Foundational Wisdom: Building Success from the Ground Up with Benjamin Heninger (S6E19)

Immerse yourself in this enriching episode of The Biz Dojo Podcast, your definitive guide to unlocking business potential. In this conversation, we sit down with Benjamin Heninger, the seasoned mastermind behind Groon Construction, for a heart-to-heart chat on the crossroads of life, work, and self-discovery.

From the foundation up, Benjamin's journey is a testament to the power of niche expertise. He shares with us the profound lessons he's gleaned from his lifelong involvement in foundation repair, a field he has passionately dedicated himself to. But it's not just about bricks and mortar - the episode delves into the struggle of balancing work, life, and education, offering insights into Benjamin's unique experience navigating these intricacies.

Navigating change is part of life, and it’s no different in business. Join us as we take a nostalgic journey back to the era of yellow pages, comparing it with the ceaselessly evolving digital landscape. Explore with us the seismic shift from paper to pixels, and how it has forever reshaped the business environment, especially for niche businesses.

Beyond that, Benjamin imparts a crucial understanding of risk tolerance - an element that can be a game-changer in deciding between working for others or embarking on a journey of self-employment. His insights provide an enlightening perspective on risk management in the entrepreneurial space, drawing from his wealth of personal experiences.

Hosted by Sean, JP, and Seth, this episode is a goldmine of practical insights and wisdom, perfectly encapsulating the essence of entrepreneurial resilience. Join us as we unveil the strategies that can help you thrive amidst adversity and constant change.

Stay tuned for this episode of The Biz Dojo Podcast, your key to unlocking a treasure trove of business insights. Don't let this captivating conversation with Benjamin Heninger pass you by - it's one you won't want to miss!

Transcript

JP Gaston: 0:06

The Biz Dojo

Seth Anderson: 0:15

recording the

Benjamin Heninger: 0:18

referendum well I am what buzzin This is probably the most comfortable podcast record I've ever had.

Seth Anderson: 0:25

It's legit,

JP Gaston: 0:26

you should upgrade here.

Seth Anderson: 0:28

That's that's the Braco furniture way they get us in here and then you're gonna leave with this coat.

Sean Mills: 0:33

Yeah, that's gonna happen.

JP Gaston: 0:36

This one but the 275 other coaches that you're about to track,

Benjamin Heninger: 0:39

don't spill anything on anything.

Sean Mills: 0:42

I've said a number of pictures home already, so we'll see how that goes.

Seth Anderson: 0:48

You're welcome Carrie. So welcome to The Biz Dojo Podcast coming to you. Well not live but we are live recorded live recording studio. There's at least one person here so yeah, I guess studio audience

Benjamin Heninger: 1:00

he might not be watching but he's here. He's here.

Seth Anderson: 1:02

He's here. We've got Benjamin and injure.

Benjamin Heninger: 1:09

Correct. Yes.

Seth Anderson: 1:11

Joining us today. So Benjamin, we we want to hear all about your story and and learn from you. Oh, okay. Yeah. So maybe just start. Tell us a little bit about your business.

Benjamin Heninger: 1:23

All right, my current business. I am a civil engineer, and my current business. I am a consultant, a foundation specialist. And a renovator. I wear many hats. My whole shtick is that I use the expertise that I've gained over the past 35 years and put it to whatever you need. I put all that experience into whatever you need from foundations to fixing things up to just trying to figure things out. I like to problem solve. And once we figure out what's wrong, I really like to make it right. So my current business for the most part, I'm trying to be a really an expert in the space. I am an expert in the space, one of the only engineers in the space for the foundation side of things. So I'm that's kind of my angle.

Seth Anderson: 2:22

Once you're an expert in that, would you be a foundationalist? Is that?

Benjamin Heninger: 2:27

I like that. I like where you go in there. Yeah, I like where you're going. That'd

Seth Anderson: 2:30

be great. LinkedIn title.

Sean Mills: 2:32

Yeah, you got to have a good foundation, very business. Right. So that's a huge plus.

JP Gaston: 2:37

But like, I

Sean Mills: 2:37

feel like Benjamin, you're not only foundation specialist, but as a civil engineering specialist materials. But your problem solver, you hit the nail on the head, when I'm sure that a good chunk of your time is spent scratching your head understanding how did this get built like this?

Unknown: 2:55

True story. True story and talking to people on the phone? Or even on site, just kind of looking at scenarios gone. Really? Yeah. How do we get here?

JP Gaston: 3:06

Do you have an idea? Like I know a lot of communities in Calgary, you kind of know going in that it was built during a boom or built during it. But can you tell the difference? When you go in? You're like, Oh, I know. I'm going over here. And this is probably what I'm going to experience.

Unknown: 3:22

Yes and no, there's certain pockets in the city, like the bottom of 14th Street, north or the south side. Really high water table really bad soil. I when I say bad, so it's just there's high salinity in the soil. We know from a foundation perspective, we got trouble because those houses were built in the early 1900s. As soon as they get called on there, it's like

Seth Anderson: 3:47

what is what is the lifespan of a foundation supposed to be like 100 years or well Angelman builds,

Unknown: 3:53

it fits forever. That's right. Infinite. Absolutely. concrete foundations are well over 100 years. Okay. Would foundations. No different than a car? How long should a car last? As long as you take care of it? It could last for a very long time. You don't take care of it. It won't about taking taking into account great and making sure you're doing what you're supposed to do on a wood foundation of wood foundational last 80 to 100 years. Interesting. What

Seth Anderson: 4:21

are you supposed to do with a wood Foundation? Because I have one and I'm not doing anything? Really? Now. I just moved into that house couple years ago,

Sean Mills: 4:28

but sounds like a sales opportunity.

