Crawl Spaces Aren’t Fun, But Getting Good Reviews Are — with Howard Jones

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.

0:39all righty welcome to this week's episode of epic entrepreneurs i am cliff mccray filling in for bill gillilland with your local business training and coaching firm action coach business growth partners i'm excited to have howard jones with healthy home environmental as the focus for epic entrepreneurs podcast episode today so howard please introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about yourself and your company and what you do for the community. Hi, my name is Howard Jones. I'm the district project manager and owner operator of Healthy Home Environmental. We do water damage, flood damage, mold remediation, crawl space encapsulations.

1:19We have 24 hour response. we you know we we're going to be there with a very educated and common sense approach to any issue that you might have when it comes to water and mold perfect any guarantees involved uh well you know with with uh with the work as far as mold as far as guarantees uh we can do testing after uh the job has been completed and that will give you some empirical data to say that, you know, that will give you what the spore counts are at that particular time. The thing about mold is mold is an evolving issue because I could clean it. And theoretically, you could have an issue the next day and then the spore counts are going to change, of course.

2:05So the if anyone is telling you they can give you an ironclad guarantee, they're they're pulling your leg because it is all mold. is definitely, it's going to be contingent on conditions because, again, conditions can change from day to day. Okay, perfect. All right. So if you had to start your business from square one tomorrow, what would you do differently? Man. Oh. That's a good one, huh? Yeah, that is a good one. I don't know if I would do anything different. I worked for another company for a number of years And I really realized that, you know, even though it is not, I mean, it's mold, water damage, it's a people business.

2:54And having personal relationships with realtors and homeowners and insurance adjusters have really propelled me forward in being an entrepreneur.

3:07I'm sorry, could you go ahead and repeat that again? You had kind of cut out there for a second. I said it's really trying to cultivate personal relationships with not only homeowners, but realtors and insurance adjusters. That is a primary concept that needs to be cultivated if you're going to have a successful business in this business. OK, perfect. All right. So what have your biggest learnings been as an owner and employer since you started your business? uh every job uh is different um and you're you're really only known for your last job um and so that's why i try to take uh every job as if it's going to be my my first job and i'm trying to make a a lasting impression no matter how many jobs i've done okay okay so so basically you treat every job like your life depends on it, I guess.

4:06I mean, because it really does. Because I mean, I could have a thousand great jobs if nothing went wrong, that I could have one bad job and that could literally tear you down. Yeah. And especially how word of mouth gets out these days, Google reviews, stuff like that. Exactly. Exactly. And I really don't do a lot of advertising just because of my, I've been doing this for 20 plus years. And so the relationships that I cultivated during those 20 years have really propelled me. So I really don't do a lot of advertising. It's just word of mouth from people who have been happy with the work that I've done, telling other people about it when they are confronted with a similar situation.

4:50Yeah, that's great. That's a great way to run business. Yeah. So what are some common misconceptions about running a business and how do you address them? Uh, that it's, uh, that it's all peaches and cream. I mean, everything falls on you. You either get it done or you don't get it done. Um, I don't think anyone would really think that running a business is easy. Um, but it can be a little bit more challenging when you're on your own business because, uh, everything is on your shoulders. So if I don't get out there and get work done, then, you know, the money isn't coming in and then, you know, you're in trouble.

5:29Okay. And what have you attributed to your growth so far in your business? A common sense approach in treating people the way that they should be treated. There's a lot of room for mistreatment, especially in the mold industry, because there are a lot of variables that if you just don't know, you just don't know. And so you can be taken advantage of because of that lack of knowledge. Okay. So really being knowledgeable about what you're doing and all that. Yes. And just treating people fairly. Okay. So how do you balance your personal life with the demands of running a business? I mean, it's not easy, but you just have to, I guess, you know, you have to be good at scheduling.

6:19I have, you know, my family and family is very, very important to me. But then again, you know, you have there's things that you just have to take care of. And so they're very supportive of me and what I do. And so you can't be in two places at one time. So you have to just try to prioritize as best you can. Yeah. And speaking of family, you know, I don't you know, obviously we've we've talked before about your son. Would you like to give him a quick shout out on what he does? I sure would. Hayden Jones, sophomore linebacker from the University of Alabama, roll tide. He is a great player. He's from, obviously, he's from Asheville.

7:05He went to Christ School. He was an Under Armour All-American. And now he's a linebacker for the University of Alabama. Yeah, that's awesome. That's awesome. Yeah. So, and now as far as, you know, keeping your balance, balancing your personal life with the demands of running a business, how do you handle vacations? I don't, I don't even know what that is. Oh, it is very hard. Again, if you're, if you're running your own business, if you're not here or there, then you're not there. And so it's very hard to try to schedule something like that because, I mean, literally, if when and if I just go to football games down in Tuscaloosa, my phone will start blowing up of people wanting to contact me and wanting to see me.

