The Confident Entrepreneur With Jennifer Ann Johnson

Slow Growth, Big Impact: Building a Brand That Lasts with Joe Nugent

• Jennifer Ann Johnson • Season 3 • Episode 50

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Growth doesn’t have to mean burnout or losing your business identity. In this episode, Joe Nugent of Joe the Home Pro shares how building on values like relentless service, clear communication, and rigorous systems helped him scale from side hustle to multi-market brand—without sacrificing quality.

We unpack his four pillars—service, ethics, communication, and community—and how they show up in real practices like hiring for fit, fast client response, and simplifying complex topics. Joe dives into the power of SOPs, tools like Loom and Trainual, and how his small team operates with big-league precision.

From surviving downturns to choosing licensing over franchising, Joe’s transparent look at growth includes hard-won lessons, big wins, and a mission to employ 200 veterans. This episode is a roadmap for scaling with soul.

Visit us at jenniferannjohnson.com and learn how Jennifer can help you build the life you dream of with her online academy, blog, one-on-one coaching, and a variety of other resources!

Jennifer Johnson:

In this episode, we're exploring why slow and steady approach may be the key to long-term success and fulfillment in the business world. If you've ever felt overwhelmed by the pressure to grow quickly or questioned whether breakneck expansion is right for your venture, then this discussion is for you. Throughout this episode, we'll dive into the numerous benefits of measured growth, from building a solid foundation and maintaining quality control to fostering genuine customer relationships and achieving work-life balance. We'll hear from a successful entrepreneur who's chosen the path of gradual expansion and learn about the strategies that he's employed to create resilient, a resilient business, a profitable business without sacrificing his values or burning out. By the end of our conversation, you'll have a fresh perspective on business growth and practical insights to help you cultivate a sustainable success at your own pace. Today we welcome into the studio Joe Nugent. Joe is the owner of Joe the Home Pro, which is an award-willing-winning, fully licensed, bonded and insured home inspection company. And he originally moved to Southwest Florida in 2011. And for more than 15 years, he has dedicated his professional life to helping others through his career in the hospitality industry. The idea to launch Joe the Home Pro was Joe's response to stories that he heard about people being taken advantage of. And he sought an opportunity to bring a more professional and trustworthy and customer-focused home service business here to Southwest Florida. Welcome, Joe. Thanks for having me. Absolutely. Good to be back. Tongue tied there for a minute. There's lots to say about you.

Joe Nugent:

Well, I, you know, I have a lot of people I pay a lot of money to say good things about me.

Jennifer Johnson:

Wow. Well, you have had an impressive business or you have an impressive business, and I've watched it grow. And you have taken, in my opinion, slow and steady growth, that that growth model. I want you to share with our listeners your experience with growing your business in that manner. You know, why did you choose to not just grow as fast as you could, as quickly as you could, or I should say as big as you could, as fast as you could? Why did you choose that approach? What was it that motivated about that that uh process with you?

Joe Nugent:

Because I'm a scaredy cat.

Jennifer Johnson:

I call it nervous Nelly. That's how that's my nickname, Nervous Nelly of Nick.

Joe Nugent:

I'm scared of success. I mean, I look back on my hospitality career, right? So I was at that hotel as director of sales and marketing for almost eight years. And when COVID happened, that's when I made the full-time switch into my home inspection company, which thank God I've been building for five years.

Jennifer Johnson:

You were building that for five years before you quit.

Joe Nugent:

Before, yeah. Well, I got furloughed.

Jennifer Johnson:

Moonlighting.

Joe Nugent:

And I was like, thank God, because I was getting ready to put in my notice, anyways. And um, I gotta tell you, it's like anyone that has a full-time job that's building the side hustle. They never know when to make that jump. I just talked to a home inspector this morning about this exact topic, which is so funny. And I said, I wish I would have done it five years previously. Because if you think about it, how much could you build your business if you're working 50 to 60 hours on it, as opposed to me making some old guys rich? That's all I did.

Jennifer Johnson:

Yeah.

Joe Nugent:

And I was like, this is so dumb. So then when I jumped and I was like, oh my God, this is why did I not do this earlier? It was absolutely a mindset shift. Because when I first started this business, I was like, okay, I make $115,000 at the hotel. If I could make like $150,000 doing my own thing, man, that would be really cool. And then like six months into it, I'm like, that's stupid. I don't want to be doing home inspections. Like, I want to grow and scale this thing, and I want to make millions and bring in millions and really live like a life. Like I just I'm not a solopreneur. That's what I found out also pretty quickly on. So for me, the mindset of getting over that hurdle of saying, oh, it just needs to be me. I want to be a solopreneur, the mindset of going, I just need this, whatever this is, and that's gonna, you know, kind of like make me happy, those were all just little things. So the slow and steady thing was not, I mean, it was by choice, but then I'm like, oh, this is a really bad idea, right? And so that's one of the things I've had challenges with.

