Take Action In Uncertain Times

In this episode we share positive and practical advice for roofing contractors and industry professionals dealing with the current crisis. Now is the time to show true leadership and guide your team through the pandemic. Information on this show is current as of March 21, 2020.  

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Transcript

Daniel :   0:00
when tough times hit. How will you be able to protect your business? Hi, this is Daniel lacks tins and welcome to the roofing business builder. And I'm your host, your personal commercial roofing guru. Now, as we always do, we start the podcast with an intention. And today's intention is it will all work out. So you know, this tragedy that that hits it's not just you. It's not just me that this has hit, but it's hit everybody. And a lot of times, you know, we could think of how am I gonna survive this? But don't forget, you're not the only one thinking those words were all thinking. How are we going to survive this? Which means we have to survive. And if we have to survive, then that means all of us are in this together. So America's a strong country, and but we're gonna be talking about ways that we can survive this together. So let's get started with the show. Today's name again is toe tough times. How do we protect our business? And again with me is Leah Lax tins.

Leah:   1:21
Thank you for having me today.

Daniel :   1:24
So unusual times we live in Leah

Leah:   1:27
wow are, isn't it? The last two weeks have been pretty crazy, to say the least. So things just changing on a rapid pace from hour to hour, minute to minute. And like to clarify that all the information that we're giving today is based on today's date of March 21st 2020. And things will definitely change we know over the coming days. But this is what we have in mind for what can help you right now in the situation that we're in.

Daniel :   2:00
Exactly. So a lot of people are looking at the news and we see our political leaders doing things. Uh, what's your thoughts on that?

Leah:   2:11
Well, it's a time for leaders to step up. You know, in business we are the leading force to be able to provide a calm during the storm because our employees and our partners look at us and they're going thio either freak out or remain calm based on the way we handle these situations. So it's time for really leaders to step up and make tough choices to preserve our businesses together.

Daniel :   2:42
And so we're gonna talk about some of those things that we can do and you mentioned leaders, so we might start out with that. You know, when you're running your business, uh, people look to you to take the lead, and sometimes that this is gets so busy that we're just running the business. But, um, this is a time that really can show what kind of leader we are. And if you think so. But am I really that kind of a leader? I don't know. Well, this is the time to practice.

Leah:   3:11
This is the time to prove it. You know, we're all in this entrepreneur game because we're about taking risks and because we want to write our own stories and leave our own stories here. So this is the time. This is what we were trained for through, you know, the good and the bad of the last However many years you've been in business. So now is the time to take care of your community and lead the way in taking care of your community, your families and your employees. And, you know, I think this morning we watched a podcast from the Riffing Technology Institute with King Kelly and some other amazing people on it. Really smart people and one comment was made about, you know, really setting the example for your team in that you care about their safety in these times, not just to make it look like, hey, we're cleaning, but that you genuinely care that your people do not get exposed to this virus. So, um, you know, a week ago it seemed overboard, but now it's it's here. And we have to be really implementing policies that encourage social distancing, cleaning, having a designated symptom checker. All of these things and more. It's kind of like what we talked about on the show last week was standard operating

Daniel :   4:36
procedures. Exactly when that yeah, we're asking, refers to think about, do they have a safety plan? And now, in this situation, you're going to redesign that safety plan? Yeah. And, yeah, cleaning distances and being a leader, you're going to speak to them on these subjects and educate them and alleviate their fear. So we need to review those plans. We need to talk openly. If someone is really scared, you need to leave it that fear.

Leah:   5:08
Yeah, And have you reviewed all the new laws that you know, that loss I've just changed on six leave sick leave now. Two weeks. But that will come back as a federal tax credit to small business. So, you know, put your people first, and then they're going to put the community first, and then your business is going to make it through this.

