From Small Excavator to Booked Solid: How Craft, Focus, and Integrity Built a Local Powerhouse with Ryan Wooten

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 to this week's episode of EpiContrapreneurs. I am your host, Bill Gilliland. I am the principal at Action Coach Business Growth Partners here in Western North Carolina and also in the Triad. I'm also one of the founders of the Asheville Business Summit, which we just finished a couple of weeks ago, and we're plaguing plans for next year, So we're super pumped up about that. But I am more pumped up because today I've got our guest is Ryan Wooten. He owns Ryan Wooten Grading and Retaining Walls. So, Ryan, tell us a little bit about yourself and a little bit about your business and what you're doing out here in our community.

1:17Yeah, like you said, I'm Ryan Wooten. I've been in business for 13 years, a little over 13 years. I'm a husband and father of seven kids Wow And we've been happy to be in this area for that long I mean, we've done a whole lot of different things Between grading and house seats or tree removal A lot of that after the hurricane Land clearing and retaining walls uh any excavating

2:00we we started off small part-time kind of thing with a little excavator and and now we've got several teams and several trucks and several guys and and it's just god has blessed us love that love that love that so let me ask you some business questions so what if you had to start over in business from square one, what would you do differently?

2:29Well, I might not have tried to grow so quickly. I wouldn't have got the bigger machines as fast maybe and just stuck with the smaller machines longer. But I mean, we've caught up to them now. So it worked out in the long run. Yeah, anything else you would have done differently? Really, we're covered up. We're booking springtime at the moment, and I can't say I can complain about any of it. Yeah, no, I love that. So what have been some of your learnings? What are some of your biggest learnings as an owner and an employer since you started 13 years ago? Well, we've went through, I went to classes to do septic systems, to install those, and realized that just wasn't our thing.

3:34I don't enjoy any aspect of that. It seems to slow us down from what we normally do. and uh i i'm happy to abandon those we're still licensed to do it still can do it if we're if we're digging the basement and and and uh the footers for the house and doing the clearing we will set in and do the septic also but it's it's something i i've learned that i i haven't I don't enjoy doing it. It's tedious and it's slow and it's just not our thing. Yeah, so I guess the learning is to find your lane and stay in it as opposed to – Yeah. Yeah, no, I love that. Yeah, no, that's great. Pick what you're really good at and run with that.

4:27Yeah, so what are some of the common misconceptions about running a business? oh that you're gonna that you got piles of dollars oh you're you're the owner you must you must have lots of money yeah that's that doesn't necessarily work like that yeah it's got lots of lots of bills yeah i don't think they think about they a lot of people see the top line and think well they must have money but there's you got to look at the expenses as well that's that's probably that's probably the one i hear most on the podcast hey what do you attribute your growth to doing a really good job uh we don't really advertise at all and it's all word of mouth and i mean i'm i'm highly uh attentive to detail details and and will go out of my way to do a to do a good job i'm kind of a perfectionist so so really it's it's making those customers happy if i have to i have to lose money to make the customer happy i've i've done that you can't do that too many times and stay in business, but that's it.

5:52Whatever it takes to make the customer happy. You learn to do that before anything else. Yeah, no, that makes complete sense. So, I mean, yeah, I mean, you can't stay in business if you don't get the referrals. And the only way you're going to get the referrals is by making the customer happy. So, how about, I mean, you've got a family. It's seven kids. Holy cow. How do you balance personal life with the demands of running a business? Well, we get started early. I cut out at 5 o 'clock every day, no matter what we have going on, and run home to them, really. I've got to spend as much time with my kids as I can.

6:43They're growing up so fast, and business is one thing, but the most important thing is the family. I take off early to go to volleyball games and basketball games, and really that's number one there. Yeah, so what I'm hearing is you've prioritized the family over the business. You just don't let the business get in the way. You're going to make sure you make it to your kids' stuff. You're going to make sure that you get there. So you're very disciplined in your approach to your time. It's very important. They're not going to remember anything but you being there. I mean, they're not going to, oh, Daddy had to leave work early, so he lost all that money.

7:35They're not going to see that side of it. All they're going to remember is you being there when they're doing their thing. Yeah, I agree with you. And you get one shot at that stuff, right? Yeah, absolutely. And customers understand that. Oh, yeah. Customers understand that. They think better of me because of it. So I'm not losing anything. Zero. Doing that. Yeah, I think you're dead right on that. So when it comes to hiring employees, what do you look for in a great employee? and how do you foster a positive and productive work environment? Well, showing up is a big thing. Willing to learn, even if you know nothing, just willing to learn and not act like you know everything from the get-go.

8:30And we're not real – I mean, we work. We get the jobs done. I've got some good help now and they work their butts off and I don't rush them I don't hassle them or nag them

8:50I have some guys that's been with me for a long time so they know what needs to get done so I don't have to direct the new people can just fall in and just work like we do I don't have to hassle anybody. And I've worked for people before that nagged and hassled, and I refuse to be that kind of boss. And it works out good. Yeah, well, I mean, it seems like sometimes when you're – I mean, one of the advantages of being an employee is you get paid to learn, and it seems like you learn some stuff not to do as well as some stuff to do. So well done on that education. This is a quick fire round. I have an acronym called BEPIC, which I think is sort of one of our mantras for success.

