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

Elias, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s start on the operational side – do you spend more of your time/focus/energy on growing revenue or cutting costs?

This has been a topic of conversation amongst my colleagues and I for several years. For me, I spend about an even amount of time focusing on growing revenue AND cutting costs. This is just because I am the sales manager and production manager at my company so half of my role is focused on nurturing and getting new business and the other half on making things run more efficiently to lower costs and maximize profits.

I always go to my friends/mentors for questions like this. After speaking with a few of them who run businesses that do anywhere from $20-50 million a year they typically tell me the same thing. Cutting costs seems to be more important because it will not only allow you to minimize overhead during slow seasons, but also give you more money to invest into growing revenue.

I think they work hand in hand. I see it as, if you are wasting x amount of money on something, that money could go into a driver that may bring you 2x the revenue. For instance, we were spending about $10k a month on a marketing agency that did not really bring in much revenue. By learning how to take on their tasks ourselves, we could put that $10k into more ads, another salesperson, etc. that could bring in 5x that spend.

Elias, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My story is not how I would have ever imagined it, and honestly, it is still developing. I graduated from college in 2020 and was supposed to work for a commercial real estate developer since I had come from a real estate background. Because of COVID, he was losing money and could not hire me. I graduated with a business degree and found myself driving Doordash, working construction jobs, warehouse jobs all through the night, etc. to pay my bills, while job hunting.

However, in my free-time when I wasn’t trying to capture the next dollar to buy a can of tuna, I was adding value to my marketing and sales skills. I was learning graphic design, website development, etc. and eventually started a small company selling puzzles of pop culture figures like music artists, athletes, etc.My friend and I invested money we had earned from working these random jobs and we started an online store.

Well, months later I was at a swap meet selling our products and my cousin came by who I hadn’t seen in years. He saw that I knew how to sell (coming from a sales background in real estate), and said there was a position open at the company he worked for. I told him I’d start that Monday and did not care what it was. Mind you, I had been working much worse jobs for about a year at this point.On top of that, I had just signed a new lease on an apartment I couldn’t afford or even pay the security deposit for. I had no clue what the job was, but he just said it was sales and I needed work.

This led me to working in the foundation drilling industry. I got the job working for an engineering company that designed and fabricated underground drilling tools. I didn’t even know this industry existed until I showed up to the office and 75,000 sq. ft. fabrication shop. This was 4 years ago and is the company I now oversee around 70 welders and shop members, as well as manage sales and other things in the business.

The thing was, I never wanted any of this when I started. I thought I came to work at this company to pay the bills until I figured something out or got back into real estate. However, I saw the potential in the company and industry because I saw the holes in our own company and also started building relationships with contractors across the country. We are an industry-leading company with an amazing product, but I noticed there was not much technology integrated into the company. I also noticed everyone was twice my age and not in touch with modern business. This allowed me to capitalize on this by bringing new ideas and more efficient systems to the business. Then, I saw that there was opportunity not just in our company, but in the industry as a whole, AND in other industries.

Many of my clients are getting ready to retire after growing and operating successful businesses for decades. The thing is, their children don’t want to take over because engineering isn’t “sexy” and they also don’t want to work. As I began to travel the United States, building relationships with business owners, I asked questions and most of them struggled with the same thing. Their business is not evolving with technology and people with talent

As I did more research, I realized this is not just an issue in construction, engineering, and the trades all together, but in many industries. This is when I started my company, Frame Business Solutions. Frame Business Solutions is a new company, but one that focuses on pushing businesses forward with digital solutions like AI automation and marketing. We want to bridge the gap between outdated business and new technology, allowing business owners to focus on their business themselves, while we implement and maintain the digital tools and software they don’t have time to learn.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

I think a story that illustrates my resilience is what I mentioned with when I graduated college. My main source of income was working in the trades on campus, and I was let go since school wasn’t taking place. Then the job I thought was lined up for me didn’t happen, and I was left unemployed with bills stacking up and no hope in sight. Then, to add on that, unemployment didn’t pay me for 5 months, so I had to figure out what to do.

I knew I was a hard worker, I always had been, and it wasn’t a time to complain because that wasn’t going to pay the bills. I took every opportunity I could find to make money (of course ethically). I worked 14 hour shifts at a warehouse all through the night, I did demolition work, I drove Doordash, I bought and sold things on offer up, did freelance marketing work. Anything I could to get by while figuring out my next steps in life.

This time, 2020, was the most important time of my life. I watched people around me fall victim to the pandemic, and never have come back from it mentally and physically. I saw what was happening and decided I needed to add more value to myself because the job market was getting even more competitive.

So professionally, I learned everyday. Reading books, listening to podcasts, anything that would teach me more about sales, business, marketing, and technology. Then, personally, I got in better shape and built resilience for myself that way as well. While the gyms were closed I found ways to workout and get stronger. I felt like it gave me an edge because I felt like if I could find any way to not just stay in shape, but get in the best shape of my life, I could find ways to make money, and more of it than ever.

This time in my life really shaped me. Now, when sales are down, I don’t stress, I keep pushing and figure it out. When I have issues with clients, I stay calm, and ensure them we will solve the problem. When I have to be a manager, I am able to relax and listen, and hear the person out. The stress I went through and overcame in 2020 helped with all of this, and I have been able to take it into business.

Have you ever had to pivot?

I think a good story for this is the puzzle company I had started. When my friend and I started this company, we did not think about or have a clue what outside forces we were going up against. We were working with a manufacturer overseas, and the ports began to delay shipments significantly. We were not able to get new product for months, which made it extremely tough for us to come out with new designs. We tried working with domestic manufacturers but are profits would have been virtually 0%.

Eventually, we realized starting a product-based business at this time was unsustainable, and we had to pivot. We realized that we learned how to build a website, how to run ads, social media, etc. So we shifted the business into a service-based business. We began offering marketing services for small businesses. We had very little success due to the fact that I started a new job, and my business partner quit. However, having learned a lot more not just about marketing, but business in general from my day job, I pivoted once again into creating Frame Business Solutions.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.frame-business.com
• Instagram: eliasthruston
• Facebook: eliasthruston
• Linkedin: eliasthruston
• Youtube: eliasthruston1

Image Credits

Elias Thruston