Daniel :   5:30
Do the right thing. Yeah. There's one other thing that they might consider to is, uh, thermometers. Taking your your employees temperatures. Yeah. You know, they're getting to work. You can use your thermal. You're riffing thermal. Later. There shoot of

Leah:   5:48
Amon style. Refers usually have this right is their standard selling apparel the oral energy checker, the whole laser. And so you know, go on and utilize that because it's going to give people peace of mind and again reinforce that you care about your team and you care about your community, right? Also, some of the guidelines we've been looking through this week there are guidelines for small business. I know standard operating procedures are almost out the window. We talked about him last week, but about looking at your disaster prep plan. A lot of these operating procedures are for when a storm hits. It's about how to hire more people. Now, we're sort of in this very odd reverse scenario of a disaster here, where we're looking at the opposite of that. So there is advice available from the CDC from OSHA from the Small Business Association and Maur on what things should be done in businesses. They're staying open, but we'll refer. Stay open is the question right?

Daniel :   6:49
That is a big question. But the thing is is to about that disaster plan. Say, if you're listening to this podcast, you say, why don't we have a disaster plan? Well, if you're at home, I mean, if you're shut down for a few weeks, depending on the size, your business, this is the time to start doing all those things that you never were able to do before. So then you're just saying that, uh, what we need to do dio design?

Leah:   7:15
Yeah, basically, you know, take all of this information and you need to put together a plan immediately for your team that says these are goals. This is what's going to happen at different points and be very transparent. Clear because people, you know respond best to that. We've seen some of the issues with the masks that kind of what's happened because we were told masks don't help. And now they're like, Well, they actually do. But don't take them all, But never mind You guys already did. So people's minds are going to race to sort of a worst case scenario on a lot of things. So when you have a plan that says, Hey, look, we're staying open until X y Z, then people know what to expect. Your people are like, OK, I don't have to call because I know when we get to this point I need to call before that I need to report for work

Daniel :   8:06
and if you are going to always stick to the plan, But if you are going to not stick to the plan, then modify the plan and let everyone know. So that way you can see they can see consistency in your leadership.

Leah:   8:18
Absolutely. So will a roofing be designated a vital service in your state?

Daniel :   8:25
That's a good

Leah:   8:25
Isn't that really what we all need to know right now?

Daniel :   8:29
Yeah, And what does that mean? We need to break that down a little bit because we do know that pizza is very vital No, no medical eyes viol.

Leah:   8:39
Yeah, there's

Daniel :   8:39
some things that are vital when it comes to that. We already know that grocery stores are vital. Amazon. We need our Amazon stuff to be delivered to his. But here's the thing is, is that we're there talking in tthe e local government here in Texas and they were talking about They know that Elect, Elect, Electrician's are vital, yes and plumbing. Why're they vital?

Leah:   9:01
Well, because, you know, that's something that instantly affect human health, right? And so, in a residential scenario or commercial that that affects human health, we would argue that roofing similarly does because it leads to mold and really destruction of property inside of a building.

Daniel :   9:18
But people are sick and there's a leaking into the bedroom of a bucket how they're gonna go

Leah:   9:23
exactly, especially with a virus such as this that attacks and causes pneumonia. The worst thing that could happen is the roof leaking right. The issue is that this really is state by state because of the way the federal government is leaving it right now. This is gonna be determined by your state's emergency plan. In Texas, it says heavy construction. It says plumbers electrician's are on this list. It doesn't specifically state refers, but it lists a lot of construction specialty trade, so one would assume that will go in. That there was a Facebook post yesterday by Reid Ribble of In R. C. A. Stating that they are trying to get clarification on this from the federal government. And that's going to be a major issue because if it is not considered a vital service, obviously that means instant set shut down in the states that are under, You know that if it's not considered so we would argue that it is a vital service. I think anyone with the roof liquid are ordered to by think it's a vital service. And the big thing here is, what if the worst scenario and natural disaster occurs during this time and you have to mobilize refers who have shut down? We know how difficult that would be. So I would assume that this will remain a vital service in contractors, should plan accordingly.

Daniel :   10:45
Exactly. So no matter what state you're in, uh, you might wanna talk to either your local Congress person.

