Direction Matters More Than Speed: Building a Purpose-Driven Business with Dasean Willard

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.

0:38hey there and welcome to this week's episode of epic entrepreneurs podcast hey i'm bill gillilland with action coach business growth partners and today i am super pumped i've got dashawn willard of eagle air services and repair welcome to the podcast thank you for having me Super pumped to be here. I appreciate it. So tell us a little bit about, introduce yourself. Tell us a little bit about Eagle Air Service and Repair. Yeah, so I've been in the industry, introduced to it by my stepfather when I was about 13. So always been around it in some capacity, you know, holding flashlights and handing tools.

1:19And back in the day when we were doing those things, you know, I remember saying, man, this is terrible. I could never do this job and I want to work in the AC and I want to be a dentist. And, you know, until until that college chemistry came around and I was like, well, maybe maybe dentistry is not in my future after all. So many, many years of just learning in the trade and on field experience has been crucial for me. And after working for some of the bigger companies around and just kind of seeing how things were done, I decided that I would step out on my own and try to just add a new, fresh perspective to the industry as a whole.

2:02I think we've kind of lost our way a little bit in the service industry, and I'm on a mission to clean it up and change it a little bit. That's pretty cool. Let's talk about that a little bit. Tell us a little bit more about that. wanting to clean it up and make it, or whatever you said, I think you said clean it up. Tell me what that means. Yeah. So I think with this new wave of private equity sweeping the nation in all industries really, but specifically the heating and air industry, I've noticed over the last few years, it's been a slow process over the last decade, maybe really, where HVAC companies and service industries are getting bought up by private equity.

2:50And when that happens, you know, there's a real shift into the sales world as opposed to the service world. So as to where you used to, you know, you had your neighborhood guy who you could call and reach out to and say, hey, my system's not working. And they would show up, they would fix what's wrong, and they would leave. And there's been a little bit of a shift in that. And while it can be beneficial in some ways. I believe that there's definitely an opportunity for somebody to come in and just give an honest opinion and keep it about the service a little bit less about the sales. Yeah, I get it.

3:29I get what you're saying. I get what you're saying because it can get super salesy. And they put a lot of commissions and pressures and everything on the technicians to sell more, to add on, to do this. It can create some conflicts in there. So let me ask you something. If you had to start over from square one in the business, what would you do differently?

3:58Man, what would I do differently? I think that first off, I would put a little bit more time into community outreach, trying to advertise for the trade in general. I think we are very, very short, especially in North Carolina, of good talent, technicians who are able to do a thorough evaluation of a system and explain what's going on. I think I would have done a little bit more to try and get other people involved in it. And, you know, as I get into some of the nitty gritty of business ownership, I'm trying to get to that a little bit more, reach some of the people who, you know, maybe they've never heard of the opportunity to be an HVAC.

4:48And just trying to spread that, I think, is a good way to help kind of combat that shortage that we're facing as an industry as a whole. Yeah, we're on a bit of that mission here as well because we're involved with trades and construction and those kind of industries. And we need skilled labor. I mean, we need people that are trained, and it's a great profession. And the truth is AI is never going to replace it. So it's going to help us actually with making it better. But it's not going to – somebody's still got to install the unit and somebody's still got to take care of it. So, yeah, I love that.

5:31So what have been some of your biggest learnings as an owner and employer? My biggest learnings, well, first and foremost, has been not being afraid to charge what you're worth. and uh you know coming from a background of very modest beginnings and understanding the value of a dollar when i first started out it was really tough for me to justify to myself pricing and i think that can be the biggest hindrance to a service-based business owner especially a small business like myself we tend to cut ourselves short whether it be to win a job or whether it be you're dealing with a certain specific situation where your heart gets into the mix of like, man, I feel bad for charging somebody this much.

6:24But you have to be able to know that your time is valuable and you've put the work in and the time and the effort and the resources to be good at what you do. And that costs money. So that would be the biggest, for me personally, biggest thing. I love that. Yeah. They're not, they're not paying for your time. They're paying for your expertise and your knowledge. That's right. And if, in fact, if you can do it faster, that's better for everybody. So I had a conversation about that with a client, with a client recently about, you know, the hourly rate wage and stuff like that. And, you know, they're like, well, that seems to be a little bit higher.

7:02And I said, yeah, But if you think of it this way, this job used to take me five to six hours to do. But now that I can do it in two to three hours, why would I punish myself for getting better at what I do? So it's an interesting perspective. And when you explain it that way, it makes a little more sense. So when I become more efficient at my job, it's better for both of us. Oh, 100%. Yeah, 100%. Yeah, I used to own an auto shop. and everything there is set what they call flat rate. And so like you change an alternator, for example, it's an hour and a half or whatever it is, and that's what you charge.

