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From Mechanic to Business Owner: Residential Elevator Franchising · The Elevator Careers Podcast

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_01: Hello and welcome to the Elevator Careers Podcast.
• 0:03
  SPEAKER_01: Today we're joined by two special guests, Alex Martin and Casey Dion.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_01: First, I want to say that we're doing this because um this specific uh topic was requested by our audience.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_01: They've asked for more information about nationwide lifts, franchise opportunities, and so let's see what we can learn.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_01: So, Alex Casey, welcome to the show.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_01: You bet.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_01: You bet.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_01: Um Casey there.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_01: Looks like we lost Casey.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_01: Well, let's let's go ahead and start.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_01: Alex, um I'm gonna go ahead and introduce you.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_01: Um Alex Martin is the owner of Nationwide Lifts in California and Nevada.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_01: Alex began his career as a mechanic 18 years ago, and in 2015, he purchased his franchise and now employs 22 employees engaged in installation, service, and maintenance of residential and light commercial elevators.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_01: I'll go ahead and introduce Casey.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_01: He may he may join us again.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_01: Uh you never know sometimes with these connections.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_01: But uh Casey Dion is the owner of Nationwide Lifts in Illinois, based out of Chicago area.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_01: Casey started as a mechanic, has been in the industry over 21 years, and in 2005 he became an owner and has never looked back.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_01: So again, welcome.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_01: Glad to have you here.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_01: Alex, and uh again, we'll we'll hope Casey looks like he's trying to get back up.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_01: There's Mr.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_01: Casey.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_02: Sorry about that, fellas.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_01: You're good.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_01: No, welcome, welcome.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_01: So I did introduce you while you were out and just kind of told people a little bit about your background that you've been you've been doing this a long time, uh 2005 as an owner and and over 21 years in the industry.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_01: And and so again, both of you welcome to the to the show today.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, this is good stuff.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_01: So, first one I what I want to talk about is a little bit is how how we got here, right?
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_01: How from you know a technician, uh accessibility specialist, did you get to business owner?
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm curious, um, let's just start with you, Alex.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_01: What what first attracted you to elevators?
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_00: Uh so I had the opportunity when I was in high school.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_00: Uh I I I've always been kind of a a gear head.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_00: I love turning wrenches and um work working on cars, things like that.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_00: Uh I had an opportunity uh with a gentleman I I met sometime in high school who kind of became a mentor of mine that uh introduced me to the elevator industry.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_00: He'd been in it uh for about 20 years at the time.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_00: And uh he would take me uh to calls on the weekends when he was on call, things like that.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_00: Uh and so that was kind of my first introduction.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_00: Um before that, I I I had no idea that elevators were even service and maintained.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_00: Uh you know, you you you grow up and you you get an elevator, you push a button, and you go.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_00: It's uh I did not realize what actually went into you know how complex a an elevator system is uh going from it.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_00: So that that once I was able to kind of see the intricacies of uh what it takes to to keep elevators alive and and running, that is ultimately what kind of spawned my fascination with it and and desire to to you know pursue it further.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_01: Very cool.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_01: Casey, what about you?
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_01: What what led you to to elevators?
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_02: So um I had started in accessibility equipment just kind of you know as a as a helper.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_02: Um and I thought it would be cool to start doing them because I thought I could do it.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_02: Um and then with the clientele that we were working with, some of like you know, when you go from a VPL like in someone's home to seeing an actual elevator, I was like, yeah, they these people need an elevator opposed to a uh a wheelchair lift.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_02: And uh so that's what sparked my interest uh and and what kind of led me to it.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_01: So you both kind of jumped in early and just uh have stayed, right?
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_01: It's like this is fascinating, this is good work.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_01: And um at what point did you think you might actually be an owner?
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, was that a massive leap?
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_01: Let's start with you, Casey.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_01: What are your thoughts on that?
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_02: Um so I had started the accessibility company.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_02: Um so I had I was you know an owner of that already.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_02: Um and then uh when we when we purchased our first franchise, um I kind of knew that I was gonna be an owner kind of from the very beginning.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_02: So is that if that makes sense?
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_02: Uh you know, I came in as a a business owner and then bought the franchise.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_02: I think uh I think I may have been the second one on uh in the very beginning.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_01: Very cool.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_01: What what about you, Alex?
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_01: What was the uh your thought behind actually owning a franchise or you know being a business owner?
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, you know, so uh I I guess at the time when I first got in the industry, it really wasn't even a thought.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, I was just trying to get experience uh from a mechanic, learn as much as I can.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_00: And um I feel like I I my goal in life was to always eventually own my own company.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_00: And I wasn't, you know, at the time I wasn't really sure what it was going to do or you know what what industry it would be in.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, but it wasn't until years down the road for me starting in in my career that uh that I started to think about the franchise as an opportunity.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_00: And and really it was just getting to know the entire nationwide family and working under you know that that umbrella that uh it kind of opened up those those opportunities for me later.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_01: Sure.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_01: Why why did you choose to to stay with I'm just curious, all right?
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_01: Did you just think at times, hey, maybe I'll just go start my own thing, right?
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, why the why the franchise under nationwide?
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, you know, I think it was just the particular group uh really really had me in uh from from the beginning.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_00: Um there's such a camaraderie around the nationwide list group.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_00: And uh, you know, w working for for Andy when he had hired me as a mechanic, uh, you know, seeing him as again being another huge mentor in this industry for me, uh, and how fair he treated his employees and and and how hard he worked, you know, always you know motivated me to work, you know, just as hard and and learn it.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, I feel like, you know, by the time that that I was journeying out and getting my license, um I I just didn't I I I wanted to stay a part of that family.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_00: I wanted to still see, I could see the growth that that nationwide lifts was was continuing to go towards.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_00: And uh, you know, I I I wanted to be a part of that.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, from your your perspective, it sounds like you you saw what was there and didn't really want to, it didn't really uh entice you to go elsewhere because you saw all the benefits of having the the network, the mentorship, whatever else that that kind of came with that.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_01: Fair to say.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_01: And Casey, what about you?
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_01: You sound like you already kind of had your own business.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_01: What was it that that made you kind of want to buy into this?
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_02: So I had I had worked with multiple manufacturers like pretty extensively.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, I did a whole lot of stair lifts, some BPLs, some IPLs, I built ramps, I did all kinds of overhead ceiling lifts.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_02: So I I dealt with a lot of companies.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_02: And um I tell you what, when and what and what uh Alex said the the core group at at least the nationwide lift headquarter office, Lori, Sue, Andy have been some of the most amazing people I've ever met in my whole life.
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_02: And uh they and they have been like that since literally day one.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_02: And uh, and so that's that was a humongous part of it for me.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_02: Uh and that number one, it that I mean this the support that that I've received over the years, and I I needed every bit of it, okay?
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_02: Every single bit of it.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_02: And uh and yeah, I mean, so that's a that's a big part of it.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_02: Obviously, for me, it's gonna be a love fest.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_02: I I loved Andy, Lori, Sue, Alex, you know, I I I love these people, you know.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_02: So I don't know if that makes it works.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_01: I mean for sure, for sure.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, it sounds like even though you had a business, what you saw was additional support, additional friends, additional uh ways to to build your business and and have a lot of help doing it, essentially, is what I'm hearing.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, oh, absolutely.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
• 8:37
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, they have supported uh Nelly and I uh since literally day one and have never once not had our back through anything, you know, over the years, and you know how things go, you know, and uh they have been there for us since day one.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_02: They it's been uh the greatest gift, you know, one could ask for with a team, at least that's the way I see it, you know.
