Contractor Cuts
Join the ProStruct360 team on the Contractor Cuts podcast as we delve into the ins and outs of building and sustaining a thriving contracting business. Gain valuable insights and actionable tips from our experts who have successfully grown their own contracting company from the ground up.
Our show is dedicated to helping contractors like you unlock the secrets to increased profitability, efficient organization, and seamless processes within your company. Whether you're a seasoned professional or just starting out, our episodes cover key topics essential for your business growth and long-term success.
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Contractor Cuts
From First-Time Attendee to Doubling Revenue: What One Retreat Did for His Business
Fred Mancuso walked away from a successful career as a Chef and built FM Contracting in Chicago, IL. This interview is about how he moved from using a paint brush as a side job to running a real general contracting business with systems, subs, and large projects. We discuss his experience at our Annual Planning Retreat last year and how what he learned lead to doubling his revenue in just a year.
• moving from labor to leadership
• learning to leverage subcontractors
• building systems for estimates and agreements
• scheduling site time with intent
• creating a predictable pipeline
• preparing for first project manager hire
• targeting consistent six-figure months
• applying for a Chicago GC license
• doubling revenue through discipline
• the value of community and coaching
If you want to come hang out with Freddie and Clark, we'd love to see you guys at the retreat in January. Go to ProStruct360.com/annual-growth-retreat/ to sign up.
Join us January 11–13 in Nashville for the Chart the Course 2026 Planning Retreat. Sign up now and get three free coaching sessions before the event to finish 2025 strong and hit 2026 with a clear game plan. At the retreat, you’ll tackle systems, hiring, marketing, and leadership alongside ambitious contractors, leaving with a blueprint for growth. Spots are limited—visit prostruct360.com to learn more!
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Email us at team@prostruct360.com
Want to learn more about our software or coaching?
Visit our website at ProStruct360.com
Welcome to Contractor Cuts, where we cover the good, the bad, and the ugly of growing a successful contracting company. Welcome to Contractor Cuts. My name is Clark Turner. Thank you for joining us again today. So today's podcast, I've got a very special guest with me. A guy that I've known it feels like forever, but it's been a year. His name's Fred Mancuzo. Good thanks for coming on, Fred.
SPEAKER_01:My pleasure. My pleasure. Thanks for having me on the podcast. And thanks for flying in to uh to Chicago today.
SPEAKER_00:Absolutely. So we're in Chicago, home of FM Contracting, Freddy's own construction company. And today we're going to break down what where Freddie came from, what he's doing, what's been going on. He's going to give you some insights, some background on the retreat. He came on the retreat last year as a first timer. First time we met was on the retreat last last uh January. Correct. And then we're going to kind of cover your ups and downs starting. I mean, I think Freddie, I wanted him to come on the podcast because you are a very typical contractor in the way that you started and the way that you transitioned, but you've kind of gone over the hump of the hardest transition. And so I wanted to kind of focus on what makes that different. What did you do? What did what did we build over the last year that got you out of the truck and sling and paint all the way to how you're full-time general contracting now? So it's kind of the most difficult spot for a contractor is that transition from doing the labor to not doing labor anymore. And I think you you did it very well. Um and so I think that's a great spot that we're gonna talk about today. But let's get started at the beginning. Like how did you get into this? How did you become a contractor? Where what's kind of your origin story in this industry? Totally.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. So I I grew up in in New York. My father was a uh a general contractor, still is a general contractor for the past 45 years. He's owned FM contracting since 1980. Wow. Um so I kind of grew up in the business. Yeah. Um my father always wanted me to follow suit and and and be a general contractor and show me he he is uh literally a master craftsman and uh he he worked for Home Depot for for 20 years. Wow. Uh which was pretty cool while uh while we were growing up. Um he had a window and door company. Yeah. Um, but then like eventually like you know transitioned to you know building bars and restaurants and and really honed in on his craft throughout the past you know 45 years. But he was a one-man band. Yeah, his his his whole entire life. Yeah. So um and still is. He's he's 65 years old, uh still working six days a week. Wow. Yeah. Yeah. So um yeah, I um he always pushed me to, you know, to learn a little bit here and there. And I tell you the truth, growing up, I didn't want to get into the trades. Yeah, I think. I I really didn't.
SPEAKER_00:Um, you probably saw the grind that he was in and under. And was that it, or was it more just like I want to try something different, something new? Aaron Ross Powell For sure.
