We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Peter West a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Peter, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Risking taking is a huge part of most people’s story but too often society overlooks those risks and only focuses on where you are today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – it could be a big risk or a small one – but walk us through the backstory.
As with any small business, growing pains involve taking risks! When I hired my second round of employees to keep up with a influx of new work, I wasn’t sure if I could keep enough work in front of them but I knew if we always did our best our customers would tell their friends and the jobs would keep coming. Sometimes purchasing equipment and hiring more employees forces you to think outside the box and solve the problem in front of you. It has kept me from being comfortable and stagnant in your business.
Peter, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I run a home remodeling service that does a wide range of things from siding, patios, kitchens, bathrooms, additions and more. I started in bathroom remodels out of necessity for my own bathroom and started doing some for friends and family. Keeping a full time job for 16 years and remodeling on the side doing handy man type work while working my way up to full remodels was a challenging experience.
I think my company provides a unique experience where we can provide turnkey service and through my employees and network of subcontractors we are able to tackle just about anything.
One thing that has pushed the company forward is that in the early stages it wasn’t my primary income so I could really focus on the quality without worrying too much about profitability. Also talking to the customers and hearing stories about how they have struggled to find a good contractor motivated me to keep standards high and prove there are still contractors out here that care about the product we are delivering and not just trying to collect a check.
This industry is incredibly challenging but is highly needed and something that robots and technology will struggle to replace. From replacing a leaking shower or repairing a home after a 20,000lb tree has destroyed complex framing, to sheetrock repairs, it is definitely a trade that won’t be replaced any time soon.
Do you have any stories of times when you almost missed payroll or any other near death experiences for your business?
There has been times where the perfect storm of a couple bad jobs, vehicle maintenance, and other issues kind of all happen at once and you wonder how your going to make payroll or keep going but I found that there are only certain things in your control and everything else you have to just adapt and overcome. More jobs will come and the problems will still be a problem tomorrow. Knowing when to stop and get some rest is key to moving forward because if you as an owner are just depleted and barely functioning, you can’t lead your team like that.
How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?
Several factors have helped West Home Improvement build our reputation as a reliable and trustworthy contractor. I have always put the job and the customer over profit. Sometimes things don’t go to plan or things have to be redone but if you don’t bite the bullet and just do it you will lose that customer and any future work. I have had more jobs come from referrals than anything else out there. That’s when you know you are doing something right, when the customers are coming to you as a service provider and your not struggling to attract new ones.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Www.getthewest.com
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