Ep 232 - How We Would Start a New Electrical Biz in 2024 - Launch Prep

Hello, hello, hello, and welcome back to another episode of Electricpreneur Secrets. This is episode 232 of how we Would Start a New Electrical Biz in 2024, with, of course, this little bit of perspective on quickest to sustainable cash. I'm your host, clay Neumeyer, with me, as always, my esteemed co-host, joseph Lucani, and we are the Electricpreneurs Just a couple of master electricians with business addictions, here and ready to serve To our freemium program. Your daily coach call. The price of admission is to sit back, give us a little time and take everything we give, just promise to take action as we help you master sales, simplify pricing and deliver premium-level electrical service. Today's episode is absolute fire, joe, and I am excited about it. In this launch prep Yesterday, we talked a bit about you know what the niching realization was, why we would choose a niche and why we would choose this niche again, really, why that's so powerful. If you guys didn't catch the first episode of this series in 2024 to kick it off, you might want to go back as soon as we're done here and listen to that one too, joe. Man, we've got some big stuff coming today. How are you doing, though, brother? Are you ready for this one?

I am pumped beyond all measure. It's one of those things where have you ever woken up and your day goes very differently than you expected? Like, I got up early, I was ready to see the day and you know what it just momentum just built, and it's been skyrocketing ever since. So I'm feeling absolutely awesome. What about you, man? How are you holding up?

It's funny you say that because I was just thinking. Yesterday when you said that, I remember the last time we chatted you were like, hey, I see on your calendar you got a meditation block in there. That's awesome man Yep. For you, I did not get to meditation yesterday. Oh it's okay, I got smoke screened hard. My day kind of built up into lunch and I just couldn't find that space man. But today's going absolutely great. We got a happy new year in the comments. Thank you very much, and happy new year to you. Welcome back, welcome back, welcome. I love that song, by the way.

Yeah, I was going to say regardless, though I'm glad you at least, if nothing else, and I think it's going to be relevant in today's episode is building that momentum. You at least got the meditation on the calendar. It's better than just simply saying, oh, I'll do it and not doing it. You see a task and you pass it, and that also builds consistency as well. So I'm happy that you're at least putting on the board. Man, I'm proud of you, as always.

Absolutely. And yesterday one of the things we left kind of undone that we need to kind of settle right away, and I threw out a bit of a curveball like how much cash are we starting with here? But, ultimately, I feel like it's somewhat irrelevant. Yeah, we're going to get into that. Basically, this is a bootstrap startup guys. We're going to minimize the investment and teach you how to come up with any capital you do need through part-time or your first sales efforts, which, of course, in this quickest to cash sustainably series, that's going to be a top of mind for sure. Today we've got some big stuff Fundamentals to rapid business growth and, being that it's beginning of the year, we're all seeing some of these fundamentals around us and, in fact, if you're not being bombarded right now by a bunch of high-spirited new-year folks on your Facebook feeds and other social media platforms telling you to set lofty goals and to stay determined, man, if you're not seeing that, you're alone in that world, because I'm seeing tons. How about you, joe?

Yeah, it's an interesting thing because I don't know if you've ever been in the gym scene where you notice right around January it populates and everyone's there and then February starts to die out. I honestly feel that rah-rah will only get you so far without discipline and consistently planned activity, and that's why people are so pushing the enthusiasm, because it's the only fuel that they have and it's the only fuel that they know 100% now.

We actually did an entire series on this. We're just gonna touch on it and I'm gonna tell you right now. If you're with us live or listening to the replay, whatever service you're on you can drop us a comment on the Facebook group Electric printer secrets or even reach out to us through our web page at service loop electrical calm. But we did a 75 e hard challenge series and we built this piece for exactly this reason. The Fundamentals of success are quite simple. In fact, I would love her love to just cover the actual formula with you, joe. If that's sure, I'd be happy to. To know and to be able to achieve success. We need to know what we Want. We need to know the outcome. This is actually a work backwards scenario, guys.

And.

