Latest / Epic Entrepreneurs / What If Electrical Maintenance Became As Normal As Oil Changes with Matthew Wright, NS Electric

Transcript

What If Electrical Maintenance Became As Normal As Oil Changes with Matthew Wright, NS Electric · Epic Entrepreneurs

• 0:45
  SPEAKER_00: All right, everyone.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to this week's episode of Epic Entrepreneurs.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_00: I am Cliff McCray with Action Coach Business Growth Partners, where we work with local business owners to turn big ideas into real scalable growth.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_00: Today I'm excited to be joined by Matthew Wright with NS Electric.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_00: Matthew, thanks for being here.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_00: We're very excited to have you.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for having me.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_00: So if you don't mind, let's go ahead and jump right into things and get right into it.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_00: So for those of you who may not know it yet, you know, what is ML NS Electric and what do you provide for our community?
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_01: So NS Electric's a more residential electrical company.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_01: We do anything in the in the community as far as troubleshooting issues you have to replacing panels and installing generators.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, okay, gotcha, gotcha.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_01: And who is Matthew Wright as a person?
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, I'm that's a hard that's a hard one to answer.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_01: Really, man, down to the core, I'm just a guy that wants to do the best he can for his family and provide what I can for my kids.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, that's the the gist of who I am.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_00: Now you mentioned kids and stuff like that, so what's going on in the personal life there?
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, not too much.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_01: I got three kids and a wife.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_01: We hang out, do stuff, you know, and then they're always coming to watch me personally, like go do I do ultra marathons and stuff like that.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_01: So they're always coming out to help me recruit me for that and help me out with that stuff.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_00: Nice, nice.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_00: Now, Matthew, most people do not think about an electrician until something stops working.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_00: What is the biggest misconception people have about your engine?
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_01: I would say the biggest misconception that they have is just trying to do some electrical maintenance, especially for homes.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_01: If you look it up, most there's typically I think last time I looked at like 250 house 250,000 home fires, house fires a year.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_01: So just getting on top of that, having stuff looked at regularly.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_01: It's not something that we're used to.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_01: Normally it was like, oh, it works, like just leave it alone until it doesn't work.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_01: But that would be what I would say.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_01: It it's more coming down the pipeline for people now is to look at the electrical panel, make it like double check that it actually is still functioning the way it was when it was installed, versus it's out of sight, out of mind.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_00: Now, what was the exact moment where you realized, you know, I'm going to bet on myself and build NS Electric into a real business?
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_01: The second that I had a superintendent that did not like me for whatever reason.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_01: So the story behind that is I had a I was working, I had a superintendent that would lay me off every time I got anywhere near him or any any on any of his job sites.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_01: Like he made it a purpose to try to find a way to lay me off.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_01: So I got fed up with that.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_01: I was doing NS on the side as just like a I don't want to say a side hustle, it was an actual business.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_01: Like I still had insurance, I still had everything, but I was doing it weekends, afternoons after work, whatever it would be on that end.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_01: And then finally I broke, he said something.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_01: I actually was in the middle of an AT order for the West Virginia Guard and called my company and was like, hey, I want to put my two weeks' notice in.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_01: So we started 2000.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_01: I started in 2016 to June of 2018 is when I went completely by myself.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_01: Ah, so June of 2018.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, 16 was the start of the company.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_01: 18 was I had no income coming in other than whatever I made that out of the electrical company.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_00: Wow.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_00: So that so that so what was, I mean, you know, you kind of said some things there about your prior supervisor there.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_00: What what was the what was the issue there that you think?
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_00: What what was the reason he treated you that way?
