A Slow First Year Taught Him How To Price Jobs Hire Well And Keep Going with Joseph Johnson

0:02Joseph Johnson:Hi, and welcome to this week's episode of the Epic Entrepreneurs Podcast, where we are all about helping business owners just like you achieve success. So we don't do fancy smancy. We don't do flashing lights. We don't do a lot of things that a lot of podcasts will do. These are just real stories about real people and their entrepreneurial and business experiences. as we go into their wins, their challenges, and their learnings. So we hope you enjoy it.

0:38Hi, everyone. Welcome to this week's episode of Epic Entrepreneurs. I am Cliff McRae with Action Coach Business Growth Partners, where we work with local business owners to turn big ideas into real scalable growth. Today, I'm excited to be joined by Joseph Johnson with JMJ Painting and Maintenance LLC. And Joseph, thanks for being here. How are you doing today, sir? Thank you, Cliff. I'm doing great today. Yeah, yeah, great. We're very happy to have you. So let's go ahead and jump right into things. And, you know, for those of you who may not know it yet, you know, who are you, Joseph? Who is Joseph Johnson and what is JMJ Painting and Maintenance?

1:14Well, I'm a combat veteran. I served in the U.S. Army in 2001 and 2009. I've been overseas a few times and I moved to Chattanooga in 2011 and I've been here ever since. And I used to work for the biggest painting company in Chattanooga. And I'm a family man that wanted to venture out on my own and give more back to my community and give my skill set that I have learned back to people that really want a small business professional in their home or their business. Okay. Okay. So Joseph, let's get right into it. Real talk. What's something about running a business that people think is amazing, but it's actually a complete BS?

2:06I would say probably pricing out jobs and not seeing what's going on behind the scenes of like, you know, business wise, when it comes to the financial and the licensing and having insurance and your workman's comp and things like that. Nice, nice. So what was the exact moment where you realized, you know, this could either really work or completely blow up in my face? When I first started about the first two weeks, the phone kept ringing and then it stopped for a little bit because I was not advertising. And that was a scary moment at the time. And I just had to persevere through that and figure out ways to promote the business.

3:04And I found several ways to do that. Okay. What kind of ways do you effectively market your business right now? One part of a group that is in networking, which is B &I, they're globally known. That's about 20 % of my business comes from that. And a few other websites, neighborhood app, which the next door app locally, I get a lot of business from that about 20 more percent there. and with having a Google page or Instagram and Facebook as well helps out. And then somebody very wise told me that I needed a website. So I went and got a website as well. And that doing those steps really helped out.

3:53Okay. What about TikTok? You got one of those yet? My wife does a lot of TikTok, but I'm not really into that. Not yet. I just don't seem to have the time to really get on the phone to do that. Yeah, yeah, it's tough. But yeah, TikTok is like the man, it's like the number one way now to market your business. It's TikTok. Seems like everybody's on that thing these days. So what would you say is the most stressful moment you've had as a business owner? Like a, you know, how am I going to get through this type of moment? I would say when you're on a deadline, working for commercial clients, they want to make money and have their business open.

4:35And when they shut down and they give you a specific date and it's getting close to that date, it gets a little stressful. When guys that you have employees, when they call out sick or something, that's also stressful. or if you just have like a freak accident like I did the other day, it got rear-ended and that just stopped all production for that day. I had to deal with that car accident. So those kinds of things. Oh man. Yeah. We got to get into a little bit more. What happened there? And I'm glad you're okay. Seems like it. Thank you. I was on with that accident there. Yes, sir. Battlefield Parkway.

5:15I was on my way to go pick up my wife on Sunday. she was on a women's retreat for our church and I was going to pick her up and I was at a red light and somebody slammed right into me and then took off. And the lady in front of me was my saving grace because she actually ran after him, took pictures of his car and his license plate, came back, find out that she was a nurse. She aided me and then got me to the hospital. Oh, nice, nice, Nice. Nice. Well, see, I mean, no big injuries or anything, right? You're good. No, nothing major. And I'm really good to go now. Nice. Nice. That's a good blessing there.

5:56So have you ever thought about quitting your business? And if so, what stopped you? At one point I did because I wasn't seeing a lot of income coming in. The first year I was trying to grow it and it discouraged me a little bit. And I went into a little bit of not much of a depression, but I talked to my wife about it and I was really scared. I don't know what we're going to do. And then I prayed about it and the good Lord made the phone ring and the phone kept ringing. So that discouragement was just for a moment of time. Yeah. So just a temporary setback. Yes, sir. Yeah. Nice. Nice. so what's a mistake you've made early on that cost you either serious money time or reputation in your business would you say not vetting um employees when i wanted to hire some guys i just got really quickly i got excited when i put an ad on that i was hiring and i jumped at the first person they said they had a lot of experience i got them on the job site and they were not what they said so they sold themselves pretty well during the interview but in the long run I had to let that person go and several others because of not proper vetting okay okay so what's something about you personally that had to change in order for your business to grow would you say my attitude towards the employees that I have I come from a military background.