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_02: Uh they have been just tremendous friends, uh colleagues, all of it.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_02: And I mean, like Alex, you know, he's been fantastic.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_02: You know, and I I knew what he was gonna do as soon as I as soon as I knew he was buying in.
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_02: I knew for sure he was gonna be off to the races.
• 9:27
  unknown: Cool.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_01: So it sounds like a great thing.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_01: Well, let's talk for just a minute about uh, you know, why residential elevators matter more than ever.
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I'm I hear more about them, I I hear from different companies, and honestly, I've got some friends not too far away that you know go to church with them and they're like, hey, we're thinking about getting a residential elevator.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_01: Do you know anybody?
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm like, huh, yeah.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_01: Actually, actually I do.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_01: Um so um I'm curious from your perspectives, you know, what what misconceptions do some homeowners have?
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, in other words, are home elevators ubiquitous enough that everybody just kind of gets it, or are there still a lot of people that are like, oh my gosh, I didn't I didn't think that was even an option?
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_01: Casey, what do you what are you seeing in your experience?
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_02: So um I feel like uh uh customer, well clients now are much more educated than they were 20 years ago.
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_02: Um I feel like 20 years ago, people thought the elevators cost three times at least what they actually cost.
• 10:32
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, you look, I I think you and I, I think maybe talked about this last week, but it's exactly right.
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, you look at a custom oak staircase, just a standard you know, first floor, second floor, oak treads, oak risers.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, you're at$45,000,$50,000 or something you have to walk on.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_02: You know what I mean?
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_02: And uh economically, I I think that's done it, you know, a lot of it.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_02: Um I mean, they're still attainable, you know.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, you don't have to be rich to have an elevator.
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_02: You you can have one, you know.
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_01: Right, right.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_01: And like you say, they're becoming a lot more, people are a lot more educated, there's a lot more options.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_01: Certainly they can Google it.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_01: Uh Alex, what are you seeing on on your side?
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think uh I think you know, kind of going off what Casey said, uh price was a big one, uh, a big misconception of what they actually cost.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_00: And I think the that kind of goes parallel to that was also um the the the cost of construction.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_00: I think people had this this big misconception of uh you know how much it was going to cost uh elevator aside, but just to destroy their home and tear their home apart, uh, you know, with with a year of construction to build a hoist way and and and you know all this all this extra work.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_00: Uh our industry has has really advanced so far uh that that gives a customer so many options as to what they have, you know, that that's very, very minimal uh construction, you know, needs for their home and and things like that.
• 12:07
  SPEAKER_00: So getting that education out there, like Casey said, uh the education is uh we can always do better, we can always do more to get more information out there and and more literature for people out there.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_00: But uh we've really made huge strides, you know, the last 15 years or so.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_01: Well, and obviously the the aesthetics too, right?
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_01: I mean you can actually have a home elevator that that actually looks nice, whereas maybe maybe 20 or 30 years ago that wasn't wasn't gonna look as nice, or maybe it was just a a closet.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_01: But there's sure I know the the industry's come along a long way there.
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_01: And and I'm sure that a lot of your installations are you know new, because I know some some developers want to just put in elevators from the get-go, and then some of them have to be you know retrofit.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_01: And and so I'm curious what kind of situations trigger a call?
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_01: Like you get you get a call from somebody like, hey, we we may have to put an elevator in our home.
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_01: What is that like?
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_01: What do those situations look like?
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_01: Alex, you want to start this one?
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_00: Uh so I I would, yeah, so we we we we kind of have two aspects in our business.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_00: Um one is is the the contractor side that, like you said, is is building the home.
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_00: Um there's a certain level of home where it's it's it's kind of becoming an expectation.
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_00: Um you have a uh a wolf stove, you you know, you you you have uh these these appliances in your kitchen and and and they kind of come with an elevator.
• 13:26
  SPEAKER_00: And it's kind of a given expectation uh for those builders.
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_00: So that you know that's the construction side of it.
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_00: From the homeowner side, it's the large majority of the time uh it is purely focused around accessibility.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_00: Um we we see when a homeowner starts reaching out to us, it's very often that uh either they're moving their parents in with them uh that are elderly and and they live in a two-story home, or or it it's an elderly couple that that already has a two-story home and is looking to make modifications to to incorporate an elevator in there.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_00: Uh is what we would usually see, the kind of two halves.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_01: How often, uh, Casey, I'll send this one to you.
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_01: How often are you helping families avoid like assisted living or or you know, selling the the home they've had for 50 years and really uprooting kind of you know their base?
• 14:19
  SPEAKER_02: I I mean it's it's I mean it it would be you know 100% of the clients that we you know that we take care of that that have those needs.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_02: We do a lot of vanity, you know, we we do a lot of you know really beautiful elevators that are not necessarily uh for somebody who has accessibility needs in the home.
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_02: It's more of a vanity thing and a status thing.
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_02: Um but as far as accessibility, uh you know, everyone, every client that I go to that that needs or or that has those needs, you know, that's the main goal is to try to keep them in their house.
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_02: Uh so every one of them.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_01: Sure, sure.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_02: You know.
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_01: Gotcha.
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_01: How often do people, and obviously, Alex, you talked about the contractors that are that are putting them in from the get-go, but how often are are individuals you're just thinking ahead 10, 20 years, right?
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe they got a knee that gives them a little trouble, or they think, you know, when I get into my 80s, I might need this.
• 15:16
  SPEAKER_01: Do you do you have a lot of people that are forward thinking, or do you get those calls that, oh, grandma just broke her hip.
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_01: We need to do something now.
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, absolutely.
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_00: Uh we're we're we're actually uh dealing with a project specifically right now that uh the customer's coming back to us, and they they did have uh the idea when they built their home about nine years ago, uh they stacked the closets on top of each other.
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_00: And so they were still able to get full utilization out of their house.
• 15:40
  SPEAKER_00: They they they uh have closets at each floor in their home, but the plan was to always eventually, when when the time came uh that they were gonna need an elevator, uh, they're able to take those those floors out of that section.
• 15:51
  SPEAKER_00: And and and there they have uh uh a voist way.
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, we definitely see that quite quite a bit uh with customers who who are making plans and provisions for it.
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_00: And being that elevators can kind of fit within the confines of your typical closet.
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_00: Uh it it doesn't people are able to design that into that house, even if they're not going to be putting the elevator in right away.
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_00: They can still get full utilization out of you know that that square footage of their home until they're ready to pull the trigger.
• 16:15
  SPEAKER_01: Sure, sure.
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm and I'm sure a lot of people, you know, that that maybe aren't thinking that far ahead and and maybe they don't understand the costs, you know, maybe they're even surprised when what I I can't afford this.
• 16:26
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, do you do you have some of those stories that stick with you that wow, we just we just changed somebody's life because they thought they were gonna have to move out, they thought they were gonna have to, you know, totally uproot.
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_01: Share one of those if if you've got one.
• 16:39
  SPEAKER_01: Uh Casey.
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_02: So I had a client that uh called us.
• 16:46
  SPEAKER_02: Uh we we talked them through it, and they said, can you get your builder and you to meet us tomorrow to go over it?
• 16:54
  SPEAKER_02: Um and I I called my builder, Steve.
• 16:58
  SPEAKER_02: We went out there and met with him, and both of us both of us closed the job and had deposits before we left.
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_02: And the lead came in literally 24 hours earlier.
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_02: Uh no, no drawings, no, no nothing.
• 17:16
  SPEAKER_02: Closed the job, had the job in in, I don't know, six or seven weeks it was.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_02: Uh there's there's multiple jobs.
