A Great Home Inspection Helps Buyers Make Confident Decisions with Matt Ruggieri, Pillar To Post Home Inspections

26:08Matt Ruggieri:tests now i'm and i'm sure you've got a bunch of crazy stories but what can you think of the one craziest thing you've seen on the home inspection? What's always fun is live animals, you know? So you learn, especially kind of get a feel for it in a house of, you know, do a good sweep with that flashlight as soon as you open it up to see if you see anything looking back at you, right? Because the last thing you want to run into is something with his kids in an attic space that feels like it's cornered, right? you know i was at one not that long ago and it was a house on a crawl space and then a big detached garage and i i'll tell you cliff i'm not the type of person i even if the attic access is typically smaller than what would be recommended or you know this or that we have limits on what we're supposed to do and what we're not supposed to do as far as like entrance i'm going to get into most places because i want to look right and i don't want to tell people i couldn't know if it's unsafe legitimately or whatever, then that just is what it is and we'll notate it.

27:10But the amount of snake skins in and around this crawl space and then in the garage, you can tell from them slithering on the rafters and stuff when they're molting their snake. The amount of snake skins... And we're in Pennsylvania here. We're pretty low on dangerous snakes. That risk is pretty low. We're not in Arizona, right? But the amount and length of these snake skins that were in and around this crawl space and then out in your detached garage you know i said hey listen i'm gonna take a poke in this crawl space here but you know this is to the level of like someone that works in pest control right like i'm not gonna start crawling around in here because you know lord knows how many snakes and stuff were around and the previous owner you could tell had been working at it because i mean he'd been keeping some of the snake skins out in the garage like has a panion i mean you know They're every bit of, you know, six, eight, 10 feet long, you know, and I'm not overly afraid of snakes, but I can tell you that's one where I was like, hey, we're going to cool the jets a little bit on this one and, you know, recommend the pros to come in to see how much of this may actually be going on.

28:18Matt Ruggieri:Wow. Wow. Now, Matt, how did your military experience shape the way you run your company today? You know, I remember back when I was going to like a primary leadership school. So when you become a sergeant or you're about to become a sergeant or you're on that track, it's called something different now. But at the time, I believe it was called Warriors Leaders Course. And you go down there and you have people there, two ranks, generally two ranks above you teaching you things about leadership and everything from making sure we know how to put together and present a class to counseling and all that.

28:58And I kind of knew this before, but one of the things that most stayed with me is, you know, I was an infantry guy. So we had everybody from, you know, people from the not, you know, the not best parts of our country that were looking to do something for themselves to just average people, which you would, whatever you think that is in your mind to people that graduated Carnegie Mellon University and were in, you know, making crazy amounts of money that wanted to reset their life or wanted to do something. different and they enlisted they didn't even become an officer they just enlisted right you have to know in my opinion i think one of the biggest interpersonal skills to have is knowing what works with that person as far as you know how to guide mentor correct right knowing what works with them and what clicks with them it's not a one size fits all approach as far as like how you either get something to click with them how you i don't want to say scold but if there's something that can't happen like hey listen i'm out here shadowing you today or whatever and like this can't happen right this is one of those things but talking that over or just knowing that that's dependent on person to person because we're not all built the same things that click with you i think is was a really big takeaway just because you can't treat you can't treat everyone the same and not everyone develops the same and then i think another thing when you're looking at people, because I think it's mostly people type stuff.

30:26Every business is a people business that I know of. I'm sure there's one out there that isn't, especially nowadays with the advent of technological things. But every business I've been a part of, at the end of the day, there's a personal relationship there. Some way, somehow. Every business somehow breaks down into being a people business. It's also putting people in a position to succeed. You got to see what people's strengths are and see what their weaknesses are. And it's not that we ignore weaknesses, but especially if you start opening up and I have an administrative person that works for me and I'm looking to build that business.

