We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Alex Cloyd. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Alex below.

Alex, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. If you could go back in time do you wish you had started your business sooner or later

If I could go back in time, I would have started my business sooner–I’ll take you back to tell you why and why you might consider it too if you’re on the edge of starting a business and need a sign.

When I was 15 years old, I started my first job: site clean up at a large construction company who specialized in new tract homes. Dozens of houses under construction at a time in different phases in a sea of trades. I felt I was a good helper with a motivated, first job attitude. I wanted to learn as much as I could. I sought out several mentors on the job site and from them I saw what hard work and longevity in an industry looked like. It looked like confidence and efficiency. It looked like long days, but great accomplishment. It look like hard, honest work and I liked it.

That first job was short lived though. High school years, friends and girlfriends, college–they all compound and you lose track of things. You get a job at a restaurant and leave. You get another job at a clothing store … and leave–never quite finding your place. You think you’ll just land into something, get that career, have a home and a family, and things will just click. Well, as many of us experience, things do not just click. One actually has to seek it out and make it your own.

The moment my mother died is when it clicked. About two years ago in February 2023, my mother died due to complications from breast cancer. It was never more stark after that moment that I realized I needed to seek out what I really wanted in life and not just let life happen to me. I needed to not let it slip away and not let the loved ones I cherish watch me waste my talent or passion or time.

I wish she saw me today. Because, although it has been hard going starting a business from the ground up–it has been the most rewarding choice I have ever made. I am the maker of my own destiny. I get to create the product and service I want to see in the world. I get to answer to myself– a way to really see what you’re made of.

So, would I start sooner? Absolutely. Period. I would have more time to work the kinks out of the business. I would run into other trades and contractors earlier who love helping and teaching and guiding in an industry where the vast majority are trying to look out for each other as well as their clients. I would learn how to be a better leader earlier and make a real living faster than I had ever before working for anyone else. It’s in the difficult space of being on your own and responsible for yourself that you come to find out what you’re really made of. Starting a business manifested this and although I’m glad it eventually happened–I wish I had made that choice sooner.

Alex, 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?

For those who may not know me…

I began construction at the age of 15 and dabbled in carpentry on and off for parts of my life. I did woodcraft in high school, deck building as an adult, handy-work for quite some time, and I have now started a renovation and remodelling business. Just this year I have gained a business partner where we will merge our two companies into one to provide clients with more than one General Contractor (GC). Having two GCs will improve client/company communication and vision, stream line trades, make more efficient permitting and inspections, provide the ability for quality control checks at a higher rate, and increase job capacity for the company as a whole–providing more opportunities for our subcontractors to have work, giving them the opportunity to have a choice in the work they do. We feel this business model of horizontal integration that largely works vertically will have an impact on how construction companies in the future might consider operating.

I am proud of this way of operating and proud to pair with my new business partner who has a similar standard of work and work ethic. Together, in our merger, we hope to help both our workforce and the clients we serve reach their goals. It is a core aspect of my brand and company that we are honest, hardworking, and will provide equal service both to our clients and our affiliated subcontractors

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

A lesson I had to unlearn is that not every person who is older than you or in a position above is wiser. I’ve had plenty of those who are older than me and above me who have had plenty of life experience. And with this life experience, one might come to think that if this person or that person is in a given career or field of work that they would be good to learn from–this isn’t always the case and a lesson I had to unlearn. One brief example, and in this case hypothetical situation, would be bad managers or leaders. Again, just because they are older or in a position of power above someone–does not make them the best person to receive wisdom or knowledge from. Sure, one could learn how *not* to manage, but for me this isn’t the healthiest way for me to interact in my job place. I really appreciate and enjoy learning from great mentors and would rather have positive role models than not.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

The initial capital for my work was…. work. To be honest, it is quite difficult to find grants and other moneys to start a business. Instead, as it goes for many businesses, you just start doing it. As I have had a plethora of jobs and many of those in the field of construction, I’ve saved money, acquired tools, made connections, and took my time to find the moment where I felt I could confidently take the next step towards business ownership.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.rightoncontracting.com
• Instagram: @rightoncontracting