Good Neighbor Podcast Northport
Bringing Together Local Businesses and Neighbors of Tuscaloosa and Northport!
Good Neighbor Podcast Northport
T&T Fencing with Tyler Wakefield and Troy Benefield
What happens when two brothers decide to climb the fence of entrepreneurship and challenge the status quo? Tyler Wakefield and Troy Benefield, the tight-knit duo behind T&T Fencing, have done just that, building their very own Fencing empire right out of Tuscaloosa. These part-time contractors turned full-time entrepreneurs are proof that blood is thicker than water and that a shared dream can be a powerful catalyst for success.
Listen as Tyler and Troy recount their journey, from juggling full-time jobs and a side hustle to taking the leap of faith into full-time entrepreneurship. They're not just partners in business but comrades in life, and their close bond only amplifies their commitment to their craft. They're hands-on leaders who seek perfection in every fence they build, and their growing team and satisfied customers are evidence of their hard work. But it's not all smooth sailing: they also shed light on the common misconceptions about fencing, particularly around property lines. Whether you're looking for a privacy fence or a barbed wire fence, TNT Fencing promises quality service and top-tier results. So, are you ready to jump the fence and join them on their journey? Pull up a chair, and let's get started. #GNPNorthport #TandTFencing #TuscaloosaFence #TuscaloosaDeck #Fence #Deck #ChainLink #PropertyLines #PrivacyFence #LocalTuscaloosa
This is the Good Neighbor podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Patricia Blondheim.
Speaker 2:Welcome to the Good Neighbor podcast. I'm your host, Patricia Blondheim, and today we have Good Neighbors Tyler Wakefield and Troy Benefield. Tyler and Troy are partners with TNT Fencing here in Tuscaloosa. Tyler, Troy, how are you this morning?
Speaker 3:Well, we're doing pretty well this morning.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I know y'all are busy, but tell me a little something about your business. Tell me about TNT Fencing.
Speaker 3:TNT is just a small business that got started with me and Tyler. We were working full time and always have done stuff on the side, just making side money. It's just, we did it part time working full time at other jobs and just continued growing our business little by little until we decided that we could take it on full time. Once we took that leap of faith it's not slagged up in the three years we've been doing it full time.
Speaker 2:Hey, you know there's a lot of fencing to be done here, but the thing that amazes me is you both are brothers and you are tight. I mean, nothing comes between you, and I think that is the coolest thing to see, because very unusual in a family, don't you think?
Speaker 4:It's definitely unusual, and now we are that way. We are very tight. When we first started this it was little button heads, but now we are both on the same page. Like you said, we are inseparable. Where you see one, you are probably going to see the other shortly there behind.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's really a nice thing. Y'all have a really nice relationship and I'm sure that transfers over to the relationship that you have with your clients. It's funny when you have conflict inside of a relationship, a business relationship that transfers over into how you deal with the rest of your business. But y'all are real in harmony. So that's, I think, something that goes really deeply into the way that you practice your business. But tell us about your journey. How did you get into the biz?
Speaker 4:Well, with the fence we'd always done a little bit of construction, kind of started with our dad. He always had us working on something and we were working full time. And really what happened was we had a co-worker that couldn't get somebody to come build a fence for him and then Troy both said, hey, you know, we'll give it a shot. Well, we built his fence and then we decided, well, I think we could do something with this. So from that point we started advertising and started building fences and I'd say our first fences probably weren't our best fences, but we learned from each fence and we've done a lot of research and we have the tools, we have the knowledge now to build the best fence that we possibly can build at this point.
Speaker 4:And you know, it went from doing it part time to now we're doing it full time. We've been doing it full time for three years now. And what do we have? We got five guys at Workforce now. So they're out working every day and we're out working with them. So me or Troy will be on site with every job and our guys know that we don't accept anything but perfection. So we're behind them and we walk through with the customer at the end of the day as well, and if there's anything that needs to be fixed, we're there, we're going to fix it, but that's about it.
Speaker 2:Is there any kind of fence? You don't do.
Speaker 4:No, we do them all.
Speaker 2:You do them all.
Speaker 4:Anywhere, from a privacy fence to a bar bar fence, we'll do them all.
Speaker 2:You do it all. Hey, well, tell us any. Do people when you meet them? Do they have any misconceptions about you? Know how a fence would fit in their yard? What kind of fence is possible for them? What kind of misconceptions do you run up against when you meet people?
Speaker 3:Oh, I would say the biggest misconception is people not understanding where their property lines are. Because you have some people that there's lot lines that their property corner may not back up directly to the next property corner, it may be three or four foot off, and they just think that, hey, I should be able to, my pants should tie into that corner, instead of understanding where their property lines are. And you know, the easiest thing is people that don't have a drawing of their lot diagram. You know is hey, call, get a quick survey just to mark the corners. It's very inexpensive and you know. And that way you know where your property corner is at. Because we've had multiple people that didn't didn't know that, but luckily they had their lot lines of their house where you could show them that, hey, it's 15 feet off the right side of your house, All the way back is where your property line is, and you can run it back and show them and then they understand once they see it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and each square foot of your property. You know that's money for you. So if you're, if you're just an inch off on a fence, that can lead into several feet during a long fence run of losing actual property which you can lose.