Jennifer Johnson:

So I want to go back to you worked for a company for five years while growing your business.

Joe Nugent:

Yeah.

Jennifer Johnson:

What was going through your head at that point why you didn't make that leap earlier? You said you were scared. So I know I've talked about fear before. And is that was that all part of it? Like, what were you scared of?

Joe Nugent:

I think it was the financial, right? Like I coming off a divorce. I got my kids were really little, and I'm like, oh man, I can't like jump into this now. Like, what kind of, you know, sure how do you get things going? And so I just think like I didn't know what I didn't know. Yeah. And luckily, uh, I belonged to a mentor organization, the accelerators organization that I've talked about on the show in the past. And thank God I had Sean, Thomas, and the other mentors there to help me and get me out of this. And I'll never forget the day I was in Nashville at Sean's place in Franklin. And I go, I said to a group of people on the patio, and I said, I think it's time for me to do this full time. I'm gonna put it in my notes. They're like, oh, thank God, it's about time. Jesus, we've been waiting four years to hear you say that, right? So it was just because I had the right people in my corner.

Jennifer Johnson:

Sure. I have talked about this before, how we can't see some, I shouldn't say we can't see it. Everybody else around you can see the obvious that you were meant to take a certain path or you were meant to step into something. But we being the people in it, right? We go, we we don't see it, or we choose to ignore it because somebody else or something else is holding us back.

Joe Nugent:

Yeah.

Jennifer Johnson:

Right. And for you, it was that fear that yeah, like how do I do this?

Joe Nugent:

Right? Like, how does this work? Like, this is crazy. And everyone else told me I was crazy. Like, why are you building this company? Like, you make really good money and good benefits. And I was like, Well, you don't know, this job may not be here forever. Q COVID, right? That job went away. Right. So I think you know, that was that was a big, uh, a big hurdle for me to clear. But I also think like the one part of your question that was really good is, you know, why did I want to take slow and steady? So one of the things that I realized, and this is part of like what you said, like in your bio about me, is seeing that there's a hole in the market, seeing that there's a need, like people are getting taken advantage of, whatever. And so for me, I don't understand in Southwest Florida how people build and scale uh service-based companies and then they forget the service aspect. Right. And so this is like my number one thing because everyone that told me is like, oh, don't get too big, you're gonna lose your service. And I was like, I could rattle off six companies right now that did that. I'm not gonna be one of them. So I was then determined to grow, build, and scale a service-based company with keeping our number one company pillar, relentless service, at the top of everything we do. And knock on one, we've been able to accomplish that so far.

Jennifer Johnson:

So I'm glad you brought that up. How do you do that? I know that's not really the precipice of our conversation today, but it does go, it ties it all in with your business. And and I know my listeners are gonna wonder, how did he keep that at the top of his list with his company when other people are like, you can't scale your business and and you know make everybody happy is essentially what they were telling you. Yeah. How did you do it?

Joe Nugent:

It's all through the right.

Jennifer Johnson:

How are you doing it?

Joe Nugent:

It's all through the right people, right? So it's um it's amazing when you're out there networking with people and you talk to people about your company and and you just, you know, they ask questions and you're kind of like, you know, you're you're you're fired up. Right. You're giving them really strong stuff because you love what you love your little passion project, like I call it. Um, and it's incredible how many people will be looking out for you, going, hey, I know somebody, I think they would be a really good fit for you. Like right now, I have the exact opposite of what everyone else in Southwest Florida has. I have seven people right now that are banging down my door to come work for my company. I don't have enough business. It's it's the reverse for every single other company I know down here. Wow. They have too much business and not enough people. And so I have the exact opposite, which I'm very thankful for. And I say that very, very like respectfully to everyone. So for me, it's about putting myself out there and finding the right people, and I'm not gonna put the warm body out there. Like I can't tell you. I have a laundry list of people that have come to me and said, Oh, I want to work for you. And I was hiring, and I was like, Oh, thanks, but we're all set because they're not the right people. And so you build and scale and grow in any, I don't care if you're in Southwest Florida or if you're in Cleveland, Ohio, or Seattle, Washington, by putting the right people in place, giving them the right tools to do the right job, and let them go and do their thing. But I think our company pillars are absolutely what grounds us. And it's like, if you don't buy into these four company pillars, you're not gonna be a long-term fit.

Jennifer Johnson:

What are your four company pillars now, though?

Joe Nugent:

Oh, it's very interesting you asked that question. Oh, wow, I mean, look at my cheat sheet. Yeah, that was good.

Jennifer Johnson:

Here's the baseball throw me a pitch.

Joe Nugent:

I need all the help I can get. So relentless service is number one for us, unwavering ethics and morals is number two. Number three is intentional communication, and number four is community-centric. And all of those play a part in who I am and in our community and the people that we try to have. So, like on day one, when we bring on a new team member, here's our here's the four company pillars, here's the explanation on each of them. Now sign here because if something happens down the road and they're not adhering to one of those, I'm gonna be like, wait, remember when you came on board and you signed this? Right. This is what this is all about.