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_02: I've had I've had all kinds of clients to close immediately.
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_02: Uh to where there was no no fussing, no, you know, no negotiating, no nothing.
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_02: They liked the price.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_02: They said, give me your best price, which is what we did, and uh, and won the job immediately.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_01: How does that how does that impact their life?
• 17:45
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, sorry to interrupt.
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_02: So with so with the elevator, uh, so when when we're providing, so like when we're using a builder, say a builder that say he does 10 hoistways for me a year.
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_02: Let's just say um, you know, we have 10 clients that need the hoist way built.
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_02: I I usually have a couple go-to builders that that I kind of recommend to them, two or three of them, depending on the house, depending on the finishes.
• 18:11
  SPEAKER_02: Uh you know, the the plan is to try to, you know, whether or not they're gonna be in the home during the construction.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_02: You know, you you you want the elevator and the finished product to not look like an afterthought.
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_02: Like, you know, so you you know just dust control, you know, mitigate the the trash and the dirt around the house from the construction.
• 18:35
  SPEAKER_02: Um you just try to be there for them and answer all the questions that you can for them, which we try to do.
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_02: Um and uh and do what you say.
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 18:48
  SPEAKER_01: Um Alex, what what kind of experiences do you have with with those kind of almost emergency type type situations?
• 18:55
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we um well I'm trying to think of some specific examples that we've had in the past.
• 19:01
  SPEAKER_00: Um normally I would say any any of those types of situations, you know, barring anything that's like uh an accident that happens, uh a car accident or some type of health scare, uh, a fall down the stairs for a client, you know, we we we've dealt with those uh quite a few times, but to be able to go in and have a fix for somebody, you know, in in my case he said, in such a fast turnaround time, um, you know, is a huge advantage uh and and helps out tremendously.
• 19:29
  SPEAKER_00: I know we have a customer specifically that we we did about a year ago, um, and she she's uh you know, wheelchair bound.
• 19:37
  SPEAKER_00: And uh the amenities that we were able to provide with her for that elevator to get her up, it's it had been years since she'd seen the upstairs of her home, uh, you know, in a in a two-story house.
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_00: And her her husband had done um he had done remodels upstairs and and they had changed a whole bunch of aspects of the upstairs to accommodate her uh for the day that she may finally get to go up there.
• 20:00
  SPEAKER_00: And the elevator was kind of the finish, the finish step for that, you know, to be able to get it done.
• 20:04
  SPEAKER_00: And to see the look on her face, the reaction that that she has an opportunity now to move about her home freely, you know, every floor, every room be able to get to it without uh without the assistance of somebody else, uh it really gives them that freedom and and and I just kind of makes them feel whole again, you know.
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, it sounds like an emotional experience, right?
• 20:22
  SPEAKER_01: It's almost like getting your life back.
• 20:24
  SPEAKER_01: You're actually able to to travel where you want and and get back in your own home.
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_01: So um that's really cool.
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm gonna just uh invite our audience members, if you've had an experience with a parent, grandparent, friend, somebody struggling with stairs or mobility, um, share your audio uh your experience in the chat.
• 20:42
  SPEAKER_01: Um just want to invite you to to share that or or share any questions you have because we're gonna get to questions here in a in a few minutes.
• 20:50
  SPEAKER_01: And um we're gonna talk for just a minute about the business of residential elevators.
• 20:55
  SPEAKER_01: And so I want to ask each of you guys, um, you know, how much uh Alex, we'll start with you, how much education do you have to do before a sale?
• 21:08
  SPEAKER_01: Uh how do you mean?
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_01: Well, just with the customer, right?
• 21:11
  SPEAKER_01: We talked about price, we talked about, you know, obviously there's a there's a ton of options.
• 21:16
  SPEAKER_01: Um and I I imagine, right, that that it's a little scary for a homeowner to, oh, they're gonna bring a skill saw into my house, they're gonna cut a hole in my floor.
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_01: What's that gonna do to my house?
• 21:27
  SPEAKER_01: What's it gonna do to the to the looks?
• 21:29
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, there's there's it's probably a pretty emotional experience for them because they they don't know what to expect.
• 21:35
  SPEAKER_01: And so I'm curious what that kind of that sales slash education process looks and feels like.
• 21:41
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I so and I think with when you're dealing with with you know a homeowner, that those uh issues uh present themselves you know far more than dealing with a contractor.
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_00: If you're building a new construction home, they kind of, you know, most contracts usually know what's going into it from the homeowner perspective.
• 21:56
  SPEAKER_00: Um it can be a little bit tough to to sometimes lay out exactly.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: What what there is and all the literature and the pictures and diagrams, things we have nowadays to be able to show them to help them understand better uh of what it's going to take uh you know to get into this.
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_00: It it can seem a little overwhelming uh in in the beginning, but you know, we're there throughout the whole process from start to finish to make sure that that everything goes smooth.
• 22:19
  SPEAKER_00: Um we we deal with homeowners every single week uh that that call our sales guys and um they they have no idea where to start.
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_00: They they maybe saw uh an Instagram post or a Facebook post about uh a home elevator, and it was something they had never thought about before.
• 22:38
  SPEAKER_00: And they call us basically saying we need help, and we have no idea where to start from and you know what resources to to do.
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_00: And and for us, that's it's a lot of fun for our sales guys, you know, and uh those are usually what spawn the the immediate site visits where you know we will typically bring our our all all of our marketing material to be able to walk their home and and point out you know where maybe the best locations for them, make sure it works for them aesthetically they like it, things like that.
• 23:05
  SPEAKER_01: Right, right.
• 23:06
  SPEAKER_01: Um so Casey, why why would you say people are so surprised by the cost?
• 23:11
  SPEAKER_01: When you when you you you mentioned that they think it's three times as much.
• 23:15
  SPEAKER_01: Why are they so surprised that maybe it's not as expensive?
• 23:20
  SPEAKER_02: Uh you know, I'm not sure.
• 23:24
  SPEAKER_02: I'm not sure.
• 23:25
  SPEAKER_02: Uh I mean just because they typically are, um I know um, I mean I I've had clients obviously not as much as early 2000s, you know, 2010, 2008.
• 23:40
  SPEAKER_02: In in uh then it was quite a bit different than now.
• 23:45
  SPEAKER_02: Um but it was they were substantially less than what people thought.
• 23:50
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, there were elevators back then that were selling for you know$28,000 that people thought were$75,000 to$80,000.
• 23:59
  SPEAKER_02: You know what I mean?
• 24:00
  SPEAKER_02: Uh or or you know, putting it in the hoist way, you know, back things have changed radically in the last 10 years as far as costs and all all kinds of things.
• 24:12
  SPEAKER_02: But it used to be, you know, between three and seven thousand dollars a floor is what construction costs were, depending on home finishes and things like that.
• 24:22
  SPEAKER_02: But average, um depending on the finishes, uh, you know, so if you got a three-stop elevator, that's you know, basement for a second, you know, 21, you know, just call it 25 grand for construction, and then 30 grand for the elevator.
• 24:38
  SPEAKER_02: You know what I mean?
• 24:39
  SPEAKER_02: Uh yeah, yeah.
• 24:41
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 24:41
  SPEAKER_02: So I think people are kind of kind of yeah.
• 24:46
  SPEAKER_01: While we're on that subject, I I do I do see a comment from the audience.
• 24:49
  SPEAKER_01: They're just curious, how does uh I guess the cost of maintenance kind of tie into that?
• 24:54
  SPEAKER_01: What does that look like?