JP Gaston: 4:31

Stay was touching.

Sean Mills: 4:34

That's funny. I'm looking for a client. That's right.

Seth Anderson: 4:38

I think in Redwood metals, most houses are actually wood foundation.

Unknown: 4:41

Your house is more than likely built in the late 80s or the early 90s. Yeah, yeah. They were really big then. What you're supposed to be doing to answer your question directly. Grading you want to keep water away. Yep. Okay. You want to make sure that any water that does get In and around your foundation is funneled away. And if it does get down against your foundation, there's a mechanism to collect it at the bottom and get it out of there. Gotcha. You do not want to have water against that wood for any prolonged period of time

Sean Mills: 5:14

to know. Yep, that sounds, it seems like like in that space, water is kind of the enemy. Is it not? Absolutely. It's kind of like the primary

Unknown: 5:23

problem without a doubt. Yep. And that goes with a concrete foundation as well. Like, because the water once it gets in now it becomes the issue. The correct, right, so you start to get water coming in. If you don't, if you even if it's just a trickle, sometimes if it's a trickle, it's worse. Because you start to get in, you get mold growth, and you don't see it, you're better off to have an influx of water. And now you can see it. And it's like, oh, God, we got a problem. Water is absolutely the enemy no matter if it's inside or out. So your wood foundation keep waterway. Yep, make sure it works.

Seth Anderson: 5:58

Noted. And I think we do a pretty good job of that. But maybe we'll take some extra precautions.

Unknown: 6:04

And the other thing that I would recommend to anybody with a wood foundation is go to the city archives, and get your drawings, get your blueprints, so that you have Monahans you know exactly what you're dealing with. Do you ever want to sell that house? If you bought that house, you should ask for them to interesting.

Sean Mills: 6:22

Is that? Is that different than the real property report? Yes. Okay. Yep,

Unknown: 6:27

you can actually go to the city of Calgary, most jurisdictions having authority. Like, in across Canada, they will have archives for what was submitted for a building permit.

Sean Mills: 6:40

I'm curious on the specifics of the business, for yourself, and, you know, obviously with your experience, and and you could maybe touch on that a little bit, but kind of leading to the foundation specialist role and that consulting mechanism. What's that journey been like for you, Benjamin, as probably the guy who did the work, and did a lot of work, and then becoming entrepreneurial, kind of taking that drive starting the business? Kind of going down that road? What's that experience been like for you?

Unknown: 7:11

A long one. I've been doing concrete work since the early 90s. My dad owned his own Concord restoration company. So I grew up in a entrepreneurial house. My dad owned that business and we I worked with him. Like there was no handouts grown up. So it was like, Okay, you want allowance? My kids asked me for hours these days. And I'm like, Well, what are you gonna do? Put your hand out is not work. So you know, I go down and sweep out, the shop clean trucks start to go on sites as I got older. And that's where I got involved in concrete repair, lead repair concrete, we'd put coatings down. And then in the wintertime, we'd have exposure to slow times. And crack filling for residential foundations was kind of a mainstay, my dad would lay off most of his staff, because we'd ramp up for the summer, a lot of our work was outside, but he'd kind of keep on a skeleton crew for the winters. And being family. I got to be on that skeleton crew. So over the years, we learned how to do these injections. And it's evolved over time with, with technology in the way that I like to do things. But that's where it started. The basis was from my father, being able to figure out how to do it explain, you know, we never used a single component, we always had two components. So understanding how epoxies work, understanding how adhesion works and things like that surface prep. That was that was kind of the foundation, how everything that the basis of knowledge started.

Sean Mills: 8:57

Yeah, I mean, there's got to be some, definitely some technical skill in providing an epoxy to an aggregate. Yeah, because I mean, there's moisture, there's the surfaces rough, there's a number of things that have to go into play. So that's an interesting skill to learn. Absolutely. Right.

Unknown: 9:11

And that's where it's like, when you start to break it down for people they the light bulb goes on, you're like, oh, yeah, you know, when you give them an example of where you wouldn't put wet, or you wouldn't put paint on a on a wet wall. Right? You wouldn't put, you know, if you're gonna put a garage coating down, you're gonna paint your own garage floor. You wouldn't do it if it was wet, right? You wouldn't do it if it was dirty, right? are like, oh, yeah, that makes sense. Well, when we start to look at these critical factors, you start to figure that stuff out. And you know, when you're getting paid to do it, and you're getting paid to put these industrial grade coatings down, you start to really focus on that, about how doing a good job. And quite honestly, it's ironic because you say that you're like, Well, yeah. But the amount of jobs that I go and fix that other people have done, are breakdowns of very simple Things, surface prep wasn't done, prep wasn't done the rushing to do it, they're trying to get it in too fast. Well, that stuff steps were missed. And when you have to go through that, and my dad was meticulous about this stuff, and I inherently picked all that up. So it was a great skill for me to be able to figure out, he taught quite a few other guys how to do it. And they just didn't have the time or didn't really care kind of looked at it. I looked at it as a total niche. And I guess that's the way my brain works. I look for those niches. So as I start to get out of high school, kind of looking to see what's going on, I worked with him for a bit and then had an opportunity to go to university. Again, like the allowance, there's no handouts I had to pay for my own university. So I'm like, Okay, well, how am I going to do this? So, picking up this type of work, it's, it pays really well, because it's a niche, and there's an expertise to it. But actually started off on this as like a primary source of income in 2002. Said, Okay, started university in 2000 was married was like, okay, my wife at the time was going through to school as well. So we're, we're supporting ourselves going to school, and it was like, Okay, how am I going to do this? How am I going to do this, and still, you know, taking an engineering degree, you know, it's six and six, six courses a semester. So it's like, I gotta squeeze work, I can't work at the mall. You can only make so much money, they have a fair assumption issue at the mall. Exactly. I'd love to do to

