Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Douglas Hayes. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Douglas, appreciate you joining us today. Alright, so we’d love to hear about how you got your first client or customer. What’s the story?

Although my first client is a friend of mine, the first one that wasn’t a friend happened to live in the same neighborhood. This client is a realtor who needed an inspection for her client and found me on the neighborhood social media page. There was a number of reasons for this excitement. First, she reached to us while I was performing my very first inspection, secondly it confirmed that people were actually paying attention to the neighborhood business post on social media and third but not least, that this would be my first client who wasn’t a friend!

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My beginning into the home inspection business or becoming a business owner was not on my radar or even imaginable. Prior to this new beginning I was an operations manager for a building materials distribution center. The goal I had was to become a branch manager one day, change the narrative and retire when the time would come. As the goal I set for myself became evident that it wasn’t going to happen, my reason to continue on as an operations manager came to an end. I resigned from that position in March of 2020 after almost 20yrs. The decision to resign wasn’t hard because it felt right but what I didn’t know was that there was a virus around the corner that would shut down America, COVID. COVID was the unknown for me combined with what my next move for employment would look like. So for the first 3 months into the COVID shutdown there was time for me to reflect and refresh. I felt that finding another job would be repeating the same cycle and there was this hope that no one would offer me a position. As faith would have it, home inspection was presented to me on 3 different occasions by 3 different people. The first was my wife (which at the time I didn’t hear her), a vendor from my previous job and finally a friend. It was then that I knew God was speaking to me and that this was the path for me. HTX Home Inspections was established on December 1, 2020.

As a business owner what I have learned the most is that nothing you have done in the past is wasted. There are always things that you may have done that you can implement into you own business strategy. Our approach to this business is simple; superior customer service. This may sound cliche but there is a lot of thought that goes into it. Customer service is more than just answering the phone and providing a service. It’s being authentic, standing on your word, a commitment to excellence, wanting to help others, understanding your business, focusing on the details, understanding each clients needs, going above the norm and treating people the way you want to be treated no matter what their socioeconomic status is.

What sets us apart in this industry has a lot to do with out motto; “Educate not Alarm”. Although the homebuying process is exciting it can be just as stressful. Getting a home inspection is part of the home buying process and there tends to be this preconceived level of stress that comes with it. Our approach to “educate not alarm” is just that. We want to help the buyer understand the home inspection process, educate them on our findings and present them with enough information to make a good decision.

We are at our best when we are helping others. There is a sense of joy when you help someone with buying their first home, calming first time home buyer fears, providing great customer service and equipping a new home buyer with the tools they can use while being a homeowner. There are a host of other things that set us apart from the rest but helping others is at the top of the list.

How did you build your audience on social media?

Prior to starting my business the only presence I had on social media was LinkedIn. That’s right, prior to 2020 I didn’t have a presence on any of the popular social media platforms. Combining my lack of a social media presence with starting a business in 2020, when the country was shut down, seemed impossible and like a poor business decision. As faith would have it, the timing was perfect! Of course there were challenges such as my lack of a social media presence, starting a business, being comfortable in my craft and trying to convince people to use our services by talking thru a lense.

Thankfully my wife had a small presence on social media and knew how to navigate it. With her knowledge and my growth and experience in becoming a home inspector we were able to reach a lot of people. My focus was to be authentic and create content that was helpful. So the moral of the story is that sometimes “not knowing” allows you to go places that “knowing” will not.

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

The cofounder of HTX Home Inspections is my wife. Once the path was formed for me to become a business owner I knew that she should help me. I totally understand what I don’t know but I knew her experience as a business owner would be critical to this journey. I also knew that her strengths were my weaknesses and that she could look at things from a different viewpoint or perspective than me. Having her as the cofounder of this business allowed me to focus on becoming the best home inspector I could be.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.htxhomeinspections.com
• Instagram: @htxhomeinspections
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/douglas.hayes.906
• Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/tdouglashayes
• Youtube: @htxhomeinspectionspllc78