Building Trust: Home Inspections, Growth, and the Power of Planning with Will King

0:02Hi, 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. We go into their wins, their challenges, and their learnings. So we hope you enjoy it.

0:36hi there welcome this week's episode of epic entrepreneurs i have got an amazing guest today and but first i'm bill gilliland i am the principal to action coach business growth partners and one of the founders and principals at the ashville business summit um but today we're not talking about me we're talking about will and so i've got will from high side home inspections. Will King, welcome to the podcast. Tell us a little bit about Highside Home Inspections and what you do and how you do it here in our communities. Yeah, thanks, Bill. At Highside Home Inspections, we do residential home inspections for buyers and sellers or even just folks that own their own home and just want to know the kind of the status of the home, the health of the home.

1:27Most of what we do is for real estate transactions. But again, we can just, if you just own a home and kind of want to know if there's things that need to be repaired or maintained, we do that too. Yeah, I think that's a very underutilized service. I know that we were at one time in my life, we were looking at, we weren't in a hurry to sell our house, but we knew we were going to move eventually. And I mean, that was super helpful to have a, and it was in another town and a home inspector come out, just tell us everything that needed to be done. And we just did it. And I was amazed a lot of it, you know, I thought, man, this is going to be, you know, tens of thousands of dollars.

2:07And it just wasn't, it was just a lot of little stuff to get fixed, you know, and to make the house worth more money when we finally did list it. So, yeah. Yeah. The best way to get the most money for your home kind of over time is to do continual maintenance on it. You know, there's always something to do in a home and not all of it is huge. No, no. In fact, most of it isn't if you just do it along the way. So, yeah, it's interesting. Well, let me ask, let's talk about business a minute. So if you had to start from square one in business, what would you do differently? I would do a little more research on things like marketing.

2:50You know, I attended the Asheville Business Summit this year and I'm doing the 30X challenge. And I would, quite frankly, do a lot of that stuff. I would start with the end in mind versus just kind of making my own way through it.

3:08And as I'm going through this program, I'm only on day, I don't know, what are we on, day nine or something right now? I would really start with the end in mind and build my marketing in my business with that in mind. It really does make it a clear picture. Yeah, perfect. Perfect. I love that. Well, a little bit selfishly, tell us how the 30X challenge is going and what you're getting out of that. So I just started in January. So a lot of it or some of it doesn't necessarily apply to me directly, but I can see how it will in the next year or two. But it's going well. I've already kind of change the way I do marketing or I'm making a plan how I change the way I do marketing.

3:56And I've run some numbers and figured out what I need to do next year to reach my goals. And so it's definitely worthwhile. Yeah, yeah. No, I tell people in the challenge, like, look, just make a list of all the action items. It might be a six-year list or a three-year list. It's so much there that don't do the things that are critical now that you need to do to move forward. But I think just getting, like you say, beginning with the end in mind, figure out the goals. So what have been some of your learnings as an owner since you started?

4:40Wow, that's a good question.

4:45First, it's more difficult than you think, or if you don't do the planning, it's more difficult to market and to get repeat business than I initially had thought. There's a lot more things in the background. It's not just home inspections when you own a business. It's, of course, marketing and budgets and customer contact. and it's more on the back end than I had anticipated. Yeah, I think that's what happens a lot of times. People say, well, holy cow, you know, I can do the tech stuff, you know, whatever the technical job of the business, your case, home inspections, but, you know, I didn't count on, you know, the financial and, you know, the time that it takes to do the marketing and the sales and, you know, the whole thing.

5:38So, yeah, it's great. So what are some common misconceptions about running a business?

5:53I guess one of them is that business will just kind of show up, and that's not the case. Yeah, if you build it, they will come. It doesn't work that way. Yeah. Right, not necessarily. really um i this year i've spent a lot of time doing my most of my marketing plan was just networking and um you know networking is kind of like fishing it's uh you really never know what you're going to get uh you know if uh if if you caught fish every time they'd call it catching not not fishing so um this year i plan to put a more targeted marketing force as a as as a plan for quarter one of next year and even the end of this year yeah so being more intentional with um with the target but you know sometimes it's hard to figure out who the target is until you've gone fishing a little bit you know you you got to go to figure out where the fish are, sometimes you have to go fishing a couple of times to figure that out.

6:58So good on you for getting out there and seeing what network events work and which ones don't work and you know, those kinds of things. So what do you attribute your growth to?

7:10I guess I attribute my growth mostly to my communication strategies with clients that I have currently. I like to meet with all of my clients at the end of my inspection so I can give them a kind of a verbal summary before I hand them a report. And they seem to appreciate that. And that has led to referrals from both agents and other clients, just the owners that I've met. I love that.

7:48And reminders and questions, and I'm just available for my clients. Love it. Love it. Yeah, anything to get referrals. I mean, referrals are obviously easy business or easier business. Not easy, but easier. So how do you balance personal life and business life? That's a good question. And it hasn't been a great balance so far. And mostly because, you know, I'm just starting. When the phone rings, I answer it, even if it's 830 at night. And I have started making a, so I take Mondays and I spend that time doing personal stuff and then working directly on the business and not doing anything home inspection wise.

8:38And that has helped kind of the work-life balance. Before I got into home inspections, I was in the classroom. I was a classroom teacher, and I didn't do well with work-life balance at that time either. So it's one of the things I'm still working on. Yeah, I mean, balance is a tough word, right? Right. You know, what does that really mean? I mean, you know, and so I think you have to define what it means for you. I mean, what's your system or what's your plan? In ancient times, the plan was work six days and get a day off, essentially. And so that's what the ancient scripts say. But it's, you know, what's your plan?

