Shed Geek Podcast

Building More Than Sheds: The Garber Family Legacy

• Shed Geek Podcast • Season 4 • Episode 77

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Join us as we chat with the Garber family from Premier Barns, diving deep into their inspiring journey from humble beginnings in May 1996 to becoming a well-respected name in the shed industry. Listen to Steve Garber recount how he started single-handedly building and delivering sheds with basic tools, and hear his sons, Joel and Mike, share their unique experiences growing up in the business, from hands-on construction to mastering digital marketing.

Throughout the conversation, we reflect on the broader evolution of the shed industry, exploring pivotal changes in consumer behavior, pricing, and delivery equipment that have revolutionized their operations. Steve provides valuable insights into the emotional ups and downs of sales versus the tangible achievements in construction. The discussion also delves into how the shift towards online shopping and the adoption of digital tools have expanded their market reach, even in rural areas, underscoring the importance of a strong digital presence in today's business landscape.

Looking forward, we examine the future of the family shed business and the industry at large. From the impressive engineering of Pine Hill trailers to innovations like the Shed Challenger and Rampage doors, we discuss the challenges and opportunities that automation brings to shed construction. The episode concludes with a heartfelt emphasis on family, training, and industry collaboration, highlighting the joy of building relationships and the integral role of faith and community in their continued success. Don't miss this engaging and insightful episode that blends business wisdom with personal stories and reflections.

For more information or to know more about the Shed Geek Podcast visit us at our website.

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SHED GEEK:

Okay, welcome back to another episode of the Shed Geek podcast. Excited for this opportunity today here to do this interview, and just before we even get started, I just want to give a shout out to E-Impact Marketing and tell them thank you for making the connection for us to be able to be here today. I certainly encourage them to use any and all of this footage for you guys' advantage, and there's two. They're a great company, a great marketing agency in the shed industry and we appreciate them allowing us to come out and interview some of their, their customers. So, with that, I guess we need to do some introductions. So, I don't know where to start, but, um, something tells me I need to start with the patriarchy over here. So we'll start over at the top and allow you to introduce yourself, your company, and we'll go from there.

Steve Garber:

Okay, well, I'm Steve Garber, and we started this business back in 1996. Our goal was to start a family business where the boys and I can work together, and God has blessed us in that way.

SHED GEEK:

Absolutely, and now you've got your two boys here with you. So, in the middle here we'll go there.

Joel Garber:

All right, I'm Joel Garber and I've been involved in the shed business basically my whole life. I probably started working when I was 13. I'm 26 now and about three or four years ago we partnered with Dad and it's been good.

Joel Garber:

So I've had a lot of fun so.

Joel Garber:

I've done it all from building and I'm primarily hauling sheds and also help with the business. As far as you know, some back-end things as well.

SHED GEEK:

So yeah, excellent, nice to meet you, Joel.

Mike Garber:

And then we've got Mike yeah, so I'm Mike, another one of Steve's boys. I'd be the second Oldest of the boys here working at Premier Barn s. Basically, the same story as what Joel. Just said Started working when I was probably 14 and a few years back we partnered with Dad and I've built sheds, hauled sheds. Now I'm more into sales and also help keep our website up to date and keep our pricing structure. That's basically what I do now.

SHED GEEK:

So, Austin would have made the connection with you initially and myself, and probably makes sense because you keep tabs on the, the website and sort of the online digital storefront, I'm guessing a little bit more right so, Steve. Whenever you started this, you said um, I wanted a family business. I think you've accomplished your goal, mike. You said you're the second son here, but I didn't catch your age.

Mike Garber:

I'm 28.

SHED GEEK:

28. So 28, 26, but then you've got some other boys that work also as well.

Steve Garber:

Right Two younger boys, Javen, he's 21, and Ryan, he's 18. So, they contribute to the business as well.

SHED GEEK:

So part of the part of the reason for my excitement a little bit was outside of Austin setting this up, and we left from Metropolis this morning to get here this evening and you guys have been so kind to wait on us and we knocked this out this morning because you guys have a cabin going to Kansas tomorrow and we're like tomorrow morning just don't work. Uh, you've got these deliveries scheduled. But when I pulled up here, it was kind of pleasant to see. Whenever I used to work for SmartPay rentals as a rep for them, Missouri was part of my territory and whenever I was showing Kyle around a little bit, whenever he came on board, we actually came here to your, you guys's location while we were just out riding around.