30:58You got to know that person and know what their strengths are because you may find something that's really perfect for them or a secondary role if you understand them and what works with them. If someone's really good at... I don't know. One of my new guys that's getting trained up and going. He's really good at reviewing standard comments in our template, right? And going through and categorizing them and moving the ones that we use most often up to the forefront and increasing operational efficiency that way. And you learn that through conversation and letting them talk to you and them feeling comfortable because it was just like, hey, Matt, I think we could probably do better at a lot of these things in our template.

31:35And I say, yeah, you're right. I don't have the time. That classic, I don't have the time. I know that. He's like, do you mind if I help you out with that? I won't make any changes that are permanent, and I'll let you see what they look like. Absolutely. Absolutely, I want you to help me out with that, right? If that's something you're kind of prone to, like the person that you are. So I think those two things in making sure you learn what makes people tick, and then learn what people are good at and where they have potential at and seeing if you can utilize that. Because people like doing what they're good at, and they like feeling appreciated.

32:06And if you can find someone that finds something in a way that they're able to help you that you appreciate and they feel appreciated, that's just going to make for a better relationship within the business.

32:16Matt Ruggieri:Now, if your daughters described you in one sentence, what would you hope they say? I know they're probably not talking too much. Well, maybe the three and a half. Yeah, three and a half year old is. Yeah. So, yeah. So if she could describe you in one sentence, what would she say about her dad? At three and a half, she would probably say something ridiculous. But above the line, I hope what she would say is she trusts her dad, that she feels comfortable and more confident around her dad. Like even from when it's being afraid to go down a big slide or learning how to climb on something or just doing something new, like getting on the ride on mower or something.

33:01And knowing that if I'm telling you it's okay, it's okay because I'll never hurt you. that's what that's what i would hope that any child would have to say about you know their father yeah yeah i agree with that now what legacy do you hope people think of you when when they

33:16Matt Ruggieri:hear the name rat rogeri what do you what do you what do you hope people think of you i mean i hope they didn't know me in my 20s you know i i hope first and foremost that my kids are better people than me and my children are better positioned to be productive people in this world than I was. I think first and foremost, our kids are a legacy. And when you come down to it at the end of the day, you don't get it until you're a dad. I won't say everybody. I didn't get it until I was a father. I didn't get it even when I thought that I got stuff before I had kids. But that's our legacy and that's where the time and energy should go.

33:59And that's a lot of the worry in my day is the split between, all right, how much revenue do we want to make and how much work are we putting in and how much are we missing on the front end at home where it's really important and not losing sight of that. And then I hope from a business-wise perspective, I would hope that to say that, hey, say we went out of business or I sold this business and moved on to something else and say, Matt was here, he definitely... They did it the right way. We could always trust Matt and his guys to stand behind their work and to do the right thing. And, you know, they were always, you know, always a partner, always there to help if we needed something, be it a phone call, a extra write up or just whatever.

34:41Right. I just hope, you know, the way that we try and go about business from a moral and ethical standpoint, you know, is remembered.

34:50Matt Ruggieri:All right. So, yeah, so we're going to head into what's called the quickfire round now. So basically how this works is I'm going to give you one word and then I just want you to give me, you know, kind of one word back, the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear each word in regards to running your business, then kind of give me like a small paragraph on why you chose that word. Right. First word is integrity. Oh, integrity. It has to be a small blurb. It's doing the right thing when no one is looking. So the quick, the little bit more of a blurb about that is that's a really simple one.

35:22Integrity is really easy. Part of leadership is checking on people, right? Because you make it really easy on someone to do the right thing when they know it's going to be checked on. It is infinitely easier to not do the right thing, not do the hard right, but take the easy left when you know no one's going to be checking on it. So integrity is doing the right thing even when nobody's looking.

35:43Matt Ruggieri:Leadership. One word for leadership. Effort. And why I say it's effort is leadership, you know, leaders have vision and they need to inspire vision. They need to inspire like the way that things are going. That's the difference between leaders and managers. And sometimes you have to do both depending on the size of your company or things that go on, but leadership's inspiring vision. And what you're doing is it's effort because it's hard to provide people with purpose, motivation, and direction. But if you want to effectively lead, those are the three things. Hey, here's your purpose, here's your motivation, and here's the direction I want you to go.