I hate to take space with too generalist of things, but if you solve this one thing, I promise you success in this new business endeavor and I'll give you real-world examples of this. If you know the outcome, then we know. Preceding the outcome is actually just these little micro results. Mm-hmm and ultra simplified here, joe, results of what might be the question, and it's the activity that you're taking day in and day out on the thing that produces the outcome that you want. Was that too simple? It sounds almost like inputting cloud, put a little bit right. Here's the human challenge. It's not a hundred percent efficient, not even close and it's why this little doom loop seems to happen, where every New Year's we create a resolution hey, I'm gonna go to the gym the whole year and be healthy at the end and maybe do a fitness competition and less than 1% Make it through that goal. Mm-hmm the reason why is we're human, we have emotions and there's ups and downs and you got to be, you got to have that, that wherewithal To stick through, that resilience to maintain consistent activity. And that's what the 75 e heart was about, brother, tagging you in, thank you.

You know, also, something comes into this where it's not just someone trying to make the effort and not being able to do it. It's that they're not identifying what was triggering them in the first place. Like you have someone who's like you know what, I'm gonna stop snacking and I'm gonna get healthy, but they don't realize that they're eating for emotional reasons and unless you remove that emotional trigger, the result is gonna stay the same. So that's why we're so focused on the 75 e challenge, because it makes a consistent goal that is tied to the outcome and, as a result, you pushing, doing the activities Directly leads you to where the place you're trying to be is, rather than go from the other way around.

And some of the most important things in there that people have trouble with are so basic. Man, just like getting up at the same time, getting that, that ideal sleep, making sure to prepare for your next day Right, having moments of grace and reflection to calm down Wusa and be ready for your next moment, because the reality is, building a business is hard. Here's a fine example, though. If you look at the charts of this podcast even, you'll see ups and downs the entire way, and, to be completely honest, I don't know if I've even said this on the podcast before. There was a point last February we're we honestly had a chat after, where I was completely frustrated just by one episode where no one showed up.

Yep, I remember that I showed up and I was like oh, are we doing the right thing.

And we said you know what? 90 days, you do it consistently for 90 days, we're not going to bitch, complain or other. And we did that thing and at 90 days it was 5,000 downloads, just over.

Yeah, it was a hell of an experience, because I remember we started doing it and it wasn't even the full 90 days before.

We're like no, this is gaining momentum, yeah so it's one of those things would.

Yeah, the consistent activity.

Consistent activity. So knowing that going into a business here's that important. Remember these three things activity, results, outcome. If I do an activity and the result is either positive or negative, based on my perspective of what's getting me closer to that successful outcome, right, even the negative is getting us closer. Why? Because it informs the activity. So all we have to do is keep going. That's like the fundamental for rapid business growth. You have to do this consistently. You can't stop. Set a time limit that you are committed and make it a non-negotiable. I think that's maybe the hugest piece of advice we could start this with. What do you think, joe?

I agree with you completely and I just wanted to take that previous statement that you made and put it into a real-world example that someone might be able to be like. Well, maybe I'm not following completely what would be even the negative activity informs. Imagine you're trying to lose weight and you set a goal and let's say you're 200 pounds, whatever the number is and your goal is then going to be you know what I want to get to 185. But then you weigh yourself at the end of the week and you're 205. Yeah, it's a negative result, but that informs you to say, oh, my behavior is off. I should change that. Compared to never measuring for a whole month and then realizing you got to 215.

I agree that's a really good way to look at it. Yesterday we chose a niche and that's going to help us focus on branding efforts. This is another big piece, assuming we have some fundamentals, we understand the formula for success. Okay, we're going to be consistent in this. We've got to have a name, we've got to get a logo, we have to get this branding figured out. Now, doing that prior to understanding that niche, like we decided in the first episode, opens us up to have a very generalist approach. What do we think about generalists, joe?

The thing about a generalist is that, whether it comes to coaching or whether it comes to just advice in general, is that it can come close to the target, but it never quite hits the mark, because one size fit all doesn't fit with every business, let alone with every client. So if you're not listening to something specific, why would you take archery lessons from someone trying to throw an X? It doesn't make sense.

That's a really good way to put it and, by the way, I don't know if I length this in, but as a fundamental, I would definitely be listening to some people in the niche that I'm choosing 100%. It's why, actually, we built this podcast to be five days a week, because it's our idea to be with you in the van, supporting you between the calls with some fresh motivation, inspiration and education to help you every day be a little bit better, A little bit better, a little bit better, and if you keep that in your ear, you're going to continue to grow. This niche focus and the branding effort, though back to that, that informs us even for the name that we choose Common controversy. If we could jump into it for a moment, we're talking again quickest to cash, but, as you guys may have seen if you joined us on our Dan Antonelli interview, we discussed a very, very controversial opinion over do you use your last name for a business or do you? choose something unique, that speaks to your niche, or speaks to you know, something catchy and creative and curious.