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_01: I don't really know, man.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_01: We I mean I had a couple buddies that worked on the job site, and we have no idea.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_01: All I know is every day, if I was on his job site, if there was something that was the shitty work to do that day, we were that was what I was doing.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_01: But yeah, every time I every time I got the company was big enough, there was like you know four or five different crews, but every time I got stuck on his crew, I was I was sent back to the office like every time.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_01: I don't I didn't know how to explain it.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_01: It was it was a crazy thing.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_01: I was like, I don't know how you could not like somebody so much just because like I don't even know what reason I gave them not to like me.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_01: That's really strange.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_00: Now, every business owner has kind of like an uh oh no moment.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_00: What has been yours?
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe a job, a customer situation, or a season where you thought, how am I going to get through this?
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_01: That's every winter.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_01: So like every business, I I I have a bunch of friends that own businesses.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_01: Every business owner I talk to, ideally, there's a season in everything we do, which sometimes I'm like, how is that possible?
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_01: But like for the food industry in Morgantown, it's always summertime because most of the people or most of the kids have gone home and the large population has moved out.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_01: For us, it's wintertime.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_01: Most people, Christmas is coming up, Thanksgiving, around those holidays, as I understand.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I do the same thing.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_01: Everybody wants to save their money and buy gifts and enjoy the holidays.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_01: So unless there's a dire need or something does actually go wrong, that's usually when we slow down.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_01: And the only time we're called out is when it's like we have to have this because it's not working.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I hear that a lot from different trades businesses, you know, wintertime, especially like HVAC, stuff like that.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_00: They don't, you know, things slow down quite a bit for the wintertime, you know.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_00: You don't have to use the the uh Air HC much.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_00: You have to use the heat, and nobody nobody cares about that until it stops working, like you said, right?
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_00: Same thing.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I got a buddy that has an HVAC company, and it, yeah, it's funny because it's it's the same way like you're saying.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_01: Wintertime summertime is his like go-to, like as it starts getting hot.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_01: Now, the debt of summer, if it hasn't been hot.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_01: His his company like role, if it hasn't been hot or it hasn't been cold, too cold, like it it kind of slow, it has its slow peaks.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_01: It may not be a season, it may just be a couple months, a couple weeks or so.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_00: Now, Matt, owning a trades business means long hours, constant problem solving, and your reputation being attached to every job.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_00: Have you ever thought about quitting?
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_00: Every other week.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_01: I I've I mean, there's always a thing where you don't want to do it, and when something goes wrong, I always find it that every time something goes wrong and you're like, I don't really want to mess with this anymore, then something comes up and you're like, ah, this isn't too bad.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_01: And then later on it goes, you're like, I don't want to mess with this anymore.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_01: I always think it's a constant battle.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_01: And I would never quit just because it's not the person I am, but I always think it's a constant battle.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_01: Be like, this is not what I wanted.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, this is what I wanted.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_01: This isn't what I wanted.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_01: And just being back and forth with it.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, kind of just a constant cycle.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_00: Now, if you could wave, and you know, this is kind of hypothetical, but let's say if you could wave a magic wand and instantly fix one part of NS Electric tomorrow, what would you fix?
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_00: Me.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_00: You, okay.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_01: What do you mean?
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_01: Can we do that?
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_01: Can we just make it like we just fix me for everything?
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_01: Um I don't know, man.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_01: I I really my business does good.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_01: I have great employees.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_01: I think that's the number one for me is I have really good guys that work here.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_01: So as far as fixing, it really I if I had to fix one thing, it would just is just be getting more phone calls and having more people know about us.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_01: That's what I would fix, truthfully.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_01: Oh yeah, getting the word out more about uh who we are and and what we can do.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_00: So kind of like the marketing side of it looks like.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, pretty much that side.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, because marketing is is one of the things that I'm not the greatest at.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_01: Only because there's so many things you can and can't do, and or you can do that you don't know if it works, if it doesn't work, so you don't know if you're spending money for nothing or if you need to spend more money on it.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_01: That would be where my downfall, I think, comes in on that aspect.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, that's fair.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_00: Now, what is something people underestimate about owning an electrical company?
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know as underestimate about owning it.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not for sure about that one.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_01: I don't think I've ever come where I thought that was a process of somebody when I was talking to them.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, okay.