36:20It's not easy to do that stuff all the time. So it takes effort to be a leader. Army. Good time. Back when I was in, listen, there's some places around the world that I'd never want to go back to that I've been, but the friends that I made and the laughs that I had be it overseas or in the States with when I was an instructor sitting out behind some Humvees in the middle of the night in Louisiana or, you know, in tents somewhere or just in the worst conditions you can think of. The laughs that I had with my friends and the inside jokes and just the things that you can't help but build with people you spend that much time with is something I'll never forget.

36:59I'm saddened that I'll never laugh as hard as I have in the Army, I don't think ever again. But it was a good time.

37:07Matt Ruggieri:Home ownership. Responsibility. You're going from that apartment or whatever where you call someone else when your drain's leaking to, hey, Buck, Either you know how to do it or watch a YouTube video or you got to call someone to pay them, right? You got to cut your yard. Don't bring down the property value. You've got things you need to keep up for appearances. And, you know, you've got to make decisions on what's needed to do now and what you can push off to the future. So it's a big responsibility owning a competition. Well, bring it on. I absolutely have absolutely no fear of competition. Not because that's nothing against anyone else that does this.

37:44And really, it's not. That's not like a backhanded thing. It's just that I know the level that I expect myself and my people to perform at. And I think if we're doing that on a regular basis, that we're up there on par with anyone else that offers services. I love that.

38:01Matt Ruggieri:Education? More important than people think. So I'd say important. So I think it's important because you need to have a knowledge base behind what you're doing to be able to know how to talk it. being able to know how to explain it and giving people the confidence that you know what you're talking about right you don't need to be an electrician to be a home inspector but you need to be able to talk confidently about common electrical defects so i think being educated in whatever your field is it goes a long way right you don't i have a master's degree in business right do i need that on a day-to-day basis when i'm in the field no but i'll tell you what it sure helps me on the back end.

38:41So I think education is important in a variety of ways.

38:45Matt Ruggieri:Family. First thing, you know, that's the first thing. That's the only thing that's important. I've always been proud of my family. I've always stacked myself up against my family when I've done things wrong in the past. I've been more ashamed because of my family. When I used to find things that I was doing hard in the army, I'd look down at my name tag on my chest and remember my last name, right? And what type of person do I want to be to carry on that legacy and to, you know, and to, you know, just honor like where I come from, right? Think about that before you quit or think about that before you do something that may embarrass yourself.

39:21Matt Ruggieri:Legacy. That works out perfectly as family. I definitely want to start a legacy with my business, but you know, my legacy is hopefully going to be raising two and maybe more. Who knows how that goes to a lot. So who knows, but you know, is raising two people that are kind, strong and contributors to the world around them and not takers. If I could do that, then I think that we've done the right things as parents. Yeah, I agree. And the last word is freedom. What does freedom mean to you and your business? freedom to me and my business means that one we should be thankful to be in a place where we are able to start a business and run a business and have people that freely work for a business and can be duly compensated for it to what they you know to what their value is and hopefully what they think their values work worth and to be able just to just to be thankful to be able that we're able to be here somewhere to do that.

40:26I think that the freedom of being able to do that is a luxury that in some places isn't around. And we have a great, great, great atmosphere for it to be able to thrive. So we have the freedom to be successful if we want to be.

40:41Matt Ruggieri:All right. Perfect. All right. So I appreciate you getting through that quickfire round there. So a couple of last things. So, you know, with all this talk of AI and self-automation and everything, how do you think AI technology it would change the home inspection industry over the next 10, 15 years? You know what, Cliff, that's a great one because I don't know the answer to that. And because it's something that I've been obviously thinking about. What I do know, and, you know, AI is much different from other technological leaps that we've had, right? This isn't a cotton gin that's making work go quicker, but only a very specific task or, you know, a motorized tractor over a horse plow type of advance.