9:23So, I mean, I think that's a good one to take Mondays and make it a day for taking care of all the personal stuff. Love that stuff.

9:35So let me give you a sort of a quick fire round, get your thoughts on it. You know, BEPIC is our acronym here. And I'll tell you, you know, I'll tell you what the, you know, what the letters stand for. And then you just tell me a little bit about like, you know, one or two sentences at most, what that means to you. So the first one is B, which is bring the energy. So what are your thoughts around bringing the energy? I mean, I think as an owner, my energy toward how I communicate with clients and network and market and all that stuff really drives how people view me. And if you don't bring a positive energy, then I feel like a positive energy is the best way to reach people and to have them want to do business with you.

10:24Yeah, 100%. Yeah. I mean, energy brings energy. I mean, is that, so E stands for education. All right. Yeah. In fact, I feel like that's how I set myself apart. I'm a former teacher and, you know, most of what I do is bring peace of mind to either buyers or sellers if they're, you know, if they're buying a home. And part of that is education. And that's part of the reason why I like to meet with my clients after, for a verbal summary to kind of educate them about my findings. And, you know, there's always something that needs to be fixed in a home. And it doesn't mean it's a reason not to buy it or to tear it all down or whatever.

11:11Right. Yeah. Yeah. I always think that, you know, really good sales is really education and allowing other people to buy. And so, yeah, I think that's fantastic. So P stands for planning. Um, yeah, planning, certainly if you own your own business is a super important thing as I'm learning right now. Um, and if you, you know, for me, planning starts now currently with the end in mind. And then once you know your goal, you can, you can get there. And without a plan, you just kind of flying in the dark. Yeah, a hundred percent. Yeah, I like it. So I stands for inspiration. Hmm. Inspiration. I guess you, you got to find inspiration every day to show up and do the plan.

12:03Yeah. It's not always easy. You got it. Yeah. So where do you find inspiration?

12:11Um, I, I, I guess I find inspiration in helping people and providing peace of mind. Um, And part of that is in the education of folks about their homes. Yeah, no, I love that. I love that. Yeah. I feel like I'm getting some light here. Let me see if I can. That's fine. Is that better? Yeah, it's all right. It's all good. It's all good here. So the last letter in B Epic is C, which is commitment. Yeah. Yeah. It's easy to lose that commitment if you don't immediately or aren't immediately successful in whatever you're doing. And, you know, commitment is, in my mind, is the way to get better at whatever it is.

13:00So, you know, just because it's hard doesn't mean you give up. Love that. Yeah, I love that. Yep. So what words of advice would you offer other business owners who are looking to grow?

13:17if, if you have, if it has, if you have it in your mind that of whatever goal you have, commit to it and do it. Um,

13:28if you're looking to grow, then, you know, I guess I've learned it recently in the past couple of weeks, start with the end in mind and think big. And then, you know, you can, You can only go as far as your goal is. So set your goals high and reach them. I love that. I love that. So you've got an event coming up. Tell us about that. We are having a second time and first time home buyers event. It's at Guide On Brewing Company. It is on. Hold on. Let me make sure I get the date right. It's on November 4th from 5 to 7, and we have a team of folks that are all having to do with buying a home. Trish Lucy from Engel Volkers Realty, Tapsha Scott from Home Trust Bank, and then Brandon Adams from Farm Bureau Insurance, and then myself from Highside Home Inspections.

14:32And we're just going to give homeowners an idea of what they can expect as they either buy their first home or maybe a second home here in Asheville. And ultimately, we have created this team so that it's a seamless transition for all that stuff. And you can get all the information you need for all those things. Yeah. And look, if you're in the market, you need to come out because you got to educate yourself before you can make good decisions. And this is a great team. They're going to they're just going to give you the education you need to make an informed decision. And that's that's all you can ask for.

15:11You know, that's. Yeah. The home buying process itself is sometimes anxiety driven and can be scary, certainly if you're a first time homebuyer. And having all that information and education is it's really important. One of the things I'm going to focus on is things that homeowners or home buyers can look for as they're touring a home that would be a red flag or maybe just something that's kind of small. So they'll have some information so they can make, like I said, a form decision about a home. Well, this whole team is helping people buy houses or either way, buy it or sell a house all the time.

15:58And most people that buy houses, they're only doing it a few times in their life, other than investors.

16:10And obviously, this is going to be a great educational event. You can come out, enjoy some beverages, and learn some stuff. It's a win-win-win for everybody. So, hey, what's the next big thing for you and Highside Home Inspections? Next big thing. You know, I'm looking forward to, you may or may not know, we have about eight months that is kind of the home buying season, if you will, from March to October. And so as I move into kind of my slower season, I'm really focusing on next year and setting goals that are bigger than I set for this year and figuring out ways to reach them. So I'm really focusing in on not only finishing inspections for this year or whatever clients need, but I'm really focusing in on next year.

17:11Yeah, I think that's important to get ahead of it, set some goals, get some strategies in place for how you're going to reach those goals and go for it. So well done. Well done. I love that. So what's the best way for someone to get a hold of you? You know, you can call, text. My number is 828-243-3436. You can reach out on our website. We have a contact page there, or you can email me at willking at highsideinspections.com. I love it. Listen, fantastic. Thanks for being part of our community. Thanks for coming out to the summit and enjoying that. And yeah, it's great to have you on there. Appreciate all you're doing.

17:59And we certainly know that you're going to continue to be successful. So thanks for being on the podcast. Yeah, thanks for having me, Bill. Hey, and until next time, all the best.

18:37Second, to learn more about growing your business, just download my book, The Coach Approach. It'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.