SHED GEEK:

But I came in from a different direction this time. So, when I saw it, it was immediately started bringing back memories from, you know, five years ago or whatever it was we came through. So, it's excellent to take just kind of come full circle and pull up to a shed lot and say wait a minute, I've been here before. It's been years, but I've been here. Uh, so the name of the company I don't know if we caught that right off the bat, Premier

Steve Garber:

premier Barns

SHED GEEK:

Premier Barns, and you said you started in June of 96.

Steve Garber:

Yeah, May 96 to be exact.

SHED GEEK:

Okay Now, Steve, it's just a little bit different in May of 96 than what you've got now. First of all, you've got four good-looking young, strong boys here to help you now. But back then it was a little bit different.

Steve Garber:

This was something that you started on your own? Yes, it was. Actually, it was a solo operation. I built them and delivered them and did the whole nine yards.

SHED GEEK:

Now building and delivery looked a little different then.

Steve Garber:

It did, actually. Uh, built my first shed outside the shop. The shop was not tall enough to accommodate sheds, so I did my cutting and building trusses and so forth inside the shop and built my first shed, actually hand-nailed it together.

SHED GEEK:

Oh, wow.

Steve Garber:

And soon figured out, I think I'd like to upgrade to pneumatic nailers. So, we've done a few upgrades since then.

SHED GEEK:

I would say so.

Steve Garber:

What did you start delivering with? Actually, we had what we called a set of dollies and a hitch to clip to the center 4x6 or 4x4 runner. Very simple outfit. It was an inexpensive way to get our feet on the ground, but safety ended up being kind of a factor as well With the trailers. Now we can strap the sheds down and feel comfortable going down the road.

SHED GEEK:

Yeah, Joel, I'd imagine that's a little bit different for you to listen to Dad or hear the stories about how things used to be, since hauling is sort of in your blood. What do you guys use now? I guess you guys operate with a, with a trailer, a mule. Maybe are you guys running semis or pickups or yes, so, uh, definitely a lot different.

Joel Garber:

Sometimes, while I'm, while I'm delivering, you know, I stop and think I'm like man, how in the world did he do that? You know, with a handyman jack trying to get these dollies out.

SHED GEEK:

Yeah.

Joel Garber:

But anyway, so we've got two rigs actually.

Joel Garber:

So, we've got a semi and a 110 rig, okay, and kind of whatever you know the longer distance sheds, we tend to use a semi just because you know higher speeds for longer and runs cooler. And we have two mules that we use. We've got a bigger one, a track machine for the bigger sheds and more versatile deliveries. But yeah, the engineering of some of this new equipment is pretty amazing. Of some of this new equipment is pretty amazing, and sometimes I think that with the invention of the mule we get ourselves into even tighter scrapes and situations, you know, because you can go more places. But it's really neat.

SHED GEEK:

You really can. You can do more things. You can do things. I even see guys on the Shed Hauler Facebook page that do things that I've. One probably would have never attempted and two would have never thought of Just their own ingenuity in the moment and how they figure out how to accomplish getting the shed from the trailer to where the customer wants. It is often a seems like a bigger task than what I would feel comfortable with at times. Mike, you said the sales side. What? What attracted you to the sales side versus the, the building or the hauling?

Mike Garber:

so, after building for about 12 to 13 years, I kind of got tired of it a little bit. But honestly, basically we had an opening on either side. We did need some more help in the shop, and we also needed to be someone full-time in sales. So, we basically had an open door on each side and the shops I got filled first so I got stuck in sales. So, it's been a learning curve, but it's been. You know, having to work hard for sales is also rewarding, so I enjoy that part of it.

SHED GEEK:

It's a different kind of work. You know, it's pretty obvious whenever you build a shed, you start with nothing your platform. You build it up all the way to the roof and the paint, you've got it trimmed out and you can look back and say this is what I accomplished in this amount of time. Oftentimes in sales it's a little bit different, because if you didn't make a sale, it doesn't necessarily mean you weren't still working. You were putting in effort. A sale doesn't necessarily mean you weren't still working. You were putting in effort. But sales I don't know.