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_00: Now, is there anything about you personality-wise or you personally that had to change in order for NS Electric to grow?
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_01: The only thing, well, I would say the thing that I had to change is just how do I want to say just being aware and understanding.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I constantly, so I'm I'm big into self-development.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_01: I'm constantly trying to change my thought process and how I I view things or how I I want to say attack things.
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_01: That's not really what I want to say because that sounds way worse than what I'm talking about.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_01: I would just say having a like the thing I had to change is be more opening, be more understanding.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_01: I think as a business owner, we all think everybody should work as hard as we do, or why is this not the way I would do it, or something that way.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_01: So just understanding that everybody that does something, even if it's a mistake, is they didn't intentionally do it.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_01: So being able to look back and use it as a training lesson, other than being aggravated mad and yelling and screaming, which gets nobody nowhere.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 11:03
  SPEAKER_00: I like that answer.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_00: I like that answer.
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_00: Now, if someone, let's say if someone chatted you, kind of followed you around for like a full day or even a full week and watched everything you kind of did on a daily basis, what would you say would surprise them the most about how you operate your company?
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_01: I would say probably how I treat the guys and how how good our culture of people are that work here.
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_01: We have a like, and I this is not, I mean, I'll I don't even take credit for it.
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_01: Like I somehow looked out in the universe and have awesome guys that work here.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_01: They've they've they care about each other, they want to help each other when something's wrong, like they'll want to help me if something goes wrong.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_01: Super, super awesome culture of guys would be, I think, what would surprise the most people.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_01: Because a lot of people, do I think it happens?
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_01: Probably.
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_01: I'm sure some of my guys at point in time are like, man, this sucks, blah, blah.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_01: But overall, we're always having fun, always joking, and you can tell, like, when you walk in to work here, that it's not like working at Walmart or Lowe's, where they're any, they're you're only there to hurry up, get stuff done, and leave.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_01: Like, you don't want to be there, you don't like nobody there.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_01: I think that's what would surprise people, the culture we have behind the company.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_00: Now let's get into that a little bit more because I hear this a lot from you know entrepreneurs that it's tough to find good people.
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_00: So the fact that you found good people is that's you're actually ahead of the game, to be completely honest with you.
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_00: Because I hear I I mean I talk to entrepreneurs all the time, and I hear the same constant thing.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_00: Oh my God, it's so hard to find good people that are that have the same integrity that you can have fun with.
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_00: How'd you luck out and obtain, you know, great people?
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_00: Well, any secrets you could share?
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know if it was lucking out.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_01: I think the biggest thing goes back.
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_01: I think as business owners starting out, that we get caught up on mistakes and things that are going wrong because that's what we trend tend to want to steer away from.
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_01: All my guys, I've I mean, it I I've had way more guys work for me that work here now, and I have just lucked out and got the guys that are good people.
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_01: I think let me go back.
• 13:21
  SPEAKER_01: That's what I'm gonna that's what I'll start with.
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_01: I think the biggest thing is when I hire people, I hire most people for the person they are, as far as personality, having fun.
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_01: Like you can tell they're a good person deep down versus what skills they have.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_01: Because as a residential electrician, I can teach you, my guys can teach anybody how to be an electrician.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_01: I've told a hundred people I can't teach you how to be a good person.
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_01: So that's where I think if you want to say lucked out, that's where I think I lucked out.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_01: I hired the guys due to their personality and not what they knew at the time that they walked through the door.
• 13:59
  unknown: Okay, okay.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_00: So you so you basically your I guess your your advice is to not be so caught up on what's on that piece of paper that they hand over, that resume, right?
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean, you got to be caught up on that something a little bit.
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_01: I understand that.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_01: But even not even so much that is if you got a good person, you know they're a good person and they're trying, is to be able to grace them with the ability to grow with you and like understand that they're gonna make mistakes and not be willing to fire them every two seconds that something happens.