Speaker 2:You can lose legally if you, if you don't enforce it. So good point. What do you? What do you? I mean you all, you hang out together all day. I'm sure you have fun when you're working. I mean, I've seen you, I've met you before, so I know you all have fun. You laugh, you share jokes. But what do you do for fun when you're not working?
Speaker 4:I'd say we're together, we're together, we're hunting. We hunt a lot.
Speaker 2:Well, how is that? I even see you right now, isn't it deer season?
Speaker 4:It's deer season, it's duck season. It's because it's during the day, during the week, so our guys are working, so we're with them, so we get done early in the afternoon, we'll go deer hunting and on the weekends we won't be in town, we'll be. We'll be in Arkansas.
Speaker 3:Friday evening we're rolling out and we come back Saturday or Sunday evening and then we're back ready to work Monday.
Speaker 2:Our machines. That's pretty fun, hey. Well, let's let's change subjects and talk about a life challenge that you all have gone through that has has made you stronger, you know, has made you more bonded.
Speaker 4:Well, sure, a lot of people don't know this, but I was, I'm prior military, so I've served six years in the Air Force. And hardship. I was gone for six years. I started, I did three years in Alaska and then double one tour overseas and then I was in Arkansas for three years as well. So for me, just being away, being away from family, was, was difficult. And now being back here, I wouldn't replace this, the bond that we have, for anything, because I mean for six years, you know, we talked every day but we weren't together and I'd say that's probably the biggest hardship for me was just being gone.
Speaker 2:Put your priorities in place, doesn't it?
Speaker 4:It does yes.
Speaker 2:Troy, do you have anything that you want to add to that?
Speaker 3:I'm not really. I mean it's just. I mean I wouldn't say it's hardship, but the biggest thing has just been.
Speaker 2:I get it. It's a difficult question to answer.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I mean, the biggest thing for us was just learning to work together and learn how to, you know, kind of use each other's knowledge and put it together, instead of thinking that, hey, my way is the only way there's, instead of an understanding that, hey, there's other options out there besides just the way that comes to your mind first. And you know it took two and a half years of us having arguments back and forth to understand it. Hey, you know, I'm looking at it from one point of view, tyler's looking at it from another point of view. You know, let's put our minds together and find the best way to do this.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and you're two strong guys. I mean you're two alpha male guys. No, they can't, the listeners can't see you, but you know I've met you before. You're two like you're, extremely confident male people and it's, it's a real skill to to allow another really strong opinion into your space and not be defensive about it, which I think is a yeah, it's a really great thing when you can master it, because then you put it forward into your community. It means not only can you hear this other person that you work with, who gets on your every last nerve, but you can listen to the other people who are in your business space, including your clients, and you can put together solutions with them.
Speaker 2:So you make, you create it. You have that strength, but you've created an even bigger strength by combining all of that with the ability to listen to other people. So that's the thing that's always struck me about you both is that you're listeners. You have a lot of knowledge but you listen. So that's just one of my observations about you, and I think I'm going on and on about it, but that's I think that's really impressive. So what's one thing you wish our listeners knew that they can take away about TNT fencing With us at TNT.
Speaker 3:We're going to communicate with you. We're going to show up when we say we're going to be there. We're going to do what we say we're going to do and if anything ever, if there is an issue that ever comes up with anything that we install, we're going to come back and fix it. We're not going to leave you hanging high and dry. We're not going to put it off to make to where you have to call somebody else to do something that we did. We're going to be. I mean, you're going to be able to account on us to be there and do what we say we're going to do.
Speaker 2:Great. Well, how can listeners learn more about TNT fencing? How can they reach you?
Speaker 4:You can. Either we have a Facebook page currently and we're working on a website as well, but you can call me. My phone number is 205-393-4600, or you can call Troy, and his number is 205-523-1186.
Speaker 2:Wonderful Tyler Troy.
Speaker 3:Yeah, we're also. We're in the process. We're probably going to start right off first year. We're going to be building a warehouse or shop down 69 South, right off the side of 69 South. We're going to be breaking ground on it. I would say probably February or so.
Speaker 2:Oh, that's great.
Speaker 4:And it'll have. We'll have displays of every fence that we offer.
Speaker 3:We're going to hopefully be selling stain products and start stocking chain link and wood material that if anybody needs, they can come by and buy from us directly Instead of having to go to Lowe's or Home Depot and get it.
Speaker 2:So are you going to be selling not only to the retail consumer, but also to the trades?
Speaker 4:Yes.
Speaker 2:Guys, it's been great to see you and I loved having you in the studio. Thanks for coming by.
Speaker 4:Thank you.
Speaker 1:Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor podcast Northport. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to gmpnorthportcom or call 205-809-4910.