Leah:   10:53
Yeah, I mean, you can just pull the emergency plan from the state and, um, review it that should be online in whatever state you're in and, you know, fed Ex. A lot of other companies are giving their employees a letter really depends again upon your state, because I know some states are not in his full lock down as we are here in Texas. But, you know, we're at least here in Austin. I should say there are parts of Texas. They're not as locked down as we are. We are being told to stay home if pretty much unless it's a super emergency, except for grocery

Daniel :   11:29
store. If your employees want to stay home than that, something that you should give thought to two. Yeah, but we're gonna talk more about you know how to, uh, handled. You know who should be working, who should not be able to will come in. Let's talk about financial things right now. You know what's burn rate and why is that important to a roofing business owner?

Leah:   11:55
Well, burn rate is basically the amount of cash that you burn every month that you need to keep the doors open so sort of similar toe overhead. It's like if revenue stop tomorrow. How many days could you burn? So, you know, a lot of small businesses in this country looking at the statistics. This burn rate is less than 30 days, which makes me think that some sort of you know emergency measures will be taken, but we'll find out. But during this time, cash is gonna be king because your revenue is gonna be spotty, even if you are still working because you're going to start feeling the effect of other businesses being closed. Right? A lot goes back to your niche. I think you know which we'll talk about a little bit later. What were going to be like the hot industries to be in right now for riffing? But if your residential guy or, you know, you rely on a lot of shopping center private sort of work, that's not new construction. Things are you're gonna be the last person that someone wants to pay right now. So you really need to go back to

Daniel :   13:08
those people are gonna pull back and not spend their money.

Leah:   13:11
Yeah,

Daniel :   13:11
e, it's been this long, especially if it's a private commercial building owner they can always put off. They've been doing the buckets for a long time, but yeah, but if it's home, um, a lot of people are gonna be scared. Toe Have anyone near their house if they're gonna be staying at home. And so yeah, no, it's that's it's getting tough. If you're a residential, refer it this time. But what if they rush in to commercial right now? We would not suggest that.

Leah:   13:40
Yeah, again, the B two b businesses are gonna be really hurt because of just the fact that in a lot of states, all non critical businesses closed. So you really need to know right now how long you can burn. And this is where becoming a leader, being a leader and making hard decisions is gonna come into play because, you know, you have to really think How long can I realistically keep my team together without sacrificing my entire company

Daniel :   14:08
over? They're gonna be out of business. Now that's all over, right?

Leah:   14:11
Well, no, I mean, you know, you wanna you wanna keep the team. You can't let that happen, is the key. You know, you have thio possibly face laying people off, which is is gonna be You know, I feel for anyone that is in this scenario. But laying someone off now is better than going out of business later.

Daniel :   14:33
Exactly. So that's something we have to consider right now keeping the super important people that you can't lay off.

Leah:   14:45
Yeah, it's critical. Talk about critical infrastructure. Your managers. I mean, you want to try to keep your best people as long as possible. Hopefully, you have a burn rate where you can keep these people for a couple months, and then you're gonna come out of this thing and really get shape. Because, you know, once things were rolling again or if we get some kind of natural disaster, which, God forbid, you're gonna be there and ready to rock n roll. So, you know, you want to try to keep the team together as much as you can, but don't sacrifice your business to see that.

Daniel :   15:21
No, But now you're not necessarily gonna be going out of business because I've bean that every river would go out of business. So how about a assistance? Do we have some programs coming online for a few business owners? Or that they could take advantage of

Leah:   15:35
the S P A has just released the application for disaster assistance. So those loans do you take three weeks? They're saying and I would assume that it's gonna be longer than that. Some criteria that you have to meet me. Part of it is that you've lost revenue, knew immediately which, unfortunately, the roofing industry may not quite apply. Since a lot of businesses were still open. S O. I would really start with your suppliers, your creditors, people you owe money to you. Are they willing to negotiate something for the next 60 days that will help you keep your doors open? Because the manufacturers don't want everyone to go out of business either Here, because a

Daniel :   16:21
lot of business,

Leah:   16:22
Yes, So they're gonna be in it. The big dogs are gonna be in it to help you as much as they possibly can. Now is the time to re negotiate leases temporarily on your buildings, on your vehicles, equipment, anybody that's gonna give you a break. Why? Because cash is going to be king and you need that cash for payroll.