SHED GEEK:

One of my favorite books is the Little Red Book of Selling by Jeffrey Gittemer, and he says to put in the same effort week in and week out, no matter what results it yields, that you may sell six sheds, for instance, next week, and 12 the following. And you say, well, what did I do different to sell 12 than I did to sell six? And a lot of times the answer is nothing. You know you can't control the buying purchases of the customer, but it can be a little bit more of ebbs and flows and a little bit more of an emotional roller coaster trying to perfect a process you can't see versus delivering a shed. We know what we did we brought it here, set it up on blocks it's level, building a shed. It's a little different, but I've always been attracted to sales as well, and it's always been a little bit more difficult to navigate through that.

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SHED GEEK:

Steve, what do you feel like has been one of the chief differences that you see in the shed industry from 1996 to 2024? What's, uh, what's maybe two things that you've noticed that's changed the most. Has it been the styles, the prices, the delivery equipment?

Steve Garber:

so, one of the major differences in the early days I had quite a few displays, lots, you know, maybe in a radius of 50 miles, and so my philosophy has always been it's hard to sell off of an empty shelf, you know. People need to actually see what they're buying. But it has changed quite a bit since then. People do a lot of research online and actually call in and order sheds because through that research and so that's where Mike has been a great fit he's kind of in charge of the online platform and website and responds to requests for quotes and that sort of thing Pricing has gone up dramatically.

Steve Garber:

That's quite different. Another thing that has changed a lot is the vendors. Like the lumber companies. They pre-cut joists, notched runners. The guys can throw a floor together, you know, probably five times faster now, and so those are some major differences that I've seen. So and just yeah, there's been a lot of other minor changes along the way.

SHED GEEK:

Can you, can you recall some of the more standard sizes or prices?

Steve Garber:

roughly for a shed that you would have started out in 96? Yes, I think like a 12 by 16, for example, would have been in the lower $2,000 range. Now a basic 12 by 16 would run 5,400.

SHED GEEK:

Considerably different. I love to look at like old pamphlets and sales brochures and things that people had from whenever they got started, that they saved over the years, to kind of watch how the industry's changed. The consumer has changed the way they decide to purchase. You hit on one of the biggest points and it couldn't be more accurate because it's why we're here today and seeing the development of the sales and marketing process you know how you begin to work with a company like e-Impact to kind of get that digital storefront organized for the consumer that wants to shop online. First. You're in a rural bit of a rural area here and I didn't think to ask, and I don't know if you mind sharing do you guys have different locations, lots that you sell out of, or do you sell mainly here?

Steve Garber:

Actually, we've got a main office in the town of Richmond.

SHED GEEK:

Okay.

Steve Garber:

And so that's where most of our traffic comes to. We also have another dealer had a couple of them, one of them went out of business. Had a couple of them, one of them went out of business. And we still do have a few lots, just display lots, you know, with information available.

SHED GEEK:

so, make our presence known so it just seems that you can reach so much more because so many people do use the internet nowadays. You know social media and different things to get by, and it's interesting that the world has gone that direction and COVID seemed to usher it in that much faster, it seems.

Steve Garber:

One difference that I recall we used to go over to like home shows in Kansas City and we sold a ton of sheds over in Kansas. In the earlier days there wasn't a lot of competition out here, but then shed builders started up in Kansas. Kind of pushed us back, but it's interesting. Now with our online presence we're encroaching into their territory again.

SHED GEEK:

Back into Kansas again. I had a car dealer tell me that you know I said something about having high visibility on their lot and they said it's just so unimportant anymore because of what you're able to accomplish with the Internet and social media and Google and all these things. You can be in a rural area and still have a lot of success with a good online presence. Mike, Joel, you guys decided to join Dad in this adventure and say, hey, we're coming in as partners. You're young guys, you're in your 20s. What do you see for yourself in the next 10 or 20 years? Is this something that you want to continue to do?

Mike Garber:

Well, I don't have any other plans as of now, so I'll probably keep going until I'm. If I get sick and tired of it, I'll probably drop out. But, no, I don't think I'll get tired of it for now. I love the industry and I love to see new trends come in and I try to keep up with that and just see what's new on the horizon and then try to make some changes.

SHED GEEK:

What are some interesting things that you're seeing now or that you think will happen over the next few years, or five years maybe?

Mike Garber:

As far as new things, I'm not sure right now, but I know the last seven years has really changed what people are buying Versus a basic shed.

SHED GEEK:

they're buying sheds with lots of options on them, which makes it more important to stay on top of your pricing structure and your options, because that can make a shed take twice as long pretty quick do you guys uh, dive into, like the customizations and try to go there with the customer, you know, if that's something that they're kind of wanting to see, maybe something more than a cookie cutter shed, and I think you guys want to focus a little bit more on a quality product, I'm assuming. But do you get in deep on customizations? Do you feel like that's a good fit?

