We were the heroes of clogged sinks, leaky faucets, and everything in between. I mean, I built my business around being available when customers need us most and taking care of them and providing great services when it counts. Hey, the best ability for a leader is availability. Evan Richard is available. Actually, you said Evan Richard.

39:41I knew it was Evan Richard. Someone changed that pronunciation along the way. Yeah, definitely Richard or Richard was the preferred when I was a kid. You know, being in Houston, they always say Richard. Richards. So yeah, uh, it's, it's just easier when I say, when I introduce myself as Evan Richards, uh, everybody's like, well, it, it asked a lot of questions like, yeah, Cajun.

40:01Yeah, okay. Yeah, that makes sense. Okay, good deal. Well, Evan, man, thanks for being here. I appreciate it. It's a pleasure. And thank you for tuning in to another episode of the Limitless Leadership Podcast. As you know, we look to transform our leadership skills by tapping into unrecognized potential to achieve limitless results. Have a great day, everyone. Don't forget to smile today.

40:17Tell your loved ones how much they mean to you. I'm Josh Parnell reminding you to keep leading well.