Rocket Your Business for Trade Contractors

On this episode of Estimate Rocket Radio, we talk with Nick Slavik of Nick Slavik Painting and Restoration and host of Ask A Painter Live, and Tom Droste, CEO of Estimate Rocket. Nick and Tom discusses different approaches and balances to the problem of when to schedule work versus when to hire.  Revenue growth hangs on backlog, but too much backlog without enough production team members can lead...

On this episode of Estimate Rocket Radio, we are joined by Tom Reber of the Contractor Fight for a brilliant part 2 of The Stories We Tell Ourselves! We chat with Tom about the kinds of stories business owners tell themselves that often give way to limiting beliefs and abortive projects. Tom reminds us that Thoughts become Beliefs, Beliefs become Actions, and Actions become Results. And results me...

 On this episode of Estimate Rocket Radio, we are joined by Tom Reber of the Contractor Fight! We chat with Tom about the kinds of stories business owners tell themselves that often give way to limiting beliefs and abortive projects. Tom reminds us that Thoughts become Beliefs, Beliefs become Actions, and Actions become Results. And results mean time with family, disciplined lifestyle, health, hap...

On this episode of Estimate Rocket Radio, we are joined by the leadership team at Estimate Rocket: Tom Droste, Bevin Hernandez, and Fred Kulik. We talk about our most recent quarterly meeting at Estimate Rocket HQ in which we refined our 4 Core Values that power our company's mission to provide an excellent product to our customers: 1) Go the distance, 2) Enjoy the ride, 3) Clear is kind, and...

On this episode of Estimate Rocket Radio, we talk with the Customer Success Lead at Estimate Rocket about the kind of Field Supervisor that keeps companies streamlined, profitable, and a great place to work. Field supervisors, project managers, production managers, and operations managers all have the same basic concern at the heart of their job--getting people to the right place at the right time...

On this episode of Estimate Rocket Radio, we chat with Tom Droste of Estimate Rocket and Corwin Smith of Transcend Growth about the dreaded "R" word: Recession. This is far from an alarmist prediction of economic trends, rather it is a discussion about what every business should already be doing to fortify itself against economic downturns and to construct a business that scales instead...

On this episode of Estimate Rocket we are joined by Lisa Moon and Stacia Newton from Paper Moon Painting. Lisa and Stacia are recognized in the Estimate Rocket community and beyond for their creative marketing and communication strategies that win more business. They discuss with us their communication schedule and collateral design that provide a seamless, delightful experience for their customer...

On this episode of Estimate Rocket Radio, Tom Droste joins us to talk about a free planning tool for contractors now available called, "What If: Fast Formulas for Profit Forecasting." We discuss why every business leader needs to have certain numbers available for fast-crunching to be able to run brief hypotheticals that impact your bottom line. You should be able to quickly ballpark whe...

On this episode of Estimate Rocket Radio we are joined by Nick May of Walls By Design in Denver, Colorado. Nick is a successful painting contractor, business educator, and host of the Pro Painter Podcast. Over the years Nick has watched new businesses come and go, and he has learned a couple things about the type of business owners that ultimately succeed: 1) they learn from pain, and 2) they buil...

On this episode of Estimate Rocket Radio, Morgan Ray of MKV Consulting joins us to talk about determining the worth of your business and beefing up its market value in a changing economy. Morgan draws from her experience in accounting and business consulting to look into the future of the trades industries and help businesses owners see where their business value is headed given their current reve...

On this episode of Estimate Rocket Radio, we are joined by Estimate Rocket founder and CEO, Tom Droste. Tom talks with us about how to build the best kind of sales teams. From determining when you are ready for your first sales person, to training your team on the best process and tools to get their job done, there's a lot that can factor into making your sales team excel in generating leads...

On this episode of Estimate Rocket Radio we are joined by Torlando Hakes, Chief Marketing Officer at Folia and the host of the Painting Contractors Association's (PCA) Paint ED Podcast. We talk with Torlando about the competitive paradigm Match-Leap-Brand, in which competitors match each others product and services, leapfrog each other in the features race, and ultimately attempt to out-brand...