SPEAKER_01:Like I think I wanted it was a little bit of both, I would say. So I I saw the grind. I saw that you know he was working every day, you know, getting up early in the morning. Sure. Maybe you just wanted to get away from my mother. But um he's still working six days a week, which is which is which is pretty crazy. Yeah, and I I just saw the grind. I saw how like how hard he worked all the time. And I'm like, I always like thought to myself, I'm like, why did why don't why don't you have a helper? Why don't you have you know someone to be there with you and and that you can delegate? He just was like, I you know, he's like, I don't like working with anybody else. He goes, I just I I know what I need to do every day. Yeah. You know, I talk with the customer, I know how to sell jobs, but I just I really, you know, I don't I I I hate having responsibility for somebody else to show up late or you know, um, you know, having to, you know, track people down, people don't show up, and he just he just didn't want to have that kind of lifestyle.
SPEAKER_00:I mean it's a totally different skill set too. Like uh there's a big difference of doing the work and managing people and dealing with the back end type stuff. So yeah, that makes a lot of sense. So you didn't want to get into that. You know, I didn't. You got out of the house, you grew up a little bit in your twenties.
SPEAKER_01:What did you start doing? For sure. Yeah. So um right out of high school, I actually went to culinary school. My my mother's a really good chef, well, really good cook, and my my nonna you know taught her pretty much everything.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:And um, so you know, I really love to eat, so I was like, you know, might as well go to culinary school. So I went I went to my first culinary school right out of uh high school called Lorenzo Walker. Um it was just a trade school. Uh, and then I graduated from there, and then I went to Johnson and Wells University and uh I went there for two years. I actually didn't graduate. But um yeah, I was I was working full-time, going to school full-time, and partying full-time. Yeah, I was uh it was in Miami, it was a uh Johnson Wells uh Miami campus. It's not there anymore, but you know, I you know it was uh it was a little rough for me. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think I caught pneumonia in the middle of the summer. It's just figuring out life, what this is, yeah. Totally, totally. And um, you know, growing up, you know, working in the restaurant business and having friends that own restaurants or friends' parents that own restaurants, they're like, don't get into this, don't get into this. And I'm like, but I love eating and I love you know being creative and you know, and and having a a trade that you know that I had a passion for, um, which I still do, but in in a different way now. I know I just cook at home for Olivia. Yeah. So um basically in um uh 2020 hit, uh, I I was worked as a chef for 15 years, and um, you know, I was working nights, weekends, holidays, and um I I missed out on a lot um even through my marriage. You know, I I we got married in in 2019, um, but we were together since uh 2017, and um I just I I wanted a different lifestyle. I wanted to be able to manipulate time. I wanted to be able to, you know, start my start my own company and and really uh hone in on something that I knew that I wasn't gonna be married to like I I just it I I it was beat up. But to tell you the truth, when COVID hit, it was actually a blessing for me.
SPEAKER_00:I'm sure. Oh I mean it's being a chef is great, but it's I mean it's a totally different lifestyle than anybody else has in the world, it feels like. Like like to be married and to be in a relationship and be a chef and be in restaurants, it's like opposite schedules, I would think. Like she's she's up in the morning and you're not wake until the afternoon and you're gone when she's ready to hang, and you just miss each other.
SPEAKER_01:Totally. So um I think we were we were gonna go out one night and Olivia was ready to, you know, come pick me up and um from work. And uh I was just doing my rounds at the at the restaurant and um one of the coolers was like 60 degrees. So I'm like, oh shit. I gotta look I I have to call you know a cooler company. Yeah. And I gotta go outside and tell Olivia that I'm gonna probably be here for the next three hours. So I did that. She was literally in tears because this was happening all the time.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:And I went back inside, did what I had to do, called the company, they came out, and I was there, you know, moving stuff over. I had about$30,000 worth of food in one cooler and had to, you know, transfer it over to the other. And um, so I was probably there till like one in the morning and uh came home and obviously she was upset and you know um I'm like, I you know, I had to do what I had to do. So I woke up the next morning and I got a phone call from the restaurant owner at 6 30 a.m. And I'm like, hey, he goes, Where are you? I'm like, what do you mean where am I? Like I I I left at one o'clock in the morning last night. I've did my due diligence. Like I'm falling asleep. Yeah, literally, yeah. I'm trying to rest before I go into work at 12 o'clock. You need to come back here. I'm like, No, I'll call one of my sous chefs and he can come in there. Yeah. Yeah, no, but you need to come here now. I'm like, I'm I'm gonna rest for the next two hours and then I'll come in. Yeah. And then um I left the house. I remember Olivia was still really upset. I got on, I think I took a bit during the summertime, so I took a bike, I was taking a bike to work uh in Chicago. And um halfway there, I'm like, what the fuck am I doing?