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_01: Because everybody's gonna make your best guy, is gonna make a mistake.
• 14:37
  SPEAKER_01: So I would rather have somebody that has a you know a good heart and is a good person deep inside and grace them with the ability to keep growing themselves than somebody that has a ton of skills that can care less about anything other than themselves.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_00: I like that.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_00: I like that.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_00: Now, what would you say, Matt, is is one thing NS Electric is doing today that kind of gives you kind of you an unfair advantage over other electrical contractors out there.
• 15:07
  SPEAKER_01: Man, the one thing that we're doing is going to go back to what we just spoke with, dude.
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_01: The guys that are gonna come to your door, care about what you do, care about your your house.
• 15:16
  SPEAKER_01: They want to make sure when they leave, it's just as good as it was when they when they got there, and that whatever project you wanted is done to the best quality that they can do.
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_01: That's where I think we shine over a couple other companies.
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_01: We just care.
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_01: I feel like we care more.
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_01: And if you look at like the Google reviews and read them, it shine it comes through with the customers that we have that we work with.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_01: Like, and that's another part of that.
• 15:47
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I always say if you look at our Google reviews, we don't have the most in town, which not hard to see that.
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_01: But what we do has if you read it, like every technician that works for me, like that instead of just going to Google and be like, oh yeah, NS did a great job, NS did this, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_01: They're like, hey, this technician, the name and name them by name, came here, and they were awesome.
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_01: This technician, you know, Andy did a great job.
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_01: Bryce cleaned up after self.
• 16:15
  SPEAKER_01: Jake did phenomenal in redoing my panel.
• 16:19
  SPEAKER_01: Like, that's where I think we shine.
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_01: They actually, it's one thing to get a customer to go to Google and hit five stars and four stars or whatever they're going to rate it at.
• 16:29
  SPEAKER_01: It's another thing to get them to go there and actually name you out for how good of a job you did so well that they remember your name.
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_01: How many technicians that come to your house do you actually remember what their name was when you go to leave a review or call the company and tell them how good the technician did?
• 16:46
  unknown: Yeah.
• 16:47
  SPEAKER_01: That's very true.
• 16:47
  SPEAKER_01: That's very true.
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_00: And I've been thinking this the whole time.
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_00: What is does NS stand for anything in particular?
• 16:54
  SPEAKER_01: So NS, when I first started, was my two kids.
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_01: It stands for Nathan and Stella.
• 17:00
  SPEAKER_00: It was just it's way easier to say NS.
• 17:03
  SPEAKER_00: Good deal.
• 17:03
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I was thinking of it this whole time.
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, man, what does NS stand for?
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_00: I'm just gonna ask him.
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_01: All right.
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_01: Well, it's funny because people used to call me, it used to be called Nathan and Stella, and and we changed it up and was like, yeah, that's way too long of a name.
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_01: It's kind of monotonous.
• 17:16
  SPEAKER_01: So we changed it to NS.
• 17:18
  SPEAKER_01: But I I get people calling me, like, hey, is this Nathan?
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_01: I was like, years ago when I started, I'm like, buddy, if you want to talk to Nathan, you probably have an issue because the kid is a seven, it's a seven-year-old kid.
• 17:30
  SPEAKER_01: It's not me.
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_01: That's not the end.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_01: You've not done your due diligence to look to see who owned the business if you're calling for the kid that it's named after.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_00: I love it, love it.
• 17:41
  SPEAKER_00: That's hilarious.
• 17:43
  SPEAKER_00: Now, you and you dropped some really, really good nuggets here, but what would you say is the hardest leadership lesson you've ever had to learn while bidding and growing your business so far?
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_01: The hardest leadership I ever had to learn is leading people.
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_01: I've never managed anybody.
• 17:59
  SPEAKER_01: I've never been a manager of people of I'm a really good electrician, I'm really good at my trade.
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_01: But until I started the company, I never really managed or understood what management really went through to get people to when mistakes happen, how do you deal with that?