41:22This is potentially world altering to many businesses. And depending who you listen to, it could be scary for a lot of people in the future. But I think to our business, I think that there is an avenue to make it better in the sense that being able to more quickly and competently identify things that need looked at. I do think that the home inspector business and many people-oriented businesses where you actually need to get into places and do things and people like to talk to people, at least nowadays, a lot of them still do, I think is well-placed to still be a viable business for the most part in how they are run and operated and presented to the customer.

42:05you know until there's you know fully functional you know robots and robots on our eyes the brain's but you know or something that can do that and people are comfortable with that method and you know i think that we're not we're not insulated from it but i think we're pretty resistant to it being something that's a complete takeover of the business i i don't think that can be said for a lot of, or I won't say a lot of, many industries out there may not be as resistant just due to the tasks and the delivery method at which that product is presented.

42:40Matt Ruggieri:Okay. Now, do you think homes are being built better or worse today than they were 30 years ago? Completely dependent on who's building it, 100%. There are folks out there in the trades that are just great people and know what they're doing and have been around for a while. There are project managers for new builds that are really on top of their stuff and you know take personal offense if something's wrong there are organizations that are staffed well enough to be on top of their people right i i've never i'm not the person to go out here and name names but i know from being in the construction industry that you know the quality of your work is many times a product of the amount of supervision, checking that things are done the way that they need to, and the quality of your subcontractors.

43:29And that's not always the easiest thing to do, especially in home building and where it's rampant, right? Because if home builder B tells your roofing crew, hey, man, we'll jump everybody up$1.50 an hour and the supervisor's$5 an hour, if you guys come work on our houses, they're gone, right? So it's really, really, really, really tough for them. And I have empathy for that, but that doesn't play into the inspection. We have to just call it as we see it. So I would say it's either. And I would say one community by the same builder could be of different quality than the other because of those reasons.

44:00Maybe the quality of subcontractors that were had. The one thing that I will say about old time construction is, you know, there's just something about because we have a great variety out here in Pittsburgh. I mean, I'll be in a basement that, you know, the original foundation was from 1870. And the next day I'll be at a high end home builder, you know, home, you know. the the folks from back in the day truly made some impressive things with very very simplistic ways of ways of installation just of structure and everything that have with listed the test of time and you know yeah maybe if you put a golf ball on the floor it rolls towards the middle of the house but that's not all stuff sits and settles over time right it's been here for 120 years that's not to say that there may not be something larger wrong but we need to find that but you know and one of the biggest things i tell people that kind of calls me that lane is like if you could cut open a piece of wood in this 1900 1910 1920 basement of one of these floor joists and see how thick the grains are compared to like sustainable wood nowadays you would be amazed you could get away with things right now that would nowadays be like oh you shouldn't notch the end of this this much guess what with that old timber that had been grown for 200 years before someone and cut it down and cut it out by hand, not going to bother it.

45:14It's not me telling you the house is perfect, nothing's going to go wrong. But there were a difference in materials and things like that that we don't... Quite honestly, builders today don't have the luxury of. Now we do have the luxury of advancements in how we use the materials, maybe making wood floor trusses and things of that nature or fabricated manufactured beams and stuff. But to answer your question, And it's an either or. I do like a good old house. Sometimes I don't like how long I'm in them because it's just more to document. But there's something nostalgic about it and the respect for what people were putting together.

45:50And if I were to be talking to people on the new builds, be comfortable with that builder, right? The reputation, but really be comfortable and ask really good questions like, Hey, how long have your crews been around that are doing this? And get to know your project manager or whatever that home builder calls it and get a good feeling from them of how much they're able to keep up on the projects and stuff, because it's really easy to keep stuff before drywall goes up. It's not so easy to find some things when it doesn't. Right. So I think it's a lot of oversight and a lot of quality of the people that they have working for them.

46:24Yeah.

46:24Matt Ruggieri:Yeah. Where do you, where do you see your, your business, you know, period of post home inspectors to be by 2030. I know we hear that, that number 2030, I think it's a long, it's a big number. It's a long ways away. it's only three and a half years away. What do you see your business by then? You know what, Cliff? I'm glad you said that because when you said 2030 initially, the first thing I thought in my head is like, why is this guy asking me about 10 years out? But no, I mean, seriously, that's what I thought until you came back. And you're like, I said, yeah. All right. So one, that's scary that that's only three and a half years away.