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:What am I doing with my life? Yeah. So I turned around, I shot my phone off, I went back inside. I said, I'm I'm not doing this anymore, Olivia. And she goes, Really? And then we went to the mall and spent like a thousand dollars and I quit my job. Yeah. And um that was the turning point, I think, of of me kind of thinking, like, hey, like I need to do something else. Yeah. Whether that's you know, painting fences, which I was for twenty dollars an hour for like uh three months, um or you know, um you know, d doing something with my hands or being creative. Um so COVID hit and um did Olivia have a job at the time? She did. Okay, she did, thank God. Um she was actually working here. Oh, okay. Yeah. She was working here at the time. So kind of, you know, actually actually while she was working here, she was, you know, starting her her business as well. So that's what I had to do. So basically what I did was I um I went back into the restaurant business, but I started serving at night. And then I would I was creating my company during the daytime. And what I would do is I would work, you know, four or five nights a week, you know, as a as a server, and I would, you know, get uh enough money that I would you know be able to buy tools and um and slowly start my business. And then I would get little jobs here and there, um, you know, painting for 30 bucks an hour, yeah. And then like 45 bucks an hour. And then I was like, oh, maybe I can just charge per project. And um yeah, and that's how the the company kind of started started. And I was like, you know, I um I you know, uh inevitably I feel like we turn into our parents. Yeah. You know? So um I just had to kind of rip the band-aid off and and just accept it.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. Yeah. Well, you knew you knew how to do it. Uh you grew up with paint can next to you, right? Pretty much. I don't know about that. Holding the other end of the two by four for dad. Totally. Totally. Yeah. So you started doing that. That was what year was that? This was uh 2020. Okay. And so you started full-time uh well at night waiting tables at day, yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Kind of hustling, trying to figure it out. Exactly. Yeah. Kind of hustling, trying to figure it out. And um, you know, if I had to make any recommendations to to people that are starting out and are afraid to just pull the trigger to like start a company, you know, it's it's always okay to have a little part-time job on the side. You know, to kind of, you know, feed, you know, pay the bills, have a little, you know, playing around money. Yeah. But you know.
SPEAKER_00:What was the hardest part in starting the company? And uh was I'm guessing that's your first business that you owned, because you were working for other people as a chef. What what was the most difficult part as a business owner, kind of going out on your own uh and trying to figure it out? What what was the hardest thing to figure out?
SPEAKER_01:Well, the hardest thing was to figure out was like how am I going to support my family with just, you know, you know, possibly getting a job next week. Yeah. You know. Yeah. I I had to really hone in on thinking about marketing and how I'm gonna do sales, how um how am I, you know, what what employees or or 1099, you know, employees that I'm gonna bring on that I know that are gonna represent, you know, the company. So um yeah, it was um you know, it was a little bit difficult, but I think it it helped me when I was, you know, serving at nighttime that I had that nest egg and then I I I kind of like you know honed in during the daytime on the business and eventually just kind of you know weaned out of the restaurant business and went full time. Yeah. Which was March of last year?
SPEAKER_00:Wow. Okay. So you were that I was I was gonna ask, I didn't realize when you actually stopped that second job. It was so you did that for four years-hitching. Yeah. Wow.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Three and a half. Three and a half. What was what made you was there kind of a milestone of how much money you're making, or what what what was the uh do you remember the the when you pulled the trigger to quit the other job? What caused that?
SPEAKER_01:I probably I mean, I I kind of held on to the restaurant business because it was like, you know, I I just knew it so well. And I was working for a really great restaurant here in Chicago, and I I I enjoyed working there too. Um and then just I feel like you know, those skills were tr transferable too, you know, you know, even waiting tables. I mean, as a chef too, delegating and you know, working with you know different people in different personalities. And then, you know, waiting tables is you know, you're you're you're meeting you know different families every single day, you're you're you know, you're selling your your product and you're building relationships, which is the most important thing.
SPEAKER_00:There's a community with servers and the kitchen staff as well as the people that come in all the time that you know, your regulars. Exactly.
SPEAKER_01:Exactly. So it was a little bit difficult for me to kind of pull the trigger, but you know, I think I probably could have done it maybe six months earlier. Yeah. But you know, I was only working, you know, three, two, one day a week. You know, it just depends. And I kind of slowly, like incrementally, like, you know, worked less and less. Exactly.