Is it?

original or is it a name, Joe? What are your thoughts on this?

You know it's funny because I have a feeling you and I are a little different on it, but me personally, I've always wanted to go with a name that is targeted rather than a name that is just your last name, and I've got a lot of experience with that from hearing from other people. One particular example that came up was the first company I ever worked for. It was the company was the last name of the owner, and as we were working with him, I remember he pulled me over side and I asked him I was like would you do anything different if you could start again, if you were my age you were 19, 18 years old would you do things different? And he said you know what? I wouldn't have used my last name. And I was like, why? I was like, why wouldn't you do it? I mean, your name is everywhere. At the time I thought reputation would be great. And he's like because the problem is, is that live or die? This business is always going to be a representation of my legacy and I won't ever be able to get away from it. So every time there's a bad review, it's oh, you're this person. Or every time I get a good review, great, but I never know who's experiencing me differently, because it's always my name attached to the result.

It's valid man. I totally agree in its validity. The only thing is it's kind of contextual contextual to what, the vision of the person listening, the start of this business and where you're headed, and the only argument I have for it. It actually created a lot of controversy after we interviewed Dan. A lot of people reached out, including our clients, and said should I rebrand Right? Even Dorian, who's on the podcast, who saw a ton of success as an example? Right, we interviewed Dorian and he did almost about a quarter million in his first few months with us and his first few months full time in business, and much of what we're going to talk through in this series is going to address some of the very principles that he used. I mean, we would be mistaken not to right that's Hayes Electrical, though using a last name. Now, the reason that it's okay at that stage is because it's not really hindering or causing any resistance to a sale and the importance here is this quickest to cash sustainably. Now, just the same, hayes Electrical is. Hayes is a great name, by the way. Now if we were to use my last name, numair Numair Electric is a very specific, likely German organization I personally wouldn't use Numair. In fact, my Canadian business, I use NuPro. But to agree with you and the name choice, joe, service Loop was not a name. Service Loop Electrical that we've established Service Loop has a double entendre to it. It's that little bit extra for future serviceability. So you get to see how the vision's built right in. We know exactly where we're going and it helps lead us there. So can I help with this a little bit?

Please and yeah by. Whenever you're ready, I'll jump right in.

To make this decision. Here's what I'm feeling. You rebound off me too, man. Sure, is this something that's hindering me getting out there and getting to a sale right now, or do I have something clever that I feel is going to work really well, for the vision Is? This going to take me weeks of trying to design and come up with the name, or can I hit the ground running with a original custom name?

So there's actually middle ground. There's literally a way to do both. So whenever you get your license I can only speak from a New York's perspective is that whenever you get your license, they allow you to either have a DBA or business name. So whenever I started and I had my license, I was DBA Joseph Lucan. Now, it didn't mean that it couldn't be replaced with a business, but it was the fact that he started off saying you can just do this, so I could have gone out and started jobs, I could have collected things without having any name behind it. But we chose a specialized name because we were trying to approach a very specific, targeted demographic in our area and we wanted everything we did to rally around that one demographic, which is why we shifted to the name Patriot.

Yeah, I love that. That's really good advice. Dba, of course, just meaning doing business. As in every business, corporation entity has the right reserves, the right to create a DBA under its umbrella. It adds a slight tax complexity, but even as an established business you can make a name change through that little gray area, that rule as well. That's really helpful. Joe, I think we're going to run out of time to go too far beyond this, but let's quickly talk and tackle then the other sides of the branding in the last couple of minutes, because the logo and the expertise around that design, I do feel it needs to be in the hands of professionals, even in a bootstrap situation. So you want to unpack that a little bit with me. I mean, what is your opinion on what level of investment a person should have into that logo design?

So if you think about it, when you first start out and all you have is a van and a bunch of tools in the back, that van has to be seen as both your marketing and as your means of getting you to and from the job. It is your caravan, it is your life connection to the project. So if you think about it, my first van was a 14 foot death machine. It was the worst van we could ever have. It would literally break every time we got it, but it was all we could afford. But the thing was is that it was so successful because you had a huge canvas to put your information out there. Now it should have enough pop to it that if someone were to drive past it, they have a reason to look. So all text doesn't work. License and insured doesn't work. Putting your number in small text or iconics doesn't work. But if you were instead going to change even your color scheme, even if it was just words in a different color scheme, that could be more effective than just Times New Roman on the side of your van.

