Reinventing Yourself: The Art of Mastering New Skills in Home Performance

In this episode of the Home Performance Company Startup podcast, the host, Eric Gans, discusses his recent reinvention and the journey to self-discovery that led him to create a successful one-man show business model. At 51 years old, Eric shares his experiences from starting as a contractor in 2006, transitioning to an energy auditor in 2018, and overcoming self-doubt to gain confidence in his hands-on skills. He explains the importance of repeated practice to become proficient in any task and highlights key components of his business model, including specialized training, utilizing web and YouTube platforms, acquiring the right tools and vehicle setup, working with subcontractors, and learning basic handyman skills. Eric also emphasizes the significance of being present at job sites to ensure customer satisfaction and build a successful one-man operation.

I have a hub-type website where you can find the different things I have going on and get in touch if you want.  ericgans.com

Transcript

  Hello, Eric Gans. Welcome back to Home Performance Company Startup.  I have been busy. I have not done a podcast in a long time on this particular subject.  And that's because I've gone through sort of a reinvention  and I want to share this experience with you because  I do think that it's something that a lot of people don't realize about themselves. 

And I'm 51 years old. It took me pretty much 50 years old cause this happened about a year ago to figure this out. And some people I will say, figure it out, you know, early on. They don't have a lot of the mental blocks that I personally had.  But when I'm going through my Facebook groups, which, you know, I belong to different groups, contractor groups, and I see what different people of different age groups are posting and their questions and their concerns,  it just makes me feel like, okay, there's probably a lot of people that felt the same way as me through different stages of being a contractor. 

So,  the thing that I want to start this with, you know, at least have the thought kind of out there is that  once you do anything a few times,  it's just like anything, you, you start to get better at it. And, you know, one example for me that, you know, you may be able to relate to is using a hammer.  If you don't use a hammer very often, or you never used a hammer the first time you pick it up, it's, it's got some weight to it, it's, you gotta get a feel for it, you, you know, you gotta sort of get your confidence in using that hammer. 

Well, it's the same thing with anything in life. If you are a surgeon, and you're doing precise, Surgery, I'm sure the first times you're doing it, maybe those are practice on like animals and things like that, but I'm sure that I mean, nowadays it's even virtual, but I'm sure that those first few times there's some uncertainty, there's, you know, a little bit of trepidation, you know, you don't quite have that feeling of confidence, conviction in your actions and what you're doing. 

And it's the same thing when you become an energy auditor and you first go into a house and you're you know looking around at the different parts of the house and you've learned this and you've learned that and you got to set this blower door up and you're not really sure exactly what it all means quite yet. 

But once you do it, you know, 20, 30, 40 times, then you start to get more confidence. You start to become more familiar with your tools. You become more confident in those tools and how to interpret the information that you get from those tools. And, I mean, I think even really highly intelligent people must go through the same,  you know,  set of  processes in their mind.

Now, I don't know if I'm a highly intelligent person. Um, I do think that I can pick things up. I mean, I'm not really great at math, but certain things are, you know, easy for me. But the point that I'm trying to make is that when I first became an energy auditor, you know, I didn't really fully understand everything.

But now that I've been doing it for so long,  I have pretty good command over all of the things that I'm doing.  And why do I mention that? Well,  I had to take that same feeling and I had to  transfer it over to something that is outside of my comfort zone.  And the whole point of me getting back on the mic and, you know, trying to get the show going again is that I think that I've come up with like the perfect one man show. 

Business model.  And I want to share that. With you. And I want to try to take today as an opportunity to just kind of go down sort of like the bullet point list of all the things that are included in the one man show business model.  And then hopefully through the course of maybe this season, because that's kind of what I'm doing here is I'm starting a second season to the show. 

Is I'm gonna just sort of go through and try to really get into the nuts and bolts of each of these things. I'm going to break them down and really try to teach you some key points, try to have you have some key takeaways from each of the episodes.  So how does this all kind of go tie back into what I had said earlier about, you know, the thought, which is, you know, if you do something a few times, then you're going to get better at it.

Because  one of my biggest. challenges since I became a contractor back in 2006. So just as a reminder, if you've never listened to me before, you don't know anything about me. Um, I was a window exterior contractor from 2006 all the way up until 2015. And I didn't actually get into doing energy audits until 2018.

So it was like a three year period where I sort of had to rediscover  myself as a contractor.  And you know, what I was trying to say here is that my biggest problem, and I, one of the reasons why I probably failed as a contractor, the first go around is because I never really,  and this goes back even to my entire life was a hands on,  um,  I was never considered,  um, like a good handyman or like good with my hands or  nobody was ever coming to me to, you know, fix like a light bulb switch or rewire, you know, some kind of faulty lighting. 

Nobody was coming to me to get their toilet fixed. Nobody was coming to me to ask me questions about, like, You know, um, you know, if the door was rotted, you know, how is that happening? What can we do to fix it? I wasn't the hands on guy. I was more of thinking of myself as like a marketing guy.  I did the internet marketing for the company.