7:39So I'm always have structure, but working for the best company in Chattanooga at the time, uh, before I went into business for myself, uh, there was a lot of expectations on all of us. So I kind of had that in my head with my employees and I demanded the same type of results and I was not getting that. So I had to do like a self check of seeing what was going on and change my attitude and be more positive and give incentives for guys to work for me that would be very happy to work for my company. So you're saying, so to dig into that a little bit more, so you're saying you had very high expectations.

8:19You expected everybody to live up to them? Yes, I took them at their word. So for instance, a man said he had 15 years experience. I get him on a job on day one and he was rolling a wall out with a roller and he was hitting the ceiling and we were not painting the ceiling. It was popcorn. And the customer actually was watching during this time. And she was like, are you going to fix that? I was like, yes, I will. And I had to take him and say, OK, do something else. And so a lesson learned that you can't always take everybody at their word. Yeah, yeah. No, that's true. That's kind of embarrassing.

8:56But I'm sure you made it right, right? over the long way. I most definitely did. And she gave me a good Google review after that. Nice. Yeah, that's always the best way to handle it. You know, you have an issue that comes up and you handle it professionally and you turn it around and it ends up being a positive experience at the end of the day. Yes, sir. That's a sign of a really good business owner. I love that. I love hearing that. So let's say if someone shadowed you, and obviously this is hypothetical, but let's say if someone shadowed you for a full day, what would surprise them the most about how you operate?

9:27I guess I would say how neat I am. I'm very, when I go into a, for instance, somebody's home, I treat it as like it's my own. My wife keeps a tidy house. So I expect the way I find a room or somebody's home to look like that and much better after I get done with my work. So if I had somebody watching me, they would see that I'm putting down the proper drop cloths or plastic or tape, and I'm putting everything perfectly so that there will be no imperfections. Obviously, no one's perfect, but during that time, I don't get nervous if somebody is watching me, and they would be like, oh, wow, this guy takes everything seriously.

10:13Okay. Okay. No, I love that. I love that. So let's talk numbers without getting too specific. You know, what what would you say was the turning point where things started to scale and you became profitable in your business? I would say when I landed my first commercial job and it was a coffee shop in Cleveland and they called me and they said, we would like to have you come out and give us an estimate. When I got there, I saw that there was a lot of work and I gave them very fair pricing. And the lady, the customer was like, that's really low. You should go up on your pricing. And at that moment, I was like, oh, wow.

10:59So I guess I can, but I don't want to because I'm in competition with a lot of other people. I don't want to lose out on the job, but I do want to have to. I do want to make money myself. So what would you say actually moves the needle most in your business right now? I have to say having faith in God that he will provide for me. Nice. I love it. I love it. So what's one thing you're doing today that gives you an unfair advantage over your competitors, would you say? So I came up with a system that it's not trademarked or anything, but something that I really enjoy doing. So when I go to a customer and I look around and I'm assessing the situation and I bring it home to give them a proper estimate of a detailed estimate sheet, what I do is at the end of it, after I tally everything up and I come up with a number.

11:56So let's say if it was$1 ,000, I give them 10 % off. If they give me a Google review or if they give me another referral to another client, I give them 10 % off. And that's really big on what I've been doing. And I don't jack up the price to get that 10 % back either. Nice, nice. I'm sure people like that a lot. Yes, they do. They enjoy getting a discount. yeah anytime you can save some money is always good so yeah let's let's go back to it i mean you did say you have a team of team of guys that work with you what would you say is the fastest way someone could lose their job working for you other than what you said earlier about the guy kind of messing up and uh painting the ceiling there anything else yeah well since i have integrity and um my number one thing i tell my guys before they start a story that my father told me a long time ago when I was working for him, there's a hundred dollar bill sitting there on the person's counter and you're working and you take that hundred dollar bill and you put it in your pocket.

13:06At that moment, you just got a hundred dollars. So you're a hundred dollars richer, but at the end of the week, you're not going to get the four or$500 or whatever your pay is at the end of the week. So theft to me would be the number one deal breaker because people trust me to be in their homes. That$100 bill will still be sitting there at the end of the job. Okay. Okay. And then let's say hypothetically on the flip side, what makes someone instantly valuable to your team? Their personality. So I have a guy, Hezekiah. He's the first guy I hired. He is amazing. He's African-American and he just is eager to learn.

13:50He goes excuse my French, he goes balls to the wall. So I guess he really goes the extra mile to not only please my customers, but he's doing it to please me because he knows my expectations, but he is just his personality on the job site is so great that the people, my customers and other people that are around, it has gotten me more business because they brag about him at the end of the job. So personality is a huge thing. All right, perfect. All right, so we're going to head into what's called the quickfire round. So how this works, I'm going to give you one word, and I just want you to tell me the first thing that comes to your mind.

14:36Your answer doesn't have to be one word, but it's just the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear each word in regards to running your business, and then you kind of expand upon why you chose that does that make sense yes sir all right perfect first word is success family i'm sorry the reason why i chose family is because uh the more successful that i am uh the more lucrative it will be for my family that's a fact yeah that is true the next word is failure prayer When I seem to think that I am failing, I will go to prayer and get a boost from God. Love it. Love it. Burnout. Being on my side by side and spinning those tires in the mountains.