Mike Garber:

Yeah, we do quite a few custom projects. I don't turn a lot down as far as customization and sometimes I have the guys yelling at me, but I tell them, I give them work.

SHED GEEK:

Hey, that's right. I like to tell people I don't turn down nothing but my collar, so if they're buying, we'll just keep on trying.

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SHED GEEK:

What about you, Joel? What do you see that's different or that's changing or will change over the next few years and like. Is that mainly shed hauling related in the shed industry or just all in general?

Joel Garber:

I don't know if I see a lot as far as shed hauling, unless somebody comes out with some new equipment that I haven't seen yet. Somebody comes out with some new equipment that I haven't seen yet, but I see maybe more. Maybe this is not as much shed hauling but as far as, like, we are starting to get into cabins more, okay, and bigger buildings like that, so I could see us maybe upgrading to a bigger cabin trailer in the future just to kind of accommodate the extra weight.

SHED GEEK:

Sure.

Joel Garber:

For that.

SHED GEEK:

Do you mind? If I ask what kind of trailer you guys are operating now?

Joel Garber:

So right now, we have Pine Hills Uh-huh, I think they're a great trailer, sure, but there's also others out there that we're kind of keeping our eyes on. But we are kind of partial to Pine Hill, but shout out to them, I guess.

SHED GEEK:

Yeah, beautiful new facility up there in Pennsylvania. If you get a chance to go up there, it's just really awesome.

Joel Garber:

The main thing that I like about Pine Hill is from what I've seen in the years we've had their trailers. We haven't something with the engineering, the hydraulics on them, we don't have any breakdowns period, basically virtually zero. And the first trailer that we had wasn't you know, I'm not sure who made it, the manufacturer, but, um, you know we'd have, you know we'd have hydraulic hoses busting some. Something with the engineering wasn't quite right, you know, but virtually nonexistent. I'm saying it can't happen sure.

SHED GEEK:

So oh, it's a good. Uh, we got some good shout outs on here with the impact and pine and I'll tell you, with this new equipment I don't know if you guys are on social media, but if you watch the hauler page or some of the other things this new Shed Challenger that's coming out is definitely interesting and I think you're going to see a lot more of that here coming up in the future and I'll just be interested to sort of watch how that that plays out. You know I love what James did with like the shed boss that they had up there Creekside Welding, where they sort of had like a little bit of an alternative and something nice. But it's probably my favorite thing about there's. There's so much German history in the shed industry and that German engineering is a beautiful thing. I don't know what it is, but any time I go to you know, like Cardinal Mule or these guys, even with the Shed Challenger, WKM, Pine Hill, all of them, any time I see any of that stuff that they're doing.

SHED GEEK:

David Martin, how he created the rampage doors. It's kind of off of the thought of like what you see in the RV community and things like that. So, it's really neat to repurpose equipment and use it. I like to say, in the shed industry it seems like if it hasn't been built or they don't know how to do it, they'll find a way to make it happen, and I don't have that ingenuity inside of me, so it's really neat for me to be able to interview people and experience that. Steve, what do you feel like will be the future for you, watching your sons begin to take over the reins and a second generation of shed builders and owning a shed business? Your goal was to set out to have a family business. You've obtained that. Are you satisfied with where it is? What advice would you give to them now that if they went back and listened to this in 10 or 20 years, they can hear your thoughts on it today?

Steve Garber:

Well, going into partnership with the two boys actually the third one's on board now too but the value they have brought to the company. Joel here, in addition to being our hauler and delivery guy, he does a lot of our lumber buying and then of course that's kind of his sweet spot and Mike's is the online presence and the pricing structure. And well, by myself it was really hard to keep up with everything. So, they have actually Joel through his lumber purchasing he kind of has the right balance with shopping around, still maintaining loyalty with lumber vendors, and Mike has gotten the pricing structure right. It has just really made our company quite profitable. So, going forward, I just see myself fading out of the picture and whenever I want to walk out of the office and say you know I'll see you next week I'm not sure you know in 10 years from now I'm at the age where I'm content to stay in the groove. They kind of see trends, like Mike said, and I'm confident they'll stay on top of it.

