Craft, Culture, And The Business Of Restoration In Asheville with Alex Nebe

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.

0:36Welcome to this week's episode of Epic Entrepreneurs. My name is Cliff McCray. I'm filling in for Bill Gilliland with your local business training and coaching firm Action Coach Business Growth Partners. I'm excited to have Alex Nebe with Retune Restoration as the focus for our Epic Entrepreneurs podcast today. So, Alex, please introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about yourself and your company and kind of what your products and services you offer for the community here in Nashville. Sure. Thank you for having me. Yeah. So it's Alex Nebe. I'm the founder and craftsman behind Retune Restoration.

1:08Our focus is basically working closely with clients to retune their older homes. Typically, homes probably like 1950s where they have amazing architectural woodwork and certain details that need some attention to detail and care to restore and preserve. So, yeah, we sort of work with clients and do it in the most sustainable and responsible way to sort of keep those homes looking beautiful and living forever. Okay, perfect. Love it. So if you had to start your business from square one, what would you do differently? I mean, I definitely know a lot more. So I think, I mean, the thing for me is, I guess, I started when I first moved to Asheville, started the company.

2:04So the main thing's been kind of growing the network and really finding out what the best way of doing that is. so I think just spending as much time making connections, meeting people and then my goal is to sort of start building a team of craftsmen to join myself so yeah just focusing on the company culture and the goals and really push that forward to sort of communicate what we're trying to achieve Okay, great, great. So what have your biggest learnings been as an owner and employer since you started your business? um that probably you know the the financial side versus the the the craft side is always a challenging one to navigate um you know these older homes there's a lot of detailed work involved so trying to um you know communicate the the amount of work that it takes to restore a home or a window or something like that and the value that is provided by that um sort of being able to really know the best ways to do that will probably be yeah okay love it love it so what are some common misconceptions about running a business and how do you address them um i mean i think uh the thing for me is always you know the amount of time it takes if you are a smaller team um you know you you don't you have to be on all all sides of the the spectrum um you have to be the person you know interacting with the clients you have to be the person on the job making sure it runs properly you have to be the person you know wearing all the different hats um the the idea of entrepreneurship is always a really good one.

4:11It's kind of what I've always leaned towards in my life, but it's definitely something that takes a lot of attention, hard work, and you have to learn a lot of different skills and implement them on a daily basis. So just being open to anyone's advice and being proactive about learning different, you know, methods, techniques, you know, practices, processes, that kind of thing. Yeah. Yeah. So have you always been seen as a leader, even going through school and everything? I think so. I mean, even in high school, it was definitely one of the reviews that I've had. I'm not necessarily the most loud and in your face necessarily, but I've always had that sort of role.

5:02You know, I grew up, I've spent a lot of time traveling, and specifically sailing. So you always have to be able to work with a team, regardless of where they come from, what their background is. So I think that's definitely helped me in the long run. But yeah. Yeah, that's a huge strength to have. You know, when you learn how to work with different people with different backgrounds, it's huge, right? Because you can't treat certain people the way, I was a trainer and I couldn't train people in Connecticut the way I would train people in Arizona. Different lifestyle, the different background, just the way they move in life is different.

5:41So yeah, I definitely understand what you mean. You have to kind of get to know each person individually and understand what's important to them and work like that. Agreed, agreed. So what have you attributed to your growth so far in your business? um just a you know deep down care for everything i do um specifically like just the seeing the value in older homes um there's in the in the construction world you know there's always a big push to build new and and start from scratch but especially with you know higher prices and materials and that kind of thing the value that you can get from older homes if you know how to do it.

6:24The materials inside of our home are so much better quality-wise than what you can buy today. So if you can take that and make it into something that looks updated, retune it, yeah, it just really brings new value to it. So yeah. Okay. Yeah, and that's a perfect name, right? Obviously, you chose the perfect name for your business, Retune Restoration. That's what you're talking about. It matches perfectly. Yeah, he's just taking an old thing and trying to make it, you know, bring it up to modern standards while preserving the, you know, the charm and beauty of it. I definitely agree. You know, just those older homes, there's a charm to them that just older homes just can't copy.

7:10I think everyone at some point in their life has driven through a historic neighborhood or district and just been amazed at what they see. whether that's what we built today or not. There's certain enjoyment and joy that we get from that. So I think we need to do our best to preserve it and keep it going. All right. So how do you balance your personal life with the demands of running a business? This is always a good one. That's the key right there. I think especially working for yourself, it's very easy to lose that balance. I personally have always struggled with it I think it's just you've got to be thinking about it and being aware of it every day being respectful for the people that you're working with and your own time and your family's time is a big one and just taking a moment it doesn't have to be much but just a moment to disconnect and calm everything down because when you're working for yourself, you definitely can kind of get on a hamster wheel and run yourself silly.

8:22So, yeah. How do you typically handle vacations?

8:30I mean, basically, I try and just take, you know, I'll keep an eye on everything, be that emails, phone calls, that kind of thing, but I'll generally carve out some time and let people know that I'm going to be out of town or something like that. But yeah, being a small team, it's really challenging, but I feel like I do a decent job at sort of disconnecting to a certain degree. You know, never fully off the clock because there's always something that could go astray and you've got to attend to it. But yeah, it's just giving yourself a bit of time to breathe and think of something different. Okay.

