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A 20-Year-Old Contractor Explains How Real Site Work Gets Done with Luke Alec Palmer, Palmer Excavation · Epic Entrepreneurs

• 0:45
  SPEAKER_01: Alright everyone, welcome to this week's episode of Epic Entrepreneurs.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_01: I am Cliff McCray with Acting Coach Business Growth Partners, where we work with local business owners to turn big ideas into real scalable growth.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_01: Today I'm excited to be joined by Luke Palmer with Palmer Excavation.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_01: Luke, how are you doing today?
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_01: I'm doing well, Bill.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_01: How are you?
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_01: I'm doing wonderful.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_01: You know, you're a company that's helping property owners and contractors move forward through excavation, grading, land clearing, drainage, demolition related site work.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_01: We're very excited to have you.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_01: So if you don't mind, let's go ahead and jump right into it.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, excited to be here.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_01: All right, perfect.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_01: So, Luke, when a customer first calls Polymer Excavation, what kind of project are they usually trying to solve?
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_01: And where does your team add the most value?
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so right now in the summertime, the most calls I've been getting are for drainage issues.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_00: So from that first call, we assess the situation.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_00: So typically I have the customer just send me pictures of the site of what we're looking at, and then we'll move forward from there.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_00: I like to go from the approach of asking the customer, what are three different times that would work best for you to meet?
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_00: Because typically I can take those three times, figure out which one works best for me and my schedule, and then we can move forward from there on a site job walk.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, okay, gotcha, gotcha.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_01: So that's what you're providing business-wise.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_01: Now, who is Luke Palmer as a person?
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_01: What do you have going on in your personal life?
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so right now, the season I'm in, I'm a fiance and I'm planning on getting married on August 17th.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm very, very busy into wedding planning currently.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_00: Um as hobbies, I enjoy the outdoors, hiking, fishing, all that sort of stuff.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_00: I'm deep into youth ministry as well, and that's a very big passion of mine as a Christian.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_01: Love it, love it.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_01: Now, what did your path look like before Palmer excavation, you know, and what pushed your pushed you towards business ownership?
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so growing up, my dad, he's a general contractor, and so from a young age, I've been homeschooled my whole life.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_00: And so on my free time, I would go with him to job sites and learn the business world, learn what it was to be an entrepreneur and what that looked like, and also the freedom that it provided, and also the challenges.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_00: And so growing up, looking at that, I fell in love with it.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_00: And so out of high school, I started a long care business.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_00: That went great.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_00: I loved it, but in the course of growing to get married, I learned that I need more money to provide.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_00: And so it was kind of following a passion trail and a money trail.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_00: And eventually that led me to Palmer Excavation.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_01: No, I love that.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_01: I love that.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_01: Now, excavation is one of those businesses where the, you know, where the work people see it only part of the job.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_01: What goes into planning a project before the first machine ever touches the ground?
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_00: That's exactly it.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_00: A lot of customers are shocked by the amount of time I'm on site versus the amount of time I actually spend working on their job.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_00: So before I ever touch base on the job site, I've already spent time researching the area, the area codes, all the digging permits I might need for that job, the supplies needed, and different angles that we could attack the job at.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_00: So before I've ever shook your hand, we've already gone over in my mind at least several different possibilities for that job site.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_00: And then behind the scenes work, after we decide on a project and a path forward, it's hours worth of planning and buying materials, getting that job site ready to move forward in a fluid motion.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, okay.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I appreciate you answering that very thoroughly.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_01: Now, what is the biggest challenge your business is facing right now?
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_00: As a business, I would say my biggest challenge would one be publicity, but two would be my age.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_00: I'm 20 years old, and so in a way, it kind of feels like a lot is pitted against you starting out this young as an entrepreneur, but it has a lot of fun challenges to tackle.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_00: The most notable of which would be that when you're young, a lot of people don't like to hand you a big check.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_00: And excavation is not a, I'd say, cheap job.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_00: So it entails large amounts of money at some points.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_00: So the biggest thing for me has been how can I make myself as credible as possible and provide the most amount of trust between myself and the customer?
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, okay.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_01: Now follow up and you know, following up on that a little bit more, do people, you know, because of your age, because of how young you are, like you said, do sometimes people not take you seriously?
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_01: Do you have issues with that, or or is that not a problem?