7:41If the technician can get it done in 45 minutes, he still gets paid for an hour and a half. That's right. And so what they call flat rate, and so it's better for the customer. They get the car back faster. The better the technician is, everybody wins. And so it's a win-win. It's the same here. It's pretty cool. So what do you think some of the common misconceptions are about running a business? And how do you address them? The biggest misconception that I had was life's going to be easy when I start my business. When I start my business, everything is just going to flow and it's just going to happen.

8:21And, you know, maybe that's a little bit of the optimist in me. I'm very optimistic and, you know, I believe attitude is everything. So I was going into it naive, thinking that, oh, everything's just going to work itself out and it'll it'll you know, we'll find a way and just make it happen. And, you know, that's a that's a big, big reality that I had to face that things don't just happen. Yeah. You got to make them happen. So that was. But, you know, I'm a big believer in saying that, you know, pressure is a privilege and you either rise to the occasion or or you don't. I love that. Pressure is a privilege.

9:00Seems like a good title for the episode. Pressure is a privilege. Love that. Yeah. So what do you attribute your growth to?

9:11The main thing, first and foremost, you know, everything that I do, I don't want to I don't want to take the credit as if it's it's me doing it. I'm a big believer in Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And I do believe that if it weren't for him and, you know, showing me the path that I'm to take, that's my prayer every day is show me the path forward that you would have me take. And, you know, just continuing to be obedient to that has really I've seen a big change just even in the last few years, really just giving it to him, implementing a plan, but knowing that ultimately it's his plan that will come to fruition.

9:48So that's been the biggest thing. And then just having cheerleaders along the way. My wife has been incredible and helping help me get to where I am and my mother included. You know, my mom had me at 15. So we always say that, you know, we grew up together. And if it weren't for her just unwavering. Positivity and just ability to overcome it, none of this would have been possible. So definitely my mom is a big, big part of that.

10:18Yeah, my take on it is it's way easier to know when I'm on the wrong path. I get the message pretty clear when I'm headed down. I love that you're looking for the right path, but I get the message from God a lot that I'm on the wrong path. So, yeah, it works both ways, but it seems like it's easier to see the wrong one.

10:47sometimes. Yeah. Yeah. But then, you know, and then you got to act on it. I mean, you know, you got to change, you got to change. So it's, it's a funny. Yeah. So how do you balance, uh, you talk about your family. I mean, how do you balance sort of the personal life with the business life? I think setting, uh, setting boundaries early. Um, you know, my stepfather owns a heating and air company and he's been in business for over 10 years. And growing up, It was, you know, if that phone rings, we're leaving. It doesn't matter where we are. It doesn't matter what we're doing. It could be birthdays.

11:19It could be graduation. It could be, you know, family reunion. It doesn't matter when that phone rings. we got to go because if we don't, somebody will. And again, you know, coming from the humble beginnings, I definitely understand that thought. And my stepfather has instilled an incredible sense of work ethic in me, which I'm extremely thankful for. And something that I want to do is to make sure that I am going to work hard, but I am also going to prioritize family time. And, you know, when that time comes, the phone is off or it's somewhere else. And if you call me during that time, you'll get my voicemail and I will get back to you as soon as possible.

11:57But it's been super crucial establishing those boundaries of, okay, this is family time and that's it. So I think being super intentional with defining those moments has been crucial for at least me and, you know, my family. So that's kind of how we do things around here. Understand. Understand. So what qualities would you look for in employees? I would say just willingness to learn. Being coachable is such a lost art, I feel like, when a lot of people, I think, in today's society just think that they have it all figured out. And again, going back to God's purpose in our life, the motto of my church is go be who God made you to be.

12:46And I think that when we're doing that, when we're being who God made us to be, you don't feel the rift. You don't feel the resistance. It's just you know what's supposed to be done. And I think if we could create a culture where coachability is a priority, that would be the most important thing to me is just coachability. You don't have to know. I can teach you what you need to know, how to fix something or how to do something, how you present yourself, how you speak to people. Those are the things that, you know, that coachability and just being accountable for yourself is huge. So the main thing for me would be coachability.

13:22Yeah, willingness to learn, willingness to take the learning. I mean, it's such a great profession. And, you know, the truth is getting into it and learning it is then it gives you all kinds of options. I mean, you'll never not work. I mean, there's there's there's always there's always a job. for you. Yes, I always joke with my wife. If everything went crazy and we had to move to Europe, I could find a job. We had to move somewhere else across the globe, I could find a job. 100%. It's a skill that is just not taught as well anymore and people aren't looking for it because quite frankly, a lot of them don't want to work or work hard in that kind of sense.