JP Gaston: 11:36

take care of those go to university four or five times on the price of a foundation.

Unknown: 11:40

That's right. You know, so, you know, you look at opportunities to be able to do that, and you start to see it more. And that's where it was like, Okay, this is great, because I can do this and still do my university. I still have, I still can go to class, I still have time to do it. And I can schedule my own work. I mean, back then it was yellow pages days, you know, like, you get this little tiny you know, three by one inch ad and Yellow Pages and people are calling Yeah, and you know, you got a cell phone, you know, your t nine texting, I mean, nobody t nine texts, even back then, you know, you weren't doing that with clients like you are now. But that's where it all started. And then it just ramps up. And then

Sean Mills: 12:19

the yellow page salesperson comes in like a brand new car, that looks nice. And they're just like, Okay, we're gonna sign you up for 15 years. And like, I should be in the Yellow Pages bracket.

JP Gaston: 12:30

Like I was just thinking about what happened to all those businesses because they don't do it anymore. But they used to have to do it. What happened to all those businesses that were AAA? aaa, aaa AAA? Yeah, yes, they don't. They were doing that strategically to show up higher up in the yellow pages. And now

Seth Anderson: 12:46

pages still exist, though. It's just online now.

JP Gaston: 12:48

Yeah, when's the last time you use?

Seth Anderson: 12:50

I'm not saying I use it. Like, this is a couple of years ago, I was in Grand Prairie. And there was a bunch of people there from Yellow Pages having like a conference, but

JP Gaston: 13:00

it was actually their entire international organization. They're down to 15 people having a party in Grand Prairie.

Sean Mills: 13:06

Honestly, the yellow pages people should have just become the SEO people. They would have been.

Unknown: 13:11

I was just I was just gonna say the the A and triple A. That was early days SEO. Yeah. Yeah. I need to get noticed. How do we get on top? I want him to call me. Yeah.

JP Gaston: 13:20

YPO, Yellow Page optimized.

Seth Anderson: 13:22

20 year deal with yellow pages. And you're good.

Sean Mills: 13:25

Now those people like now those businesses, they just named their business and then they put near me? At the end of it. Yeah. Yeah, no brainer.

Benjamin Heninger: 13:33

I didn't think of that. But you're right. I should be making notes here.

Sean Mills: 13:37

Technically, you'll be able to listen to this

JP Gaston: 13:40

renovation company near meeting near me. Everything near me?

Sean Mills: 13:45

Battery.

Unknown: 13:46

Yeah. With what the SEO guys want. That's way cheaper option. Sorry, agreed. So yeah, that journey sort of started there and kind of went through and finishing up university, you end up becoming somewhat of an expert in the space. And sometimes you don't even know what that space is, you know, having a civil engineering degree. They don't teach you about foundations. You know, your first couple of years engineering is really general. I chose to go into civil, I liked concrete. I liked steel. I like building things. So it was it was it was a natural progression. As I start to finish these courses, and I'm doing this stuff. I'm in these courses, and I'm asking questions, and everybody's just kind of looking at me going where's this guy coming from? Because you know, a lot of them are 18 living in their parents basement. I was you know, 20 at that point 25 fell, married, and actually physically working doing working on concrete basement. Exactly, but like, Hey, dude, I gotta make sure you're driving away from good people from

Sean Mills: 14:50

the back row or just look at the big brain on Benjamin.

Unknown: 14:55

But you realize after these courses, it starts to make sense what you're doing technical aspect of it really like, now I can actually explain what's going on. I can explain in simple terms to be able to bring people up to speed to be like, This is what's happening. I was getting to there's

Sean Mills: 15:12

a skill in articulating a difficult technical specification or problem into simple language that people can understand.

Unknown: 15:20

Agreed, without talking down to people were like, Okay, well, let's get crayons out. And let's quickly you know, we'll just draw and your people were like, Screw you.

Seth Anderson: 15:26

Yeah. How do you How did you master that? Was it through? Was that part of that experience?