Jennifer Johnson:

Intentional communications. What is that?

Joe Nugent:

So for us, because we're in a technical service-based business and it can get really convoluted and you can use some really big words, right? We talk to people as if you and I are having this conversation. So on a home inspection, it can there could be a lot of crazy terminology that someone throws out. So we talk to people as if like they are like in kindergarten, not because they're dumb, but because they we want to make sure they understand. And so for us, it's all about communication during and after an inspection of making sure they understand what the report says. But it also speaks to before that. And it's like my team knows that if there's someone that emails us, calls us, or texts us, and we don't get back to them within a matter of minutes, I'm gonna lose it. So it's like you like if someone needs something, we drop whatever we're doing, especially if we're having an internal conversation and that takes precedence. And it's a matter of clearly stating to them here's what your expectations are on the inspection, here's what's gonna happen, here's how we walk you through it. And so intentional communication for us is just being crystal clear on every single thing we're doing. Because look at the good service-based companies in Southwest Florida. They show up on time, they do a good job, they say what they're gonna do, and they charge a fair price. It's a very simple formula on how to become a multimillionaire in Southwest Florida, right? Right, which I still have not am. But one of these days.

Jennifer Johnson:

You're working on it, still.

Joe Nugent:

The formula is there, the formula is there, I gotta tell you. So that's what intentional communication is, though, to us.

Jennifer Johnson:

So, so that that all of that kind of parlays into the the advantages, right? Of being of doing this slow and steady growth, because you can put more time and attention into making sure that you have the that your team that you have is the right team and they're following those core values, or you call them pillars of your company.

Joe Nugent:

Correct. Correct. And you know, it's interesting is as we're talking about this, I'm just thinking about the slow and steady, right? Because we're in the process of moving into the Venice, Sarasota, St. Pete, Tampa market. And so we're finding people there. I just had uh a week ago, two people reach out to me about Orlando. So we're gonna start to maybe move over there. And so Joe, uh as in Joe the Home Pro, I want to own kind of like Orlando and like to like the Southwest. Our licensing division has finally taken off, and we brought on our first licensee in Lynchburg, Virginia. And again, you want to talk about slow and steady. I have turned down nine people for our licensing division. I'm talking, we're we're talking a lot of money that I could have been bringing in that I said no to because they weren't the right fit. They weren't gonna be successful, they weren't the right fit, didn't have the right qualities, whatever it might be. And so for us, we're gonna, as we go across the country and as we license and as we talk to potential home inspectors, we want the right people because it's our job to make sure they're successful. Right. It does me no good to put a Joe the home pro in Denver, Colorado, and for that individual to flame out in eight months. Right. It looks bad on us, it's bad on them. They're gonna lose a bunch of money. I don't want to go to court for all breaking the contract. Like, no, it has to be right. And so I think for for me, slow and steady means doing it the right way. Now, I will also contradict myself in the sense of I am also guilty of being too slow and not making decisions fast enough.

Jennifer Johnson:

Like just just indecisive?

Joe Nugent:

Analysis paralysis. It's like, you know, it's like if I wasn't dating Melissa, I'd be dating analysis, analysis paralysis because we are really good friends.

Jennifer Johnson:

I I my grandpa would call that uh tire kicking. Yeah. Oh yeah. Like quit kicking the tires. Let's make a decision and move on.

Joe Nugent:

Exactly like our customers, right? How many customers does someone have? Oh my gosh. And they're like kicking the tires because they're asking a thousand questions and takes you know three months to bring that sale to a close and all that. We don't have that luxury in my industry, but yeah, I mean, so the analysis paralysis thing for me, it's been something I've been working on a lot. And you and you think about it, it started really nine years ago when I started the company 10 years ago now. Um, and it took me five years to go full time. And then it took me almost another year to bring on my first inspector, and then it took a year later to bring on another inspector and an office person and marketing. And then it took another two years to go nationwide, and it's taken us eight months to bring on that first licensee and to find the right person. And so there is a there is a methodical way about it, but sometimes I'm like, oh, we need to speed this up. And that's exactly what I've done with my team now. Right. Because now I added on some different components of my team. We're trying new things, and it's like, okay, we have everything in place, right? Like that MVP, that minimal viable product. Right. We have had the MVP in place. It's not going to be perfect, but it's in place for what we need, and we can tweak and change as we go. Let's just go. Let's start.

Jennifer Johnson:

So analysis paralysis, what have you done to help you step through that and step past it a little bit quicker than you would have previously.