• 24:55
  SPEAKER_01: Because it's one thing to buy it, right?
• 24:56
  SPEAKER_01: But then you still got to get it maintained.
• 24:58
  SPEAKER_01: What does that look like?
• 25:02
  SPEAKER_02: Alex, you want to take it?
• 25:03
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I can answer this.
• 25:05
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, absolutely.
• 25:06
  SPEAKER_00: So uh yeah, so the cost of maintenance, so it the cost of maintenance is gonna vary uh pretty drastically from from what type of equipments you have, whether it's a hydraulic or or or a gear elevator.
• 25:16
  SPEAKER_00: Um on the residential side though, uh I I would say you know, our our average cost uh for for customers on maintenance per year, that that's actual scheduled maintenance, uh, it is anywhere from about 600 to$1,000 a year.
• 25:31
  SPEAKER_00: Uh a year.
• 25:32
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 25:32
  SPEAKER_01: I thought you were going to say a month.
• 25:33
  SPEAKER_01: So you you said a year.
• 25:34
  SPEAKER_01: So okay.
• 25:35
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 25:36
  SPEAKER_00: Yep.
• 25:36
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 25:36
  SPEAKER_00: So so per year.
• 25:37
  SPEAKER_00: So that that includes our visits that come out uh you know for all of your routine maintenance scheduled.
• 25:42
  SPEAKER_00: Now, you know, obviously service things like that, as the elevators start to age, uh, there are some parts that are consumable.
• 25:48
  SPEAKER_00: So those kind of fall more into the service side of uh of you know uh of our our industry.
• 25:53
  SPEAKER_00: But um we we do focus more again on the preventative maintenance, ensuring that we catch any of those issues before they become you know major problems and why people call it costing more.
• 26:03
  SPEAKER_00: But uh, you know, from a cost to own perspective, I I'd say, you know, elevators are are more and more and getting better with every year.
• 26:09
  SPEAKER_00: Every year that goes by as technology advances, uh, you know, you know, things get better.
• 26:14
  SPEAKER_00: It's it it it definitely uh you know that price range is kind of a good good middle ground to it.
• 26:19
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 26:19
  SPEAKER_01: Well I know I know on the commercial side, you know, there's a there seems to be a big kind of this dividing line between you know um proprietary versus non-proprietary in residential, is there that same division or or not really?
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_02: There there are some that go ahead, Casey.
• 26:43
  SPEAKER_02: Take it, bro.
• 26:45
  SPEAKER_02: So there are a couple companies that are proprietary that um that that equipment, so like if a client goes with that particular company and like just say they become unhappy with them in a year and or two, um there's no one else can service that equipment but them.
• 27:03
  SPEAKER_02: Um you know, most of our stuff is not necessarily like that.
• 27:08
  SPEAKER_02: Um if that helps.
• 27:13
  unknown: Yeah.
• 27:14
  SPEAKER_01: So most of the things that we're gonna do.
• 27:14
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 27:14
  SPEAKER_01: Alex, any thoughts on that as well?
• 27:17
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, most of the Yeah, I I would I would kind of mimic what what Casey said is uh for for the most part across the board, uh manufacturers typically have multiple companies in all of their sales areas that that you know they're providing elevators to that uh they're gonna have multiple companies.
• 27:35
  SPEAKER_00: So if you do run into an instance where either the company is just the customer's not happy with that specific service company, uh they're able to find others.
• 27:42
  SPEAKER_00: There are a couple out there.
• 27:44
  SPEAKER_00: Um their business models have been structured more around giving precedence to one particular company in a very large region.
• 27:52
  SPEAKER_00: Um I would say, you know, that's that's a great question for customers to be asking uh those companies when they install them is how many competitors are are out there uh that that that can provide you know work on that type of equipment.
• 28:05
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
• 28:05
  SPEAKER_01: Which which honestly leads me kind of to my next question, which is you know, what should homeowners know before they start?
• 28:11
  SPEAKER_01: And it sounds like that's one of the questions to ask is like, you know, how how I guess serviceable or you know, how how much can others actually provide service for this if something happens?
• 28:23
  SPEAKER_01: Um Alex, you want to take that?
• 28:27
  SPEAKER_02: Very important.
• 28:31
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think that's a great question.
• 28:32
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, as uh as somebody who's gonna start looking and doing their research, that is absolutely the the the one of those top questions to be asking for sure.
• 28:40
  SPEAKER_01: What other top questions would you come up with?
• 28:43
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe the maybe the top three that that a homeowner really needs to uh understand or dig into I I would say uh I you know the the the I think the questions are always be asked, but I can say, you know, what what I feel like most customers typically ask us, um price is a big one, but be once it gets beyond that, it's safety.
• 29:06
  SPEAKER_00: Uh a lot of customers just want to know that that these are safe, right?
• 29:11
  SPEAKER_00: Um Hollywood has built uh you know uh they they've given the elevator industry a bad rap.
• 29:17
  SPEAKER_00: Uh right, with elevators that are free falling down hoistways and exploding and crashing into pits.
• 29:23
  SPEAKER_00: And uh you know, it's it's it's great for Hollywood and it's great for you know for views, but uh it's really not the reality.
• 29:31
  SPEAKER_00: And so a lot of customers, I think, if if they're able to talk to their sales reps and and and and be able to get a more comfortable feeling, um, you you know, and understanding that uh how inherently safe uh elevators are and all of the redundancies and backup safeties that they have to make sure that people are safe, uh, you know, and and then they're not gonna have those concerns moving forward.
• 29:52
  SPEAKER_00: That's that's one that we deal with a lot uh in the initial sales call you know process.
• 29:57
  SPEAKER_01: Gotcha, gotcha.
• 29:58
  SPEAKER_01: Um so Casey, I've got a question I want to bounce off you.
• 30:01
  SPEAKER_01: The the you know, I know on the commercial side that you know modernization is is a big business.
• 30:06
  SPEAKER_01: Do you see that on the residential side where hey, it's you know, it's been in here 15, 20 years, and it's time to either start over or get a new controller.
• 30:16
  SPEAKER_01: Does that exist on the residential side?
• 30:19
  SPEAKER_02: So it does.
• 30:20
  SPEAKER_02: It's it's very, very small.
• 30:23
  SPEAKER_02: At least for me, it's very small.
• 30:25
  SPEAKER_02: I have only found a couple.
• 30:27
  SPEAKER_02: Uh we were able to use the swing package, the piston, and then um just modded every all the electrical components in the elevator, COP, all a new controller, new pump, or whatever the case may be.
• 30:41
  SPEAKER_02: But it's very it's much much of a much more of a smaller aspect to the residential side.
• 30:48
  SPEAKER_02: Just because of the cost, you know, on some of those.
• 30:52
  SPEAKER_02: Um, you know, on a commercial, you can have five to you know 40 floors that you're changing, you know.
• 31:00
  SPEAKER_01: For sure, for sure.
• 31:01
  SPEAKER_01: So what what um I guess in that regard, what's the life span, if you will, of a residential elevator um before it would need to be modernized or or you know, whatever that process looks like.
• 31:15
  SPEAKER_02: So the the the elevators that we have been putting in, say the last you know, 10 solid years, I don't see any reason why these elevators can't run 40 years.
• 31:27
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, as long as they're maintained and and repaired uh without any problems at all.
• 31:34
  SPEAKER_02: What do you think?
• 31:35
  SPEAKER_02: That's a good one.
• 31:36
  SPEAKER_02: I'd like to know your answer on that, Alex.
• 31:38
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, I don't I don't see why any of these tractions that we're putting in today wouldn't be totally functional in 50 years from now.