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_00: When I started out with the lawn care business, I would have that from time to time.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_00: But as I've grown older and have spent more time really learning the business side of things, how to market, how to put myself forward to other people, that hasn't been an issue as much.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_01: That's a good people good piece of advice.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, kind of to follow up with that one more, you know, a little bit more, because we had an we had another young entrepreneur on, I think it was a couple of weeks ago, and he talked about that as well.
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_01: That's why I kind of kind of follow up with that to maybe to help some other young entrepreneurs out.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_01: What would be the biggest piece of advice you would give to a young entrepreneur to get taken seriously in front of, you know, big business or you know, other big business people in other businesses and stuff like that?
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_01: What would you give that?
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_01: What advice would you give them?
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I would say first and foremost, make yourself as credible as possible.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_00: So what I've done there is I'm making a licensed and insured LLC business.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_00: So off the gate, they know I'm not some hack job.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_00: I've actually put myself in the business as well legally.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_00: But there's also learning, okay, these are the steps I can take to grow my mental credibility as well.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_00: So I spend probably 15 to 20 hours a week on podcasts learning all the different things, whether that be spiritual education or business education.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_00: I'm also a member of B I, the Palmetto Business Exchange group here in Simpsonville.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_00: And that has grown me tremendous tremendously surrounding myself with business-minded people that are decades ahead of myself.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_00: It's constantly pushing me up to their level.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_00: And so I've been a part of that group for a little less than a year and a half now, and I can see the growth in myself from when I began at 18 to now.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_01: Love it, love it.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_01: All right.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, what do you believe is preventing your business from reaching its next level?
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_00: Age, I think.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_00: So not just myself, but also the age of the business.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_00: So, as I said, I'm young, which means my business is also young.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_00: So I started polymer excavation in January, but that's not where my excavation background started.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_00: Out of high school at 18, I began working for a forestry foundation and learning how to install septic systems, do land clearing, grading, all of that sort of work.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_00: So my background in excavation is a lot longer than my business, but that is definitely a driving factor with the publicity side of things.
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_01: Gotcha.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, that makes perfect sense.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_01: Now, what is something people assume is easy about running Palmer excavation type of business that is actually very difficult?
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_00: I would also have to say publicity.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_00: A lot of people think that when you start an entrepreneurial business, that the jobs are just going to come to you, that they'll fall in your lap.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_00: And that's not the case.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_00: You have to actively pursue them, pursue relationships.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_00: A lot of times it can be as easy as an$8 coffee in a handshake, but many times it takes months of grinding and finding people, finding connections, reaching out, sometimes multiple times, until you make that one handshake that switches everything.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_00: And in a way, you're set.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, okay.
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_01: Now, what separates a properly planned grading or draining job drainage job from one that creates expensive problems later, would you say?
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_00: Prep work.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_00: So a rule of thumb in excavation is that you cannot afford to do it right twice.
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_00: You have to do it right once.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_00: So that means that your prep work takes the majority of your time.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_00: The backfill of a job is typically my quickest part.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_00: So I'll spend right now.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_00: I'm working on an irrigation install.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_00: I'm spending two days on the digging and the pipe work before I ever do any backfill or grading.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_00: So just making sure that you check everything.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_00: I like to laser level if I do any grading.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_00: And so I'm double triple checking that, making sure my grade is correct.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_00: Water's gonna flow where it needs to flow, that there's not gonna be any puddles that I would later have to come back and fill up.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_01: And about how many hours a week are you working in and out of the business right now?
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_00: In the business, I would say I'm pulling anywhere from 40 to 50 hours on a heavy week.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, okay.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_01: All right, well, that's good.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_01: That's healthy.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, it's not nothing, you know, outrageous or anything.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_01: You're working a pretty, pretty typical week, which is good.
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_01: Have you had to have you had to scale to get to that point, or or were you working more hours when you first started?
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, when I first started, it was very slow.
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_00: I would say I was working probably 15 to 20 hours initially, and that was pretty discouraging starting out, knowing that I had more potential than I was giving, but it was knowing, okay, this is a waiting game.
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_00: I will reap the rewards of this eventually, and it's slowly beginning to.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, okay.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_01: Love that.
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_01: Now, what would you say is your greatest strength as a business owner?
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_00: 100% my faith.
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_00: I trust the Lord for everything he provides, and he has done a lot in the business, not only growing it, but myself as well and the tools he's given me to do that.