Joe Nugent:

I it's a that's a phenomenal question because I think it all comes down to what are our past experiences and how have they shaped us? So if I look back to the second half of 2023, where the bottom just fell out of the real estate market in Southwest Florida and everything just stalled. It went from like the faucet was on and someone it was like a trickle. Um, I didn't make decisions fast enough. The company lost over $50,000 in the second half of 2023 because I was more concerned about trying to keep my team and all that, which is important. But at the same time, if there's no Joe the home pro, there's no team members. Right. And so I wasn't selfish enough. And so I didn't, I didn't want to make those hard decisions that I need to make. And I didn't make them fast enough. So that's like a great example of like just learning from past mistakes. I think on top of that, it's having the mentors and business coaches and people around you in your inner circle that can also help you and that can push you. And like Sean, who's one of my best friends, you know, Sean's great at giving me that encouragement when I need it and calling me out on my BS and going, you know, stop. Right. This is what needs to happen. Do it now. And I'm like, okay, he's right. Like 98% of the time, the guy's right. Right. And it's like I hate it. Well, of course. You gotta do it though, right? You gotta have those people.

Jennifer Johnson:

There has to be someone in your life that calls you on things and tells you when, you know, hey, high five. That's a great job. And yeah, you're falling flat on your face here, dude. Like, what why are you having those thoughts? Right. Like, I call it so a lot of people call them mentors. I call them my board of directors. We've talked about this before.

Joe Nugent:

I love that.

Jennifer Johnson:

Where it's the your inner circle, like you say, and it's maybe maybe people that you pay, whether that's an accountant or attorney, and other people that you're friends with that you can use as a mentor who can check you on things and give you advice when you need advice. That's very important to your business.

Joe Nugent:

100%. Um, so I just came off of the TV show The Blocks, and it was funny when when I was there, there's 120 entrepreneurs there. The majority of them are in like the 150,000 and less phase.

Jennifer Johnson:

Dollar amount less.

Joe Nugent:

Yeah, dollar amount less phase, right? Like so they're they're still in like that startup growth mode, right? The majority. And almost everyone there was like, oh, I've I've never had anyone like help me. I've never had a coach or I've never had this mentor, I've never had this. And I'm going, oh my God, this is like absolutely so important. And I look back and they're like, Well, what about you? And I'm like, Well, for six years, I've had a group of 15 plus that are all multi-million dollar business owners or were and successfully exited, who have been able to help me and guide me. And without question, I never would have been able to overcome the hurdles and challenges that I have faced in just the last, like really since like my divorce uh eight years ago. I never would have been able to overcome some of that stuff between like a divorce, between two massive hurricanes, uh collapsed economy, a this, uh that, right? There's no way, yeah, life, right? So there's, but thank God I had people that could like lift me up and guide me. There's no way that my licensing division, I would have been trying to franchise it and it would have cost me, I would have been bankrupt. Thank God I had a business coach. I was like, uh, you can't franchise, you got a license. And I was like, thank God for this stuff. Like, you need those people.

Jennifer Johnson:

I'm so glad that you mentioned coach because a lot of people kind of poo-poo the thought of having investing in themselves, really.

Joe Nugent:

Yeah.

Jennifer Johnson:

Whether they're having a coach or they're joining a mastermind or they're just reading books, right? A lot of people kind of just go, I don't need that. But it's so important. And you are a living testament to you wouldn't be where you're at today if you didn't allow yourself the help that you needed. And I think, you know, it's like any process, it comes down to acknowledging that I can't do this by myself.

Joe Nugent:

You have to be vulnerable.

Jennifer Johnson:

That's it.

Joe Nugent:

Right. And and I think for me, I'm super honest and transparent with myself. And I'm I'm always vulnerable. I mean, I always joke that I wear my heart on my sleeve, and so everyone knows like if I'm in a good mood or a bad mood or happy or sad or whatever. Um, and it's just that's just how I am. And so I'm like, I don't know everything. So what I've done is I'm okay with saying I don't know everything. I'm okay with raising my hand. And I don't feel bad or stupid when I'm like, explain this to me. Put myself in rooms that were I'm the dumbest person in the room. I love that because I'm the only gonna learn. And so I for me, I just don't have an ego about it because at the end of the day, what are my goals? What am I trying to accomplish? I'm not gonna be able to do that, or it's gonna take me twice as long if I cannot be honest with myself and be vulnerable. That's true. By the way, I have to tell you this funny story. And I don't know if you've ever heard me say this before. Melissa and I's third date, I finally looked at her and I was like, listen, I don't need you to coach me. Oh my gosh, because I go, listen, I actually would like to date you. Like, can we date maybe? And like you can coach me later on dating or whatever, right? And like Melissa has like that executive leadership coaching in her, right? Because that's what she does.

Jennifer Johnson:

This is his this is Joe's girlfriend. My girlfriend. For those of you that don't know.