• 31:47
  SPEAKER_02: 40, you know.
• 31:49
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 31:50
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I I would definitely say the same.
• 31:52
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, we we you know we see it uh uh uh it seems a a lot more frequently than than Casey does.
• 31:58
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, you know, we have elevators that are 15 plus years old, uh, residential and commercial.
• 32:04
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but you know, focusing on on you know the residential side here, um, the packages now that come out for manufacturers for other manufacturers equipment that is they're either out of business um or or they're that they're no longer available to source those parts.
• 32:19
  SPEAKER_00: The the mod packages now that that are out there, you know, really enable you to to continue the life of that elevator well past the 10 to 15 year expectancy that maybe um some people might have that perception of.
• 32:33
  SPEAKER_00: And a lot of that too is based around electronics.
• 32:35
  SPEAKER_00: Uh electronics are constantly advancing and and constantly changing.
• 32:38
  SPEAKER_00: And uh, you know, manufacturers have to eventually decide to say, okay, you know, this product's been on the market for a decade or more.
• 32:44
  SPEAKER_00: Um we've we've all we're already three iterations past that point, and you know, we we just can't sustain keeping those parts on the shelf anymore, you know, as we advance.
• 32:53
  SPEAKER_00: And that's where the headaches you know usually come for customers with older ones.
• 32:57
  SPEAKER_00: But um in the world that we live in now where where you know you you have you know steel steel guide rails and steel rail brackets and steel slings, that stuff is gonna last forever.
• 33:08
  SPEAKER_00: You know, it's it's really you know, outside of a very, you know, a very small circumstance, you know, they're gonna last forever.
• 33:14
  SPEAKER_00: And um if you're going in there after 15, 20 years and and spending half the cost of a brand new elevator to to mod it, you know, to update it, um, we we do that quite often.
• 33:24
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 33:25
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 33:25
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 33:26
  SPEAKER_01: I mean it's uh and you're right.
• 33:27
  SPEAKER_01: Uh there's a lot of a lot of rapidly advancing, especially electronics and and uh but it sounds like there's a lot of aftermarket parts and and things out there that that you know manufacturers saying, hey, we can we can actually provide parts for this.
• 33:42
  SPEAKER_01: So it it's uh it's a unique thing.
• 33:45
  SPEAKER_01: And obviously none of us can look into the future and say, oh, that's absolutely gonna be obsolete.
• 33:50
  SPEAKER_01: But uh I'm sure you're gonna get a lot of those questions as as people are you know trying to decide what to put in their home and you know what's gonna be serviceable, uh, especially if they're if they're thinking in advance and saying, hey, in 20 years I might you know be be not, you know, I I might need this.
• 34:05
  SPEAKER_01: Well then they're they don't want to they don't want to make it obsolete in those 20 years when they actually need it.
• 34:10
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 34:11
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 34:11
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 34:12
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 34:13
  SPEAKER_01: Um so I'm just gonna um invite the audience, you know, we are getting some some comments and some questions, but um the question for you audience is what would stop you from putting an elevator in your home?
• 34:24
  SPEAKER_01: I'm just curious to know what what that would be, and and maybe we can look at that here in a few minutes.
• 34:28
  SPEAKER_01: Um so I want to talk a little bit about the franchise leading the team.
• 34:32
  SPEAKER_01: Um, Alex, we talked about in your intro, right, that you've got 22 employees.
• 34:37
  SPEAKER_01: Uh Casey, I don't remember number of employees, but but uh you guys obviously got to lead the team and and building the franchise.
• 34:45
  SPEAKER_01: And so uh let's talk a little bit about finding the talent.
• 34:49
  SPEAKER_01: And um, what do you find most difficult about that, Casey?
• 34:57
  SPEAKER_02: Um geez, I don't even know how to answer that.
• 35:02
  SPEAKER_02: Uh you you just you you it you know, 10 years that would have given me a totally different answer than today.
• 35:11
  SPEAKER_02: Uh now, I mean, the the ideal guy that I'm looking for now, I mean, obviously, to to find someone, you know, all of the good guys are working for people.
• 35:21
  SPEAKER_02: You know, all the all the good guys and so I'm looking for young, hungry, intelligent, talented men.
• 35:31
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, you know, who who who's any women on your team that are mechanics or uh not in the field, not in the field, no.
• 35:42
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 35:43
  SPEAKER_01: Just curious.
• 35:44
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's very, very heavy equipment we're tossing around.
• 35:50
  SPEAKER_01: Uh so you can female mechanics, so that's why I'm throwing it out there.
• 35:55
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 35:56
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, no, I I've I've known a couple too.
• 35:58
  SPEAKER_02: I had a uh female inspector who was great named Wanda, and she was she was fantastic.
• 36:05
  SPEAKER_02: And she she worked at uh union company for years and years, downtown Chicago, which was crazy.
• 36:12
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 36:13
  SPEAKER_02: And uh, but yeah.
• 36:15
  SPEAKER_02: So talent, I'm I'm looking for young, hungry uh talent.
• 36:23
  SPEAKER_01: Is so what's what's the hardest thing?
• 36:25
  SPEAKER_01: Is it is it uh that they're just not interested or or where or um they don't like the type of work or what what what is it?
• 36:38
  SPEAKER_02: I I mean it's it's maybe a different podcast, but uh it's today uh it's been very, very hard to to find people who even want to come to work.
• 36:50
  SPEAKER_02: Um and if you find somebody who can who wants to come to work, you know, can they tie their shoes?
• 36:57
  SPEAKER_02: Um so it's been it's finding help over the last four years have has been uh challenging, at least for me.
• 37:08
  SPEAKER_01: No, I hear you.
• 37:09
  SPEAKER_01: So four years, you're you you're kind of speaking, you know, COVID time, and it it did seem like I don't fully understand it, right?
• 37:16
  SPEAKER_01: But it seemed like the the workforce somehow got uh uh impacted by by COVID.
• 37:21
  SPEAKER_01: And just because I've heard it so from so many people um that somehow that was that was uh an interesting time.
• 37:27
  SPEAKER_01: Uh Alex, what do you see on your end uh as far as the challenges of of finding the talent?
• 37:33
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we've uh you know we've had it, we've adopted in our business uh more of a a mentality of uh starting with the young guys and and kind of molding them and morphing them and training them into you know what our company, uh what our morals and ethics are and how we you know service and maintain elevators and kind of bringing the training in-house.
• 37:52
  SPEAKER_00: Um one aspect that's tough in our industry is is is how niche we are.
• 37:56
  SPEAKER_00: And and uh I think a lot of people that I run into have the same perception that I did when I was 18, was that you just get in an elevator and you push a button and the thought that somebody services this and maintains it uh you know wasn't even something I ever considered.
• 38:10
  SPEAKER_00: And so, you know, as we get the L, you know, the the the education out there and the information, just like we talked about with customers, it it goes the same with mechanics that you know we we bring out new guys that are green uh that we hire on, and they they look at elevator controller like it's it's it's rocket science.
• 38:28
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, they're they're blown away, they had no clue, you know, of what goes into it.
• 38:31
  SPEAKER_00: So uh try just trying to find the the guys that are motivated that that want to do this.
• 38:37
  SPEAKER_00: And like Casey mentioned, you know, there's there's some incredible mechanics out there, great guys, and and you know, uh companies are are are really taking care of those guys to make sure that they keep them on board.
• 38:47
  SPEAKER_00: So finding new talent and and getting, you know, licensed guys that that you know are are are willing to jump ship, it it can be tough sometimes, you know.