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SHED GEEK:

What do you guys think will be the biggest change? Either collectively or individually. However, you want to answer that. What do you guys think will be the biggest change? Either collectively or individually. However, you want to answer that. What do you guys think will be the biggest change over the next five or ten years? Will it come from hauling, sales, marketing, automation and the way that people are building nowadays? And the way that people are building nowadays, I mean, I'm hearing stories about companies who are setting up automations and robots to do the actual manufacturing and I'm just kind of curious that, like, what are the? If you looked into a crystal ball, what is the unforeseen you know that we're not paying attention to. That's coming around the corner. I think everyone tries to get a grasp on that, but I don't know what it is. What do you guys think?

Mike Garber:

I feel like the automation thing as far as the actual putting the shed together, could definitely probably come around more than what it's been in the last few years. I don't know that I see that happening in our company anytime soon, but I could see. I could definitely see that.

SHED GEEK:

You think that'll be for the, the, the bigger players? Uh, do you think that'll squeeze, like you know?

SHED GEEK:

uh, how do you respond, you know, to a company being able to automate and put out, you know, 100 sheds a day versus

Steve Garber:

well, our philosophy has been service, local service, and we've had one particular shed company try setting up shop locally a couple times already. But something the bigger shed builders that crank out a lot of sheds, automation and all that have a hard time doing is giving local service and you know that's their niche. But I feel like our niche has been service and we have people coming back buying the third and fourth shed and so I see that probably more as a priority than automating and cranking out more.

SHED GEEK:

Yeah, you're rooted in the community, your neighbors and your friends and you know makes a big difference and that's you've got to use your strengths where they are to be able to compete. What is and whoever wants to take this? It's just sort of an open-ended question. What is sort of the philosophy here at Premier for your customers? Like, what are the things that you want your customers to know about your sheds? That if they were looking at your website or came across the YouTube video of you guys discussing it, what would you want the average customer to know?

Mike Garber:

well, first of all, I think we offer quite a bit of value, um, along with the quality is obviously in focus pretty majorly here in our, at our facility. Um, it's something we push a lot. So, um, quality and value, uh, service and just integrity, that's what I want people to know what they're dealing with, who they're working with.

SHED GEEK:

Joel, what's it mean for you here at Premier? What is important? Is it the delivery, the way that you deliver, the last touch for the customer? What's your thoughts on it? What would you say if a customer said I want to know more about your sheds. What does it sort of stand for?

Joel Garber:

So about what Mike said about quality, but then also like we specialize in metal siding in our sheds, so like they're never going to rot the last 25, 30-plus years, in fact. Ironically, we have a shed sitting out here that we just took out and they wanted a bigger shed. It's like 25, 26 years old Really, and it's still in good shape. It was nailed back in the day so it had a couple leaks, but we fixed those up. But anyway, and as far as delivery goes, I do try to make an effort to. You know, shake the customer's hands. You know, when I pull up, be respectful. I also like to communicate, tell them when I'm getting there, things like that. That way the customer is in the picture. They're not wondering when one of these guys is showing up.

Joel Garber:

I also try to do a good job. I try to get pretty detailed about where the customer wants the shed, try to put it exactly where they want it, to suit to their liking.

SHED GEEK:

Customer service is a priority.

Joel Garber:

Yeah, for sure.

SHED GEEK:

Yeah yeah, I think kind of to your dad's point. It's an easy area to win whenever you're a small family-owned business being able to hear the customer and service that customer in a way that's not just the service before the sale but even after the sale making sure they're content, they're happy, they're coming back buying a second, a third. I would imagine that's happened a couple times now since you've been in operation for so long quite a number of times.

Steve Garber:

Yeah, something else I have reiterated to my delivery guys is sometimes, you know, we get phone sales, whatever, and so the driver becomes a face of the company and so that's pretty important. And another thing I've tried to communicate is take care of widows. You know women, you know older people. Take special care of those kind of people.

SHED GEEK:

So, one thing I love about the industry, Steve, is that I've run across so many people who are it's sort of what I like to describe as like a faith-filled industry. You know, it's really nice to do business with people who know the Lord. The world's full of sharks and difficulty and strain and business and things like that, and I'm not saying that we don't, you know, have our fair share of difficulty and frustrations, even in the shed industry, even in the shed industry. But, typically speaking, what's really nice about? I imagine you have friends in this industry after doing this for so many years, but it really is nice to work in an industry where they promote Christian values and so many manufacturers and dealers do that in a bit of a witnessing on a daily, just a daily matter. All across the United States there's so many people who are witnessing just through their work.