On this episode of Estimate Rocket Radio, Tom Droste joins us to talk about how strategically building a backlog of accepted work is the secret to hiring and growth. Backlog is sometimes viewed as a casualty of the failure to raise prices, or it is used to build padding into business finances and cash flow, but Tom offers a new unique of backlog that has largely remained unarticulated in much of b...

On this episode of Estimate Rocket we are joined by Bard Caldwell of Caldwell Painting, and we discuss the type of mindset that gets your business to the millions. Bart explains how viewing crises as opportunities helped him develop business strategy that kept his company growing past expectations. He also helps us understand how technology can get companies past growth plateaus, how prioritizing...

On this episode of Estimate Rocket Radio, our Customer Success lead, Fred Kulik, joins us to talk about what we are hearing from businesses about project management. We discuss the best times to hire project managers, tools every project manager needs, and time-saving, process solutions for project managers. Learn more about how to become a stronger marketplace RIVAL along with other Estimate Rock...

On this episode of Estimate Rocket Radio, Jessica Galloway of Visionary Home Solutions joins us  to talk about how she learned early on in her business that there is a very real and tiring "hamster wheel" of busy-ness that, once boarded, is very hard to exit safely. Learning how to get your head above water as a new business owner is difficult, but it is necessary if you want to feel in...

On this episode of Estimate Rocket Radio, Emily Howard from APC Magazine joins us to talk about how the painting industry is evolving and how contractors can continue to adapt and be profitable. It may be tempting as a business owner to fear economic changes that challenge their accustomed way of doing business, but Emily reminds us that staying ahead of change by implementing new technology and m...

On this episode of Estimate Rocket Radio we welcome the leadership team at Estimate Rocket and business coach at Transcend Growth, Corwin Smith, to discuss 90-day cycles for leadership priorities in a company. We talk about meeting rhythm and format, the importance of disciplined people and rigorous debate, and the impact of company goals on individual teams. Learn how we discipline our strategy a...

On this episode of Estimate Rocket Radio, we visit with Kristen Ford-Hernandez of Premiere Pros Kitchens and Design and discuss ways to keep good customers, and ways to disconnect quickly from the bad ones. Kristen says that Premiere Pros rarely spends a lot on marketing because her customers keep coming back, and that is a shining if rare example in the trades. The key to good repeat business is...

On this episode of Estimate Rocket Radio, we talk with CEO Tom Droste about Office Managers. Tom discusses the best time to hire office managers, how to train them, and what tools help them do their job most efficiently. It might help to remember that if you don't have an office manager...you ARE the office manager! And Tom introduces a topic you'll be hearing more about at Estimate Rock...

On this episode of Estimate Rocket Radio, Bevin Hernandez, Product and Marketing Director at Estimate Rocket, joins us to talk about the process company's need to use to vet, select and implement new technology in their company. As Bevin reminds us, software projects are people projects, and developing a thoughtful and team-lead approach to introduce and train your people on new technology is...

On this episode of Estimate Rocket Radio, Tom Droste, Founder and CEO of Estimate Rocket and its parent company Logical Engine, joins us to talk about the pros and cons of integrating technology in small shops. Estimate Rocket was designed to support and motivate companies to keep growing, but that doesn't mean small shops don't need to think very seriously about incorporating new techno...

On this episode of Estimate Rocket Radio we talk with Phil Cline of Tama Painting and Specialty Coatings and Fred Kulik of Estimate Rocket about how pricing works in a painting company.  Fred walks us through the practical steps in the estimating and pricing process, while Phil gives us a glimpse into the field of practical application in business management to see how pricing adapts to mountain-p...

On this episode of Estimate Rocket Radio, Jason Phillips joins us from Phillips Home Improvements to talk about the foundation for trust in every leadership team and business: credibility. Often leadership takes a leap when expecting trust in a team without having taken the time and put the work into building the type of credibility that allows people to step out securely in trust. As Jason puts,...

On this episode of Estimate Rocket Radio we are joined by department heads in Estimate Rocket to talk about how the company is evolving to provide more of what customers need to get more money and keep more money! Tom Droste (CEO), Bevin Hernandez (Development and Marketing), Fred Kulik (Customer Success), Kathy Droste (Sales), and Chris Shank (Education) discuss how Estimate Rocket is changing an...