• 38:55
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 38:55
  SPEAKER_01: Well, and and it's you know it's everywhere, right?
• 38:57
  SPEAKER_01: And there's a re reason I I bring it up, you know, because elevator careers, right, is what I like to talk about a lot.
• 39:03
  SPEAKER_01: And and talent's a talent's a an issue in every every area of the business from from what I see.
• 39:10
  SPEAKER_01: So um, yeah, just want to just want to bring that up and and talk about it because I do see and and do talk to people all the time that that's their biggest limiting factor, right?
• 39:19
  SPEAKER_01: Hey, if I could get I mean I had a client just this week, well, today's Monday, I guess it was last week.
• 39:25
  SPEAKER_01: He said, I need I need like six mechanics, right?
• 39:28
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm like, yeah, that's that's a lot, right?
• 39:30
  SPEAKER_01: He could obviously do a lot more than everybody else.
• 39:32
  SPEAKER_01: Six more mechanics.
• 39:34
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, exactly.
• 39:36
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I feel I feel like we're we're we're all dealing with that.
• 39:38
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, that that is our our our single biggest, you know, uh um bottleneck right now that we have to deal with is is employment and uh and getting the guys that that are qualified to be in the field and and and you know taking care of although the work is there, uh, you know, we have plenty of that.
• 39:54
  SPEAKER_00: It's just finding guys to be able to keep up with time frames and and you know keep our customers happy.
• 39:59
  SPEAKER_00: It's just yeah, definitely a difficult, difficult time there right now.
• 40:02
  SPEAKER_00: Sure.
• 40:02
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I'm and I'm sure it kind of becomes a full-time job, as it were, right?
• 40:06
  SPEAKER_01: Just kind of building building the you know, putting the the time into education to loyalty.
• 40:12
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, ultimately somebody could turn around and say, Meh, I don't want to do this, right?
• 40:16
  SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna go flip burgers, I'm gonna go, you know, do something else.
• 40:21
  SPEAKER_01: Um but uh it ultimately you you you gotta do it or or you won't have anybody, right?
• 40:28
  SPEAKER_01: You've gotta you've gotta be on that.
• 40:32
  SPEAKER_02: So um what um and what does it mean to build what oh go ahead what what Alex had said too, and there's there's just so much wrapped into it.
• 40:44
  SPEAKER_02: You know, it's like having guys care, you know, and it's you know what I try to treat our clients with service and everything else is how would I want somebody to treat my son if he was in a wheelchair, or my mother if she was in a wheelchair, you know, so you you you you want to provide a level of service that that you can, you know, you want to sleep at night, you want to be you know, you want to feel good about yourself, and uh, you know, finding people that have that same kind of drive, you know, it's it's one out of a hundred, you know.
• 41:18
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know what the number is, but it's it's been tough, at least for me.
• 41:25
  SPEAKER_02: And what I don't think with with with young guys too, and it's like you try to tell them like you know, the elevator industry has been fantastic, you know.
• 41:38
  SPEAKER_02: It it's been great to me and everybody I care about, you know what I mean?
• 41:44
  SPEAKER_02: And uh, you know, to try to sell that to them is tough.
• 41:49
  SPEAKER_02: It's really tough.
• 41:51
  SPEAKER_01: Right, right.
• 41:52
  SPEAKER_01: Well, and and yeah, I guess if if people are young enough, they they haven't seen much of the world, and so they don't may not recognize just how good of an opportunity it is.
• 42:01
  SPEAKER_01: You know, you you grab them right out of high school and they haven't they haven't seen the world, and so it's like, yeah, this is this is kind of cool, but but I want to try 16 other things, and then I'll then I'll realize that, oh man, I wish I'd have stuck with that, you know, 20 years later.
• 42:19
  SPEAKER_01: Um it happens, right?
• 42:21
  SPEAKER_01: We all we all make make uh choices and and so yeah, it does become a kind of a full-time part, it sounds like of what you do is building building a team, building camaraderie, uh, building the loyalty as much as possible, and and hoping some people stick around and and really uh experience what there is for them to to have because it sounds like there's there's a lot that they can learn and and do that they may not appreciate at the time.
• 42:49
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, and there's there's so much when it comes to installing the elevators, there's there's so many um level ups that that our mechanics get.
• 43:01
  SPEAKER_02: Uh I mean there's carpentry, there's rigging, there's electricity, there's electricity.
• 43:07
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's for sure.
• 43:10
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's a level up for sure.
• 43:13
  SPEAKER_01: So what I'm hearing in part is that if somebody comes and works with you and they spend a few years, they're gonna learn so much they they could even if they don't stay with you, they could probably go start their own handyman business because of everything you taught them.
• 43:26
  SPEAKER_02: They could take it anywhere they want to and make you know at least what I'm paying them.
• 43:34
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 43:35
  SPEAKER_01: Well, or they could become their owner even quicker.
• 43:40
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, or they could become their own their own owner, their own franchise.
• 43:43
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, that's that's essentially what you did, Alex, right?
• 43:45
  SPEAKER_01: You came in, you learned it, and at some point you're like, hey, I'm I'm ready to to own and run this thing, and and stepped right into the captain's seat, essentially.
• 43:54
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, absolutely.
• 43:56
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 43:57
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 43:58
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but I and I am here in a A couple things, you know, from you guys just regarding uh talent.
• 44:03
  SPEAKER_01: That it's it's one thing to find some work ethic.
• 44:05
  SPEAKER_01: You also gotta find somebody that that cares.
• 44:07
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, some of our our audience members are just mentioning that you know some just don't care, right?
• 44:12
  SPEAKER_01: As long as they get a a paycheck, or they don't, you know, that that you may you may hire somebody and and sometimes you gotta weed out the bad ones because maybe they're maybe they're poisoning the system more than they're bringing value, and that can be that can be challenging and and painful at times to have to work through those situations.
• 44:32
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
• 44:34
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 44:34
  SPEAKER_01: So let's talk for just a minute about um who would just say the the ideal franchise owner is?
• 44:42
  SPEAKER_01: Is it somebody, you know, uh you know, because you you can find all kinds of people uh looking to buy a business.
• 44:49
  SPEAKER_01: Um and you can find and then and then obviously we've talked about you guys coming right out of the out of working in it into ownership.
• 44:57
  SPEAKER_01: So um Alex, why don't you start with this one?
• 44:59
  SPEAKER_01: Who's the ideal franchise owner for this opportunity?
• 45:03
  SPEAKER_00: I think the ideal franchise owner is somebody with experience.
• 45:06
  SPEAKER_00: I think that's the most important part, and it kind of goes back to the last topic with just hiring, you know, guys, is um there's a lot of aspects to our industry that just you don't see in in other industries.
• 45:16
  SPEAKER_00: So to be able to come from you know a uh maybe a plumbing background or even an electrician background, and then to dive into elevators, it's you know, it can be very overwhelming.
• 45:28
  SPEAKER_00: Um someone in my, you know, from my aspect of being a licensed, you know, mechanic who who started Mount Franchise, the the transition, you know, from from I I had the transition from the mechanic day-to-day to to to the business operations.
• 45:43
  SPEAKER_00: Uh and that was learnable, you know, it took time.
• 45:45
  SPEAKER_00: But um if you are coming in as a business owner and you're trying to learn the elevator industry, it's it's gonna take a lot of time and it's very difficult.
• 45:53
  SPEAKER_00: Um so having that that that background in in mechanics, I think for myself, it it was huge uh to have that.