SPEAKER_00:So last March you stepped out, you went full-time. What what did your company look like differently three and a half, four years down the road than when you started it? I mean, was there a big change or were you kind of doing the same thing um last March? Like what was Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:I um I I I I met this guy. So we we bought a home uh here in in in 2023, and uh the first week we got in, my wife is like, When are you gonna when are you gonna paint? When are you gonna paint the house? I'm like, Olivia, we just we literally just moved in the house. Like, you got give me give me a few weeks, you know? And uh so I I ended up like you know, incrementally painting the house, and I was like, you know, it took me a long time because it was, you know, it was a three-bedroom, two-bath place. It was quite large. And um, I was doing this by myself, and I just never thought of like, I don't know, my my father was always a one band one-man band, and like uh he never like taught me like to like hire on people or how to even do so. So I like I just thought that was the way I was supposed to do things. And um, but deep down I knew like I could probably you know hire somebody else, but they're not gonna do it as well as I am, right? Unless I train them, you know. Um so I pretty much painted the whole entire place, except two bathrooms, and then Olivia was threatening me to hire somebody else to paint those other two bathrooms. She had a painter on the side. She probably did, yeah. Yeah. So our one of our good friends, they just bought a house at the same time as us, and they just painted their house, and this guy did a beautiful job. It was- I mean, they they probably had like seven or eight different paints and you know, uh, you know, different accent walls, and the house looked gorgeous. So Olivia's like, why don't why don't we just call him up and see if he can just come help us? And I was, you know, I was doing the my business on the side and I was still working at nights, and she still wants me to paint paint in the house. And um she ended up calling him, and the guy was very confused. He's like, Oh, so your husband's a painter and you want me to come to the house and paint your house.
SPEAKER_00:And I'm like, Yeah, totally.
SPEAKER_01:That's what probably he was thinking. And uh we actually met for a coffee, we hit it off. His name's Joe, and he's been working with me now ever since. Yeah, yeah. So he came to yeah. Two and a half years, yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Olivia c called in the uh the reinforcement. He impressed you and he he he joined the team.
SPEAKER_01:Aaron Ross Powell, he did, he did. And now he's a full-time uh employee for me, and yeah, yeah, where he's my he's my right-hand man. And uh he ended up you know uh hiring his his friend who's been who he's been working with now for the past like forty have been friends for like forty-five years. Yeah. And his name's Joe. So I got Joe and I got Bojo.
SPEAKER_00:Joe's Joe and Joe. Joe and Joe. So that was three and a half, four years by by n last year, you were you were still painting, though. You were still Yeah, I was uh yes, I was.
SPEAKER_01:I was with the I was with the guys. So it was painting. I I I knew how to install doors, windows, so we were doing a little bit of that. Um yeah, that was that was pretty much it. I mean, uh you know, baseboards if we had to um But you weren't doing too many renovations at the time. Aaron Ross Powell No, no, not at all. Not at all. And um not until I joined ProStruct. Really? Yeah. Because um, you know, uh it was very difficult for me to even stop swinging a hammer, you know, or slinging a paintbrush or you know, just in general. Aaron Powell Doing it yourself.
SPEAKER_00:So let's let's back up a little bit with that. When did you how did you get involved with us? When did you first hear about ProStruct and what was kind of like the uh the first touch point with us? Aaron Powell For sure.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. So I would say it was about maybe six months. I was I was full into the business. I was like, all right, I need to, you know, be listening to certain podcasts. And I looked you up on on uh Spotify and it was one of the first, you know, m uh, you know, contractor podcasts that I saw, and I started listening to you guys, and it really just resonated with me. Cool. And um, you know, I told obviously told my wife about it, and you know, she was actually looking for like it was during the holidays and she was like looking for for you know a a gift to to give me and she surprised me actually with um uh because I didn't even know well I I knew that there was a um it was a retreat and I like maybe like talk talk to her about it once or twice like prior, because I I I think you guys promote it like for like I don't know, a couple of months pri prior to. Um but I told her about it and then I think it was on Christmas and she was like, Yeah, I like I I I uh you know, surprise me with um you know with a retreat and and plane tickets and and uh you know and he's like, yeah, let's go.
SPEAKER_00:Let's do it. You're happy about it now at the time, or are you like, Olivia, what are you doing? I don't I haven't even talked to these guys yet.
SPEAKER_01:Not really. I was I was open to it. I I feel like I don't know. You're you're I think you're just like a likable guy. I think I felt like I kind of quote you on that? My wife disagreed. No, no, it's true. Like I think you know listening to you for quite some time, you know, you seem like an easy-going guy. I think like uh it would be a good fit, you know, for for me to come out and and really like hone in on um you know developing systems and and writing things down and being more organized.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. So you came on the retreat. We met before I mean we did like a Zoom, I think. We did, yeah. Maybe right right beforehand to kind of get to know each other. You came on the retreat. Um tell me about your retreat experience. Good, bad, ugly, kind of what's always your experience.