Daniel :   16:40
Can you pause your loan payments?

Leah:   16:42
Very possible right now, especially depending on your bank and you're if you're a tenant, your landlord.

Daniel :   16:51
So again, if you if your business were to go under, that doesn't help anyone. And you're not the only business like that. All of us are in the same. That boat, the same business were all sit at home for the next. Who knows how many weeks might, you know, might be toe May or June? Who knows? The point is, is if we worry about it, that's not gonna help. Just know that you're not alone. You're in the same boat. So remember, with the intention of the day was it's all gonna work out. We have to keep telling us our subconscious mind. Hate this is all gonna work out and we're not alone.

Leah:   17:28
Another thought I had to was about renegotiating your general liability insurance. I would hope and think the insurance companies are going to be, you know, really trying to be proactive and helpful here. I know that's kind of a funny thought to have, but you know, you never know. You never know. Even they have arts, right? So can you re negotiate your G l now based on the hit to grow sales that you're possibly going to take

Daniel :   17:54
It depends if they're in their office or if they close down

Leah:   17:57
right. Very true. Let's this is we're having a really personal relationship with your agent. Comes in? Yeah. What about cashing in stocks?

Daniel :   18:06
Yeah, Well, should we sell off equipment? Who's gonna buy the equipment right now? You know, I mean, it's like a It's Johnny refer that has a contract with the military right now. So human nature equipment. Who? There's an idea, guys, you might If you have a relationship with someone that does have a government contract, find out if they need to get that job done quicker of that guy could possibly And And maybe you have a government contract and, you know, some really good refers that maybe aren't in that segment and see if you could bring on those teams and that way not only get it done quicker, but now you're sharing the wealth with your brothers and sisters across America.

Leah:   18:49
Really good time to be a minority business right now because you know as where I think we're gonna kind of talk about her. I don't know if you want to get into it. Sort of like what The hottest markets are gonna be

Daniel :   19:00
Yeah, that's cool. Yeah, we're gonna talk about this a little bit more later on. So we talked about selling off equipment, but that's what that's a good idea. But so you, um we talked about negotiate rgl on and avoid cash in stocks. Yeah.

Leah:   19:17
Yeah, as much as possible. Right now, you know, and I would also say, avoid risky contracts. Right now, courts are gonna be closed for 60 to 90 days in a lot of states. So you know that when you know you

Daniel :   19:33
have no protection,

Leah:   19:34
you have no protection if someone doesn't pay you right now. So more than ever, 50% or more deposit on arrival of materials. I mean, I would not even touch anything or even upon I would say upon ordering materials, you know, like, I would want the money before they even get onside,

Daniel :   19:55
band together and help each other as long as we don't get each other sick

Leah:   20:00
yet. And I would say also during this time, watch out for cyber attacks. We know that a lot of small businesses have been hit over the last 68 months, and I expect these efforts to increase. We've already seen a lot of misinformation come out. So you know, what can you do to avoid cyberattacks? Really? It's just sort of having in your emergency preparedness plan that you remind employees to be conscientious and diligent when they open their e mails and about using virus software, not clicking on or making any payments to anything that really seems odd or fishy. And make sure you and your team are verifying news from an authentic source like local government has been all over television recently. So it's federal state. That's where we want to get our information, not from somebody's Facebook posts or somebody's cousin in Washington, et cetera, et cetera. We want to base our decisions. Are real facts like a real leader.

Daniel :   20:57
People always use sensationalism or something that will shock you to get you to click on that that link. And then people are just using that right now. It's kind of gross when you think it

Leah:   21:09
really is.

Daniel :   21:10
All right, So now let's Ah, let's talk about what? What industry safe. I'm a rule for right now. Can I my company keep working? What are the hottest industries should should we be in or should have with me for a virus crisis.