Unknown: 15:32

Honestly, because I figured it out, not knowing the technical terms. And then having that self discovery, it clicks, and now I can, I've done it so many times, it feels sometimes like I'm selling the ShamWow when I get calls, right, where you're like, you know, I feel like I should have a headset and a mirror behind me showing everything what's going on. But it's like, okay, like, I say the same things a lot. And then I, I guess I have the ability to read people's reactions that can read the room, when you're talking to somebody you can see when a light bulb goes on them. And they're like, that makes total sense. Right? Like, okay, remember that that's easy that people can relate to that. And if I can give them scenarios, talking about fairly technical things in ways that they can understand it, and they can relate to, it's awesome. It's a great skill, what and quite honestly, we do things to make money, we do things to feed our families. But I'm really at a point now where it's like, I do things because I want those moments. I like those moments where people are like, I know more. I get it. I know, I have to I know why this is important. Now, you've helped me figure this out. It's like, I'm glad I was here for the journeyman.

Seth Anderson: 16:42

And do you spend a lot of time in the field now? Or are you more on the business development side or straddle the line?

Unknown: 16:49

I do it all do it all I do at all, the only thing that I really probably should do more is marketing. And this social media side, which that's the part that I don't like, I would prefer if I could spend most of the time in the field hands on, I would,

JP Gaston: 17:02

I was gonna say, You strike me as the type of business owner who's like, I want my hands in that bucket. Yep, I would. Someone else can deal with the advertising and whatever I want my hands like I want to be in the basement helping fix figure things out.

Unknown: 17:16

I'll tell you, I'll be totally honest. I miss my Yellow Pages days. You sign up for the Yellow Pages, your ads there, you're done. But I'm a dinosaur. If I think that way, because you can't do that anymore. You have to have you can't you gotta be fresh. You got to be out there. You gotta let people Yeah, they have to know what you're doing. They have to see what you're doing. And it's like, that's the hard part.

Sean Mills: 17:38

Yeah, well, and I think that like tick tock is revolutionized the kind of business owners or people bringing the rest of the world kind of into their world, especially when you have a specialization like that. Because it's like the short videos, it's, there's a lot of them that are forward. There's a lot of them that are stupid, too. But don't get me wrong. But like for business owners, like I'm kind of going through the kind of discovery of like, what kind of content is relevant to the viewer in my space, per se, but there's a massive, there's a massive category for that educational inside the real life because people people like real stories. They like they like to kind of get brought in without having to go in, you know, so that's kind of like, that's the transition that we're going into, especially the younger generation, right? Like they they rely on the Yellow Pages. No, no, but they want to learn stuff, though, to what they do it on their own. And I mean, this is just kind of what I found, through my minimal experience with with teenagers. But they seem very self driven on just finding information out. Yeah. 100% agree.

Unknown: 18:44

That's been kind of the foundation for my whole social media approach is educational, is to be able to because I know that people are looking that way. And it's like if I can help educate you. And the hard part is, it's not the most exciting topic, until it happens till the crack until you have a foundation issue. You're like, Yeah, whatever. And then you have one it's like, I'm listening. I'm here

JP Gaston: 19:12

in the face by ground. I gotta figure this. I wonder what's on YouTube.

Unknown: 19:17

Absolutely. And you know, I have I have three teenagers. So I am fully immersed in kind of that mindset. I mean, they're not the ones that are looking at my stuff my kids do and are likely to go out or like dad that was so cringy

JP Gaston: 19:35

I love it. Like Well, I'm

Unknown: 19:36

trying man like I'm in a totally different generation. This is new. I missed the yellow pages.

Seth Anderson: 19:42

You can have a whole account just how you miss the Yellow Pages. Just bring that back.

Unknown: 19:46

Yeah, I should just have a post that looks like my old school yellow pages as

Sean Mills: 19:51

well. And I think like in your content strategy. I'm sure that a lot of it is you know when you provide that educational piece. It's also kind of a living Bri Using resume for future work. And for somebody who might be like me, who has no idea what's going on, and you Google something just to kind of get the base information and start from there like that's, you know, that's a huge I see it all the time, like, I mean, I find a lot of information on things that I know nothing about, that I need as a service via social media. It's easier to search for than Google.

Unknown: 20:23

What frightens me is, the lessons that I've tried to teach my kids over the years as they've gotten more and more comfortable with technology in their hands is just because it's out there doesn't mean it's right. Right, just because somebody put something out, doesn't mean it's 100%. Correct.

Seth Anderson: 20:40

It could be very situational or be missing context or

Unknown: 20:43

word or malicious or malicious, right. And that's where it's hard not to where I'm focusing on it to say, okay, as an engineer, I've signed an obligation, and I've got a code of ethics that I comply to, if I put something out. It's the real deal. And that's where I'm trying to distinguish myself from everybody else out there. It's not just a sales pitch, like, I don't want you to do this, because there's the most margin and it for me, I want you to do this, because this is what's happened, you know, in helping people understand the root cause of some of their problems. And every situation is different, but it's like on the generic front. Like, that's, that's kind of where I see myself contributing.

Seth Anderson: 21:25

Well, do you see it kind of? I mean, at the end of the day, I don't imagine there's any shortage of foundation issues happening now or in the future? That's going to keep you busy. But like, is it like a proactive angle to what you're doing to help people avoid that in the first place? Like, you might not make money off that, but you're helping people?