SPEAKER_01:It was great. I mean, we were in Nashville, um you you rented out that really beautiful space. Um and um yeah, everybody was like really, really nice. Everybody just coming there to learn and to hone in. Uh you know, I I've had some focusing issues, I would say, uh, a majority of my life. Um and I was like, you know, how am I gonna really like hone in and um and be able to focus and write things down and set myself up for the rest of the year? I was a little I don't know, uh I don't know, I don't know if nervous is the right word. I think I was just, you know, I just didn't know if I was able to process or do that. Yeah. And um I I think how everything was structured um was was really, really nice. And plus you brought your your espresso machine, which uh which uh really thoroughly helped me.
SPEAKER_00:One of the other guys uh that came on the Sean who came on the retreat too, who's been with us forever, but he's he went out and bought that same espresso machine that I brought and now. I gotta buy one too. He's texting me, he's like, how do I use this thing? Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01:So, anyways, yeah, it was it was a hit, the espresso machine. My family's from from from Sicily, so like I um I really need to buy a really nice machine so I can just like get beans shipped and I can start on the side and it's not a good thing.
SPEAKER_00:This is I rarely have Starbucks these days because I've uh uh you gotta be pretentious with the high-end coffee. So you came on the retreat, um you learned some stuff on the retreat. I I think uh uh from my experience of you on the retreat, you were a sponge. I mean, I I feel like you didn't know what you don't know. And so, like, there was a lot of times on the retreat, um, and again, it was two days, like it's it wasn't a week long, but I remember throughout it, there was a lot of like, uh, uh, like, oh my god, yeah, why didn't I oh I that's that's right. I gotta do that and I gotta do that. So I I felt like that on the retreat, you kind of had some large steps from my perspective on in terms of like zooming out and seeing what bigger picture should look like for your company as opposed to just living in the weeds and being like, this is where we're at, and it's all I know. Cause that right, does that does that resonate?
SPEAKER_01:100%. 100% definitely resonates. Um so I would say off the bat, like I I didn't even know uh what subcontractors were. Yeah. To tell you the truth. Because like I was like, oh, like now I could I can hire somebody out and make some money on. Like I can hire a plumber, I can hire an electrician, I can hire flooring guys that like I can probably get a cut off of that too. And I can start doing other things other than you know painting and installing windows and doors. Yeah. Profound. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But it's it's silly because like, you know, I I obviously being in the restaurant business for so many years, there's these like little things that like you just you don't think about when you're in when you're in it, you know.
SPEAKER_00:Well, and I think the the original conversation with you too of that is like it's and I think where what what you just said is what where I I've seen a lot of guys kind of go wrong with the subside is and I'm not saying you did this, but I think that it kind of it there's a big key to what you just said. The a lot of people think, well, I'm just gonna be a middleman. I'm gonna find the work and I'm gonna sub it out to that guy, and that guy's gonna do the work. And there's a difference of running a job as a middleman and subbing everything out to people and running a company as a general contractor to where it's my vision, it's my project, it's my quote, it's my numbers, it's my client. Yeah, you're a sub, but I mean, arts all of my subs are in in our companies are just like employees. Like they're treated well, they're taken care of, we work as a team, and it's a team effort. It's not a you work for me or I'm just subbing this out, you deal with the client, I I took my piece and now you handle it. But it's a I'm gonna do this part of the effort, you do this part of the effort. And I think that was something that you started sorting out on the retreat of like, oh, that's their role, and that's my role, and this is that's why this happens. And uh I could I could do that. I can have that guy go do that. Totally.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, and I think majority of people too, it's it's difficult for them to like go out and sell the job and and get everything set up and get everything sorted and get everything organized. And just like you said before, like people call me boss, and I'm like, I'm not, I'm not your boss. We work as a team, and you know, if you need something, my phone is always up, my door is always open. And um and that's super important. And that's how you have longevity too, you know, with with subs and and employees.
SPEAKER_00:Aaron Powell, and the guys that view subs as a separate thing, a almost a tool. Um those guys don't make it. The the the way that you like the way that I want subs to be in a company is they are treated like they are treated better than employees. Because employees, I'm trying to pay the least amount and get the most work out of them. When I move someone to a subcontractor or when I have subs set up, I want them to make the most money because I'm making a percentage on top of that, and I want them to make good money to where they're coming back next week. Totally. Right. And so it's it's a it's a it feels it's the opposite. If you treat it right, it's the opposite of how it feels on the outside. Because I've had a lot of guys like like you, like with the Joes, how do we transition them to subs or have how do we you know you were you were going down the path of a bunch of employees in-house. Yes. And I was like, well, now I've got I'm I'm now a babysitter, and now I'm doing all this other stuff and I'm trying to pay them, and they did that, and who's going back to fix it? Because I already paid them to do it, but they've and all of that stuff that you were wrestling with, where it's like, hey, let's treat these guys really well and make them subs, or let's let's try to figure out how to really build the company this way. So it's great. So you left the retreat. What was the conversation with Olivia the day you were leaving the retreat? The first day you got home, you got back from the retreat, you walked in the door. What's the conversation about your company?
