When entrepreneurship gets hard, sell something—and keep customers, team, and mission first with Brad Currin WNC Built

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.

0:36hey there welcome to this week's episode of epic entrepreneurs i'm bill gilliland your host the principal at action coach business growth partners and also one of the founders of the ashville business summit so i'm super pumped today i've got my friend brad curran at wnc built welcome to the podcast thank you bill it's super excited to be here yeah so tell us a little bit about you and WNC, Bill? Yeah, so born and raised in the Raleigh-Durham area and actually grew up in a town called Garner. Spent some time in the military and worked in healthcare for over 20 years, but decided to transplant back to North Carolina and live in Asheville and opened up a company back in November of 2023 just out of, you know, hey, Brad, can you do this?

1:30And it's just kind of evolved over the past almost two years now, I guess we're coming up on. Cool. Cool. So what is it that you do at W &C Belt? Sure. So we're a home remodeler, a general contractor. So some of the things we like to do are additions, kitchens, bathrooms. But what we're really proud of lately is we're the only contractor for a grant out of Haywood County. It's called Rebuild Haywood. So when people are kind of up to their neck with the insurance or FEMA and they've capped out all the money that they can get to help rebuild their home, they call us and we come in and help finish the project or even start the project.

2:11And all the funds are supplied by grants and donations to the Rebuild Haywood County grant. So our services are covered by that team, which is really neat to help people get back in their homes, especially after the hurricane last year. Yeah, so that's a response to Hurricane Helene, and there's still a lot of need. Absolutely. Yeah, big time, big time in Haywood County. So let's talk about business in general. So if you had to start from square one in business, what would you do differently? Oh, such a great question. Yeah, starting from the beginning, I think I would just trust my gut and be an entrepreneur.

2:51You know, the education you get as an entrepreneur is so fast and furious that either you learn or you grow. And the most important thing from that is everything can be solved by going and selling something. I like that. Yeah, sales takes care of a lot of problems, doesn't it? Oh, 100%. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I love that. I love that. So what have been your biggest learnings as an owner and employer since you started? I think, God, if I had to sum it up, the first learning would be understanding that every customer is different and you have to cater the job to the customer. So what's important to you at that time as the customer is at speed.

3:43For example, after the hurricane, a lot of people just want to get back in their home. Is it cost? You know, just going through where we can save money for the consumer or the client. And then I think the third thing is, can we have fun doing it? You know, if you don't know me by now, I've got a little bit of a sense of humor. So I try to make light of every situation, even though it may or may not be appropriate. But you know what? It's important to have fun in what you do. Yeah, I love that. I love that. So what are some common misconceptions about running a business and how do you address them?

4:17Oh, gosh. Common misconception about running a business. I would say that it's easy. You know, people say I leave my W-2 job and I'll, you know, make a lot of money and be an entrepreneur. But, you know, look under the hood and for two hours, you're an accountant one day. For one hour, you're a customer service rep. And then another two hours, you're marketing. And you're not done yet because you got to go out and network and build your business from like 3 to 6 p.m. And you always are the face of the business every time you're in the community. So it's important that you represent it well. Yeah.

4:55Yeah, it's an interesting one, right? Like everybody thinks that, you know, the boss has, you know, all the answers and, you know, has a ton of money. It just doesn't work that way in the beginning for sure. Yeah, the employees are the most important part. And you couldn't grow your business without them. So making sure they're happy, they got a truck, they got gas in their truck, you know, they're able to get to and from work and put food on the table and get a nice paycheck. That's the first part of growing your business because your time will come as an owner. I can guarantee that. Yeah. So what do you attribute your growth to?

5:34Surrounding myself with people that are way smarter than me. I think the most important thing is if what is that saying? If you're the smartest person in the room, you're in the wrong room. So I kind of live by that now. Yeah. So I know your wife and how do you balance the personal life with demands of running the business? Oh, wow. Such a good one. So we have a dog. Our dog's name is Nina Simone. She's a rescue from Texas, actually, back in the pandemic days. And what we like to do is get in our van and just go explore in these small towns, so like the Nantahala Outdoor Center or Hot Springs, North Carolina, maybe up into Tennessee.

6:18But we typically just kind of check our baggage at the door when we get home. And, you know, when you're out in the community, you're doing your thing, you're growing your business. But after 5 o 'clock, it's family time. So that's our focus. Yeah, I think you've actually done a pretty good job of that, which is sort of the boundaries. Like, hey, when I hit X and when I'm home, I'm home. And when I'm not, I'm working. So it's hard to do. So what qualities do you look for in employees? You know, there's – and I'm probably one of them too. I'm never a perfect employee when I was working as a WN2.

6:56But most entrepreneurs are not good employees. No, we learned the hard way. I mean, we want to fix it all, but it's not ours to fix. You know what I mean? I think, you know, the first thing is, you know, take initiative, take charge, make some decisions. And my go-to phrase is, as long as you're not going to hurt anybody or hurt yourself, then just make the decision. And I mean, we can always make more money. Just do what's right for the customer and do what's right for you. And the main thing is, if it could be printed on the front page today, would you do it? That's something my grandmother used to tell me back in the day.

7:41And then humor, I think, is another important thing. Because, I mean, we're all grinding to make a paycheck or to, you know, grow in the community. But if you can't have fun with what you're doing, you're probably doing the wrong thing. Yeah. No, I like it. So I just want to get your, you know, be epic is kind of, you know, our tagline here with the Epic Entrepreneurs Podcast. What, it's an acronym. So I'm going to ask you, I'll give you the acronym and then you just give me a, like it's a quick fire round, a couple of thoughts or sentences about each one. So B stands for bring the energy. What are your thoughts about bringing energy?

