Bricklayer to Blue-Collar Empire

So you think that is what differentiates you, that you're, you're able to let go of the reins, let go a little bit in a way that most, most founder owners are not?

Absolutely. Absolutely. Absolutely. I think that's, I mean, if you're, if you're good at running really one business, then how are you going to be that good at running 10 businesses? You have to multiply yourself somehow. Right? And that's identifying the people that can, that can do that for you.

And number three, it's not easy to actually physically give it to them. So it's, it's hard. It's absolutely hard. And here's the thing.

If, if they start, if they start, you know, losing, are you going to come in there and micromanage them and, and, right. And totally destroy your system that you, that you built? And that's, and I'm saying that as me, like, oh, man, I want to go in there so bad and, and, and do some of this stuff and this and that, but it just, it just, it destroys the system I built.

I'm here for the long run, right? Like, if I have a few losing years, it is what it is. Right? You know, if we're not going out of business and we're not going bankrupt on the companies that have debt service, then then like, let's just, let's, let's all work together and try to figure out where we can cut costs and increase margins.

Do you think you're a superpower, you know, to use that kind of annoying term. Do you think your superpower is kind of what you just described? Finding great people to run these businesses and then disciplining yourself to only kind of manage them at a distance? Is that, is that what makes.

Yeah, yeah, I would, I would say that, yes.

Or is it acquisitions, maybe sourcing deals, finding businesses? Or is it the fact that you know this world so well, you've been in it for so long, what, what do you, what do you think is you're really good at of all the

things that you do think identifying, I think identifying people and in part identifying good businesses. Right. Like I could, I could be better at it, but also to my temperament. You know, this, this, this, this world of acquisition takes temperament.

And I'm not just talking about post closing. Running the business like the, the pre closing is stressful, right? Like you, I've put in a year of work into, into closing a business and it just fall through, you know, like that's a lot of this stuff is, and getting, getting the money together and you know what I mean?

Is it, is it getting the people getting the staff together and, and it's, it's. You're playing puppet master too sometimes. Whenever you're dealing with a bank, your attorney, their attorney, then, then the owner wants to call and talk to you for hours at nighttime to, for, for a therapy session about.