9:19How many employees do you have at your business? Right now, it's just myself. Just yourself? Okay. Yeah, just me. With the new year coming in, I'm looking to hire a couple people, maybe one, two. I would really like to do an apprenticeship role where I can share my knowledge and grow the community, the CrossFit community. That's one goal.

9:48Great, great. So you're just looking for one person or is it two people? How many do you think you'll need? I think probably ultimately two. Right now, I think initially we start with someone that wants to learn the basics of woodwork and window restoration. And then moving forward, have someone to come in on more of the skilled carpentry side. And then between the three of us, we kind of have all the bases covered. Yeah. Yeah. I just, you know, for me, I always want to do it intentionally and find the right person and make sure that they're getting as much value as I'm getting and share that.

10:32So, yeah. Yeah. All right. All right. So we're going to head into the quickfire round. So I'm just going to say one word and I kind of want you to just think of the first thing that comes to your head when you when you hear this word. Doesn't have to be one word that you respond with. Just kind of what's the whatever the first thing is that you think of. education uh vital it's uh it's something that uh yeah i mean i look at education as like the the golden ticket to to anything that you do um the more you know the broader view that you have on any subjects um the better um in the line of work that we do i'm always looking back at you know, stuff that people were doing 100 years ago because there's trade skills there that we've lost on the whole.

11:24So I'm always looking into books from 100 years ago, catalogs and that kind of thing, getting tips and ideas and tricks from there. So it's, yeah, it's a daily thing. I'm always doing some myself, you know, learning something every day to some degree. So, yeah, it's very important. Nice. Love it. Planning? That is also a very important aspect. It's something that will either determine the success or the enjoyment that you get out of something. So yeah, just being very diligent to plan ahead and be proactive about it. Don't wait till the day before and try and catch up. So yeah. Inspiration. I mean, that's a big reason why I do what I do.

12:19You know, my background was originally boat building. That's kind of where I came from, boat building custom furniture. But I just really enjoy and appreciate the old homes that we have in this country and the architectural detail, the skill of, you know, woodwork that was around 100 years ago. So that's why I get up every morning, go work on these old houses. that's not necessarily always glamorous, but they inspire me to really keep doing it and save as much as we can and preserve what we can and then also share that knowledge and expertise as much as I can. So, yeah. Perfect, perfect. And commitment?

13:04I mean, yeah, that's something that I feel like you have to have. Definitely in the construction world, You have to be both committed to your goals and your mission, but also to the client that you're working with. It's a very close relationship that you have to have. So, yeah, you have to show up, do what you say you're going to do, and do it to the best of your ability. Perfect. I love that. Yeah, doing what you say you're going to do is huge, and I feel like that's huge. I mean, if you can really stick to what you're doing, what you say you're going to do, that's huge, right? And if you can't do it, letting the person know that you can't.

13:43Communication. Yeah, exactly. Giving them some sort of understanding of what your skills are. I mean, there's often days where I'll have someone come up to me with something that I'm not necessarily skilled at or I've done before, but I'm willing to learn how to do that. And if they're willing to work with me on that, we'll do it. So, yeah. Nice. Nice. So what words of advice would you offer to other business owners who are looking to grow? Learn from your peers, ask lots of questions. Don't be afraid to put yourself out there and kind of, you know, see if you can try and learn a skill or an idea from someone that's not necessarily related to your industry.

14:29I spend a lot of time networking with other people, especially in Nashville, and I get a lot of feedback from that and ideas and approaches that I normally wouldn't get from just reading one book or, you know, searching something on the internet. So yeah, learn from others. Gotcha. All right. Now, um, what's the next big thing for retune restoration coming into the new year, other than the hiring of, you know, people that you said, um, I mean, growing the team, and in doing so kind of maybe taking on bigger projects. You know, right now we're doing mostly like smaller carpentry projects, be that like wainscoting inside of a home.

15:14We do a lot of window and door restorations. And, you know, my sort of vision with the company is to keep doing that, but also move into more of the bigger renovations and restoration projects and really creating healthy living spaces for the people that live in the homes because we spend so much time inside of our homes. That space doesn't bring you joy and is not a healthy place to live in and we're not getting the best benefit out of it. Yeah. Agreed. And lastly, especially since you're hiring, what's the best way for someone to get in contact with you? You can find me on my website. My information is on there.

15:57Email, there's a contact form. um we're on uh both facebook and instagram um and then also linkedin you can either search routine restoration or alex needy you'll find me on there perfect perfect and in regards to your hiring are you hiring right now or would that be going into the new year it'll probably start the new year with the new year i'll kind of want to start the new year with with that uh so probably January, we can either keep an eye out for some posts about that or if you're interested, shoot me an email. I'm not opposed to it. I just want to be prepared in terms of exactly what the hiring process is going to be, what our goal is.

16:39I want to be able to communicate that as best as my ability. Perfect. Perfect. Fantastic. Thank you so much for being a part of the community and all that you're doing. We certainly wish you continued success. thank you i appreciate you having me on here and uh yeah look forward to uh the future with everyone yeah yeah thank you very much all right have a great one all right you too all right that was done that was great that was great yeah i had to dig into that a little bit when you're talking about the uh 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.

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