• 46:02
  SPEAKER_00: And I just I I I have seen people in the past who come from different backgrounds, even uh more white-collar backgrounds that that got into it.
• 46:10
  SPEAKER_00: And uh they struggle.
• 46:11
  SPEAKER_00: They, you know, it's not to say that it's impossible, but you know, it was definitely more difficult for them to be able to um learn everything that that goes into our industry to make it operate.
• 46:21
  SPEAKER_01: Well, one of the things that comes to mind that that I think would be a challenge is, you know, let's say I'm coming from uh maybe I'm an accountant, right?
• 46:27
  SPEAKER_01: And I want to buy a franchise and hey, I'm gonna do this.
• 46:30
  SPEAKER_01: Um I also need a license, right?
• 46:32
  SPEAKER_01: In in many of the states.
• 46:34
  SPEAKER_01: And if I don't have that experience, you know, how does that even work, right?
• 46:38
  SPEAKER_01: How how do you uh how do you run a business and and have a a license for it when you can't qualify for the license?
• 46:44
  SPEAKER_01: That sounds like a major roadblock.
• 46:48
  SPEAKER_00: A lot of companies in that situation might be able to find a licensed guy uh who who can be the license holder for that company.
• 46:54
  SPEAKER_00: Um I I I see it, I I I can't speak you know for every state as far as what what their rules and regulations are.
• 47:00
  SPEAKER_00: I know it happens in California.
• 47:01
  SPEAKER_00: Uh quite often where you'll you'll find investment companies or or you know, private equity companies that that will utilize somebody's license, you know, to to put that license under their business uh to be able to operate that way.
• 47:13
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 47:14
  SPEAKER_01: So you send you'd essentially have to hire or or pay for someone to kind of be that be that person, as it were.
• 47:21
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 47:22
  SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
• 47:23
  SPEAKER_01: There you go.
• 47:24
  SPEAKER_01: Um, is there anything that you think matters more than the experience, Casey?
• 47:28
  SPEAKER_01: Or is or is or is experience like a number one?
• 47:32
  SPEAKER_02: So I would say he's about 6'6, red hair, strong as an ox.
• 47:40
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 47:42
  SPEAKER_02: I'm talking about Alex.
• 47:44
  SPEAKER_02: No, the ideal, the ideal uh franchise owner.
• 47:48
  SPEAKER_02: Um, you want somebody hungry, uh smart, somebody who's turned some wrenches before, preferably somebody in the business who's looking for some freedom.
• 48:00
  SPEAKER_02: You know?
• 48:01
  SPEAKER_02: Um for me, there the the benefits to being obviously you know the the owner for me, I I mean it's you know, like that I have to try to sell it.
• 48:14
  SPEAKER_02: It's like I made it to my kids' ball games, basketball, volleyball, baseball, uh, plays.
• 48:21
  SPEAKER_02: I made it to every one of them.
• 48:23
  SPEAKER_02: Had I not been an owner, I could have never done that.
• 48:26
  SPEAKER_02: Ever.
• 48:26
  SPEAKER_02: You know, and uh, you know, in time with the kids, especially those years, you know, when that's gone, it's gone.
• 48:34
  SPEAKER_02: You'll never, ever, ever get it back.
• 48:36
  SPEAKER_02: And uh so you want somebody who cares about their family, you know, and and somebody who wants to be free, if that makes sense.
• 48:47
  SPEAKER_01: No, absolutely.
• 48:48
  SPEAKER_02: You know, somebody who's not afraid of hard work, you know, somebody who's not afraid of hard work.
• 48:53
  SPEAKER_02: Um, at least, you know, as far as our team, the nationwide team, uh, that's who I think is ideal.
• 49:01
  SPEAKER_02: 6'6, you know, and uh strong, hungry, uh, you know, driven, you know, family, people, you know, loyal, uh, and who who want some freedom, you know, somebody who wants some freedom.
• 49:21
  SPEAKER_02: And uh, yeah, I think that's the ideal person, if that makes sense.
• 49:26
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's perfect.
• 49:27
  SPEAKER_01: I and I appreciate that because I I do hear from people quite often in my recruiting work where you know they'll say, Man, I really want an equity opportunity, right?
• 49:34
  SPEAKER_01: I would, I would, you know, definitely uh, you know, jump out of what I'm doing to to have some kind of opportunity where I have skin in the game.
• 49:45
  SPEAKER_01: Now, whether it's you know residential or commercial or or either, uh, they don't really specify, but but to your point, some freedom, some ownership, I think that's the American dream more than you know, more than some of the other things we we hear about.
• 49:59
  SPEAKER_01: Um so um I guess I want to jump to um well, I want to share, so we uh and I and I apologize to the audience member, I I kind of skipped a a comment question.
• 50:11
  SPEAKER_01: I had asked earlier about you know what what would stop you from uh from you know installing a home elevator, and and uh one of the audience members saying uh when it came down to uh this lack of knowledge, so we're talking about you know educating the the population is what stopped his parents, his or her, uh I'm not sure.
• 50:29
  SPEAKER_01: Um they sold their home when it became inaccessible for mom and they moved into a single story.
• 50:33
  SPEAKER_01: So um one of those examples where um you know just just didn't know what they didn't know.
• 50:40
  SPEAKER_01: That's the only thing that seemed uh workable at the time.
• 50:44
  SPEAKER_01: And so uh, you know, that's that's kind of how it how it went.
• 50:48
  SPEAKER_01: So um I have a couple other and so audience members, if you've got some questions, now's a great time to uh to go ahead and put them in there.
• 50:56
  SPEAKER_01: And I I've got a couple here.
• 50:58
  SPEAKER_01: I just wanted to bounce off you guys.
• 51:00
  SPEAKER_01: Um so one of is uh what does the application process look like?
• 51:05
  SPEAKER_01: If someone wants to be a franchise owner, what does that even look like?
• 51:09
  SPEAKER_01: Alex, you want to speak to that?
• 51:11
  SPEAKER_00: Uh you know, honestly, I think Casey could probably speak to this a little bit better.
• 51:14
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, Casey.
• 51:17
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 51:18
  SPEAKER_02: Um well, I know you would contact our office, obviously our corporate office, and um and then obviously go through them.
• 51:28
  SPEAKER_02: As far as the process, I mean it's it is as long as as you're vetted by our team.
• 51:34
  SPEAKER_02: Um I haven't gone through the process in over 20 years.
• 51:39
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but I I know that there's some vetting, you know, and I know uh obviously there's financial responsibility to it.
• 51:48
  SPEAKER_02: Um uh and then territory.
• 51:52
  SPEAKER_02: Uh but you would contact I'm sure it would be uh just elevators.com.
• 51:58
  SPEAKER_02: You know, just go directly to elevators.com or our New York office.
• 52:03
  SPEAKER_02: I I know we have some franchise ads up currently, I believe.
• 52:07
  SPEAKER_02: Uh I think those are those are on, at least I believe they are, um marketing uh the states that are available uh the territories available.
• 52:18
  SPEAKER_02: So I would start at Nationwide Lifts headquarters, Nationwide Lifts corporate office on a uh Syracuse, New York, uh and and or elevators.com uh is is is where to start.
• 52:31
  SPEAKER_02: Um and uh I will tell you, for those, if there are any, if there is anyone here looking to do that, uh you know, I I love it.
• 52:44
  SPEAKER_02: Love it.
• 52:44
  SPEAKER_02: It has been the funnest to greatest to craziest ride I've ever been on.
• 52:53
  SPEAKER_02: And uh yeah, I'm I'm grateful for being here.
• 52:57
  SPEAKER_02: I'm grateful for our team.
