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How Word Of Mouth Turned A Tough Trade Into A Thriving Company with Zeke Seaton · Epic Entrepreneurs

• 1:03
  SPEAKER_01: All right, welcome to this week's episode of Epic Entrepreneurs.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_01: I am Cliff McCray filling in for Bill Gillilan with your local business training and coaching firm Action Coach Business Growth Partners.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_01: I'm excited to have Zeke Seaton with Solid ARM Solutions as the focus for our Epic Entrepreneurs podcast episode today.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_01: So, Zeke, please introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about yourself and your company and what primary products or services you offer the community.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, thank you, Cliff, for having me on.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_00: So, long story short, I'm in the helping business.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_00: So, what do I mean by that?
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_00: Um, well, I've got three companies, they all tie in together, but obviously I'm focusing on Salt Arm Solutions today.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_00: Um licensed home inspector for four years, um, created Salt Arm Solutions in 23.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_00: Got another company, Radon Mitigation.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_00: Uh it's called Carolina Radon.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_00: Uh we focused on people's health, you know, helping people breathe easy, um, keeping people healthy.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_00: Um, just longevity.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: Um that's my kind of my ministry.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_00: Um, kind of how I can help people.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_00: Um not really doing many home inspections anymore, just really focusing on, you know, keeping homes healthy, uh breathing good, mold remediation, uh, crawl space hand caps, uh, you know, anything to do with moisture, um, leaky basements, we do uh tear-outs, we do, we do it all.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_00: But uh yeah, I guess we'll dive into that a little more.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_01: All right, perfect, perfect.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_01: Nice introduction.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_01: So if you had to start your business from square one, would you do anything differently?
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_00: Well, yeah, for sure.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: I've learned uh I've learned from my mistakes, but uh I've made plenty of those.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_00: But no, I what the number one thing I would do is don't be afraid to reach out.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_00: So obviously any business is going to be um based off of your um your referrals.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_00: Um and it was slow at first for the first you know six months.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_00: We had you know just a handful of jobs.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_00: Me and a license home inspector, I know real estate agents, but the ticket in my business was contractors and other home inspectors actually.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_00: You know, in the uh in the home inspection business, you're kind of you know, you want to keep yourself hush-hush.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_00: You know, home inspectors don't talk to one another.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_00: But I was at CE class and you know, I was wearing my salt arm shirt and I just went up to some other home inspectors, like, hey, you know, yeah, I'm another home inspector, but willing to work with you, you know, send us some some referrals, I'll send you some referrals.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_00: So that's actually how I met Kenny McBurney, uh, which is my business partner with Carolina Radon.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_00: And uh she's helped us out tremendously.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_00: She does the marketing for Carolina Radon.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but yeah, it's just building those networks.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_00: Um, because I that's the best referrals you can get is word of mouth.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, you can you can do the I've done billboards, I've done signs, but there's no referral like getting word of mouth.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_00: You know, something or some service you've done for somebody and they can they can refer you and say, hey, you know, they did this and this is the the way they did it, the professionalism, the cleanliness, um, getting it done correctly.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_01: So okay.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_01: So what have your biggest learnings been as an owner and employer since you started your business?
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_00: So again, like I mentioned, we know we did the billboards.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_00: Um the biggest learning thing for me at first, you know, marketing was um I thought the flashing lights and the, you know, the nice shirts would get you business and how professional you are, but you know, that's not it.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_00: Um some of the some of the companies we compete against, you know, we we obviously we do a better job because we're getting paid to fix their stuff, but they're getting more jobs.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_00: And I used to think, how in the world, but it's all about the marketing, it's all about word of mouth, you know.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_00: But uh that's the biggest learning curve for me was really figuring out that it's it's the word of mouth.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I'm gonna keep hammering on that because that's what's transformed my businesses is is that uh making those connections there, being in some in some groups, you know, like like today, you know, I'm on this podcast because I was referred by Ann with College Hunks.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_00: Um she's in my B and I group.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_00: I was referred from Kimmy to being B and I, you know, it's just a chain of of command there, but uh but yeah.
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, okay.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_01: So what are some common misconceptions about running a business and how do you address them?