SPEAKER_01:I think it was like, hey, like I really need to hone in on not working like on job sites. Yeah. And I I really need to, you know, I I didn't even download your your your software yet, so I downloaded the software and I really like took time to to to you know, because I was on I think it was on Joist or something like that at the time. But this is like, I mean, it's on another another level of of what you guys do. And um, I just I knew that I needed more structure. I knew that, you know, and and I had a g I had a game plan now for the rest of the year. And I knew how much money I was gonna make or I was gonna shoot for, which I did. And I I had a I had a game plan of exactly what step by step I needed to do. Yeah. And so, you know, the first you know, couple of weeks, well, uh when I when I s when I came back home, I obviously was working here and there with them. And then I was like, all right, now I need to hone in on, you know, you know, I'll be on job sites Monday when when we first start and the last day or Friday. Yeah. Just with everybody else, like you want you want to be in control all the time. But you have to let you have sometimes you you have to let go if you want to grow.
SPEAKER_00:You're you're also an extrovert and you get you get energy from being around people and meeting and like like we when we were talking about the restaurant earlier, like what you got out of being a server there was you didn't mention the dollars. Like it was a community aspect. And you lose that a little bit, right? And and so there's some of that of strategically building this of like I'm not gonna fill that bucket here as much, and that's okay. Like if you want to like I I remember earlier on conversations like, great, go meet that client out for coffee on Saturday, but we're not driving out there on a Wednesday just to say hi. Yeah. Right. And so it's like we're only go to the job site when you're needed at the job site. And this is when we go and this is when we don't go. And I thought that was a big jump for you in terms of like clicking like, uh, my time's more valuable. Totally. I can spend my time doing these other things that makes money for the company versus driving around the town hoping to, you know, pop in on the job site and just show my face. Aaron Powell Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:My my life is so much freer too. Like now I can go to the gym at 12 o'clock if I want to. You know, I I c I mean sometimes, you know, shit hits the fan, right? Things happen. But I I I try to structure my days at night. I write everything down hour by hour. Yeah. This just works for me. And and I I have so much more free time now. And even, you know, free time at home to, you know, if I want to cook for Olivia or if I want to have a hobby or I want to do other things. Um if I didn't go into the program, I would not be where I'm at right now. I'm so much more happier.
SPEAKER_00:Cool. That's awesome. What's tell me about this last year? Um you came in, you left the retreat. I think you called me or I called you like three or four days after the retreat, and you're like, well, I guess I'm gonna do coaching. I remember the call. You're like, all right, all right, I'm gonna do it. I'm like, I'm like, you don't have to, bro. Like that's up to you, man. We'll see you next time. I fight with I fight with myself, that's why. You are uh you are frugal. Yes. And uh that is a good part of you. Okay. But but generous. But no, but at the same time, like you invested well. You know, it's and and you saw it as an investment coming in. For sure, it is totally an investment. Yeah. You came in um and you came in on our growth partnership, I think, on the the middle one. You didn't come in on the foundation, you already came on the growth level.
SPEAKER_02:Yep, I did.
SPEAKER_00:Um which we negotiated and kind of talked through which one you should be on and for sure. And then you guide me in the right direction, too. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:And uh, oh yeah, this is what you should do.
SPEAKER_00:You know, it's yeah, it's what you feel comfortable with, you know? You weren't ready for the executive level yet. I mean, you were you're at a spot to where it was like training wheels, right? We gotta get things running, got to get things moving. Tell me about the last year, um, kind of from your perspective of a coaching, but also like growth internally for your company.
SPEAKER_01:Aaron Powell Yeah. So I mean I started at the middle middle tier, and um yeah, I probably I I mean I I probably should have did the I wanted to do the higher one, but I think I, you know, I was making enough money that I could afford it, but like I was just afraid that, you know, oh man, this is a large investment. The thing is, is when you're making an investment with your and you're the you're making an investment with people that have been there and done that it's it's good and and especially if you listen to the podcast too, like this there's so much knowledge, there's some so many things that you know you have been through, you know, everybody else in your in your in your you know uh surroundings have or for you know has has gone through so much um how many how many years have you been in this in this business? 20 years. I mean and and it shows. So you know um it was difficult for me to kind of even make a decision to to make that investment, but it was it was probably the best decision I ever made. Cool. Probably the best decision I was. I'm not paying him to say this, but I appreciate that. I um I I needed systems, I needed structure, uh, I I needed a good software that I could plug everything in, that it it will you know save everything for me and have it organized. And even with um you know uh subcontractor agreements and uh CEAs, I mean I I never even thought about you know having these you know uh uh kind of systems in my life. And it's just like I don't know how to not have those now in my life. Yeah. Yeah. So, you know, um i it it took me what six months uh until I I kind of um something like that.