• 52:59
  SPEAKER_02: Um yeah, uh all of them, you know, all of them.
• 53:02
  SPEAKER_02: And we're all here for each other.
• 53:04
  SPEAKER_02: You know, we all kind of stick together, we all work hard.
• 53:07
  SPEAKER_02: And uh so if that's any encouragement to to nationwide itself, um, you know, I I can say that um if that answers your question, Matt.
• 53:22
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, no, I think it's I think it's a good answer.
• 53:24
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, certainly you've you've kind of pointed them to the to the folks that can answer all the questions, right?
• 53:28
  SPEAKER_01: Which is to to nationwide lists, right?
• 53:30
  SPEAKER_01: I I can't answer it.
• 53:32
  SPEAKER_01: I was just curious, you know, from uh from having walked that path.
• 53:35
  SPEAKER_01: Um and and the other one, you know, is uh is a question about how quickly can a franchise owner expect to generate new profits.
• 53:43
  SPEAKER_01: I think I'm gonna have to I don't know.
• 53:46
  SPEAKER_01: Uh we're we're we're running out of time, and I've got a just a last few questions and some comments.
• 53:51
  SPEAKER_01: Do you guys want to speak to that quickly?
• 53:55
  SPEAKER_02: I I can tell you right now, uh with a hundred percent certainty, it's instantly.
• 54:03
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, it's I mean you you'll start selling elevators immediately.
• 54:06
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, uh so long as you're capable of selling and you can close the deal, you will close the deal immediately.
• 54:13
  SPEAKER_02: You know, there's okay.
• 54:15
  SPEAKER_01: So it's just a matter of doing the work, basically.
• 54:17
  SPEAKER_01: You got it right.
• 54:19
  SPEAKER_01: Gotcha.
• 54:20
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, gotcha.
• 54:20
  SPEAKER_01: Alex, any thoughts on that?
• 54:22
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, there is uh there's no shortage of work right now, that's for sure.
• 54:26
  SPEAKER_00: And and you know, speaking more to the point too, of you know, of the nationwide franchises, uh one thing I've really noticed throughout the years is is the powers in numbers that we have.
• 54:36
  SPEAKER_00: Um you've got guys from all different types of elevator backgrounds, union guys, non-union guys, you know, commercial side, residential side, um, even people from from you know different different career paths that that come together that that are able to work, whether it's electrical engineering or or or you know, CAD design, uh where you know the the Rolodex, yeah, the Rolodex numbers that I have available uh just within the nationwide group is uh is is incredible.
• 55:07
  SPEAKER_00: And and that's the way we've always treated it with everybody is I'm in California, Casey's in Chicago, you know, I I can call Casey almost any time of the day and be able to talk to him or one of his guys, you know, and and vice versa, and have that huge advantage, you know, not just to with help with manufacturers uh, you know, and the bargaining power we have there, but also just the resources we have of seeing something that you're not familiar with, but knowing that you've got enough guys within that group to be able to help you know figure it out.
• 55:37
  SPEAKER_01: Which is a good segue into our we have one question.
• 55:39
  SPEAKER_01: Um it's probably this the last uh audience question we'll be able to take, which is what's the difference?
• 55:44
  SPEAKER_01: And we talked about you know some of the benefits, but I just want to kind of peel this apart a little bit more.
• 55:48
  SPEAKER_01: What's the difference between franchising and owning your own company?
• 55:52
  SPEAKER_01: Obviously, you know, you're you're you're paying a portion for the franchise versus owning your own company.
• 55:57
  SPEAKER_01: You might, you know, maybe there's a little bit more margin you get to pocket.
• 56:00
  SPEAKER_01: Well, what are the big from your perspectives, what are the big uh differences?
• 56:05
  SPEAKER_01: Casey, we'll start with you.
• 56:06
  SPEAKER_02: So so um so technically you're going to own your own company.
• 56:12
  SPEAKER_02: You know, you're you're going to own your own company.
• 56:15
  SPEAKER_02: Uh as far as um I I mean the the buying power that we have collectively is is for me is worth every penny that I pay in the franchise, you know, uh royalties and fees that I have to pay.
• 56:34
  SPEAKER_02: Um it's the uh it's the manufacturing, uh the manufacturers, uh, and the respect you get uh, I think as a as a whole, uh you know, being part of a uh a network uh you know is is that.
• 56:56
  SPEAKER_01: So you're saying you get you get you get lower costs essentially is what you're saying, right?
• 57:03
  SPEAKER_01: You're getting you're getting a better deal on on the things you're buying.
• 57:06
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, nationw nationwide as a whole, we have we have a much stronger buying power to where if I was just you know Apple Jack's elevator company and and I did, you know, 25 elevators a year, I'm not gonna like, you know, some of the manufacturers aren't even gonna take us seriously, uh, you know, opposed to like nationwide lift as a whole that's doing, you know, I don't know 30 million a year.
• 57:35
  SPEAKER_02: I don't I don't know.
• 57:36
  SPEAKER_02: You know what I mean?
• 57:36
  SPEAKER_02: Or whatever it is.
• 57:38
  SPEAKER_02: Um yeah, so the those those benefits far outweigh uh you know, our calls get answered, you know, pe people, you know, people want to talk to you.
• 57:49
  SPEAKER_02: You know.
• 57:50
  SPEAKER_02: If does that what do you think, Alex?
• 57:54
  SPEAKER_01: Sorry you're breaking up just a little bit.
• 57:55
  SPEAKER_01: Um Alex, let's just let you respond to that one.
• 58:03
  SPEAKER_01: Let's let's let Alex uh finish your sentence for you, because it cut off.
• 58:10
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I I think you know, Casey kind of kind of kind of nailed it down there as far as you know the the benefits, the biggest one.
• 58:16
  SPEAKER_00: The bargaining power you know that we have with manufacturers uh as a whole, you know, group uh comes together is it is definitely a benefit.
• 58:23
  SPEAKER_01: So with lower prices, do you get do you get better response rates uh uh you know or or times?
• 58:29
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, are they more responsive when you say, hey, I'm calling with nation nationwide versus if you were Applejacks like like Casey said?
• 58:36
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, not necessarily.
• 58:37
  SPEAKER_00: I I think that all the manufacturers that that we deal with, uh they're gonna treat all the companies fair.
• 58:42
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, what whether you know if it's response times with tech support or anything like that, I I can't say that I've ever seen an advantage that me or my guys will would have over another company.
• 58:51
  SPEAKER_00: Um that that it it stays pretty even keel, but uh, you know, typically it's it's more just when it comes down to the cost of of you know the equipment, things like that.
• 59:00
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 59:01
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
• 59:02
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you both.
• 59:03
  SPEAKER_01: Um we're we're out of time, uh, but I appreciate you both being here.
• 59:06
  SPEAKER_01: I've enjoyed it.
• 59:07
  SPEAKER_01: I appreciate your willingness to just talk about the the nationwide franchise opportunity and and I wish you the best as you continue to build your businesses.
• 59:15
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 59:16
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you very much, Matt.
• 59:18
  SPEAKER_02: It was a pleasure today.
• 59:19
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you.
• 59:21
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you all.
• 59:22
  SPEAKER_01: Pleasure here.
• 59:23
  SPEAKER_01: And uh yeah, we'll go ahead and uh sign off and uh hopefully you guys will um yeah, hopefully you'll you'll get a few people responding on the on the corporate uh asking about franchise opportunities.
• 59:36
  SPEAKER_01: So thanks again.
• 59:39
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you very much.
• 59:40
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you.