Floor Academy - Helping flooring, tile and stone contractors own an asset
Kyle Hedin - Speaker, Mastermind Facilitator, Writer, Content Creator, Business Therapist, and Contractor
283 episodes
9 months ago
Send us a textIt’s been 5 years and 3 months, 283 episodes, and countless guests. All good things must come to an end though. I am honoring the show by taking it back to my very first guests Ken Ballin and Allen Lewis to see how we all have changed over the last 5 years. What’s new, what’s different, and how our goals have changed. Change is a necessary part of life and so is reflection. Enjoy this look back on the show, the industry, and our lives.Special thanks to all of our sponsors. I’ll ...
All content for Floor Academy - Helping flooring, tile and stone contractors own an asset is the property of Kyle Hedin - Speaker, Mastermind Facilitator, Writer, Content Creator, Business Therapist, and Contractor and is served directly from their servers
with no modification, redirects, or rehosting. The podcast is not affiliated with or endorsed by Podjoint in any way.
Send us a textIt’s been 5 years and 3 months, 283 episodes, and countless guests. All good things must come to an end though. I am honoring the show by taking it back to my very first guests Ken Ballin and Allen Lewis to see how we all have changed over the last 5 years. What’s new, what’s different, and how our goals have changed. Change is a necessary part of life and so is reflection. Enjoy this look back on the show, the industry, and our lives.Special thanks to all of our sponsors. I’ll ...
Send us a textIt’s been 5 years and 3 months, 283 episodes, and countless guests. All good things must come to an end though. I am honoring the show by taking it back to my very first guests Ken Ballin and Allen Lewis to see how we all have changed over the last 5 years. What’s new, what’s different, and how our goals have changed. Change is a necessary part of life and so is reflection. Enjoy this look back on the show, the industry, and our lives.Special thanks to all of our sponsors. I’ll ...
Send us a textHow important are the words you choose to use on your website, marketing and even in your daily conversations? How does it affect the way you are viewed, your products, or even your business? I have been big on making sure to say client over customer and project over job for a long time and there are others. Kerry Lenz has also shifted the words she uses in her business to better convey what separates Rice’s More Than Floors in their market.Kerry Lenz and her husband Brad own Ri...
Send us a textHow did you originally decide to name your company? Have you ever thought of changing your name? What kind of damage will it cause? Will people still recognize you? Will you lose clientele? What does it take to rebrand an entire company?Shane Levinson is a serial entrepreneur and combat veteran. Shane started in the flooring business with his father Jerry Levinson nearly a decade ago, posting an average of 40% annual growth for our first 7 years. In 2021 Shane bought out h...
Send us a textWhere do you find the time to write a blog, book client appointments, setup marketing campaigns, and get installs done? It’s a lot of hats to wear and we didn’t even get in to all of the other ones you wear. Technology has come a long way though and it’s here to help you in ways you never imagined. Cartoons like “The Jetsons” are soon to be reality with robots in homes and businesses, as well as, computers that complete simple tasks for you.Jason Potts is the owner of RIC Floori...
Send us a textA single crew is easy to manage especially if you are on it. Two crews is manageable. More than that and you start having a lot of moving pieces between availability, type of work possible to assign, type of work produced, etc. How can you not only manage a schedule effectively for yourself but with great communication to the clients as well?Marcos Guerequeta is the owner of Local Flooring Group in Saskatchewan, Canada. With a focus on social media marketing, he built up the bra...
Send us a textWhy does one store have a product priced at X amount of dollars and another at Y? Why does the price change as I move through different regions of the country? What goes in to pricing a product for national distribution? Why is having this conversation with other installers who don’t understand the big picture a pointless exercise?Multi-time guest, fan favorite, and friend of the show, Ron Nash returns to the Floor Academy Podcast to discuss national pricing by looking at raw ma...
Send us a textHave you ever wondered how to get the higher end projects? What does it take to accomplish them? Who do you need to know? How do you need to perform? There are plenty of things that need to change and thinking that you do the best work in town isn’t going to cut it. Chris Resti owns Crest Tile and Mosaic near Rochester, NY. With a focus on fabricating mosaics and wall art, his journey didn’t begin there. Retail, food service, education and entertainment were some of the stops al...
Send us a textWhat happens with your missed calls or text messages? How about emails? How many times do you follow up with a prospect before considering the lead dead? How do you nurture a lead that is in its infancy? If someone isn’t ready to book now and get work done do you consider them a bad lead? All of these questions have to do with lead workflow and can have a big impact on how busy you can stay. Most of us want leads that are ready to go but we don’t have a system to nurture someone...