46:54Two, you know, we are, I'm looking to expand this business because I think as I alluded to earlier, make no mistake about it. I like doing home inspections, but I don't love doing home inspections. And before everyone freaks out, if I'm inspecting your house, I like coming out and doing them. I'm good at them. I'm not going to say I'm the second coming of home inspectors, but I've built a reputation at being good at them. I build my folks that work for me to be up to that same standard. But I like doing them because I like doing a good job and I like running a successful business. And I'm not afraid to say this.

47:29I think years ago, I would have been afraid to say this. I like revenue. I like doing a lot of inspections. I like stacking up well against the people around me and the people within my organization, but I like doing it for the right reasons. I like doing it because we do go-home inspections, because we treat people great, because we say things that are factual and can be actioned on and all those different things. And I don't feel bad about saying I like revenue if that's the way that I say I like building it. So we have a great acquisition team behind us. I call them big pillar to post or pillar to post corporate.

48:02So if they have a franchise owner that is looking to expand, that they feel confident and is doing good work and all that stuff, they will help us look for people out there without us having to do much with people that are looking to get out of the home inspection business. Maybe it's not their thing anymore. Maybe it's just not doing what it needs to. Change a life, whatever. And saying, hey, listen, if you're interested in getting rid of this business or you just don't want to run the business anymore or whatever that looks like, we may have an opportunity for you to get something from what you built and not just shut it down one day.

48:37so we're actually we being my team we just closed on a acquisition of another business where the inspector is just going to go doing other things besides home inspections but in the inspection world so we're essentially going to integrate his realtors into our system and you know let them know that hey so and so's leaving but listen matt's here and him and his folks are taking over and you've probably heard of them and they have a really good reputation and area. And we'd like to pass you on to them as one of your home inspection options moving forward. And then potentially, which I can't say a lot about just because it's all very potential, but there's a multi-inspector business that does a multi-state area down in the tri-state area that's looking at the same thing.

49:25He's been doing it for a while and doing it at a really high level. He wants his folks to keep on working, but he's ready to move on to whatever is coming up next. in his life. So those are one that's a closed opportunity and one that's upcoming. And I think what that gets to is, Cliff, I'd like to be running this business. I'd like to be marketing this business. I'd like to be doing all those things more than I'd like to be the one that's actually driving the numbers and stuff in the field from doing the work. I would like to be here when someone gets sick, something comes up, whatever. Yep, I can run out and do an inspection.

50:00I got some really good realtors. We're really busy in the summer months. Yep. I'll take a few, but stopping in and checking in and shaking hands and checking, you know, and then in the basement, Hey, everything going. Okay. Do you see anything here? That's okay. Cool. Did you see this? Yeah, you did. All right. Hey, just want to make sure we're on top of stuff and being the quality control and being the face of the business, you know, running a large, successful multi-inspector businesses is definitely where I'd like to be by 2030.

50:25Matt Ruggieri:Now, and I want you to be as candid and as honest as you can for the, this next question. But let's say if a fellow business or franchise owner is listening to the podcast episode with you today, Matt, and let's say they're just having a rough go of 2026. We're already halfway through the year. I can't believe it. It's been gone by quick. But yeah, let's just say they're having a tough go at 2026. It's just not profitable. They're feeling stuck or overwhelmed in their business. What piece of advice would you tell them or give to them today? Save yourself because help isn't coming. so what i mean by that is when you're the person running a business and you're the point person on that you have to figure out what you're not doing now listen that discounts it like say if there's a business that has is completely non-sustainable maybe it was a bad idea take all that out of the window right there's always acceptance so take that you know out of the window right like we fix model t's well okay we don't have many but look at yourself that whole like i said that whole responsibility and authority thing and what do you need to be doing you know we i always say you know i run a home inspection i run a marketing company that does home inspections i've one of my things that i've always said is if people don't know you exist they can't use you so i would start back to the basics of marketing.