Joe Nugent:

Yeah, so it's just so funny though. But I was like, um, I don't, I'd like to date you. I like I don't want to be coached by you. Because I'm sorry, I just can't turn it off. And I was like, of course you can't, right? But I mean, this, and I I'm saying this jokingly, but it's very, it's so so true because Melissa is so good with like the CEOs and vice presidents that she works with. So it really is perfect for me to like for us to be dating. Because there are times I'm like, hey, I need help with this. Like, what do you think I should do or whatever? And then she puts on her coaching hat. And I'm like, okay, that 27 minutes is up now, so put on your girlfriend hat.

Jennifer Johnson:

I want the other one. But it's so true. And I can tell you from my coaching experience, coaching small business owners, that a lot of times you talk to people, you know, two or three times, and by the third time, they realize, wow, I really do need a coach. I need somebody who can can help me walk through this.

Joe Nugent:

Yeah. How many times when you talk to somebody though, they don't realize it until you point out that light bulb idea and they're like, oh, I never thought and for you, it's like this is staring at me right in the face. Like it's right there.

Jennifer Johnson:

But it's like how we talked about at the very beginning, where people saw your clear path.

Joe Nugent:

Yeah.

Jennifer Johnson:

But you didn't see it or you were blinded by it, you chose not to see it. There were other things preventing you from that. Same thing.

unknown:

Yeah.

Jennifer Johnson:

Is they don't they need a lot of time, 95% of the time, people need to be told what to do. You need to tell them the clear, the clear step. This is one, two, three, this is what I think you need to do.

Joe Nugent:

Yeah.

Jennifer Johnson:

And that's when the light bulb goes off. That's when they're like, whoa. How did I not see that?

Joe Nugent:

You also have to be receptive to coaching. Because you're gonna have some people like, oh, I don't know this, but then you give them the recommendation, like, oh, well, no, that's not gonna work because it's like, nope, that's not how you're gonna there's not always that I can't, I can't, I can't. Yeah.

Jennifer Johnson:

No, let's reframe that.

Joe Nugent:

Exactly.

Jennifer Johnson:

Now I'm coaching. Yeah, exactly. But you're right. It's it's also there have they have to be receptive to it.

Joe Nugent:

Yeah. Yeah. And I know a ton of people, a ton of business owners that are really, really green or young, or they need they need help in certain areas, and they're just not open. They're those like, no, no, no, I think I know what's best. And it's like, well, why wouldn't you want to ask this person who's built a multi-million dollar company? Like, wouldn't you want to like they probably know what they're doing, right?

Jennifer Johnson:

Or it's too much money.

unknown:

Yeah.

Jennifer Johnson:

Is it too much money to invest in yourself, knowing that you're going to get so much more out of it?

Joe Nugent:

Yeah. Yeah. It's funny. They uh the I went to the when I was on the blocks, they have like a graduate program. And so uh I was in Kansas City a couple weeks ago for it. And it was so funny because Wes Bergman, who uh runs it, he goes, All right, so of course we have like it's like the last day there. And he was like, Of course, I'm gonna try to sell you something, but here's here's what we have. Right. He's like super funny about it, right? We're like, Yeah, of course. He goes, All right, uh, we're gonna take um 10% of your first million and over two years, and we're gonna coach you and we're just gonna take 10% of it or 15% of it, whatever it was. And it's like people didn't realize, like, oh, so he needs $15,000. But he's like telling you, like, hey, we're gonna help get you to this million, right? Right. And I'm like, the number of people are like, oh, that's that's just way too much money. And I was like, if you have a million dollars and you can't afford this 15, we should probably talk about other things.

Jennifer Johnson:

Like, but you it's it's how we're conditioned, perhaps as people to go, whoa, wait a second. Yeah, you know, it it success doesn't come free.

Joe Nugent:

No, it doesn't in any respect. It's so important to invest in your company, but also invest in yourself. And I think too, when you start to do that, you start to really realize just either how fast or how slow you actually need to go because there's times you need to step on the gas, and then there's also times you need to step on the brakes. Right. And I think you have to like understanding that, like that's where I fell into that trap last year, 2023. I didn't realize it fast enough, or I realized it, but I didn't want to admit it. And so to go back, I know because we're talking about slow and steady growth. I think the challenges of putting your foot on the gas too fast is you don't have the people, processes, systems in place. And so then your service suffers, or something, your culture and your company suffers. And then when you don't do it fast enough, you're just staying stagnant and you might miss that window of opportunity that you had to blow up and to really push the needle, whatever that needle is and wherever that may be. So those are big things, I think.

Jennifer Johnson:

I'm glad you brought up people processes. You know, when you're scaling, yeah, the process is all around your business and how you do your business is really, really important. And I see a lot of people who want to scale their business, but they don't have processes in place to do so. So, an example would be you know, I don't know your business, but let's say it's here's the protocol that you need to do when you go out to inspect a home for the first time. Here's your list, here's your checklist, here's exactly what you need to do. How important has that been in your business? Because I know in any business that you scale, that kind of has to be there before you can really pour the gas on the fire.