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_01: What do you do?
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_01: Do you you know yell, scream, and cuss at them, which isn't going to change anything?
• 18:19
  SPEAKER_01: Or do you, you know, figure out how to train and move past the mistake?
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_01: But leaders leadership itself, I will say, is is a been a task in its own.
• 18:31
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 18:32
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it is, it is, yeah, definitely.
• 18:33
  SPEAKER_00: They don't and they don't train you how to do that.
• 18:35
  SPEAKER_00: You're like in school and stuff, you don't get trained how to do it.
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_00: You kind of just need on-the-job training, right?
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_00: On how to manage people.
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_01: The on the management part, I definitely will say, is is is on the on the job.
• 18:48
  SPEAKER_01: Like you're just figuring it out.
• 18:50
  SPEAKER_01: The leadership part truly, I think you can, I mean, you in life you take it from different things.
• 18:56
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I I had leadership, or I was in the military, I was in the National Guard for eight years.
• 19:03
  SPEAKER_01: But even like that was the one thing I remember one of our drill sergeants saying, and he was not the greatest, nicest guy, but he always said, he said, leadership is is shown to you every day.
• 19:15
  SPEAKER_01: Like if you got a coach, if you got manage upper management, or an owner of a company, depending on how big the company is, it's shown to you every day.
• 19:23
  SPEAKER_01: Like you can see, you've you follow leaders that you like, and you see stuff that leaders do that you don't like.
• 19:28
  SPEAKER_01: So when you get in a position to be a leader, you take what you know, the ones that hopefully you take the advice of the leaders that you like to follow and and replicate that and then try to minimize the the qualities that you get from the leaders that you don't you didn't like following to begin with.
• 19:47
  SPEAKER_00: You're exactly right.
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_00: You're really right.
• 19:50
  SPEAKER_00: Now, what would you say separates a great electrician from someone who simply knows how to do the technical work?
• 19:56
  SPEAKER_01: Man, a great electrician, I mean my opinion, a great electrician is somebody that takes pride in their work and their craftsmanship and can take the same project and make it look ten times more pleasing to the eye.
• 20:14
  SPEAKER_01: Being that like the easiest one would be a panel replay or installing a panel upgrade, or installing or upgrading a panel.
• 20:22
  SPEAKER_01: Like you can have two people do the same thing, it's the same task.
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_01: You've got 20 circuits, you got a panel, and then you know, look at one, and it looks like a rat went in there and swirled everything together, and it works.
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_01: When the it looks the same when the cover's on, or you pull the next one off, and then all you know, everything's perfect, you can follow exactly where it goes, it's nice and crisp when it comes in.
• 20:48
  SPEAKER_01: That's what I think the difference is.
• 20:50
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, as far as if the technicians have the same exact knowledge and the same understanding of what they're doing, I think the only difference between a great electrician is taking pride in his work and the quality of work that he wants to leave behind.
• 21:04
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 21:05
  SPEAKER_00: Now, Matt, have you ever had to make like a tough call, like saying no to a job, walking away from a customer, or correcting a mistake, or protecting your standards that ended up being the right move long term?
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_01: Every time that I have to let someone go, it's usually due to a standard thing, like I said, as far as a personality thing, not not being pleasant to be around, or just not caring enough.
• 21:31
  SPEAKER_01: Like I said, the quality, go back to the quality of work.
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_01: That's one of my biggest pet peeves.
• 21:36
  SPEAKER_01: That's my hardest decision every time I have to make it.
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_01: That's been and is the hardest decision for me and in the business is to have to fire somebody.
• 21:46
  SPEAKER_01: As far as customers, I mean, we're humans.
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_01: We all make mistakes.
• 21:53
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, my guys aren't perfect, they'll they'll be as perfect as possible, but they're not perfect.
• 21:57
  SPEAKER_01: So anytime you have to go, you know, minimize a mistake at a client's house isn't a fun time, but I think as long as you let them know that you made a mistake and you're willing to fix it, it isn't as bad as as it could be.