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_00: Oh man, people think that people think that uh you can create your own schedule, which you can, you can, you know.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_00: People think that you work for yourself, but no, you whenever uh whenever you own your own business, man, you work for everybody.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_00: You know, you don't just work for yourself.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_00: It's it's in me personally, how I how I run things and how I uh how I do things is I'm kind of an extremist, so if anything I do, I'm gonna go to you know full till, you know, turn that baby to rabbit, we're gonna we're gonna mow it down.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_00: But uh, but man, it's uh I I it's hard because you can't shut your mind off at night.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_00: You know, you you're up thinking about things, you know, what things you could have done better, or you know, you kind of have to, that's another learning curve too, is you kind of have to learn to shut that off.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_00: You know, after about six o'clock, I just turn the phones off, you know, turn the computer off and just kind of you know tell my partners, hey guys, you know, it's time to time to clock out.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_00: And uh but yeah.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_01: So you basically tell them to clock out and go live your life, right?
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, have a personal life.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_00: You go crazy.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_01: Especially on Friday nights, right?
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_01: Um, all right.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, I I really like that.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_01: So what what have you attributed to your growth so far in your business?
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I'm trying to say not I'm trying to to not say, you know, word of mouth again, but uh the growth is well, obviously hiring people too.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_00: Um that's been a big thing, is I've hired a couple guys now, so we can get more done, we can get done quickly.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_00: And we're booking into February right now, so you know, I'm not we've lost a couple jobs just because we're so far booked out, and these other companies can come, you know, in a couple of weeks.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_00: So hiring people has really moved things along, I guess you can say.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but yeah, that's that's helped with growth.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_00: Um, obviously just knowing, making these connections with people and treating people right.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_01: Now, when you're hiring people, what are you typically looking for?
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_00: So, man, it's what we do is super hard.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_00: You know, we're crawling around crawl spaces, it's hazardous.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_00: You know, you're dealing with mold, you're dealing with insulation, you're getting that fiberglass all over you.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_00: It's I've done a lot of work.
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_00: I've worked in mill riding, I've done sawmill work, but this is it's it's one of the hardest, in my opinion, jobs you can do.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_00: It's nasty.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_00: Spiders and snakes, you know, there's I seen a couple weeks ago that was a uh mama Cody with some pups in a crawl space.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, you never know.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_00: And so when hiring somebody, it's it's hard to find somebody willing to work like that, you know.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_00: So you gotta pay them good, and obviously, you know, I give them bonuses, we'll go out and eat, you know, on the company card quite often.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I give the guys anything they need in tools, PPE, uh, obviously, but uh also some give them some nice merch, you know, just take care of your guys.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_01: But uh and you kind of went into this one here earlier, but I'd like you to dive into it a little bit more, especially like when it comes to vacation and and things of that nature.
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_01: How do you balance your personal life with the demands of running a business?
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_00: The biggest thing is just, you know, in the evening times, just turning it off because it's non-stop all day long.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_00: We have, hey, one thing we have uh just got for Carolina Ray on was a virtual assistant, and she's out of the Philippines, and she's been great.
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_00: Uh man, she's taken taken a load off us tremendously.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_00: Um, she handles all the marketing, all the Facebook, the website, all the cold calls, all the incoming calls.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_00: She handles, I mean, the majority of everything now in the office.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_00: So that's been tremendous.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but the biggest thing is just learning to learn how to cut it off.
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_00: In your mind, you know, cut, you know, there's a time you guys gotta be like, all right, you know, it's time to hang out with the family.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so um, but yeah, le knowing when to cut it off, and that's pretty much the biggest thing.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_02: How do you handle vacations typically?
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I go on about two vacations a year.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_00: That's uh one week each, and uh unfortunately, you know, I gotta handle all the office stuff.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_00: So I mean, you know, I take uh the morning time, usually I start at about eight o'clock, you know, until about 10, and handle all the emails and then you know, hang out with the family throughout the day.
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_00: And then in the evening time, usually I get some phone calls throughout the day, so I'll just kind of ignore those in the evening time.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_00: I'll touch base and see, you know, if everybody's doing okay and kind of just see how everything's going.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_00: But I'll try to, you know, that's when I really have to pinpoint in my mind, you know, hey, you know, it's vacation time, we'll have to, we'll have to slow down on this thing.
• 10:32
  unknown: Yeah.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_01: All right, perfect.
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_01: So what you know, you you kind of went into this a little bit.
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_01: Well, what qualities do you look for in employees that you hire?
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_01: Well, uh as far as personal traits.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_00: Um well, obviously the biggest thing is the physical part.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_00: I've I've had some guys uh, you know, want to work and you know, we get in there and they just literally you can't physically do it.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, if you're a big guy, you know, you just can't do it.
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_00: But um, just being cordial with people, um, it's just like any other business.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, you I don't like cussing.