Joe Nugent:

I'm gonna try to keep this answer under one hour because this is like a one hour. Yeah, this is like a it's such a passion topic for me because you know, people are like without SOPs, your team has two.

Jennifer Johnson:

Standard operating procedures, sorry, yes, processes, however you want to.

Joe Nugent:

Yeah. But without those, your team members have no roadmap to success and you're gonna fail. Let's take it one step further. Let's say you're ready to exit your company. So I've been in talks with a guy for a while to try to buy his home inspection company here in Southwest Florida. Phenomenal, very nice individual, solopreneur. There are no SPs, there are really no software, there's no this, there's no that. I'm like, what am I really buying? Right. So when you go to exit your company, no one wants to buy your job.

Speaker 2:

They want to buy your company.

Joe Nugent:

So if you look at the org chart and you're like, how many times is your name on your org chart? And if it's on there more than like once as CEO, then that's a problem. So the the procedures, processes, systems, absolutely imperative for everything that we do. Um, it was probably like six, eight months ago. I sat down with my operations manager and we use a platform called Trainual. It's not cheap, but it's a really good platform, and you can integrate it with a like there's another system called Loom where you can record videos and all these things. So, what we did is we had a company here locally record each and every process of here's the Joe the Home Pro way of how you inspect a home. And so now when we bring on a new inspector, they will go into Trainual and they have different modules. After each of those modules are questions they have to answer, and that's part of their onboarding. In addition to that, the question that I told Sarah, my operations manager, I go, This is what you have to answer. If you go out tomorrow and you win a $50 million lottery and you're like, peace out, Joe the Home Pro, which by the way I would too. Um, I'm just saying, if someone else comes in your chair on a Wednesday morning, could they sit down and do your job? And so the the key is not even just having the systems and process in place, it's also about getting down into the minutiae, is being as detail-oriented as you possibly can be about that. So no matter what happens, everyone knows here is the playbook. And it's really not just it's an internal playbook, it's also a playbook for success. And we have shared this now with our licensees as we're growing and scaling, and we have this in our licensee portal of like, here's an example of what to do. Here's an employee handbook, by the way. Here's this, here's how you inspect a home in Southwest Florida, here's how we do this, here's how you do your billing, et cetera, et cetera. And so we are we are laying out all these things, and all it's doing is it's making our company, which is only five people, make it seem like it's 50 people because of how big we are, and it's only adding value to the colour.

Jennifer Johnson:

Absolutely, it is on the back end and day to day.

Joe Nugent:

100%.

Jennifer Johnson:

It's Joe the home pro to box.

Joe Nugent:

Yeah, and that's what our licensing is. Yeah, I'm in a box, I know. I don't know. I'm in a glass case of emotion. I mean, that's a good anchor man reference reference. Um, but no, for for me though, and for us, like our licensing program is exactly that. It's like someone's like, Oh, are you teaching them how to inspect a home? I was like, No, there's companies and training. I don't, that's not my thing because inspecting a home in Cleveland, Ohio is way different than Naples, Florida. But what we are gonna do is home inspectors are not great inherently, generally speaking, broad stroke here, not trying to offend anyone, but they're not great at business operations, they don't know how to run the company.

Jennifer Johnson:

Oh, that was the wrong one. Darn, I was looking for the want wamp button.

Joe Nugent:

Oh, see, that was magical. We're in Disney now.

Jennifer Johnson:

I I learned the soundboard. Apparently, I didn't really not.

Joe Nugent:

There needs to be label them. This is part of your SOPs. Label your soundboard. Exactly.

Jennifer Johnson:

I was trying to do the not the crickets either. Oh, stop pressing the buttons.

Joe Nugent:

Yeah, that's good. Yeah, but I mean, that really is like um like we want to teach people how to run and how to run their company. So whether they want to just be a solopreneur and make 150 or 200,000, that's awesome. You do that. Or if you want to grow and scale and add inspectors and get past that seven figure mark, here's a way to do that too. And so that's really what the licensing division is is we're gonna give you the roadmap of success of here's everything that I did in order to get to where I am. And here's what you can do if you so choose to.

Jennifer Johnson:

So it's like franchising, but it's not franchising because you're giving them all the tools saying here's Joe the home pro and a boss. You go and and and do what you do, but still stay within these parameters. What's on the thing? When are we talking about licensing?

Joe Nugent:

Yeah, the light what the biggest difference between licensing and franchising is that the licensee can run the company however they want. There's no mandate. So, in other words, if I use QuickBooks to do all of our invoices, the license the licensee can use APIs. Anything they want. Okay. Yeah. Whatever they want to do.

Jennifer Johnson:

And if it was franchised, it has to be followed exactly. Now, do you still have to give them support? Do you still give them support as a licensee?