• 22:11
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, no, I love it.
• 22:12
  SPEAKER_00: I love it.
• 22:13
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 22:13
  SPEAKER_00: So now we're gonna head into what's called the quick fire round.
• 22:16
  SPEAKER_00: So how this works is I'm going to give you one word, and I just want you to give me the first word or first phrase that comes to your mind when you hear each word in regards to running your business, and then kind of give me like a small blur.
• 22:26
  SPEAKER_00: a small paragraph on why you chose that word or phrase.
• 22:30
  SPEAKER_00: Does that make sense?
• 22:31
  SPEAKER_00: Yep.
• 22:31
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 22:33
  SPEAKER_00: First word is safety.
• 22:36
  SPEAKER_01: That's a big quality.
• 22:37
  SPEAKER_01: Safety is the number one key to every everybody's going home to their family and enjoying life.
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_01: Trust.
• 22:47
  SPEAKER_01: Definitely a key in and factor of having a good culture work relationship.
• 22:55
  SPEAKER_01: If you don't trust with clients and trust with the my guys and them trusting in me is second biggest thing.
• 23:06
  SPEAKER_01: Emergency calls that emergency calls are I mean we do them.
• 23:14
  SPEAKER_01: They're all they they definitely I don't know I think that's one of the things I like doing the most is because you're there to help somebody in the need in the time that they want they need it.
• 23:24
  SPEAKER_01: The one thing about emergency calls is my personal opinion is sometimes they're not as an emergency as as one would think unless you don't have power.
• 23:35
  SPEAKER_01: Smart homes I'm a fan of it.
• 23:37
  SPEAKER_01: I'm a fan as long as you're considered smart home as Wi-Pi switches, like the Google Alexa stuff, I'm cool with that.
• 23:45
  SPEAKER_01: I don't use it, but I'm definitely a fan of it.
• 23:47
  SPEAKER_01: EV chargers I that is way more than I thought we were they're way more than what we thought we would do.
• 23:55
  SPEAKER_01: Personally in this area we do a ton of EV chargers.
• 24:00
  SPEAKER_01: Hiring it's a fun process you get to learn something new about somebody and see if they're going to fit the culture of the company and then if they can hang with the with the guys competition don't believe in it not in this area there's enough work here and enough people here that I don't see anybody as a competition either my personal opinion is it's whoever gets there first.
• 24:28
  SPEAKER_01: I mean there's enough good electricians including us that I don't believe in it.
• 24:34
  SPEAKER_01: Leadership one of the hardest things to do I think leading people and trying to manage and get the right outcome for some things is is definitely more taxing than I ever thought it would be.
• 24:50
  SPEAKER_01: And the last word is legacy that's what we all wish we leave behind.
• 24:55
  SPEAKER_01: I mean I think that's the reason for most people in life is to leave a legacy behind whether it's for the family or whether it's for the world depending on how big of a person you are.
• 25:05
  SPEAKER_00: Okay I love it.
• 25:06
  SPEAKER_00: I love it.
• 25:06
  SPEAKER_00: All right perfect so yeah appreciate you getting through that quickfire round so you know Matt with with EV chargers smart homes solar and AI becoming more common how do you think technology will change the electrical industry over the next 10, you know even 15 years from now I'm waiting to see that I mean there's a lot I think with the new AI stuff coming out I could see things happening.
• 25:30
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know I'm waiting to see what we could do different.
• 25:34
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not for sure I mean obviously anything Wi-Fi that we can get hooked up to the Wi-Fi is going to be something different.
• 25:40
  SPEAKER_01: Control with your phone like I have a smart printer at my home and I can literally turn the breakers off.
• 25:47
  SPEAKER_01: I can see how much voltage amps watts like everything that's used to it.
• 25:52
  SPEAKER_01: So I'll be curious to see what it does.
• 25:56
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not for sure outside of devices switches I'm not really for sure what they can change or what they're even working on to change as far as that goes.