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_00: I love to have a positive, faith-based mindset in things, and that helps me a lot, especially in instances where customers are a little bit more hot-headed than me.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_00: And I always take it back to treating everyone as Christ would treat them.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_00: And that has helped me a lot.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_00: It also helps me to put forth a Christ-centered mindset to situations and not become discouraged when a job might not go as planned, but knowing that he's in control and it will eventually work out for the better.
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_01: I love that.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_01: Love that.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_01: Now, what would you say is one leadership or business skill you know you need to still improve?
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_00: Leadership or business skill.
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_00: I would say my marketing would definitely have to be the one I have to improve.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_00: Knowing how to reach people, I'm I'm learning the side of talking pretty well.
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm happy with how I'm progressing there, but it's it's reaching the people.
• 12:07
  SPEAKER_00: That's the that's the part I need to grow on.
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, okay.
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_01: No, that's fair.
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_01: That's fair.
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_01: Now, Luke, how do you balance keeping expensive equipment productive without or with avoiding the temptation to take the wrong jobs?
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so I have a policy that I always pray about every customer before I sign a contract.
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_00: So for me, that looks like do I feel peace on the job site talking to you?
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_00: Is it someone that I would like to do business with?
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_00: Growing up, looking at my dad, he did the exact same thing.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_00: And so that really became a great role model for me, looking at that, knowing that my dad did that and he was okay showed me that that's the step I need to take forward.
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_00: And that's really helped me.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_00: Now, not to say that I haven't had customers that have been more challenging.
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_00: I have, but that has also showed me personality traits to avoid.
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_00: And so it's it's a good balance there of using your brain, using your mind to assess the person, but also trusting the Lord and that peace inside of you.
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, that's true.
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_01: You'll you'll kind of know based off an initial conversation.
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_01: I I've dealt with somebody like that.
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_01: They're usually a little difficult.
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_01: I probably will avoid that, is kind of what you're saying.
• 13:24
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_01: That's good advice.
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_01: I appreciate that.
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_01: Now, why do customers choose you instead of another provider?
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_01: What are you doing better than your competition, would you say?
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_01: Other languages.
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_00: I would say showing up to the job site, Bill.
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_00: It's been shocking seeing how many people I show up to their job and they'll be like, man, I'm so grateful that you actually showed up.
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_00: And not only that, I found that if I'm late, even one or two minutes late, sending a quick text saying, I am so sorry, I'm running two minutes late, I'll be there at 9.02.
• 14:01
  SPEAKER_00: That improves their trust in you more than a handshake will because they're seeing, oh, he's worried about being two minutes late, not just being on time.
• 14:10
  SPEAKER_00: And so that's been the most shocking thing for sure is seeing how many people are okay with not showing up when they've given their word to someone.
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's it's extremely true.
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, I can I can vouch for that, you know, doing what I do here.
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_01: You know, talk with business owners all the time.
• 14:29
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you know, you'd be shocked how people how many people just you know sign up for like let's say uh we have a lot of people that come and you know want to be initially want to be guests on the podcast, and they're all happy and everything sounds great, and you think, man, this gonna be a great episode.
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_01: The day comes and cricket, and I hear nothing and yeah, what happened?
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_01: Like free marketing, you know, and you all literally were just having you show up and talk about this.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_01: And you have no idea how many people just don't show up for this, and then they just vanish off the face.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_01: So if you're calling them, you text them, hey, you go are you able to make it a podcast?
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_01: And it just goes to it's it's wild.
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_01: Wow, that's discouraging.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it is, but it's like you said, that's that's just what life is now.
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_01: So we kind of gotten used to it now.
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah.
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_01: So m moving on though, but when a qualified league comes in, how confident are you that it becomes a custom a customer?
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I would put myself in the 60 to 70 percentile range.
• 15:27
  SPEAKER_00: I'm pretty confident based off the initial phone call, how eager the customer is to get the job done.
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_00: But it really comes through after that job walk, seeing how well they like the job, that they are receptive to the advice I'm giving, and also that awkward conversation of okay, what's your timeline, but also what's your budget?
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_00: I make sure those two pinpoints are always covered because I don't want to waste your time and I don't want you to waste my time.
• 15:55
  SPEAKER_00: And so if you're thinking that a$5,000 job is gonna cost$2,000 or a$10,000 job is gonna cost$4,000, there's just no room to work there.