• 11:07
  SPEAKER_00: I don't like uh, you know, cracking dirty jokes with with clients.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_00: So that's the big thing with me is you know, we're professionals, you know, we're in our PPE, you know, our shirts are tucked in.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_00: You know, we are we are we're here providing a service, so you know, we won't let them know we're serious about it.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_00: That's the biggest thing.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_00: Um but yeah, that's pretty much the biggest things I look for in employees.
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, okay.
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_01: All right, so let's head into the quick fire round.
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_01: So basically, I'm just gonna give you one word and you just tell me the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear that word in regards to your running your business.
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_01: Um first thing is education.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_00: Well, education, uh, it's been a I've learned a lot, um, but the biggest thing is keep learning, you know.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_00: It's it's the run wasn't built in a day, and uh it's every day's a my new learning curve.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, great, great.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_02: Planning.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_00: So usually I do the night before, but you know, any business you have to come up with a plan, you know, make sure, well in construction, obviously you gotta come up with materials and whatnot, but you know, you got to go ahead and it's like uh like Muhammad Ali said, you gotta fight the five a million times before you start it.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_01: So Okay, yeah, I like that.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_00: Inspiration.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_00: Inspiration, uh just being, you know, um happy with what you're doing, you know, especially if you're providing a service, you know, you're really helping people and just uh just know that uh you know you're you're providing somebody could be something a life changing experience.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_02: Commitment.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_00: Commitment, uh well, I think most good business owners don't have a problem with that because you have to be committed to anything you do, you know, have uh have dedication.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_00: But uh I think commitment comes naturally if you are a a good business owner.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_01: And what words of advice would you offer to other business owners who are looking to grow?
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, don't be afraid to reach out.
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_00: You know, don't be afraid to talk to your competitors, you know, just a phone call, what are they gonna say is no.
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_00: That's all.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, you can't be afraid to get get rejected.
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_00: I mean it happens, but some of those phone calls you make might might change your business completely.
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_01: And can you up offer any kind of you know, particular instance?
• 13:24
  SPEAKER_01: Did that happen?
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, with Kimmy.
• 13:26
  SPEAKER_00: Uh Kimmy McBurney, you know, she's the other home inspector, owns one of the biggest home inspection companies in West North Carolina, and one day I just you know reached out with her and said, Hey, you know, we do mold, cross space, and dude, we've had I don't know how many jobs come from that.
• 13:40
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, it's been that's why I'm here today, is because I met her.
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_00: So it's just you know, don't be afraid to reach out.
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_01: Nice.
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_01: I love that.
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_01: Love that.
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_01: So, what's the next big thing for for your business coming into the new year?
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_00: Next big thing is we're looking to hire some more.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_00: Um, like I said earlier, bucking into February now.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_00: So um looking to hire some more folks, getting them ready to buy another van.
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so anybody, you know, hopefully some people listening on this podcast, if you're looking for a job, you know, it's it's nasty and it's it's hard, but we know we he'll be there right with me.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I put somebody in there to do something I wouldn't do, but uh but yeah.
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_01: And you already talked about kind of what you're looking for earlier from an employee.
• 14:25
  SPEAKER_01: So uh is it are you looking for it right as we speak or is it going to be early next year when the job goes up?
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_00: Well, actually, it's funny.
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_00: I have some flyers in my hand.
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_00: I was getting ready to post up at the gym that says help wanted, you know, pay twenty-five to thirty dollars an hour.
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_00: So I guess we can say we're uh we're ready to hire right now.
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_01: All right, perfect.
• 14:44
  SPEAKER_01: So, and and if in case anybody wants to get in contact with you, what's the best way to get in touch with you?
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm pretty old school.
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_00: Just give me a call.
• 14:51
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you can go to my website at SolidArmsolutions.
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_00: Um www.solidarm solutions.com.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_00: Or you can just give me a call.
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_00: It's area code 865-474-0959.
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_00: And that's my cell number.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_01: Perfect.
• 15:07
  SPEAKER_01: And Texas, all right?
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, sir.
• 15:09
  SPEAKER_01: Perfect, perfect.
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_01: And what about any social media?
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, we got Facebook.
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_00: Um I'm I'm on LinkedIn, but the Facebook is the biggest thing.
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I don't have Instagram or anything yet, but the Facebook's got a good uh good media platform for us.
• 15:25
  SPEAKER_00: Perfect, perfect.
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_01: All right, well, yeah, fantastic.
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_01: You know, that's thank you so much for being a part of the community and for all you're doing.
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_01: We certainly wish you continued to success, and I really appreciate you coming on.
• 15:34
  SPEAKER_02: All right, well, thank you, Cliff.
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, thank you.
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_02: All right, that was awesome.
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_02: Glad we were able to get out there that year.
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know if that's not.