51:48And if you're offering a service and other people are offering that service and they're doing well, see why don't people know that I'm around or I exist, if that may be the case. And then two, man, call some people. If you have people you can get back to and get some feedback, don't rely on the Google reviews. There may be something that you're not doing as well as other people or just something that came off wrong or something you don't know about one of the people within your organization that is turning folks off or isn't up to the standard you want but at the end of the day like i said you have to self-extract from this situation and that that's i think vitally important you know i've always taken you know when i started this business and you have a whole marketing plan and all this stuff you need to do to get your name out there right i was never one to sit down in front of a list of people and make calls and say, Hey, I'm Matt, I'm filler to post blah, blah, blah.

52:43I know you're a realtor. I'm not good at it. My, my personality doesn't lend to it. In the beginning when it was touch and go and things weren't going exactly the way I wanted, did I get my behind down in front of the computer and get my list of 200 some realtors and start making calls? You're damn right. I did. Right. I didn't like it. And I, you know, but I did it. So figure out what you need to do to get back in front of the people that are going to fill up your little bucket and that are going to start bringing you sustainable business because like no one is going to do it for you there may be people out there that may help you but they need to know you need help too so start looking for is there someone else that's successful doing this if i'm in a franchise who's doing this really well at a high level i mean cliff i just done a call last night for essentially a focus group of people that are in my level of growth across the organization and we had someone in that someone come in and speak to us that's a level or two above our level of growth, right?

53:39Been there, done that. I'm now up here. Really great guy. I can put his name out there. Ryan French in Columbus, Ohio. If you need a home inspection, I strongly recommend getting with him because he's just amazing. But things I took from that call, and I wasn't even asking for stuff. Things I took from that call, I'm already implementing since last night into my business. so don't be afraid to look out especially especially if there's a lifeline out there this is your business this is your legacy this is what you want you to do to sustain yourself put it on the table but take responsibility for fixing it don't it's not going to come

54:14Matt Ruggieri:from somewhere on its own okay that's excellent advice so what's next for your company that people should be excited about coming up in the near future i think what we talked about was the acquisitions. We're looking to expand. We're a healthy company. I want to get a lot of people going that do this really well, that do it to my standard, that the realtors that I work with can trust with their clients. Because like I said, I don't want to be the one doing the most inspections per month. I want to own and run the business and market the business and participate more in activities that market us out there and give me opportunities to do more things with our people right because we're doing so well and you know have them you know appreciate some of the let them appreciate some of the benefits of what they've been doing so that's why we're looking at the acquisitions and expansions as being a vital part of where we're going it's very very hard for me one of the things that i'm dealing with personally you know as being the owner the prospect of taking on other home inspectors and making sure because there's a lot of great home inspectors out there but just making sure that one i mean one there's a change in software and some of the things that we offer and that's you know got to make sure that's there that has to be a skill that's there but there's got to be a willingness and a buy-in and so i i'm already starting to look at myself, play this potential opportunity with three inspectors that are ongoing, right?

55:47It's like, how am I going to present myself? And if I were in their shoes, what would I want to hear from somebody? I've been working for so-and-so for 15, 20 years, and I love the guy. And we work well together. Here's this new person coming in. You've got a little bit of a badge of approval if you get there. If the current owner says, hey, guys, I've talked with Matt a couple of times. I think there's a way forward here. I like what he does. But how am I going to get those people to rally to do things the way that I want to do them that may not necessarily be their normal? And you have much more control over someone you get off the streets that's not a home inspector and you bring them through that whole process.

56:30But that's a very long and time-consuming and expensive process. And then And a failure with that is doubly expensive right there. What's the biggest cost in every business I've been in is, you know, one, hiring and then two, getting the wrong hire. It's just sunk cost, right? So I think what people should look forward to is meaningful growth in my business, in the pillar to post high point team being a name that you can depend on that can serve you because of the capacity we want to build. Now, I'm honest, that's taken a hit recently with the most recent thing that's coming up with my most trusted employee.