Unknown: 21:42

Absolutely. Absolutely. Like, you know, like the one on ones getting ready for spring, or it's like, you know, the reminders of like, check your downspouts check your eavestroughs, check your grading, you know, and don't just look at your house, look at your neighbor's house. Because if I can stop your house from leaking, I'd sooner do that. Like, yes, it's how I make money. Yes, it's how I feed my family. But at the same time, like, I want to help people in general, like, This is Stuff You Should Know. Right? I mean, you don't, you don't get a car. And the sales guy goes, good luck, buddy. It's like, hey, here you go. Here's how the locks work. Here's how the windows work. Here's how this is how things work. You need to go, you don't wait for the oil light to come in for an oil change. You know, like, they guide you along. It's no different. You buy a house and the realtor goes, congratulations, have fun. Figure it out. Like there's no one on one note and a one on one course on homeownership, right. So if somebody can come in and explain to you, hey, waters, your enemy here, this is what you need to do to kind of figure this out. If you've already got water in it, you know, we can help you there. But moving forward to make sure it doesn't go. And it's amazing. I've had referrals on referrals on referrals. So far away, I can't even remember who the original was. But they're like, this guy talked about all these things that I should be doing. I didn't even have any problems. And then one day I did. And I remembered this, and I call them back and you're the first guy on my list. It's like, okay, great. So it's that ripple effect of if you can help somebody, and you can educate them, they'll tell people know, it might not be on the forefront of their mind, but they're thinking about it. And that's all I can hopefully do is get people thinking about

JP Gaston: 23:26

your business experience that all come from your father, like you went to school, and you obviously got like the engineering and you had the experience actually working in concrete, but like stepping into your own business. I'm sure that there were some moments stepping into running your own business that we could talk about. But you bet Where did that experience come from? Or was it just hey, I'm running my own thing. Now.

Unknown: 23:48

In the early days, it was like, Hey, I'm a I'm a foundation guy. I picked I picked basements here I am. Yeah, here I am. You know, I I when I when people saw my ad, they give me a call. You know, wasn't incorporated and just sole proprietor and just kind of going along on my merry way. I I always have done that. So I've always had that background on the foundation side. I jumped into my first real business with partners and everything. incorporated a right after I finished university, and I had very little business experience. I have yet to take a quote unquote, business course. Well, you're taking a business

JP Gaston: 24:37

course every day. Well, yeah, but I mean,

Unknown: 24:40

but yeah, and it is it's Trial by Fire is how I figured a lot of this stuff out because as I'm, as I'm kind of wandering through, I'm, I'm figuring out as I go along, I'm making mistakes. I'm trying to stay in tune with. Okay, don't do that again. Oh, God. Don't do that again. You know, be in line with it. what your true purpose? Why you did this. And when I first did it, it was like, Okay, you're at a university, you got some debt, I need to get this, I need to make some money. So I started a environmental consulting business with another fellow, a good friend of mine, he was finishing up his biology degree. And we ended up doing some environmental consulting, I'd taken quite a few environmental courses. So it was like, Okay, we're gonna go do this. And I headed out into the field. And we worked on right aways. And we worked with some some big companies on some linear developments. And, again, kind of figuring out the business side, as we started to go, were talking my partners at the time where they're like, Yeah, let's go out and buy some brand new trucks. It seemed like a good idea to jump into a whole bunch of deaths by all the trucks Yeah, right. And you're like, why don't we look for a beater truck that still runs? You know, do we need brand new stuff? Do we need to do this, and it's like, you know, you don't have to, like, we didn't take out a loan, like, I've never I've started five businesses. I've never once borrowed a cent, to do it. Because it's like, you can use your own stuff, you can, if you look at it, and you find a way, if you're selling a service, you know, it's obviously different. If you're going to, you know, start a furniture store, or you're gonna start a, you're gonna buy a franchise, or, you know, you're gonna produce something, you need shop space, you need machinery, you need employees, but I've always kind of taken that aspect of, I don't want to borrow, I want to be able to put a lot of sweat equity into the business so that I can immediately get that out. And if it means that I suffer a little better I work or, you know, I'm sweeping floors, or I'm doing whatever it takes, that I'm going to do that. You know, I don't know if that would if I learned that in a course, anywhere. Yeah, I think like

Sean Mills: 26:45

there's a message in that is, one being a specialist, you can't be a business you you can be, you can be a key point for a number of different variables for a number of different businesses, without having to go work for them. So there's one that like, there's a, there's a message in that where you can be an entrepreneur by being a specialist in something. And then the reality is, is actually you made a really good point there is that a service based business, where you are the knowledge, and you are the consultation, and you are the skill set, you don't need that you don't need a lot of materials you need, you need enough to get from point A to point B, to be able to manage or whether it be software computers are just like the some tools and some no hell but like, you don't need to take on debt to run a business. And you're right. And the thing is, is that what people forget, in a service based business versus a product based business, is that when you take on debt for those products, that's an asset. So you're sitting on an asset on the books side, so then you're just managing that in has to be greater than out on those specific products. But when you're a service, you are the asset, correct? Well,

Unknown: 27:57

I think the biggest component there that hasn't been brought up yet is your risk tolerance. Right? So I have lots of friends that have had career jobs, or you know, semi independent, but still working for somebody and getting a regular paycheck. And they're like, you know, how do you do it? Sometimes you're busy, sometimes you're not, like, Yeah, but that's the risk. That's the part. And that's where I was okay with it. Because I grew up with that. I grew up with my dad being like, crazy busy all summer long. And then we're like, skeleton crews and figuring out what we're going to do all winter long. Right? And it's like you see him, he didn't keep all those awesome guys that we had in the summer he couldn't. I was like, no problem. A lot of those guys came back summer after summer, they would go and find work and everything because it's that cycle and being exposed to that and seeing that. But if you try and keep that you try to hold on, you won't be there for those guys to work there next summer. Right? So it's knowing what you got to do, knowing what how to make those hard decisions. And taking on that risk of you know what, I can do this. And that's the part about the consulting side is like, Okay, are you do you have the skill set? Do you have the risk tolerance to go out there? And do it? And believe in yourself?