Joe Nugent:

Oh, thank you so much for asking this question. Because one of the things I'm really proud of, because I came from that franchising world in the hotel industry. Sure. And I was on both sides of it, corporate office as well as uh as the franchisee. And what I have done is I've been able to implement a franchise model with licensing pricing. So, in other words, we have the support like you would get on a franchise, but you're doing it for a tenth of the price on the licensing division. The idea is to take away the barrier to entry for home inspectors. How do I charge somebody $50,000 on a home inspection franchise when it costs me $10,000 to start mine?

Jennifer Johnson:

Ah, I see.

Joe Nugent:

And 50 to 60% of your franchise fee goes to the franchise broker anyway. That's fine. That's just not my thing. So here's an idea. We're gonna charge you five. And then after 60 days, we're just gonna charge you a thousand bucks a month. That's it.

Jennifer Johnson:

Instead of doing like a royalty.

Joe Nugent:

Yep. Like here's your digital fee, your tech fee, your marketing fee, your this fee. Next thing you know, you're at 10, 12, 14 a month. Right. And I'm like, hey, how about your first like two to three inspections? They just come back to us for the coaching and so forth that we're providing. And then you keep all the rest. Like that's it. For five years, all you pay is $12,000 a year. Yeah. That's it. Wow. All the rest is yours. So if you if you're bringing in $150K, you're like, this is great. I just kept $138,000.

Jennifer Johnson:

It makes it absolutely simple.

Joe Nugent:

Yeah. And that was my whole point of doing it. Because if you're a license or licensee, rather, and as the as the licensor company, the last thing I want to do is be like, oh, let me wait and get someone's financials because they can use whatever they want. Let me calculate this, then let me send them a bill. Then it's like you're three weeks in. Screw that. There's a lot of stuff going on. You have your credit card on file on the first of the month. We hit it for a thousand dollars after 60 days. So you pay your license fee, which we do owner financing on. So, oh, I don't have five grand. Cool. Couple options. Here's two banks of friends of mine that work at these banks. They offer 0%, 18 months on a credit card. You can put it on there, whatever you need to do. Or you can do it through us. We'll we'll do a like almost 0% interest, basically. We'll spread it out over 12 months, and then after 60 days, you start paying. So even if they give us the full five thousand dollars, we're still like, hey, you just gave us a bunch of money. We're good. Get your get your feet out from underneath you. And in 60 days, then you can start to pay.

Jennifer Johnson:

It's so great because it's like a it's a hybrid, yeah, an innovative hybrid model. Because it's not completely one or not completely the other. It's not completely franchising, not completely uh the licensing portion of it. You're melding the two.

Joe Nugent:

I am determined to disrupt this archaic industry because it's so archaic.

Jennifer Johnson:

And you know, historically that's where money's made is when you disrupt an industry that is very antiquated.

Joe Nugent:

And I know I'm doing something right because there's a lot of haters on me right now, and I love it. I just love it.

Jennifer Johnson:

It's turn those into lovers.

Joe Nugent:

Oh, like I mean, there is a certain age demographic uh that is on the upper echelon that just is like, what is this guy doing? Like, I don't understand. And it's like, good, you're not supposed to.

Jennifer Johnson:

Because you're disrupting it exactly, and making them, I mean, when you change something, people automatically are like, whoa, wait a second, wait a second. And you know, they don't want to be left behind, but yet a lot of them want to just be stuck where they're at.

Joe Nugent:

Right.

Jennifer Johnson:

I don't want to change the visitors.

Joe Nugent:

100%. The very first thing I realized when I started my home inspection company is how little support there is out there for new inspectors. You have to figure it out on your own, which by the way, is super costly and takes a lot of time. And so what we want to do is we want to say, hey, let's hold your hand a little bit. We're gonna help you with this, we're gonna show you how to do things. You ultimately are responsible for your own success, but we want to help you. The other thing that we're passionate about is we want to put 200 veterans to work. I love that. How can anyone sit there and say, screw you for disrupting? Like, I'm putting veterans to work. Like, that's my goal. That's amazing. If I could hang my head on anything, it's that I was an awesome dad and that I helped put 200 veterans to work. Like I'd be a happy man with that, right? And so, again, the whole idea with licensing is let's make it easier for people. Let's take away the hurdles, let's make it affordable for them too. Then let's give them the tools and resources to be successful, and then let's get either way. Right. And so it's really cool. So, and the other thing that it does too, Jennifer, is that it's gonna allow people on my current team to move up. So it's not just like you're stagnant in Joe the Home Pro in Southwest Florida or in Tampa or Orlando, whatever it might be. You now have, I now have ways to move people up the ranks if they so choose to. So my operations manager is gonna be our VP of client services for the licensees. So she's gonna be like their go-to person, right? My lead home inspector is gonna be our director of education. So he's gonna lead one of the training classes on what we do four every Monday was training Monday. He's he leads one of them. So those types of things. And then as we continue to grow and scale, be like, okay, I need an area director here, I need an area director here. Let's just make sure that we're giving people the resources. So that's kind of like, you know, in a nutshell. That's again slow and steady on all of it because I wanted to make sure I had everything in place because the licensing division I did take more time with than probably I maybe should have, but I feel so much better that I know that when our first licensee came on in Lynchburg, Virginia, we were ready for it. Um, when it comes to locally, what I should have done, should have just started. Go, go, go, get going, get going. We'll figure it out. This is too big because now you're talking about someone else's business in a different part of the country. And you really, I just really wanted to make sure that was set in stone and ready to go.