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_00: So I like that one to weed out the customers that aren't serious.
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, okay.
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_01: Now tell us a little bit about the team.
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_01: Well, actually, do you have a do you have a team?
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_01: Is it just you by yourself, or do you have a team of people of folks?
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I currently don't.
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_00: It's just me myself.
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_00: So I've been running solo for about two years now.
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_00: And I love working alone.
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_00: But you know, as the business grows eventually, I'll definitely be hiring a ditchman to to help me level out stuff and do the stuff that I can't as I'm running the excavator.
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 16:42
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_01: Now, let's say this is hypothetical, but let's say if the business doubled overnight suddenly, what is the very first thing that would break and you would have to solve?
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_00: The first thing I would have to break is probably my bidding, but also back market bookkeeping.
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_00: So the first thing I would probably do to solve that would be to hire a bookkeeper and get someone that can manage that side of things, which would free up a lot of time for me to be able to focus on giving the best product forward to my customers and to put myself forward in the best light that I can and making sure I'm still getting the rest I need to perform the job right.
• 17:31
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, okay, that's fair.
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_01: All right, perfect.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_01: All right, so we're gonna head into what's called the quick fire round.
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_01: So, how this works is um I'm going to give you two words.
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna give you basically like something like mountain or beach, something like that, right?
• 17:43
  SPEAKER_01: Two, two, two selections that you can make.
• 17:45
  SPEAKER_01: I want you to choose one, and then I want you to give me uh kind of a small paragraph on why you chose that.
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_01: Does that make sense?
• 17:51
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, yeah.
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_01: All right, perfect.
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_01: All right, so mountain or beach.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_00: Mountain for sure.
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_00: I grew up in Northern California going to the Trinity Alps, hiking with my dad.
• 18:01
  SPEAKER_00: I fell in love with it, and I miss it a lot here living in the south, but I love the beach as well, but it would have to be mountains.
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_01: Coffee or energy drink?
• 18:11
  SPEAKER_00: Energy drink for now.
• 18:13
  SPEAKER_00: I love coffee, but energy drinks tied me over better.
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, okay.
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_01: Early bird or night owl?
• 18:21
  SPEAKER_00: Early bird.
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_00: I love getting up and feeling accomplished throughout the day.
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_00: I s tend to feel groggy if I stay up too late.
• 18:31
  SPEAKER_01: Ford, Chevy, or Dodge?
• 18:33
  SPEAKER_00: Ford for sure.
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_00: I grew up with my dad having two Fords, and I I love them as America's truck.
• 18:40
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, I like that.
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_01: Tobacco or excavator?
• 18:44
  SPEAKER_00: Excavator, so much more versatile.
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_00: You can get so much more done with it, and you're really never gonna get it stuck.
• 18:51
  SPEAKER_00: Blueprint or wing it?
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_00: I prefer the blueprint style.
• 18:55
  SPEAKER_00: I'm a very prepared person, so I like to think through every possibility of how the job could go.
• 19:01
  SPEAKER_01: Job site or office?
• 19:03
  SPEAKER_00: Job site.
• 19:04
  SPEAKER_00: I love the office, I love marketing, but the job site's way more fun.
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_01: Summer or winter?
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_00: Summer.
• 19:14
  SPEAKER_00: I love the green, I love fishing, hiking, all of that.
• 19:18
  SPEAKER_01: Steak or barbecue?
• 19:20
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, steak for sure.
• 19:22
  SPEAKER_00: You can't beat it.
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_01: How do you like yours done?
• 19:27
  SPEAKER_01: Well done or medium well.
• 19:28
  SPEAKER_01: How do you like it?
• 19:29
  SPEAKER_00: God forbid I like it well done.
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_00: I would have to go rare or medium rare.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_01: Alright, that's what I'm talking about.
• 19:36
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_01: I like it tender.
• 19:41
  SPEAKER_00: Yep, I don't like eating the leather.
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
• 19:46
  unknown: All right.
• 19:47
  SPEAKER_01: Music or podcasts?
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_01: I think you kind of mentioned this earlier, but.
• 19:50
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 19:51
  SPEAKER_00: It's it feels like I've done twice as much throughout the day if I'm listening to podcasts as I work.
• 19:56
  SPEAKER_00: And that's one of the benefits of working alone.