SPEAKER_00:And I like from the beginning I thought you shouldn't have started in executive. I wanted you to start on the growth, the lower level, because you you didn't have any of the that stuff. Like we needed to get the base level stuff for you put together. And then we, you know, you kind of brought it it got to a spot to where we both we both I think at the same time were like, I think it's time for sure to go. Because it's like we we were talking once a month, and you're like, I need a lot more than this at this point. And totally. And at the executive level, and uh, you know, if if you're just a podcast listener, our executive level is where I'm kind of a fractional COO for the company. I I'm I'm we meet every other week. It's a uh on call, you know, five days a week. You need something, text me, we'll talk about it. So I kinda like we're business partners, I just don't own the company, which is my favorite level because then it's I it's kind of unbridled. I don't have to throttle back my time because you're not paying for it, um, which is great. Um but when you got to that spot, it was all right, you've got everything in place, let's pour gas on this fire. And let's start working towards your first project manager hire, and let's start working towards that. Like there was a bunch of stuff that was like, we need to really start getting we need to double down the time spend on working on the company.
SPEAKER_02:Totally.
SPEAKER_00:So yeah, you I think that was like July, August-ish. Yeah. So maybe seven months.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. Seven months. So I'm I'm so I'm so glad that I I upped it because I I really needed the help. I really needed the guidance too, because you know, you get you have all these problems, you got, you know, have multi- I had multiple jobs. I was, you know, prior to you know starting um with the mentorship program, I was working on one job.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:And I was working with the Joes and I was just slinging paint, and we were just, you know, I was I was we were making good money and it w it was prosperous, but I knew that this for the long run, this was not gonna be you know, this was not gonna work out. It's not it was not gonna be sustainable.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. Well, and you had no you had zero pipeline. You were working zero pipeline. What what job am I doing tomorrow? Aaron Ross Powell For sure.
SPEAKER_01:That's scary because it's like, you know, uh you know, am I gonna be able to uh work next week? Which I always was. You know, I uh uh thank God I have a wife that you know marketing. She's literally a marketing genius. And um yeah, and it worked out, but not a lot of people have that. And you know, sometimes you have to invest in yourself to have that structure to to um you know have give that peace of mind, because then you can look, you know, a month down the line, two months down the line, three months down the line, and know that you know I got this set up, I got that set up, and it just gives you, you know, it gives you peace of mind, and you just you feel like you're you know I'm like a well-oiled machine, you know.
SPEAKER_00:What what do you think you're you're a year into this, um you're in the exact same about almost the same week as when you signed up for the retreat last year.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Going into the retreat this year, what's the mindset versus going in last year?
SPEAKER_01:Oh man. It's yeah, I mean it's uh on another level, I would say. I mean, I I probably uh uh more than doubled my my income from from last year. Uh I have multiple subcontractors, I would say, from you know, that are working like full-time with me. Um guys, I would say, um, which is awesome. I'm almost at the point now that I I'd I I need to hire on a PM, I'm thinking in the next four to six months. I think that'll that'll that'll be, you know. So that's what we're gonna be working on uh um, you know, coming into the new year. What I have to get to that point is what, I'm gonna be making 100 grand uh a month, uh I would say in in revenue, which we're almost there. Um but consecutively for what, three, four months, would you say? Yeah. Yeah. It's gonna be three months, six figures, let's say. Yeah. Which, you know, I I I know for a fact, like I know for an absolute fact that we'll we're gonna get we're gonna get there. Yeah. I mean, I'm doing we're doing full kitchen remodels, we're doing bathroom remodels, we're doing additions now. I just actually um put in for my I didn't have my general contractor's license here in Chicago, but I just actually mailed it in uh last night. Aaron Ross Powell Nice. Nice because I was showing up today and you had to get it. Absolutely. Exactly. Exactly. You put the pressure on the cat at the last minute. I think they showed up to the uh to the post office at like uh 4.58 last night and like just got it in.