Absolutely. I love that. That's great advice and I'm going to just add to that man and give people again some actionable advice for this one. Go back and listen to our interview with Dan Antonelli again, because he offers some great advice. Now, the only complaint people have about kick charge, of course, is they're also a premium service provider, which means, just like you, they're worth the investment. That said, you know sometimes there's a bit of a waiting list until they get to you, etc. But Dan's done incredible things and he's got a ton of proof. So here's the hack. I'm going to let you know and I hope Dan hears this too, because I would love for him to expand on this free value piece that he did. If you go to YouTube and look up Kick Charge Creative and or Dan Antonelli, it's on one of them. He actually did three or four videos where he does before and after van wraps and logo and branding and texting discussions where he shows you the change and gives a rating on both sides. That's going to absolutely help you in the design and the thought and the vision around this creative so that you can at least center yourself. The only other advice there for the bootstrap identity right, say we can't afford Dan and that investment yet, but we can get some ideas there and you can go to a website like Design Crowd or 99 Designs and spend about 4.99, depending on the number of people you want to contribute. And we did it honestly on our rebrand and we had 142 submissions of different ideas with Service Loop Electrical and the Electric Printer podcast in about what 36 hours? Yeah, it was like no time at all. So if you're not quite clear on the idea, it's a great way to get a lot of ideas and get to see what you like and then chase that rabbit with a few integrations from there. You can even pit people against each other and they can't see it. It's a very interesting and a really aggressive and fast way to get that branding on point as soon as possible.

I love it.

Did you have some to add to that, Joe?

I did and it was funny how you and I I seem we were often on the same wavelength because you were like well, you can just go and get your things. I remember getting vinyl printed, and the first time I ever wrapped my van, we wrapped it under a bridge during a rainstorm because we were so edgy and wanted to get it done. But there's one last thing about this that I feel would motivate someone to either say I'm doing the full thing or I'm just going with the bootstrap budget, and that is how does it make you feel in your confidence? Because if your goal is to say I'm going to show up and I want to serve at a high level, and that maybe showing up in a lettered van or even having some sort of DIY wrap yourself would make you feel like you're more worth the investment of what you're charging, Then I would say that does become priority, because your confidence is the best tool that you have. Well, confidence, enthusiasm and rapport. But if you can establish yourself as a confident person, you'll find that your presentations are that much more effective. And if all it takes you to do is wrap your van in order to establish that, then I'd say that does justify moving forward with something sooner than you'd expect.

Couldn't agree more, man. I've seen sales teams be shaped up with nothing other than belief, just fixing those root confidence issues in the product at hand. And if that product for you Electric Prenuers is your service, then I say, invest in that as well. That's massive, joe, great advice. We already cranked out a couple of action items on this podcast already, but I think we could reflect and cover them just one more time at the end here. Sure Now, the first one was about the fundamentals and the 75 e hard and actually getting immersed in the language and the service providers around you Like this podcast. If you decided with us to be an Electric Prenuers, a premium service provider, then listening to this five days a week is absolutely going to help you launch, just like it did during before you became a client. On the latter half, I think we gave some really actionable advice to the logos or anything else you wanted to add to this.

I mean other than definitely consult someone who's a professional when it comes to logo design. But my personal belief when it comes to logos is that all it needs to do is simply have a head turned. If they were going to drive and someone were going to run parallel to you, is there anything that could snap them out of the fog that they're in to say, what is that? If you're just color scheme or your character or any of your design is just enough to turn ahead. That is still far more effective than someone just having a lettered sign on the back 100%, man, 100%.

And I know we've done episodes on uniform before, but that ties into this too, and I'm going to end this podcast with this, saying this expression People do business with people they know, like and trust. Whether you're a last name or you're an original custom name, you need to be a face of this organization for now you need to build that image up and you need to have confidence, and it needs that credibility to cause the transactions to come through seamlessly. That's going to be so important and it's going to carry you and your authority. So far, guys, this has been an extra long one. I have a feeling we might encounter a few of these, joe but, this has been another great episode. This is the second in the series of how we would start a new electrical biz in 2024. On your launch prep, your logo and design here today. Guys, welcome and join us again tomorrow as we help you master your sales, simplify pricing and deliver premium level service, and continue this series to teach you exactly how we would build this business up and make it launch. Brother, can't wait to see you. Guys, then it's going to be awesome, cheers.