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you could kind of just plug in and and listen to what you want, right?
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_01: And do about to work.
• 20:04
  SPEAKER_00: Yep.
• 20:04
  SPEAKER_00: And I would say for young entrepreneurs, the B and I podcast is free.
• 20:09
  SPEAKER_00: You don't have to be a member to listen to it.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_00: And that has also been a great source of wisdom.
• 20:15
  unknown: Okay.
• 20:16
  unknown: Okay.
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_01: Shout out to the B and I podcast.
• 20:18
  SPEAKER_01: Well, make sure to put a link in the uh in the description notes for people who are interested.
• 20:23
  SPEAKER_01: Uh next one is business book or YouTube.
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_00: I would go YouTube.
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_00: It feels more personal.
• 20:29
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_00: Work boots or sneakers?
• 20:32
  SPEAKER_00: Work boots for sure.
• 20:33
  SPEAKER_00: Sneakers feel like I'm gonna get my foot chopped off.
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, especially for your line of work.
• 20:39
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 20:39
  SPEAKER_01: Yep.
• 20:40
  SPEAKER_01: Big equipment or hand tools?
• 20:42
  SPEAKER_00: Big equipment beats it all day long, even though it's heavy and sometimes a little awkward.
• 20:49
  SPEAKER_00: It's a lot better than breaking my back in the sweat.
• 20:52
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 20:53
  SPEAKER_01: Family time or vacation?
• 20:55
  SPEAKER_00: Family time.
• 20:56
  SPEAKER_00: I love a good vacation, but it feels a little too occupied, and I like that quality time.
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_01: No, it's true.
• 21:03
  SPEAKER_00: I I I agree with that.
• 21:05
  SPEAKER_00: Phone call or text?
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_00: Phone call.
• 21:08
  SPEAKER_00: You feel more direct, you get the point across in a much more emotional way, and I can hear your voice inflection.
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_01: Agreed, agreed.
• 21:19
  SPEAKER_01: One word you yeah, one word if somebody was to describe you.
• 21:23
  SPEAKER_01: Optimistic.
• 21:25
  SPEAKER_00: Which you have to be in the entrepreneurial world.
• 21:28
  unknown: Okay.
• 21:29
  SPEAKER_01: One word that describes your business.
• 21:33
  SPEAKER_01: Integrity.
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_01: Can you explain that a little bit?
• 21:35
  SPEAKER_01: Why you chose integrity?
• 21:37
  SPEAKER_00: I would say that I mean, from a young age, my dad has shown integrity at every point that it matters, and that's something I value a lot.
• 21:45
  SPEAKER_00: And so that means doing the right thing even though the hard or the that means doing the right thing, even though the easy thing looks more appealing.
• 21:57
  SPEAKER_01: I love that.
• 21:58
  SPEAKER_01: Love that.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_01: And one word, this is the last one here.
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_01: One word you want people to remember after meeting you.
• 22:05
  SPEAKER_01: Excited.
• 22:06
  SPEAKER_00: I always want to put forward a person that is excited to work with you, that's optimistic about your job, and that is wanting to help you get the desired outcome.
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, okay.
• 22:19
  SPEAKER_01: All right, perfect.
• 22:20
  SPEAKER_01: I love it.
• 22:21
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so thank you for getting that through that quick fire round there.
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_01: That was good.
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_01: That was really good.
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_01: We got to see some of your reason why we do that.
• 22:25
  SPEAKER_01: We did we'd like to see some.
• 22:26
  SPEAKER_01: Your wit and stuff like that and kind of how you think of things and life in general.
• 22:30
  SPEAKER_01: So appreciate that.
• 22:31
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_01: Now, Luke, where do you see your industry?
• 22:35
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I know there's a lot of talk of AI and self-automation, a lot of things going on in the world right now.
• 22:40
  SPEAKER_01: Where do you see your industry and your company headed over the next several years?
• 22:44
  SPEAKER_01: Let's say, let's say by 2030, right?
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_01: Because 2030, it sounds like it's a long ways away, but really that's only three and a half years away.
• 22:50
  SPEAKER_01: Where do you see your company three and a half years?
• 22:52
  SPEAKER_00: It's shocking how close that is.
• 22:55
  SPEAKER_00: I would say I know that there are some AI softwares already being installed in some heavy equipment for grading.
• 23:04
  SPEAKER_00: Me personally, I don't think it's going to hinder my business.