SPEAKER_00:Heck yeah, that's awesome. Yeah. Uh so looking forward 2026, we're hiring, we're gonna try to double from where you're at right now. Totally. Uh I'm excited on the retreat because and what I like to do on the retreat is for the guys in coaching, I spend a lot more time prepping in terms of like what's my game plan for you? Like what do I want for FM contracting in 2026? And I think uh there's it's it's kind of turning the volume, uh volume up everywhere. I think you've got a lot of processes in place. I think we there's we don't need to get into the nitty-gritty of it, but there's a few that processes I really like we've talked about a lot, like uh handling payments from clients and some other stuff that we want to really, really kind of tweak those processes for you. But I think there's a probably seven to eight things we need to get in place and then you're ready to hire. And so I think it's building up that that pipeline for the first three, six months of 2026 as we roll around into the new year, and then as we hit those milestones, boom, let's start interviewing and and bring someone in. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Will you will you come in for for those? Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Well for so part of the executive level is you get a I I'll I'm like on your executive team. And so you bring me out uh once a year. Um we can do more than once a year, but I come and like I did uh with one of our other guys that we just hired someone a few months ago. I went there for the first two day two days of training, the new employee. Yeah, that's awesome. To where it's like, hey, let's let's because that's a whole that's a third job now, right? You you know how to do the work, and then you start managing the work, and then hiring and managing an employee is a totally new set of skills that that you haven't experienced yet. So that's a whole set of paperwork, that's a whole set of how do we onboard, how do you manage, how do you do weekly POL meetings every Friday with them, how do we how do we grade them, how do we give them rate, all that stuff is what we're gonna be covering Q1 for FM as we start heading that way. So I'm super excited about. Yeah. So uh final thoughts, and again, this isn't a talk good about ProStruct. I I I really appreciate all the kind words, but like final thoughts about um 2026 for you. Like what's what's your final like what are you excited about 2026? What are the what's the big goals outside of a higher? Are you I mean, I I I think we talked about potentially doubling your revenue next year is the goal.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Um I don't know if we'll double. I think uh my goal for you is two mil uh in revenue uh revenue next year, which is a little less than double, but it'll probably end up being double.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Um in a higher, I think if we do those things, that's a that's a slab dunk for you. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01:I I we you just gotta really gotta hone in and be disciplined because you know i i if you wanna if you really want to join um this community and this team, I mean you you really gotta you gotta put you gotta put the time in. Yeah. You gotta put you gotta you gotta put you know the the man hours and you gotta really want it, because you know, you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink, right? Yeah. So I'm I'm really excited, you know, the way I was the beginning of this year to to where I am now, I mean, it's it's astronomical. I mean, um I would have never even thought about, you know, and now I'm even thinking about, you know, uh you know, as a chef, I was, you know, now I'm thinking about design for kitchens and stuff too, is like I know uh thinking about layouts and and structure for that, and um, which is uh an idea that I got when at the retreat. At the retreat, which was which was like profound. It was like uh you know, like that light bulb aha moment, um, which was awesome too. So I'm just um I'm I'm really excited to to jump into the new year and um and and start new projects and and and be disciplined and um and and when you're honing in on your craft, you just you feel more accomplished. Yeah. You know? Yeah. And and by going to to uh to this retreat, you're gonna 100% leaving more accomplished. And that's what else do you what else do you want in life? I mean, you know, if you if you're in this business and you and you want to to grow and you want to you know uh be successful, you need to invest. You need to invest time and you need to invest money and and just do it because it's gonna be worth it.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. No, no, I uh I I 100% agree with that. I think one one thing, if you're listening to this and thinking about the retreat, one of the best things that I think we haven't talked about and that there's no way to like write on paper a capture is also the community aspect of like the evenings, of us hanging out and just talking about music or you know, like like everything.
SPEAKER_01:Everybody that's in the same industry that are that are working together, struggling with the same stuff, absolutely building the same exact style companies.
SPEAKER_00:So it's it's a really cool way to come hang out. So if you want to come hang out with Freddie and me, we'd love to see you guys at the retreat in January. If you're not coming on the retreat and you just want to hop on our software, go to Prostruct360.com. If you want to come on the retreat, you can go to contractorcuts.com. I will do a 30-minute phone call with you to make sure that it's a good fit for you. We want to make sure that it is every company that comes, we're a great fit for them and they're a great fit for us. Um, but sign up for a call with me. I love to talk talk through it. I answer any of your questions about the retreat. And if you're interested in coaching and you can't come on the retreat, hit me up. I'd love to talk to you about that too.
unknown:Cool.
SPEAKER_00:Thanks so much for joining me, man. Absolutely, man.
SPEAKER_01:Thanks for thanks for flying out, brother. I appreciate you.
SPEAKER_00:All right, we'll talk to you soon. Cool. Bye guys. Bye.