• 26:06
  SPEAKER_00: Now where do you see you know your particular business NS Electric by 2030 I know people hear 2030 and it sounds like a big year but man we're only three and a half years away from 2030.
• 26:16
  SPEAKER_01: Where do you see your company by then I still see it doing the same thing being a little bit bigger being able to serve more of Morgantown faster and just providing our community with the best electricians we can find.
• 26:29
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 26:30
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know exactly how many how many uh guys do you have working for you now?
• 26:34
  SPEAKER_01: I have five at the moment we have a couple guys after that are working with us that are home from or away from school and then I got three technicians that are been with me for two years plus.
• 26:50
  SPEAKER_00: Nice.
• 26:50
  SPEAKER_00: Now I want you to be I want you to be as candid and as honest as you can on the answer to this next question.
• 26:55
  SPEAKER_00: So you know let's say uh young you know let's just say an entrepreneur or smaller entrepreneurs listening to the podcast episode with you today Matt let's say they're having just a stuck they're just stuck or overwhelmed having just a tough go of 2026 and we're already more than halfway through the year now you know somebody's listening to the podcast episode with you today and considering the trades instead of college but they just don't know how to go about it.
• 27:18
  SPEAKER_00: What advice would you want them to hear from you?
• 27:21
  SPEAKER_01: If it is a person wanting to get into trades if that's the question you're asking I would say try your hardest to find the trade that you want to do and somebody that's a small business owner that's willing to take a chance with you and go that route.
• 27:37
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not a full fan of the going to the colleges or technical schools.
• 27:44
  SPEAKER_01: If you're in high school absolutely sign up for technical school but if you're an adult I would say find I have many friends plumbing HVAC and electrical that would love to have you know somebody that wants to learn and come work for them versus somebody that went to school that you have to figure out what they do and don't know.
• 28:06
  SPEAKER_00: I love that I love that I think that's great advice.
• 28:10
  SPEAKER_00: And finally what is next for NS Electric?
• 28:13
  SPEAKER_00: What should people be excited about coming up in the near future for your company?
• 28:16
  SPEAKER_01: The biggest thing for us coming up is is going to be as I said a little bit earlier the maintenance stuff trying to get out the the understanding that the panel like your electrical panels and stuff should be looked at.
• 28:28
  SPEAKER_01: So we're working now on trying to find a great maintenance contract for the better for the I don't really like to say it that way but just a great way to get you know be able to come in yearly and take a look and change stuff out and keep all your electrical stuff up for safety reasons.
• 28:48
  SPEAKER_01: Make sure we can try to minimize the amount of electrical fires that happen in our community.
• 28:54
  SPEAKER_00: Nice nice and finally what's the best way for someone to connect with you or a learn more about what you all do?
• 29:00
  SPEAKER_01: For us the best way to do it is either you know give us a call talk to us get if you're if you need work you know schedule it.
• 29:06
  SPEAKER_01: If you're looking for work and you want to you know get hired call us or you can go on our website if you're more of not wanting to contact not wanting to to make the call the you know the phone's real heavy to call and you're like I don't really want to do that.
• 29:19
  SPEAKER_01: You can always go on a website and leave a contact form and we'll we'll be the first ones to reach out to you.
• 29:24
  SPEAKER_00: All right beautiful beautiful all right Matthew yeah this has been fantastic.
• 29:28
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah thank you for coming on and sharing your story and your perspective and your real behind the scenes of building NS Electric any last words you have for the uh public before we go ahead and sign off I mean anything I have man is I always appreciate the the community in Morgantown uh Clarks or Morgantown Harrison County I guess Ma in Harrison and Preston County for always supporting us and believing in us.
• 29:49
  SPEAKER_00: Beautiful beautiful yeah man so yeah really really appreciate you coming on again and uh yeah I wish you and your your business continued success in the future.
• 29:57
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much.
• 29:58
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you.