We recently connected with Michael Johnson and have shared our conversation below.
Michael, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you share a customer success story with us?
One of our customer success stories was from a few years back when we met a client with an old redwood water tank that was very tall (20′) and very wide (35′). This tank had many issues with certain sections of the vertical wood staves (wood tank walls) that were severely rotten and leaking many thousands of gallons of water. This client did not have the money for a new tank and replacing the existing wood tank would take many years to plan and fund. In the meantime, they were losing thousands of gallons of water daily from the leaking damaged redwood staves/walls and were required legally to meet the drinking water needs of their customers who pay fees monthly for the water delivery through pipes and transmission lines. We asked them to trust us and check our references for quality of workmanship as well as customer satisfaction. They did just that and found we were trustworthy and knew how to do the required work. After setting up our plan with theirs we took this tank out of service and prepared to replace the rotten wooden staves with new milled wood from old growth stocks-Stocks that only we had. The client diverted their water around the tank to feed drinking water to regular outgoing pipes to the community. We then drained the tank and went to work. We replaced four staves in one section and two staves in three other sections. The worst section, where the 16″ outlet pipe was, had severe rot and a custom wooden flange made from old growth redwood to fill in a three inch gap where the pipes connect to make a watertight seal. We were left in a pickle on how to make this wooden flange. We connected with a local older wood worker who not only made the flange, he actually showed us how to do it. It worked perfect and after a week of repair and ten days of dry interior to harden our repair seleant this tank was refilled and placed back into service. The tank did leak and we did have to make a few other minor repairs, however our repairs were solid and the tank did not leak again in those areas. We still service this tank, albeit fifteen (15) year later and it is still standing and is still the main tank for the community drinking water. They will replace it soon with a new steel tank. This client was very grateful we were able to help them out. We start another repair like this in thew next month.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I am Michael Johnson and was 20 years old when I got into this business. I always wanted to work for myself I just did not know how, where and whether it would happen. I was young and working landscaping in a new area of Folsom, Ca. At that time we were approached by an individual who said they had something business related to show us-We were young and there were four of us. The business was Drinking Water Tank Maintenance Services. We decided to look at their offer and after discussion amongst our young group we borrowed $25,000.00 from a friend’s mom and gave it to them so we could buy the business. We did that and was it ever a HUGE MISTAKE! They scammed us, took our money and we never saw them again. Needless to say I learned my lesson and after a year we as friend parted ways as we could not make this business work. The very next week after we parted ways, my brother’s friend took me aside and said he would finance me in this business, and he said it was a great idea. He told me so seek training and get some clients. I did that and he financed my for a year and then he passed away suddenly. Not only was I devastated with his death I was left not knowing what to do but I went forward and tried my hardest. Fast forward a year later and I was contacted by one of my friends who said their dada wanted to talk with me as he heard I was starting a business. He and I talked and he was looking for an investment and I needed funds so we came to an agreement and worked together to build this business over the next few years. Not only did it work it got me to the place I needed to be-Moving forward. He and I stopped working together and kept in contact over the years to update each other on life. Thanks to Bill F. I am where I am today. A truly great story.
We’d love to hear about how you met your business partner.
The day I met my business partner everything changed for the better. I was 26 and recently divorced when I got a call from a good friend to fill in for his softball team. I decided that night to show up early and get loose by throwing the ball and taking some batting practice. Not only was I early but my wife and new partner was also early that night. I was tying my shoes when she asked who I was. I looked up and said, ” Hello”, and the rest is history. We have been together ever since and have not only made a great business we have made a wonderful family and life together.
Where do you think you get most of your clients from?
Most of our new clients come from referrals, word of mouth, trade shows and Instagram at times. Good work will net you more clients as word of mouth is best by far. If you do good work a client will tell twenty people how great you are. If you do poor work that same client may tell two hundred how bad you are. Do good work!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.OGredwood.com and www.watertankdivers.com
- Instagram: @diver_008
- Facebook: ogredwood
- Linkedin: Michael Johnson