9:48So I'm going to give you the letters of the acronym, and I just want to get your thoughts on it. So in the BEPIC acronym, B stands for bring the energy. So what are your thoughts around bringing energy to everything you do? well it's all about all about your mindset i mean you gotta you gotta well and not not worrying about it it's gonna it's gonna get done we're gonna get it done if the if the rain is slowing us down that's that's all part of it and and and nothing is a big deal. Nothing is. And that helps us keep the right mindset from the beginning of the job to the end of the job. I love that.

10:40Yeah, having the right mindset. So the E in BEPIC stands for education. Give me a couple of thoughts about education. Well, there's some classes here and there you could take for like running machines and stuff but but really getting out there and doing it is is about the best way to learn this stuff i i've i've had close relationships with engineers and stuff on several job sites and and land planners and that kind of stuff people that's went to school for for a long time for this stuff but they all they learned was how to put on paper what i do in in actual life um there i guess math we use that on a daily basis i'm sure there's science involved with the lay of the land and and and like land management and but besides that what and what i do you you you kind of learn on the fly yeah or from from other people that's done it all their life no no no substitute for experience absolutely that's what i'm hearing you got to experience you got to be able to do it yeah i i like it yeah i've got it uh yeah p stands for planning so what are your thoughts around planning that's very important yeah you got to start the job knowing where it's ending or you'll never get there i mean yeah yeah you're walking to to like our retaining walls you got to know exactly where they're going exactly how tall tall they're going to be uh because there's no room for guesswork yeah no i love that yeah you got to plan out the jobs.

12:45I love it. I stands for inspiration. Where do you find inspiration? I guess that goes, goes back to seven kids. Of course it does. Yeah. I have to get this job done. No, that's cool. That's exciting. Wow. What's the age range on your kids? They're from, from a year and a half to 19. Wow. That's exciting. Yeah. That's not boring. So, yeah, that's cool. Never. I love that. Never boring. That's not boring. Yeah, that's cool. Yeah. C stands for commitment. What are your thoughts around commitment? Well, I mean, that's keeping the job rolling. You won't get those referrals if they don't know that you're going to stick with it and get it done.

13:43If you've got a whole bunch of half-finished projects out there, nobody is going to recommend you. So you start a job. Us specifically, we start a job. We work on it until it's done before we go start another job. We don't have a bunch of half-finished products or started projects. That's something a little different than a lot of people that does the same thing with us, that same thing as us. is we will work on one job till it's totally finished and before we jump to another we none of nobody likes people starting and then pulling off and going do something else while while that job's just just sitting there so so we we're committed to getting the job done And, I mean, as soon as we started, that's, I mean, we're there until it's done.

14:41Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I've never actually heard of that. I've worked with a lot of graders, and that's interesting. That's interesting. So what words of advice would you offer other business owners who are looking to grow? well we we again we just try to do do the best job we can we we we promise we're going to do something and we do it and that right there has gotten us the most work out of anything yeah do what you say you're going to do and when you say you're going to do it that's that's a pretty good uh thing for success so just i don't we probably should have dug into a little bit on the beginning but um what kinds of work do you do just for people listening we do we do grading and driveway work.

15:46We do retaining walls. We build them out of boulders or block, tree removal, land clearing, excavating, some hauling. We got a couple dump trucks. Nice. Yeah, is it mostly residential, construction, agriculture, or what? Yeah, it's mostly residential. Got it. Yeah, got it. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, that's awesome. so what's the next big thing for your business and you well we we've got a whole lot of retaining walls lined up up in the wolf little area wintertime shuts us down up there pretty good so we're in we're in uh hurry up and get it done mode trying to get everything done up there before wintertime sets in.

16:40We've got eight to ten retaining walls up there. We've got to get done before wintertime sets in, and we're running out of time. Yep. Yep. No, I love it. I love it. I love it. So if someone is interested, it sounds like it'll be next year sometime before you can get those retaining walls or those excavation projects done. or those driveways. What's the best way for someone to get in touch with you, Ryan? They can find me on Facebook. Ryan Wooten Grading and Retaining Walls is one way, and they can check out all my work there. I try to post pretty consistently on my business page there. And they can just reach out there if they wanted some work done or what's it?

17:36Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, so just kind of... My phone number and my email's on that.

17:46And they can check out what I do and if they like any of it, they can reach out to me. Perfect. No, I love that. I love that and get in touch with you. So, hey, this has been fantastic. I've enjoyed hearing the story and learning about you. We appreciate what you're doing. in our Western North Carolina community. I'm sure you're playing or probably still playing a big role in the cleanup from Hurricane. Yeah, certainly wish you continued success. Thank you very much. Hey, and until next time, all the best. Hey, thanks for listening to the Epic Entrepreneurs podcast. Here's three things that you can do.

18:31Number 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 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.

19:17That'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.