15:27I love it. Scaling. Trying to determine. Oh, I'm sorry. Scaling. I was going to say fishing. And that's the only thing that pops in my head with scaling, fishing, trying to get more employees, I guess, to perform for me. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. I mean, you kind of just went into it. But yeah, hiring is the next word. Hiring. Leadership. I expect my guys to have a leadership role where they can help other guys to perform better. Competition. There's a lot of folks out there that claim to be painters. and they just don't take it seriously and they don't have legitimate businesses. Yeah. Yeah. I know. I know where you're going with that.

16:37I got that. And the last word is freedom. Country. I fought for it really hard and I love it very much because I gave eight years of my life to it. Nice. Nice. No, I love that. Thank you. Thank you for getting through the quick fire round. I appreciate that. So, yeah, where do you think your industry is going now and what are most people getting wrong about it right now, would you say? well a lot of uh the industry i talk to a lot of customers because i ask them this question all the time and what has been getting me the job more so lately is that there are some people out there that are claiming to have their business painting wise i can only speak for this but uh they are taking 50 of the money or if not all the money up front from the customer before they start and then they are not showing up and they are just taking advantage of people out there.

17:39So I come in and I do the job. And when my job is finished, I ask for payment when the job is complete. Wait a minute, wait a minute. Okay. Are you serious? They're asking for like a 50 % down payment, I guess, is what you... Yeah, so most of my customers, I would say about 80 % so far, has said that the number one thing from painters right now in the Chattanooga area, that they are not showing up after they received half or full payment. And then they're changing their phone numbers and they're changing their email addresses and the name of their company as well. And the second most thing that is agitating to the customers is painters not showing up or calling back or going to someone's house to give them an estimate.

18:33So those are the two problems. Wow. That is that's wild. I've not heard that yet. That's why I was a little surprised. I've not heard that. But yeah, definitely keep on the lookout. I did not know that was happening. um yeah so if you know if a business or and i want you to be as candid as you can on the next answer to this question but let's say a small business owner is listening to the podcast episode today with you joseph and you know let's say they're they're they're feeling stuck or overwhelmed and let's say you know they're having a bad day or it's even a bad week or let's say having a bad 2026 so far what's a piece of advice you'd want them to hear from you today Give me a call and I'll come help you out.

19:14No, I'm just kidding. I would say just stick with it. And the best thing that you can do is have a private moment with yourself. Get with God and just ask him for guidance and he will show you the way. That's the number one thing I can say. But as for me, as what I would say, keep your head up, keep trying and just always make sure that you put the customer first. And you put your business as like that's your number one source of income. So you want to give your best everything that you've got because you have got a family or somebody counting on you to come home at the end of the day and bring that income.

19:57Nice, nice. I love it. I think that's good advice. So what would you say is next for JMJ Painting and Maintenance? What should people be excited about coming up in the near future for your business? um i'm probably hiring a few more people and uh we're gonna expand into uh different things other than just the painting part of it which is commercial residential and uh industrial i i would like to do more like handyman stuff a lot of my customers always ask me if i can do little odds and ends around the house and i don't want to tell them no okay so handyman stuff is coming up soon. You have any kind of timeline on when that'll happen?

20:39Probably, I would say probably in about a month. I do seldomly do little odds and ends like that now, but because I am in B &I chapter, I try to stay away from things if there is somebody in my chapter that does or performs that task. Gotcha. Gotcha. All right. Perfect. And you said you're hiring. So what are you hiring for? Did you want to put that out there on the podcast today? Yeah, just somebody with experience and that can be told one time what to do something. I would say five years experience at least or have been in the construction field to know what's going on. Perfect, perfect. Yeah, just reach out to them.

21:24And finally, what's the best way for someone to connect with you or learn more about what you do? I'm old school, like my father, who has taught me everything. So I like talking to a person one-on-one in person. But for me, a phone call or a text message is really the best thing. Emails are okay, but it's a lot easier for me to just pick up the phone and just dial a number. Yeah. And that's have the conversation. And what's that number in case anybody's interested in reaching out to you? Area code 423-320-5483. Perfect. Perfect. And yeah, any social media? I know you said something about a website, but any other social media website um besides google um facebook uh have jmj at facebook however that goes next door app i'm on there at jmj painting and maintenance um instagram uh jmj painting and maintenance llc at instagram and then also uh our website at jmj painting and maintenance llc.com Okay, perfect.

22:43Perfect. All right, Joseph. Yeah, this has been fantastic. Yeah. Thank you for coming on today and sharing your story, your perspective, and your real behind the scenes and building your business. Really appreciate you today, man. You were great. You're great. I love your humor. You're wonderful. Thank you, Cliff. I really appreciate this opportunity.

23:01Joseph Johnson: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. It's free for you at gift 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.

23:48Joseph Johnson: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.