• 23:08
  SPEAKER_00: I I don't see the robots we have right now being able to shovel a ditch to grade in three and a half years.
• 23:15
  SPEAKER_00: So I don't think that'll be an issue for me or most blue-collar jobs for that matter.
• 23:20
  SPEAKER_00: And so I feel pretty secure in that area.
• 23:23
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 23:23
  SPEAKER_01: And then and then the second part here, where do you where do you see your company by 2030?
• 23:28
  SPEAKER_01: Where do you think you'll be at?
• 23:29
  SPEAKER_01: Will you have several teams or trucks or vans?
• 23:31
  SPEAKER_01: Where do you where do you see your team in the next three and a half years?
• 23:34
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I mean, of of course I would like to be there.
• 23:36
  SPEAKER_00: The goal would be at least one or two employees.
• 23:40
  SPEAKER_00: I would like to go the W-2 route and then have multiple trucks and trailers, but we'll see what the Lord does grow in the business and how we can move forward from there in a way that best suits the company.
• 23:55
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, okay.
• 23:55
  SPEAKER_01: I love it.
• 23:57
  SPEAKER_01: Now, Luke, if there was one thing you could change about your business in the next 90 days, what would it be and why?
• 24:05
  SPEAKER_00: I think it would be the approach I have at preparing the job site.
• 24:11
  SPEAKER_00: I've run into this hiccup of having materials take a lot longer to get there than I would like.
• 24:17
  SPEAKER_00: And it seems to be a problem that I can't fix.
• 24:22
  SPEAKER_00: So it's trying to figure out ways that I could either stockpile materials on site or have a backup supply somewhere.
• 24:30
  SPEAKER_00: So just just finding an area that I won't have to wait on somebody else to get the job done.
• 24:37
  SPEAKER_01: Now, let's say, you know, if we spoke again in 90 days, what would you want to be different?
• 24:43
  SPEAKER_01: Like it, like would you already have that?
• 24:45
  SPEAKER_01: So let's say, let's say, let's say 90 days from today, do you think that problem will be solved?
• 24:49
  SPEAKER_01: That would be a good idea.
• 24:50
  SPEAKER_01: Well, in 90 days, around Halloween time, I guess you could say.
• 24:55
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, absolutely.
• 24:56
  SPEAKER_00: In 90 days, any problem that comes against you can be solved in my mind.
• 25:01
  SPEAKER_00: I don't think there's a situation where I could have a problem with the business, and as long as I'm determined to get it done, it won't get solved.
• 25:10
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, okay.
• 25:11
  SPEAKER_01: That's fair.
• 25:12
  SPEAKER_01: That's fair.
• 25:13
  SPEAKER_01: All right.
• 25:13
  SPEAKER_01: So what is next for Palmer Excavation?
• 25:15
  SPEAKER_01: And, you know, what's what should people be excited about coming up in the near future for your business?
• 25:20
  SPEAKER_00: Well, for Palmer Excavation, I would say we're just gonna grow as customers come to us.
• 25:25
  SPEAKER_00: So that would mean taking the next customer as it comes and growing with the customers too.
• 25:32
  SPEAKER_00: But for Palmer Excavation, and more for me personally, is gonna be marriage and learning how to start to juggle running a business, investing time, energy, emotions there, and also learning how to start a life together.
• 25:47
  SPEAKER_01: I know that's that's huge because now you're going to be combined with someone else, uh, you know, kind of 50-50.
• 25:52
  SPEAKER_01: So uh, and you said it was August 17th, right?
• 25:55
  SPEAKER_00: Correct, yes.
• 25:56
  SPEAKER_00: So it's a fun story.
• 25:58
  SPEAKER_00: We met each other when we were eight and nine years old at a library, and it's grown since there.
• 26:03
  SPEAKER_00: So I've known her and her family for 11 years.
• 26:07
  unknown: Wow, wow.
• 26:08
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 26:08
  SPEAKER_01: Well, congratulations.
• 26:09
  SPEAKER_01: August 17th.
• 26:11
  SPEAKER_01: We're recording this at the almost the end of July here.
• 26:13
  SPEAKER_01: So it's in a you know, basically what, two or three weeks now at this point.
• 26:16
  SPEAKER_01: Basically, around the time when this uh episode here goes live, you'll probably already, you know, if if not already done, it'll be pretty close to you know making it official.