Send us a textWhat happens with your missed calls or text messages? How about emails? How many times do you follow up with a prospect before considering the lead dead? How do you nurture a lead that is in its infancy? If someone isn’t ready to book now and get work done do you consider them a bad lead? All of these questions have to do with lead workflow and can have a big impact on how busy you can stay. Most of us want leads that are ready to go but we don’t have a system to nurture someone...
Send us a textNobody wants to work. People want too much money. Nobody will do it as well I can. What other excuses do you have for not having employees and trusting them to complete a project? It doesn’t have to be that way but it will take some work and systems to have reliable, attentive, and empowered employees that do the right thing even when you are away.Matt Garcia, owner of Craftsman Hardwood Flooring in San Angelo, TX, returns to the show once again to talk about how he implemented ...
Send us a textIs it really worth it to have a showroom? Will it truly help your installation business? Won’t it just create more work and get in the way of running installs? It could not be worth it, it could get in your way, and it could create more headaches. However, it could also open up a new revenue stream, limit liability, and give you a path to something other than the “daily grind”. Billy Fritzel is the owner of Fritzel Flooring founded in 2017 in Fort Collins, CO. Following in the f...
Send us a textJust because you can set a tile, hand sew a seam, or properly sand and finish a floor to perfection, does not mean you are good at business. Often times we think because we are great craftspeople that those skills mean we are good at our business. If that was the case, why are there constantly contractors from all fields asking how much they should charge, what is the difference between markup and margin, and how do I handle this challenging client? If you had the skills you wou...
Send us a textHow much does your workman’s comp cost you? What are you classifying your employees as? What are you subs classified as? Did you know that core tasks dictate classification and different classes have different rates? Someone in the field using dangerous power tools will cost you far more than someone in an office sitting at a computer. How do you figure out when you can change a classification and is all this penny pinching really worth it?Brad Lenz and his wife Kerry own Rice’s...
Send us a textWhen are you big enough to get a second location? What are the challenges behind it? How do you manage two teams? There are a lot of things to make happen so that you can be successful. From dialing in sales processes to expanding your marketing in to a new area there is a lot to consider.Chris Rogers is the owner of Wally’s Carpet and Tile in San Bernardino and recently opened up his second showroom. Starting out as an installer gives Chris a different perspective on running a ...
Send us a textHow do you manage your time in your business? How do you manage all the different hats you have to wear? Sales, installation, scheduling, finance, and marketing are just a few of them and they all require a different skillset. What if there was a better way to free up time where you could automate some of the processes as part of being an owner?Brittany Murphy returns to the show as the founder of Marketing Mutt? With over a decade of experience she has created over 900 online m...
Send us a textDo you sell installations or do you sell an experience? Answering that one question can quickly help you differentiate your company from the competition. What makes an install an experience? When does it start? What’s included? Is it really different than what the competition is doing?Reggie Burke of Bayview Flooring in Port Angeles, Washington has over 10 years of experience in the flooring trade. Upon going out on is own after being trained by his father, Reggie was looking fo...
Send us a textWhat changes about your marketing strategy as your business develops around you. What kind of tactics are required as a startup, survival, successful, scaling, or sustainable entity? More than likely referrals won’t be the only thing keeping you business alive past the survival stage.Justin Shaw of Driven for Growth, returns to the show to help us answer the above questions with practical steps to help you move the needle. He works closely with entrepreneurs in the contracting s...
Send us a textWhat changes about your marketing strategy as your business develops around you. What kind of tactics are required as a startup, survival, successful, scaling, or sustainable entity? More than likely referrals won’t be the only thing keeping you business alive past the survival stage.Justin Shaw of Driven for Growth, returns to the show to help us answer the above questions with practical steps to help you move the needle. He works closely with entrepreneurs in the contracting s...
Send us a textHow do you grow an installation company to more than just installation? You get into the retail side of things and start selling products. It’s as easy as building a relationship with a local store for a kickback to being as complicated as opening up your own store from ground zero and building it up. There is a middle ground of finding a store that is for sale and buying a client base and some systems and processes to help make your life slightly easier.Donald Perkins and his w...
Send us a textHow do you choose the right software for your business? Recommendations? Trial and error? Research? There are plenty of ways to attack it but one of the most important things to consider is whether or not it fits your business model. Not all software is created equally nor is it created to function as part of every industry.Tom Strachan is the CEO of Service Buddy, and leads a dedicated team in transforming the way flooring companies manage their operations through technology.Th...
Floor Academy - Helping flooring, tile and stone contractors own an asset
Send us a textIt’s been 5 years and 3 months, 283 episodes, and countless guests. All good things must come to an end though. I am honoring the show by taking it back to my very first guests Ken Ballin and Allen Lewis to see how we all have changed over the last 5 years. What’s new, what’s different, and how our goals have changed. Change is a necessary part of life and so is reflection. Enjoy this look back on the show, the industry, and our lives.Special thanks to all of our sponsors. I’ll ...