57:04But we've got stuff and we're going to build that back. So, you know, if this is, I guess, specific to real estate, but if you don't know, you know, it used to be realtors were kind of lone wolves and single offs and, you know, you wanted to get in with an office, which you still do. You want to get good with an office and are the office manager there and all that. But the most successful folks that do real estate now are what? They're teams. teams they're the so-and-so team the you know the the matt for jerry team or the whatever team and their team of realtors be at three five six nine that work in a team and we're trying to build ourselves to be able to support those high producing large teams right because they can do 20 deals 25 deals a month right if they have someone they know they can call hey matt or my scheduler brooke hey brooke we got one but you know we need this inspection tomorrow or like we need it within three days or whatever that is, we're building a team that is able to accommodate that, to not able to be able to meet the demands of the timelines in the real estate world, but also be able to give you the best product and support possible.

58:09That's what you should look forward to from my team, the High Point team over the next couple of years as we continue to grow the business.

58:17Matt Ruggieri:Good. All right. And finally, Matt, what's the best way for someone to connect with your team or learn more about what you all do? If you just type in anywhere, the pillar to post high point team, you can find us. My Instagram is Mr. Underscore Inspector PGH, just a standard spelling, I guess. You can reach out to us there. You can find us anywhere. The biggest way you can book online with us, you can reach out my direct business number. Even if someone heard this, it isn't in the business. And I don't know, hopefully I've added some type of, maybe I've added some type of value to someone else running their own business or getting into it.

58:55If you want to shoot me a text or give me a call to talk about something or anything, if I'm able to help, I will. My direct business number is 412-2920-293. Don't hesitate to reach out if you found some value or you have some questions. At the end of the day, you'll want to know anything about us, Pillar to Post, the High Point team, you'll be able to find us.

59:15Matt Ruggieri:Love it. Love it. All right, Matt. Yeah, this has been fantastic. Yeah. Thank you for coming on and sharing your story, your perspective, and your real behind the scenes of building your business. Any last words you want to give the audience before we go ahead and sign off? Well, one, I would just like to say thank you for reaching out and thank you for giving me the opportunity to come and, like I said, hopefully share some things that are useful. And just to, like the entrepreneurs or potential entrepreneurs or whatever, it's a big leap. Believe me, I know it's a big leap. I had only worked in places where I had a set salary and schedule and all those things.

59:48And I made a decision that I thought would be better for my family and really being a better person for them. And just, you know, I found this business by typing in veteran-friendly franchises. That's how I found what I was going to do. If you want to do it, go out and do it. There will be ups and downs. But if you're the right type of person that can take that responsibility, that understands responsibility, and that, you know, has that drive to learn and know your craft and all those things, it can be done. It goes back to what you said, the freedom. We have the opportunity to do that. So if you want to do it, go and do it.

1:00:25Have a plan, right? Don't want to get off color here, but piss poor preparation leads to piss poor performance. Have a plan, do some research, but if you want to go out and do it, do it because no one, no one's going to do it for you. No one's going to give it to you, but you do have the opportunity.

1:00:42Matt Ruggieri:Okay. I love it. Strong words. Yeah, Matt, we appreciate everything you're doing for the community and wish you and your business continued success. Thank you for coming on. Thank you so much. All right. Thank you. Hey, thanks for listening to the Epic Entrepreneurs podcast. Here's three things that you can do. Number one, remember to subscribe to the podcast. It takes very little effort on your part. It's going to help you and your fellow entrepreneurs. Plus, you guys know how it works. The more subscribers we get, the more cool things we can offer to you. Second, to learn more about growing your business, just download my book, The Coach Approach.

1:01:24It's free for you at giftfrombill.com. That's giftfrombill.com. Hey, and if you'd like more info about growing your business and what we can do to help you grow your business, send me an email directly. Just send it to williamgilliland at actioncoach.com. That's my personal email that I read. No one else reads it first. It's not screened. It's my real email. Just send it to me. I can't wait to talk to you. Hey, and until then, all the best.