Overnight Success...8 Years In The Making
Overnight Success...8 Years In The Making
How can entrepreneurship help achieve financial stability for a family?
Since I was 14, I've been working 40 hours a week because I love business and striving for success. Initially, I worked in distribution and manufacturing, managing plant operations, and I enjoyed it. However, with a wife and two kids, the income was insufficient for my wife to stay home. My transition to entrepreneurship stemmed not just from a desire but from a need. My alpha personality drove me to provide and protect my family. I knew that to earn the necessary income for what I felt was survival, I needed to take the risk and step out on my own. This decision pushed me into entrepreneurship.
What principles help business owners build a lasting and ethical business?
At some point, making money becomes less about accumulating wealth and more about its purpose. Similarly, in business, I don’t want to just build a profitable company—I want to build a legacy. My goal is to be the best in the business, to create something I’m deeply proud of. I tell my team we’re not just here for profitability. Great businesses are built on ethical success. For example, when it comes to changing orders, I emphasize putting ourselves in the customer’s shoes. Once, a team member boasted about making $2,500 on a change order with a 200% markup. I immediately had him adjust it down to a fair 25-30% margin because greed is not how we operate.
I believe in making an honest living, and I think that’s why we’ve been successful. Customers know that, even if we make mistakes, we’ll own them, stand by our work, and do the right thing. That approach can be costly in the short term—you might lose money with this mindset—but it pays off in the long run. Clients come back, even when things didn’t go perfectly, because they trust us to make it right. That trust is the foundation of a lasting, ethical business.
Why is delegating responsibility essential for business growth?
The biggest thing I’ve done to help my business grow is learning to step out of it. I was a control freak, transitioning from being a hustler to a business owner. As a hustler, you think no one can do the job as well as you. You try to handle everything yourself, but you end up stretched too thin, unable to give your best to any one task. I realized I needed to delegate responsibility, step back, and focus on working on the business rather than in it.
By empowering my team instead of holding all the power myself, I’ve been able to drive significant growth. You can’t grow if you try to do everything alone. Success comes from encouraging, trusting, and putting the right people in the right roles. A business is only as good as its team.
*This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.*
