Non Stop Training
The mid 90’s was a great time to start a business the economy was recovering the dollar was strong and people were putting their investment dollars into their real estate.
I had always done bath remodels as part of my forte in the plumbing profession and as my clients were more confident with me I was asked to take on bigger projects which lead to the birth of Gauntlett Building Services. At the time my biggest weakness was producing estimates for these types of projects so not coming from this particular industry I looked outside and took in a seminar on estimating; little did I know they were trying to sell me something and more than that, this would be the beginning of my journey into business training.
Understanding the Business Side of My Profession
This one day course set me on a path that spanned nearly a decade. I started using HomeTech estimating software and because of these estimates I was producing which included Plumbing, Heating and Cooling divisions of my building projects I kept saying to myself that I wished I could get the prices for my plumbing work that I was getting with the HomeTech software.
It was at this point in 2000 that I was in County Supply a plumbing supply house. The owner Bill Curry was inviting Plumbing contractors to a weekend boot camp for business training. I signed up immediately. I felt that this was the sign as was the estimating class on helping me to understand the business side of my profession.
The next seven years were filled with memberships in associations PHCC, NARI, QSC and countless weekend business building seminars; sharing in round tables to hear from mentors about what worked and didn’t work roll playing and just being around like minded individuals who struggled with the same things I was working on.
Mechanical Training
The odd thing about being a part of these groups was that the majority were in the Mechanical background and I now was running a Building company; it was a quandary to say the least. Even though the thought crossed my mind I felt that I was building for the future. A long with the business background from 2005 until the present I received my Oil burner License, EPA certification to handle refrigerant and A/C training. I went through the National Comfort Institute for Carbon Monoxide training and Air diagnostic balancing. I purchased the equipment needed to become a great service technician and little did I know that the turn down in our economy was right around the corner and it would be with these tools that I would build my new business.