14:11I mean, but it's, yeah, you can make a great living um yeah it's a there's a there's a lot of good reasons to get into it so finding the people who want to work in a coach but then they're out there those folks those folks are out there you know and some of them may be listening and it's a great place they can yeah uh you know come do your apprenticeship and then if you move on if you want to want to start your own business that's a great thing too so nothing absolutely oh i had worked for a guy one time and he's like he's like bill you know i told him i was going to go into business he said that's great when I was leaving.

14:45And he's like, that's great. I'm always proud of people that come and work for us and then want to start their own business. He said, I'm sorry to see you leave. We could use you. But that's a great way. So let's EPIC. BE EPIC is an acronym. The B stands for bring the energy. And then the EPIC is another education, planning, inspiration, and commitment. So I want to get like a quick thought from you, like a sentence or two on each one, just kind of a quick fire round. Would that be good? Sure. All right. So bring the energy. What's your thoughts on that? Bring the energy. My favorite thing that comes to mind with that is the thermostat versus the thermometer.

15:33If you're a thermometer, you just kind of read the temperature in the room and you react accordingly. You're very reactive. A thermostat, you set the tone. You set the temperature when you walk into the room. People know what you're about. They gravitate towards you because they can feel that energy. And when you do that, I think you can take control of a lot of your situation. I love that. Love that. Okay. How about education? What's your thoughts on education? I think being super focused on what it is that you're wanting to be educated on. I think education as a whole is imperative to success.

16:09but knowing what you want to be educated on is also super crucial. I love that. How about planning? Something that's taken me a long time to get better at, but equally as crucial. My favorite saying for that is a ship without a map is lost at sea. I love that. I love that. So what are your thoughts on inspiration, either finding it or being an inspiration? I think that's something that, you know, they say a smart man looks around, but a wise man looks within. So until you can find what that is inside of you, it's really going to be hard to look around your surroundings to find the inspiration aside from family and things like that.

17:02But you've got to find that intrinsic motivation to want more. Yeah, I love that. I love that. And how about C? What's your thoughts on committing and commitment? Commitment, in my opinion, might be the most important because if you've got the plan, you've got the energy, you've got everything else, but you can't commit to what it is that you're trying to do, then I don't believe any of the other ones really are going to be that effective. So you got to commit. You got to find what you're wanting to do and go for it. Cool. So what do you wish you had known or somebody had told you before you went into business?

17:47It's not. It's not going to all be fun. It's not going to all be great. there's going to be some things there's going to be learning curves there's going to be some pain um that all comes along with it and you know looking at it now i'm thankful for those things but again i'm just such a positive optimistic person i'm just like yeah this is everything's going to be great it's going to be awesome and then here come the storms it's going to rain we don't know when we don't know for how long but it will rain so being prepared for those moments is crucial. Cool. So what words of advice would you have for other business owners who are looking to grow?

18:28For people looking to grow, make a plan. It may not go exactly to that plan, but just make sure that you know the direction you're heading in. And I'm a big believer of direction is way more important than speed. Know where you're going and you might not get there in the time that you thought, You might take a few detours, but I think that, you know, the lessons in the journey and the blessings in the journey as well. Yeah, I love that. Love that. So how can people get a hold of you? What's the best way for them, let's say, to get a hold of you and your company? Yeah, so text message by my phone number and, you know, Facebook, email.

19:15I have a joke that I'm the Robin Hood of HVAC. I don't spend a bunch of money on marketing. I don't do advertising. I have a few big contracts with property management companies that keep me busy. And then I solely work based off a word of mouth business in the residential space. And I do that because, first of all, I've watched my parents do it for years. They've started to get into some advertising, but a large part of their business has been word of mouth and they've sustained that for over a decade. So I believe the best business is referral business. I'm in multiple networking groups and B &Is and things like that.

19:54And the power of having a referral from somebody you know, like and trust is far more important to me than running Angie's List ads. Nothing against Angie's List or anything like that. But I just find more value in those customers. So that would be my advice. Yeah. Really kind of depends on what kind of business you want to build. That's exactly. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, it depends on how fast, you know, what your scaling plans are. At some point, you will scale. So that's it. So super cool. Any other last words of advice you'd like to give people?

20:35never, uh, never be afraid to dream too big. Love it. Love it. Love it. Hey, this is so cool. I really appreciate you being on here. Thanks. Thanks for it. Thank you. I appreciate you having me. It's an honor. And until next time, all the best.

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21:43Just 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.