• 26:26
  SPEAKER_01: So congratulations again, Luke, on that.
• 26:28
  SPEAKER_01: And uh best for you in the near future.
• 26:30
  SPEAKER_01: So uh so again, I really appreciate you coming on, Luke.
• 26:33
  SPEAKER_01: It was great talking with you, uh, learning more about your business and learning more about your story.
• 26:37
  SPEAKER_01: Really appreciate you coming on the podcast today.
• 26:39
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, do you have any last words for any entrepreneurs?
• 26:42
  SPEAKER_01: Let's say a young entrepreneur is listening to the podcast.
• 26:45
  SPEAKER_01: I know you kind of talked about this a little bit earlier, but let's say a young entrepreneur is listening to the podcast today and they're thinking, man, I have this business idea and I just can't make that leap, they're feeling stuck or overwhelmed.
• 26:56
  SPEAKER_01: What's a piece of advice you'd want to give to that young entrepreneur?
• 26:59
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so I would just say keep your chin up, always be optimistic.
• 27:03
  SPEAKER_00: If you don't have a faith in the Lord, seek one out and trust him to provide for you at every turn of the business.
• 27:10
  SPEAKER_00: Expect that you'll be broke as an entrepreneur, especially a young entrepreneur.
• 27:15
  SPEAKER_00: You'll be broke more times than you're at profit when you're starting out a business.
• 27:20
  SPEAKER_00: And you just need to learn to be okay with that.
• 27:23
  SPEAKER_00: But also don't take that as a failure, take that as a growth opportunity and assess the situation.
• 27:30
  SPEAKER_00: See, okay, so I underbid a job here.
• 27:33
  SPEAKER_00: Where can I go from there?
• 27:34
  SPEAKER_00: How can I improve?
• 27:35
  SPEAKER_00: Take as every failure not as a failure, but as a learning opportunity to improve yourself and your business.
• 27:42
  SPEAKER_00: Also, don't let anyone look down upon you for your age.
• 27:46
  SPEAKER_00: The Bible says in Jeremiah not to have older people look down upon you for your age.
• 27:52
  SPEAKER_00: And so I take that very literally.
• 27:54
  SPEAKER_00: That there's two parts to that.
• 27:57
  SPEAKER_00: Not to allow that, but also not to give their, give someone a reason for that.
• 28:02
  SPEAKER_00: So that's where I take growing your credentials and trying to grow yourself as fast and as much as possible.
• 28:09
  SPEAKER_00: So I would say start listening to podcasts in your free time.
• 28:13
  SPEAKER_00: Free time is great and it's good, and you should have a lot of it.
• 28:18
  SPEAKER_00: But throughout a workday, you should be busy and figure out ways.
• 28:22
  SPEAKER_00: If your hands are working, your ears are.
• 28:25
  SPEAKER_00: So figure out how to make your ears work for you as well.
• 28:28
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, I love that.
• 28:29
  SPEAKER_01: That was excellent advice, Luke.
• 28:31
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you very much.
• 28:31
  SPEAKER_01: You are wise beyond your ears.
• 28:34
  SPEAKER_01: You really are.
• 28:34
  SPEAKER_01: So I want you to know that for sure.
• 28:37
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, no problem at all.
• 28:38
  SPEAKER_01: So, Luke, again, thank you for coming on.
• 28:40
  SPEAKER_01: What is the best way for listeners to connect with your reach you in case they're interested?
• 28:45
  SPEAKER_00: Well, my Facebook profile I post on there pretty regularly is just Palmer Excavation.
• 28:51
  SPEAKER_00: My website also is just Palmer Excavation.
• 28:53
  SPEAKER_00: I'm working out a couple kinks with that right now with my service provider and should be up shortly by the time of this.
• 29:00
  SPEAKER_00: And I would say Yeah, just Facebook and my website for now.
• 29:05
  SPEAKER_00: It's PalmerExcavation.com.
• 29:09
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, okay.
• 29:10
  SPEAKER_01: All right.
• 29:11
  SPEAKER_01: Well, Luke, I really appreciate you coming on again and thank you for your time.
• 29:14
  SPEAKER_01: Wish you and your business continued success in the future.
• 29:17
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you, Bill.
• 29:18
  SPEAKER_01: I enjoyed being here.
• 29:19
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you.