Leah:   21:27
Yeah, really? Who could prepare for this? But, you know, obviously I would think, you know, get on Fedbizopps. Even if there's not riffing work there, there is going There are going to be other opportunities of purchases that the federal government is going to need to make. So, Fedbizopps, if you're not already registered for and get registered for it, Is there something else You can pit it too, You know, what's the skill set of your company? Do you have guys that are great at painting carpenters, You know, be ready to do anything and pivot as needed. The federal government work is probably going to be, you know, the biggest thing. But there's also

Daniel :   22:09
they're gonna I mean, they're always gonna need something. And, you know, when we first talked about this, I was thinking that if you weren't already set up to do federal work, you you probably should just stay away from it, because then it gets over saturated and you just get spent all kinds of time and money trying to get involved in something that you're not gonna win any work at, but when you think about it, the federal government is going to possibly speed up and use speed up the contracts. They even said that. So if their speed up the contracts and then all these other guys are doing this work normally they'd pace it. Well, now they may do tons of work to keep the economy going. So I think that what you're saying, there is a very wise idea, too. Get on the computer and make sure that you're signed up for that

Leah:   22:56
are early in the week. I sort of thought schoolwork was gonna remain pretty hot, you know? So I thought, Well, they're they're closing down. A lot of schools are probably going to do maintenance that they would normally do in the summer. Lot of roofs get down in the summer, but me and I just don't know now, definitely repair work, repair work across the board is gonna be super hot. That's what most people are gonna be doing. So advertising marketing that you can do emergency repairs is probably gonna be your best bet. Federal work, state work, local government and schools. It's really hard to say. It's probably gonna be state by state depending on how hard the local communities hit.

Daniel :   23:38
And I was thinking, too. If you're friends with the superintendent, and, uh, you might want to contact talk with him and let's not be selfish because here's the thing, though, is suppose I mean, who has money right now? Well, yeah, The schools have money to those do necessary repairs and roofs. But let's not. If you get a contract, we have to help each other as brothers and sisters across America. So why not talk to the superintendent? Maybe if you're the one that brings this age, say he didn't have the job. But you bring this to a superintendent and say, Look, one on you hire three of us. The local refers. Let us do this. We'll keep our guys going. No one's gonna get sick. And that way we can get the roofs done in time for when this virus is over when school starts. But if you do this as a collaboration, then you're not really helping your own company in your own employees. But let's help each other.

Leah:   24:34
Yeah, absolutely awesome, seeing a lot of purchases that they're waving a lot of purchase requirements so I think if you're working through a coop like by board tips, taps oh, Mass Or, you know, one of these mass programs that's for procurement for schools and your state, that's gonna become a pretty huge cause. I think that we're going to see a lot of contracts to go that route without going out to bid. So look at inside of your state. What coop programs and what direct purchase programs there are, like that available? If even if they don't allow our thing now or don't include it, they probably will. As this thing starts to escalate because people are gonna need thio, the roof's leaking. I need this repair done now because I'm thinking about 1000 other things over here that are more important than me going out and getting roofing bids right now. So yeah, so I think that's gonna be a big thing. And again, always having your eye on the pivot if you can find another way. You know, if you can find something else for your team to do during this time, by all means do anything necessary to keep the team together as long as you possibly can.

Daniel :   25:50
So we talked a lot about how we can maybe help each other, even refers helping each other. If you have a job, a big job, share that over this period of time and it'll come back to you. Be blessed. But how else can we can help our communities?

Leah:   26:05
Well there, you know, with roofing in construction, we have access to things that are possibly in need right now. Like ventilators, like masks. So if you can find those inside of your supply chain

Daniel :   26:17
or the maim, have him end the shop right now if you know they know someone or you may have been doing some If you're grinding out a chimney, you may have a ton of masks leftover that someone could use.

Leah:   26:28
Yeah, absolutely. So find those. Whatever your community needs, show that you put the community first in profit second, and then the community is gonna support you and rally around you. In your business,

Daniel :   26:43
we can still reach out to be a leader to our community, so that's pretty much it then. We've talked about a lot of things. We might recap, but before we do that, let's also if you if you want to talk about strategy in any sector of the commercial roofing industry. Please visit my website to schedule an appointment. You can talk with me, the website riffing business builder dot com. And, yeah, if there's anything that you need to talk about. Normally we were charging for speaking. So guys, keep your heads up, keep helping the community, and we'll talk to you next week.