Sean Mills: 29:14

Yeah, and be real with yourself on? How much does my life cost to live? Like, how much does it cost me to to live? So if you have a mortgage, if you have rent, if you have family, you need to be honest with yourself on like, how much? How much does my life actually cost versus how much do I want it to costs? You know what I mean? So like, depending on how you live, some people live differently than others. You know, you could argue that if you live a low cost life and you can be you can be you have the runway to have free cash to be able to meet be more successful

Unknown: 29:45

100% As soon as you understand that, the simple economics of it. If you work for a company, and you're you're at the $100,000 level, government is going to take 40% of your paycheck You'd $60,000 If you're a consultant, so we'll back up to $100,000, you're 50 bucks an hour. So as a consultant, you can go out and you can charge$100 An hour was a consultant, you'll have write offs, you'll have all these basic things that you need in your life and a portion of them are write off and go through the business, you start to bring that off, and of that $100, even if 10 or $15, an hour goes to pay for a lot of that stuff, that stuff you had to do, anyway, that's still came off, you still needed a car, he still needed all those things, when you're working for a company, but now you get to decide the allocation of the rest of that $90 In that hour, to be able to do it. And if you're making double the amount of money, and this is where I try and explain the risks to people, if you're making double the amount of money and can divert where it's going to go and how it's going to be used, you only have to stay busy 50% of the time, from a regular job. And that's one of those lightbulb moments, right? Where people are like, huh

JP Gaston: 31:00

50% of the work and it can be work I enjoy well. And

Unknown: 31:03

that's the key part, that's the other part we haven't brought in is like, and you get to direct what direction you go, you get to do, in essence, what you want to do, there might be aspects of the jobs that you don't want to do. But in the end, if you're doing stuff you don't want to do, why are you running your own business? Why are you doing like, there's no longevity and not do what you want to do. Find something that you're passionate about, and it's easy to go to work. You know, a local entrepreneur, everybody should know, in this room. same last name as mine, you know, Brian, manager, very successful second generation through Henry Toyota. When, you know, it was a rough time with me for me a couple years ago, I sat down, I was like, you know, Brian, I really look up to what you've done. You know, he's, he's probably one of the closest relatives that I've got on my on my dad's side that I'm really close to, and we had a chat, and he's like, you know, see me struggle, I can see you struggle. And he's like, you know, there's a really famous saying, by Mark Twain, he said, once you find a job you love as the last day you'll ever work again. And that has really stuck with me. And that's part of where I'm at. Now, as I like what I do, it doesn't feel like work at all. And that ties in and that makes that risk that much easier to do. Because you know what, it's hard to explain, I'm trying to teach that to my kids, or it's like, if you just like it, the money will come, your life will just kind of fall, it's amazing how everything just kind of falls into place. If you focus, and you keep that direction of this is what I like to do. This is what I like to do, it's helping people. But it is it's that aspect of like doing what you like, and it's amazing how everything just kind of works out. If you're doing it, you know, not just with the for this, like, no, no, no, I gotta make more money, I gotta do this, I gotta make more money, I gotta make more money. making more money is everybody likes to make money.

Sean Mills: 33:00

That's a side effect. Right? If you focus on the process, the money is the process at the end. So if you know, if you focus on the things that you can control, so if it's a product or service, your messaging is right, you're communicating, you're providing a problem to be solved. You're providing a solution for that, if you're just generally kind of part of the process. If it's accepted by the customer, whomever is paying the bill, that's just part of the process.

Seth Anderson: 33:33

One of the things you said that I'm fascinated, or I just keep kind of thinking about what you talked about with your dad and the crews that he would build, being willing to let go. And just that whole thought of you try to hold on, hold on, hold on. You're trying to do the right thing, because you've got these great people, but it's not sustainable. So just recognizing and being able to sort of make that decision that's probably a lot harder and a lot more of a skill than it sounds like on the surface to just be like, this is the right thing to do. And we've created the right culture. And ultimately they will, you know, the right people will come back, like having that level of belief in yourself and your business is this huge.

Unknown: 34:15

Without a doubt. I'm not sure if you guys have read Ben Horowitz, his book, The hard thing about hard things.