Yes, I went out and problem solved when, you know, I remember somebody had a leak in their window, and that was after we did some siding work and the patio door.  And they were blaming us and, you know, we were able to, I was able to go out and think about it logically and figure out that, you know, no, this, this new leak was not related to the work we did.

So I had some knowledge, but I wasn't the person. I wasn't the handyman. In fact, the first time I ever went out to a window job, the first job I ever sold online.  Meaning we got our first window job from an online lead back in 2006, 2006. And that first job, I went out there, I was so proud, I walked up and the guy was so mad.

The homeowner was so mad because there was a gap  between the frame of the house and the frame of the window. And I had no idea why. I was beside myself. I felt bad. I felt like we let the guy down. I had no clue what I was looking at.  Fast forward to today,  and what happened one year ago is I  decided  Due to the fact that I had a guy that was doing really well.

In fact, he was on a few of my podcasts with me, Kyle. He was doing a great job for me putting in all of my exhaust fans because part of home performance.  Part of your home's performance is tied to your exhaust fan, your um, the ventilation in the house. So a big part of an insulation job in my world, in a home performance job, is to make sure that we leave the homeowner in a healthy situation.

And a lot of times a new bathroom exhaust fan is required.  And when Kyle became, got his own company going, which, you know, he had learned some things from me. I, of course, learned a lot from him as well, but he couldn't really service. He couldn't do.  my work for me in the way that I want it. And that's okay.

I just, I need a little more control because I don't like to have people upset. And I, you know, the way you keep people from getting upset with you, honestly, is just really good communication.  If you tell people when you're going to be there, you got to be there. And then if you can't be there, then you got to let them know.

And you know, that wasn't always the case. So I got really worried because I didn't know who to turn to.  Who is going to put these fans in for me in a great way, the way that Kyle is doing it, which is professionally done so that they don't leak, so that the fan works optimally, so that it's vented out properly.

So that, um, you know, just everything looks good. The finished product is, is professional and the electrical part of it, that's not, you know, rocket science, electrical, you don't have to do anything crazy, but there are little tricks and little things that come up.  So I was really worried I didn't know who to turn to and then I've got all these fans that are coming down the Pike and I you know don't  and then I just stopped and I took a deep breath and I said to myself  Okay, you can get into an attic  You have all these points because I use a credit card and I get points for all the materials that I buy So I have all these points saved up  You could go on, you could get yourself like a 500 starter kit, tool starter kit. 

Hell, go on, get a, get a van, just get a used van. I mean, you're driving around in your Acura RDX with all of your audit materials, all of your audit tools in there.  And get yourself a van and do these vans yourself.  Because I've been watching how it's been done. I've been videoing it. I've been doing these things like up close and personal.

So I see what's going on now. I just got to take all that knowledge and then transfer it into my hands. And that's what I did.  And it has been like a life changing another life changing experience for me. I've had a few over the past, like 10 years, but this one has been. You know, really good because I feel now empowered and guess what?

And that, and this part of like the business plan here,  I have also found, and I have a recent, you know, example of why, but I have found that going out on each of my jobs myself. Now, again, I'm a one man show and I want to be a one man show. I, You know, maybe someday as I get a little older, I might hire a few people and start that whole, you know, scene up again.

But right now, like, it's all about me and getting jobs done and me managing them. And, and that's just because I like to make people, you know, happy and I actually get like a thrill out of, you know, sealing holes for people and just really making a difference in their comfort. So,  I have been going to every single job that I sell. 

And I had been sitting in my car or working in the attic and taking some video or just kind of lingering around and trying to find things, ways to be helpful.  But now, I have, about a year since I started doing them, I have mastered putting these exhaust fans in. And I'm turning over a new leaf this year.

I'm kind of starting something a little new where I think it's going to make me even more productive. And that is Because what I was doing last year is I was selling a job, I was taking day one to put the fan in, and then day two would be all the insulation work. But that was because I wanted to make sure I had the fan in, I wanted to make sure that everything was done, I was, you know, a little slow at it, I was a little intimidated. 

But now, now there are occasional jobs here where I am saying, okay, I'm going to have an extra day because this may be two fans or there's something complicated that I can spot in advance. But now I'm like, boom, let me get out there. Let me put the fan in.  And I'm going to have my team there doing the air sealing and the insulation while I'm there.

So I'm actually making money.  On top of making money, which isn't really my main goal, but it's way more effective and productive and efficient and effective.  So, let me tell you, having said all that, let me just kind of run down my one man show business model.  And you can sort of chomp on some of the information I've told you thus far and um, we'll kind of move on with this episode. 

So, the number one thing is specialized training. And that kind of goes back to like my last season, I guess, of this particular podcast. There's an episode in there where I just talked a little bit about how to get your Energy Auditor certifications going. And I do want to dive into that a little bit more and see if I can maybe shed a little bit more light on that. 

Um, website with an info blog. So,  You know, I think I did also touch a little bit on websites in my last season, and I think I'm going to try to, you know, get into that a little bit more with you and maybe give you some tips on exactly how to construct  a well written blog article that will get picked up by Google so that you can get some  traction.