7:58It's almost like they have a sixth sense of knowing I'm trying to get out of town and trying to get a little me time. And so it's really hard to do that. How long does that drive typically take? About six and a half, seven hours, depending on traffic in Atlanta. You have to go through, you don't have to go through Atlanta, but that's the shortest route. And if you don't get there at, you know, anytime before two or three o 'clock, it starts to get, you know, kind of hectic going through Atlanta. Oh, yeah. I feel like Atlanta is always pretty busy. I mean, at no time is there not traffic, but it's just that if you can get there early enough, the traffic isn't as bad.

8:42Okay. Perfect. So what qualities, you said you do have some employees, what qualities do you look for in employees and how do you foster a positive and productive work environment? Um, hardworking, uh, punctual, um, dependable. Uh, we, we, I, I run a tight ship, but it's late back at the same time. Uh, I wouldn't ask them to do anything that I wouldn't do myself. Um, I'm generally on every job site, uh, at some point, um, to answer questions or to, you know, try to, uh, talk to the guys about what needs to be done today. and how the job is coming along. Really, again, it's just treating them like I would want to be treated as an employee of someone.

9:36Yeah. And make sure they actually enjoy coming to work every day, right? I mean, I don't know if they actually enjoy it. I don't know many people who actually, if they can look at their job and just say, man, I really love doing it. but in life, you know, some things just have to be, just have to get done. And we do a lot of work in crawl spaces and crawl spaces for the, you know, for the most part are not fun places to be, but if that's the job, then let's go ahead and do it and do it well, and then get done with it and go to the next one. Yeah. Understood. All right. So we'll move on next to the quick fire round.

10:14So basically what I'm going to do, I'm going to say one word and you basically give me the first thing that comes to your mind, the first stop that comes to your mind when I say this word in regards to running your business. Education. Pivotal.

10:31Any more thoughts? You don't have to respond. The mold and water damage, I think that there's a lot more that goes into it than most people think. Knowing what to do and when to do it And is is very I mean, you have to be educated in knowing what you're doing if you want to do the job the right way. Planning. What was that again? Planning. Planning. First word, that's necessary. Planning is necessary because when you're trying to put schedules together, when you're trying to get everything ordered so that you're not waiting around and kind of twiddling your thumbs up, That's a very, very huge part.

11:19You have to have, you have to be on your toes when you're planning. That's what I do. Yeah. And especially you got people waiting on you. Exactly. Time, time is, time is of the essence. And so with water damage, especially because the water damage can turn into different things. If, if you're not, you know, attacking it as aggressively and as quickly as you can from the beginning. Inspiration. uh my mother my mother uh she is a great woman um you know i i really can't say enough about her so yeah no i i'm with you on that i i i'm the same way everything i do is in regards to my mom she you know she did the most she could do with what we had growing up you know back in the day and you know i i thank her for the work ethic she instilled yeah exactly that I couldn't have said it any better myself.

12:15That's exactly, she's my inspiration and my three sons, my family, all my family, really. Commitment.

12:30Oh, man, first word. I've got so many words coming, commitment.

12:39it's hard sometimes to be totally committed but it's something that you have to do like I said I don't want to be crawling in crawl spaces every day but I'm committed to making my business a success so that you have to do it so it's hard but it's a necessary thing either do it all the way or don't do it all. Agreed, agreed. So what words of advice would you offer to other business owners who are looking to grow? If you find success, just keep doing what you're doing. I think that it might not find you when you want it to, but if you keep plugging along, then good things happen to you if you're doing the right thing.

13:31I mean, because there's been times where business has gotten slow and you're wondering, OK, this is all on me. And then all of a sudden, you know, jobs that I looked at months ago are calling. And then all of a sudden I'm in a scheduling conflict because I have too much going on. So you just have to just just keep plugging along and good things are happening. OK. And anything in particular you'd like to highlight? I mean, if you have any water damage or mold issues, just give me a call. I do a lot of talking on the phone, answering questions and not necessarily even looking for, you know, to get a job out of it.

14:12Because a lot of people are just seeking information from someone that they can trust. And so I'm hopefully that's a something that I can give them. okay now what's the next big thing for a healthy home environmental the next job the next job is the next big thing uh i don't uh necessarily think i'm gonna have to expand i would rather stay small and do and have my hands in in everything than to get too big and to let it almost get away from me, if that makes sense. Okay. All right. Perfect. And lastly, what's the best way for someone to get in contact with you? The best way is to actually call or text me.

15:01I answer the phone. I actually answer the phone. And if you text me, I really get back to you as quickly as possible. So you can contact me at 828-606-2685. that's 828-606-2685 and text at that number and I will get back to you and I can personally attest he does answer his phone he's wonderful alright well thank you Mr. Jones fantastic I really appreciate you coming on today and thank you for being a part of the community and all you're doing I appreciate you for having me thank you so much yeah we certainly wish you continued success and happy 2026 alright thank you roll tide alright thank you All right.

15:42Bye-bye.

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