Seth Anderson: 34:21

I read one of his books, I don't know if it was that one might have been that's phenomenal

Unknown: 34:25

book. It was when I read it. He comes from a software side, Silicon Valley build some big, big, big software companies bought sold. But some of the things that he talks about kind of the cycle that goes that he went through in some of these businesses. It's interesting because he has a chapter on that about letting good people go about having the ability to see the greater good that there's time when you have to do that. Even if it's not necessarily just good people, but it's Sometimes good friends, sometimes family within your organization. And those are the hard things about hard things, letting somebody go now letting your brother go from your company, or your best friend. But sometimes you have to do it to keep the ship afloat, to make it work. As you know what, right now, I have to do this to make it work. It's not forever, when we write, and it's the right person away with, you know, if it's meant to be, it's meant to be, you can come back and work like, whatever we can do. And that's where, if you do it, right, if you got a if you got a good culture, and people want to come back, and people want to be a part of it, if you sever the relationship, whether it's permanent or temporarily, the right way, people will come back. And if you do under the right premise, where it's like, you know what, you know, if you as soon as you stop, as soon as you are honest with somebody, and they find out, they'll never come back to you. Again, it's no different. I mean, employees, those situations with employees are no different than friends or family that with dishonesty, and everything else, and treating people with respect. If you do and you keep those your morals in check to be able to say yeah, like this is, I'm a good person, this is what I'm going to do, I'm going to be honest, you're going to tell them your whole business plan, potentially, but just be real. People just like you, if you treat those scenarios, and it's like, I don't want to do this, but I can't. This is seasonal. If you're upfront with them. This is what we're doing. This is why we got to do it. People understand. Right? So it's, it was like, it was great to see some of the same people come back when I was working with my dad, every summer. Some of them didn't. Don't get me wrong. Yeah. But you know, what they found that it was a stepping stone into their career as well. Being able to take those opportunities go out work on crews, we worked all over Alberta, we'd be out in the middle of nowhere. And it's like, yeah, you know what, I'll say that my time in the field has been the best education ever. And I would encourage anybody that's in the construction or wants to get anything that is hands on or even design work from engineering, I prefer I would go on the field, spend as much time in the field as you can. It's fantastic.

JP Gaston: 37:14

And I think there's a lot of forethought in making those hard decisions to write like, really thinking about sure we need to let this great person go. But what does that bring me in the future? Well, now you have somebody who appreciates the relationship that you've built with them understands, presuming that you did it the right way, understands why you needed to do it. And they're the type of person who they're, you know, they're probably in their career, they're gonna go some great places, and they're gonna see somebody coming up, and they're gonna say, You know what, go work for this company for the summer, go get experience there, because it's a great company to work for, figure out exactly what they do. Come back to me in the winter, once you've got some experience, you've got your education, we know that they're going to slow down in the winter, you can come back to me and I'll help you through the winter. Like, there's a lot of things that people don't think think of when they think of their thinking immediately about, you know, laying the person off, or whatever the case may be. They're not thinking, hey, long term, this is better for me better for my business, it's probably better for them. And it might actually be like a year, quote, free marketing tool almost to find even better people in the future. Yep, agreed.

Unknown: 38:20

It works for my father. I mean, I, I went off and one of my, the larger businesses I was a part of, I had some partners in it. And we had a high voltage electrical engineering company, and field service, Ken had 70 employees. Right. So it's, it's a different ballgame than what I'm doing now is kind of, you know, being on my own, you know, I've experienced it all from building it from nothing, to 70, down to nothing to now being on my own. And there's certain aspects of it that you do you, you understand how to treat people, you're not going to do it right every time. But it's really important, especially as somebody who wants to get into their own business and start and be the guy at the top being, you know, calling the shots. Like, it's super important to have that self reflection when you didn't do it, right. And if he, you try and make it right, but you have to have that self reflection.

JP Gaston: 39:14

And understand that some of the best lessons come from those failures, like the very, I was talking to someone about this this morning, actually, like very seldom do people just step into something and they're just instantly successful. They never experience a failure. In the end, they end up having a successful business at the end. Like many of the successful businesses are profitable. Yeah, like they're, they're only successful one because they're probably trying to solve a problem in the first place. And two because they create problems along the way. They learn from them and they get better as a result.

Benjamin Heninger: 39:42

Absolutely. Companies with longevity

Seth Anderson: 39:44

like that the definition of success is going through that process like just making a bunch of money or having like a one hit wonder on something I don't know if that's success, it may look like success.

Unknown: 39:55

If success to you as a G Wagen. Right. So I

JP Gaston: 40:00

I mean maybe

Seth Anderson: 40:05

deepened thought over

JP Gaston: 40:06

pondering contemplating G Wagen. In golf cart form actually took, it's,

Sean Mills: 40:12

it's funny that G Wagen comes up because I took a picture of one I was on a trip in Phoenix with the doing some card stuff and doing some repairs and dropping off some new product things. I was parked at a, I don't know is is like a multi like Mall. And like, you know, in the states that the malls and then they have like all the restaurants and they're all kind of in the same parking lot. But there was a G Wagen there and I sent a picture to my wife, and I'm like one day Honey, I'm gonna and I'm gonna unnecessarily buy one of these. Not even close yet. But the one day if I want to make an unnecessary purchase, I'm gonna make nothing because I looked it up. But it was like 230 grand. And I was like, Oh my God, that's outrageous for a thing with four wheels.

Unknown: 40:51

Well, and it's interesting, because I that used to be a goal. And that was like that lens success. And now,

Seth Anderson: 40:59

like, freedom, what is more

Unknown: 41:02

of an important? Well, you

JP Gaston: 41:03

can like me, you were talking earlier about, you know, not getting loans. And so like you could go get a loan and buy that car right now. Absolutely. And buy that house that you know, and then yeah, and then are you now successful? Probably not. Because you're going to be unsuccessful in your mortgage payment or

Unknown: 41:19

what you for me, it's important to have my anonymity. So I'm, I want to be on my own. As soon as I go out and buy a$250,000 car. I just formed a partner with a bank. Right? Yeah, I don't want it. So now it's like, oh, I

JP Gaston: 41:36

don't want I don't trolling partner.