You know, that's the key. I mean, that's how this all started for me. Yes, I had experience as a contractor from 06 to 15, but I still did in a way have to start from scratch. Now, I will say in Maryland, it's a great, um,  program because it's a very specialized program. There's only like 40 contractors in it and there's millions of people.

So, but I do think that I could transfer all of these to any state, any area that even didn't have a program and still carve out a little. Space for myself because there are ways to conduct these energy audits, especially if you're just getting started on your own You don't have to charge, you know a full fee you could do it for a discounted price You can negotiate a little bit, you know, you could put actually time in for your energy.

I can measure it with what the person's budget is. If they want a really comprehensive audit, then you can do something more comprehensive and charge a little more. So you kind of see where I'm going with that. So specialized training that gives you sort of a framework to  create a consulting type of environment, a consulting type of a firm.

Uh, sorry, the website, info blog, YouTube. Okay, so let me go back. I kind of messed up there because specialized training, you have your website info blog, and I don't know how I tied back to the specialized training. I really apologize on that. But for the third thing,  Eric, I have too many things going on in my brain.

YouTube.  I think YouTube, you know, is something that every contractor on earth should do. I know every contractor will not do.  I see it in my own space. I've been doing it myself since I started home trust, which was like 2020 COVID.  And yeah, there are a couple companies that are doing some professional videos and one company is kind of doing some video stuff, but not, not to the extent that I am and every single energy audit, pretty much that I go on, I'm the feedback I'm getting is, Hey, yeah, I saw your video and you know, I don't  just stay inside the home performance space.

I listened to a lot of different podcasts about YouTube.  And, you know, it's the same story, and that is that YouTube is definitely the way to go. You can present yourself, people feel comfortable, they connect with you, you can demonstrate what you do. There's just, it's just, the, the, the possibilities are endless.

Now.  On that note, it may be a little intimidating, you know, editing this and that, but I got to tell you that if you know how to use Microsoft Word or you figured out how to use Microsoft Word, you can figure out how to use any type of editor. It's very intuitive. It's not rocket science. It's very easy to use. 

I got a van.  I got a van. Half of my van I use for handyman work. Half of my van I use for energy auditing. I got a pair of wood shelves for the van for like 40 and a few braces from Home Depot for like 30. For like 100 I was able to put shelving in, divide out my van, and I've got a really good mobile working system with all of my tools.

Tools for my fans, my exhaust fans, tools for my ventilation, tools for actually doing little odd insulation jobs, air sealing, different things that I can do on my own now where I can make 100 percent profit and This is stuff that is actually relaxing and easy to do. It's like a it's semi workout sometimes  And then the other half of my van I use for  my energy auditor equipment, so I've got my  Blower door  Um, kid, my blower door fan, I got a ladder, have everything I need in my van.

It's been perfect.  Um,  you want to go out and then you, okay. So, uh, after I just wrote down some notes here, apologize. Insulation subcontractor. Yeah. So, you know, you got to form a relationship. I personally don't want to have a warehouse with a big truck and a rig and some of those headaches.  You know, when the thing doesn't start, you gotta do maintenance on the car, there's insurance, there's all kinds of licensing.

So I just prefer to have a subcontractor that I have a good relationship with and, you know, that just works out really well for me and that's part of my business plan equation.  Alright, and then I had already mentioned a little early on about my being on site for my jobs. I have found that to be key. 

And just a little side note here. There was one that I didn't get a chance to go to recently because I had to go pick up a kid from college. And I went as far as to do a little write up on, you know, Hey, this is what you can expect. This is how it's going to. go, you know, it's never perfect. And, you know, hoping that I could, you know, have this crew go out there and knock out this small air sealing job for me without my presence.

And, you know, again, I surely understand why, but no, that's not how it went. The homeowner had called me several times that day with several concerns and not on that. But then I've gotten an email here a few weeks later that the guys missed a few spots. So, you know, that's the first complaint I've gotten. 

And that was the first job that since in about maybe like two and a half years. And that was the first job that I wasn't on  in about two and a half years. So  you may, you do the math.  Okay. Uh, lastly here, I already mentioned this as well. You've got to learn how to do some handyman work yourself. You got to learn and you got to be not afraid to get your hands dirty. 

And you gotta not be afraid to get yourself set up with a few tools.  Even if you are more of a professional contractor or more of like the white collar contractor, where you're more of a paper contractor, you don't want to get your hands dirty. If you want to get into this and you want to do it for yourself and follow this business model, um,  Then you've got to be able to put these fans in. 

Alright, so I'm going to get into these things a little bit more as I get into Season 2. I just wanted to get this out there. I thought it was a good, uh, helpful video. Because, again, just to revisit the thought. Once you do something a few times, it's a pretty simple thought. Once you do something a few times,  you're going to get better at it.

You're going to get more confidence.  And you're going to become an expert in it. That's what happened to me. It's it's happened to me. I never was a handyman guy.  Never really got my hands dirty. I was a hotel guy. I went to college. I never even saw myself, you know, going up in addicts, but I'll tell you, I wouldn't have it any other way.

I wish I would have done this when I was 20  before I even went to college.  Anyway, thanks for listenin