8:20Oh gosh, you just got to show up every day ready to tackle the day. I mean, you walk into, for example, you walk into a job site and, you know, something's changed and having a conversation with the client and helping them understand the why and just got to be able to get after it. And, you know, it's not a check the box kind of environment when you're an entrepreneur by any means. Yeah, you got to be there every day. I like it. E stands for education. If you're not working to grow yourself personally and in business, then you probably need to find another opportunity. It's just common sense. I mean, you know, laws change when it comes to building things.

9:04If you really want to make more money as an entrepreneur, as an employee, you've got to put something on your tool belt. what's on your tool belt that you can provide for any organization, whether you're W-2 or not. I like it. How about P? P stands for planning. That's really important to me. Like, what is my three-year goal? What is my five-year goal? And, you know, writing it down on a piece of paper means a lot. And then you pull out that piece of paper 12 months from now. Something I learned, I think it was yesterday, actually, is write a check for the money you want to pay yourself 12 months from now and leave it on your desk and cash that check in 12 months and make that be your goal.

9:46So I like it. I like it. Yeah. That's kind of what Jim Carrey did back in the day, wrote himself a big fat check and stuck it in his wallet, looked at it every day. Okay. The I stands for inspiration. So that might be an inspiration. Money might be an inspiration. There are other forms of inspiration. What are your thoughts on inspiration? um you know you gotta find you gotta find it yourself and figure out what exactly does inspire you like being able to get in the van and go out into the woods and travel and enjoy um you know all the different places we're able to visit you know i can't do that without working and making money and being able to support that um and also like being able to give uh back to the community for example when we're helping those families get back in their home after after 12 months after the hurricane.

10:33I mean, that's inspirational right there. And that's one of your best marketing tools. They tell everybody. And it's just a really good feeling on the inside to be able to give back in that way. Love it. Love it. C stands for commitment. Well, I mean, you know, as an entrepreneur, if you're going to do it, you got to be in it 100 % or 110 % because as soon as you drop the ball, sometimes the cards start to fall, and that's not an environment you want to be in, always trying to play catch-up. I understand. Yep, that's right, 100%. So what words of advice would you offer other business owners who are looking to grow?

11:15I'd say get out in the community, tell your story, let people know what you do, what you're trying to do, and find your tribe. Look for the people that you want to be like or you want to grow with and just make it happen. There's no shame in asking for help because there's people out there that want to help you. Yeah, it really, there are a lot of people who can help. And I think we're, I do think we're taught in school to do our own work in most of the schooling that we get. And it's the real world works in teams. So you got to have collaboration. I love it. All right. So what's the next big thing for you or for W &C Built?

11:56A great question. Well, as you know, Bill, I've always had this dream or passion to get something started to help support veterans in the community. And I'm actually taking the next step in that. We formulate the nonprofit. It's called Steel Station Foundation. We've identified four or five board members. We're going to launch November 11th, if all the cards align, or stars, I guess, card stars. And our goal is to help provide programming and opportunities for veterans as they leave the military and transition out. And with that, we're going to start building those mixed-use boutique hotels. It's called Steel Station.

12:35The first location will hopefully be in Asheville, but it's going to be a partnership with a nonprofit and for-profit providing jobs and programming and wellness opportunities for veterans and their families. So it's kind of cool to finally get that flag planted. Yeah, I think it's taken a while for you to formulate what that thing needed to look like. You always had the idea for that. You always had both ideas, which is kind of cool. You had the idea of how can I help the veterans. The other idea was how do I build this boutique hotel? And now you've merged them, which I think is super cool. Yeah, I've got a lot of support from the community in that.

13:11And it's really going to be neat to see it come to fruition. I think there's a lot of people on my side, which is even cooler. Yeah, no, it's great. I mean, people want to, I mean, how could you not want to support that? I mean, you know, it makes, you know, a nonprofit that helps, I mean, you know, veterans. I mean, people that serve us, you know, come back from military duty with some stuff, you know, and that's got to be helped. So, all right. Well, somebody wants to get a hold of you, do some remodeling, some contracting work. help with the Steel Station Foundation, whatever it is, just have a chat with you.

13:53How do they get a hold of you? Sure, yeah, not afraid to give out my personal cell. It's area code 843-847-1056. Don't hesitate to reach out. And wncbuilt.com, you can submit an inquiry there. We'll come out and take a look at your project and see what you got going on. Yeah, I like it. Not a bad way to – the best way to get a hold of anybody is just pick up the phone and call them. Oh, that's so much easier. Well, it's shocking how many people don't want to give out their cell number or don't want to be contacted. Hey, how are you going to do business if you don't talk to somebody? Yeah. Yeah, I mean, you can try to do it online, but I don't think you're going to get your bathroom remodeled online.

14:36So, you know, right? That's true. I mean, I get it. I get it. The tendency is you're going to eventually have to talk to somebody. All right. This has been fantastic, Brad. Really appreciate you being on the call. Thanks for being part of our community. Thanks for all you're doing. We know that you're going to be a continued success. I appreciate it, Bill. Always look forward to talking with you and catching up. That's great. Hey, and until next time, all the best.

15:07Hey, 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. 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 gift from bill.com that's gift from bill.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 there's it's not screened it's my real email Just send it to me.

16:09I can't wait to talk to you. Hey, and until then, all the best.