Unknown: 41:38

And I don't I don't want to go to work today. It's like, oh, yeah, I bought that G Wagen.

Sean Mills: 41:42

Yeah, that's right.

Unknown: 41:44

I guess I get up, you know, I want to go to I want to go on a month long vacation. Yep. Oh, yeah, I got the G Wagen. Payment. I guess I can't, I gotta do that, I got to do that. And it's like it all of a sudden, starts to you start to put bumpers on your path where it was just before it was just this panoramic view of like, I can do anything I want. I don't I don't owe anybody a dime, I don't have it. Or you know, it's minimal. I can handle it. But the more you put in, the more your road just gets narrower and narrower and be like, Oh, you got to work. You got to work on Oh, you don't like it? Doesn't matter. You made commitments. Unless you want to default. I'm not a default. I don't do that. Looks like no, I either get rid of it, take the loss paid off and move on. Or it's like no, like, No, I want to, I'm doing everything I can to do this. I want to wider. I want to have as many options as possible. Right? And it's like it is it's that dream. Sometimes you need those goals to look and be like, okay, but when you get there, it's like, you're gonna buy a G Wagen. You look at it, you're like, I still can't stomach$200,000 for a vehicle,

JP Gaston: 42:52

I haven't no trouble logging in. And logging McQuaid looking at like a cheap guitar and my wife gives me hell just buy it. Just finally, we've gone along and weighed 74 times in the last three weeks just go by

Seth Anderson: 43:04

Do you ever do this stairway to heaven thing from Wayne's room? Yes,

JP Gaston: 43:07

always. There's a sign.

Seth Anderson: 43:12

I think, Benjamin, we talked a lot about how you got here. Maybe just on the way out of here where where do you feel like you're headed in the next while

Unknown: 43:21

I want to keep going with what I'm doing. I'm actually in a pretty good sweet spot here. I do want to become better known as a foundation expert. I'm trying to get out there. I'm trying to break down some of those social media barriers for more for myself to be able to get out there. I'm, you know, I'm putting things in place to increase my SEO. So I show up a little bit more. So it's easier for people to find me. But I really want to be that I want to be that contact that as soon as you think of a foundation issue. It's like, I call these guys the foundation. Let's call these guys called y'all Gruen right, and it's like these guys, they'll, they'll take care and not because they can come in and they'll just throw a they'll make sure that happens, you'll leave knowing more. Right, you'll understand what to do, you'll you'll make sure that you can do everything in your power to make sure you're not in this situation anymore. And things might happen. And you might still be in it. You know, but you've done your due diligence, you know, so, you know, moving forward, I liked that space. I really liked that space. Because quite honestly, that's what I really liked doing. And you know, to some people might look at me like really you want to fix basements? Like you want to be the crack guy. Like, no, I want to do what I like to do and that just happens to be what I like to do. And I love it.

JP Gaston: 44:42

Your ad should be don't call Ben. Call Benjamin call better.

Benjamin Heninger: 44:48

We'll throw that in. That'd be my yellow pages that perfect.

Sean Mills: 44:51

We got some good nuggets today.

Seth Anderson: 44:55

There's at least three people sitting here that will always think of you whenever they were Word foundation comes up for perfect word. So perfect. I guess on our way out of here. We've got the bonus soap works. Question of the week. That's a real hard hitter. Okay. What is your favorite song? Money For Nothing? Dire Straits?

Unknown: 45:14

Okay,

Seth Anderson: 45:14

I think we have dire straits on the playlist.

JP Gaston: 45:16

I think I threw dry dire straits.

Seth Anderson: 45:19

Someone had that. Yeah. So we have. We've been doing this all season. So we've got a playlist on Spotify is

JP Gaston: 45:24

the most eclectic playlist on Spotify right now. Sweet.

Seth Anderson: 45:29

And we'll add your tune to it

Unknown: 45:31

tweet. I love it. That's, there's tons of fantastic memories, kids on the boat. And all sorts of stuff that a lot of us by far,

Seth Anderson: 45:39

I was loving. We asked that question. And it's either like this long drawn out torturous process, or it's just like, Oh, this one? Yeah.

JP Gaston: 45:47

This one and this one. And this one. And this one. And this one? That happens?

Unknown: 45:49

Yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah. If you want more, I can give you more. That is by far. That's it.

Sean Mills: 45:57

Sweet. was pleasure. They guess, Benjamin, appreciate it. Appreciate you having me. Anytime. And for any of our listeners out there. Got foundation issues. If you are in the civil world, and you're looking for a foundation specialist, how do we get all the vendors?

Unknown: 46:14

Benjamin green.ca. You can email me you can go to my website at WWW dot Grune gr o o n.ca. And on the social

Seth Anderson: 46:25

and Yellow Pages, and the

Unknown: 46:27

yellow pages, if you can find you got a copy of the Yellow Pages. I'm not in there, but I'm going to be

Seth Anderson: 46:32

I think that could be a whole ad campaign.

Sean Mills: 46:35

You just take a picture of the Yeah, yeah. I love it. Yeah, that one's free.

Unknown: 46:40

I'm going to post that is like for real. Absolutely. Love it. Yeah. Thanks, guys. Thank you, sir. Appreciate it.