Jennifer Johnson:

Done right.

Joe Nugent:

Yeah.

Jennifer Johnson:

Done right.

Joe Nugent:

I just saw the, by the way, uh, I just saw the movie last night, uh, Blackberry.

Jennifer Johnson:

Oh, I've not.

Joe Nugent:

Oh my gosh, unbelievable.

Jennifer Johnson:

Is it about the Blackberry?

Joe Nugent:

It's about the Blackberry, about the guys that started. And just really quick, because he brought this up, he everyone was pressuring him to send all his manufacturing over to China. And he goes, No, when I do that, it doesn't come back right. They they skip steps, etc. Sure enough, Blackberry gets gigantic, and he gets convinced by his COO, we got to go to China to fulfill this production. They do it, everything was wrong. Verizon sued him for 500 million.

Speaker 2:

Oh my gosh. Right?

Joe Nugent:

And what happens? The company obviously implodes and so on and so forth. It's a great example of doing things right. And then they had the see, they had it done right the first time. They did. And he had that company culture and he had that mindset, and then it was the corporate greed took over. Right. Again, why growing and scaling? And these companies, that's I'm guarantee you, this is what happens with a lot of them. They see number of team members, dollar signs of revenue, bigger service area. It makes us look larger. We can exit at some point. And they're like, oh yeah, the service side, it's in there somewhere, but they lose company culture, they lose everything that they were built on, that foundation. And that's why I am determined not to lose that foundation.

Jennifer Johnson:

I love that. I read a book about the guy that started Grubhub.

Joe Nugent:

Oh, yeah.

Jennifer Johnson:

Uh, that was also a very good book about not losing your company culture and making sure that you sustain it and everything. And uh it's very true.

Joe Nugent:

Every company has a culture. Some are good and some are bad, but there is a culture there. And I think my 20 years in the hospitality industry set me up perfectly for what I'm doing because of course it did. The hospitality industry is riddled with horrendous culture. Horrendous culture. And so I even look at like the place I last worked at. I mean, I was there almost eight years. I got a certified letter in the mail from them. Oh goodness, saying, Your position's been eliminated. Thank you. And I'm like, eight years, I'm the highest paid team member. Like this is how, like, no text, no email on the phone, right? So I'm just saying, like, that's one example. I am determined to be like, okay, let's do extra stuff for our team members. You keep your team members, like keep them happy, take care of them. They're gonna stay longer, treat your customers better. This is that company culture. And then that culture internally will also rub off externally to your clients and they see it. Absolutely. It all starts with your team. Yes. And so that's why that slow and steady approach, like we've been talking about, in my mind, it there's nothing better than it. It's just the difference is understanding when to put the foot on the gas, which is the thing that I've had the biggest challenge with in the past. Not anymore, because I'm like, like, right? I'm like, you know, no one look at me. I'm going very fast.

Jennifer Johnson:

I'm I'm in my lane and I'm doing it. I'm doing it.

Joe Nugent:

I'm in the left lane.

Jennifer Johnson:

Joe, I have so loved our conversation today. I know we were all over the place. I know, I'm sorry, but it's okay, but this is how it works when we get together with everything but the kitchen sink.

Joe Nugent:

You're the best. Thanks for having me. Thanks for all you're doing, by the way, for small business owners. Absolutely. Thanks for all you're doing in Southwest Florida. You are just a pillar and a steward of everything that Southwest Florida is about. So thank you so much.

Jennifer Johnson:

And thank you so much, Joe. If our listeners want to get in touch with you, how can they do so?

Joe Nugent:

No, I'm pretty busy.

Jennifer Johnson:

No, no time. See, I knew the no was gonna come in here somewhere. We were joking before we came on this podcast. He's like, what if I just answer no to one of your questions? That's why I'd be searching, that's why I was trying out the buttons before to see if I could do the wah wah wah. And obviously I can't find the buttons.

Joe Nugent:

So you found all of them put that one. Uh JoeTheHomepro.com is our website. All of our social channels are Joe the Home Pro. Our YouTube is Joe the Home Pro, LinkedIn. Uh, so anything on social, find us, connect with us, and we'd love to we'd love to hear from people.

Jennifer Johnson:

Awesome. Thank you so much, Joe.

Joe Nugent:

Thank you.

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Jennifer Johnson

Host