Steve Garber:

Absolutely. I read a book once, once the title was anointed for business and in the workplace you have opportunities you would never get otherwise to share Jesus, so it's a real opportunity yeah, I, I, uh, I think it's really awesome.

SHED GEEK:

You know just what you've done, not just in business, but what you've done with your family and watching your boys grow up to become part of it. You've accomplished in many ways what you set out to do and I think it's great that when all that's said and done, you can say it wasn't me, it was him. Absolutely Amen. Yeah, that's great. I love the gosh. I almost envy your family. I think it's awesome that you grew up and helped to create that kind of environment where they could take over, sort of, as you're like handing that over slowly, so pretty awesome. Do you have a favorite moment, a favorite customer moment, in all of these years coming up on the 30 years that you've been in this, anything that stands out as like a particularly proud moment or happy moment with a customer that really struck a difference in your own life?

Steve Garber:

well, we've had a lot of those moments' happy customers, happy customers. But just recently we have done work built cabins and so forth for a certain customer and she's going through a difficult time in life and she just texted me and asked us to pray for her, me and asked us to pray for her. And so that tells me we have connected on a deeper level than just exchanging money in a product and really that's what makes life meaningful for me.

SHED GEEK:

Great answer. Have you guys, so far, since you've been in this, you have a favorite moment? Have you guys, so far since you've been in this, you have a favorite moment? A delivery, just a particular customer, something that has stood out to you that you said man, this was a little bit more than work today.

Mike Garber:

It's easier to remember the bad ones, right, I can remember those right off the top of my head. That's a fair point. Yeah, I do remember one, though it was probably I might have had one more difficult than that one, but up until that point it was the worst. But then he also, the guy was just a real pain to deal with. He was being super negative and basically telling us we could not get the shed in and we got it in, of course.

Mike Garber:

But the neighbor was there and afterward he told me well, Joel, here, he was helping me as well and we just, we never said a lot, we just went about our work and tried to get it in and afterward the neighbor, he was there, he was awesome, it was a real lifesaver that he was there to help us. But he just expressed gratitude for the way we dealt with him and it was just a humbling experience for myself. I didn't even know I was doing it at the time. I didn't even know I was doing it at the time, but I was just blessed that I could still remain. You know, keep my composure without getting upset.

SHED GEEK:

Well, you know your reaction is what makes all the difference how you respond. I heard a pastor one time say we're the only bible that some people ever read. You know so. So how you carry yourself and conduct yourself is all they're ever going to see in in calling yourself a Christian, uh, and like you did the right thing and the neighbor noticed that, uh, and you're right. I love your answer. Answer it's funny, but it's also true. It's easy to remember sometimes the negative experiences. But I don't know. As our pastor says, you know you don't go through it, you grow through it. So you welcome difficulties in some respect as an opportunity to be a light and change and do something different. I get the feeling that you guys do that well. You seem like very respectable young men and you have been in all the times I've talked to you guys.

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SHED GEEK:

Questions for me. I want to create some dialogue here and maybe you have some, maybe you don't. I don't know if you guys have listened to the show before. One thing I always like to try to do is, um, discuss thoughts on the shed industry, podcasting, faith, you know, uh, whatever it looks like, and just complete transparency. So, um, I always give the guest the opportunity to turn the microphone around and ask some questions. That maybe, uh gives me a chance to talk a little bit, if I haven't already so much here on this episode, but what, uh? What, if any, questions would you guys have, and I'll do my best to answer well, first of all, I'd like to thank you for being here.

Mike Garber:

Um, it's been great to meet you. Um, I guess I'll turn around a question that you asked us, and that is what do you see as the next thing coming in, whether it's the actual build process, delivery and sales, that kind of thing? What's your perspective on that?

SHED GEEK:

Well, even with our mutual acquaintance here today and e-impact connecting us, to be able to have this conversation. I think it also kind of shows why I would have jumped into that part of the industry just in talking to so many different manufacturers and dealers I don't exactly know how many, but I think it's somewhere in the five to 600 range of dealer lot and locations I've visited at this point and somewhere near 200 manufacturers, and when you talk to them and break bread with them and sit down and eat with them and begin to know them and develop a relationship, you find that if you're actively listening, you hear what you're looking for, and that's why marketing became such an important part of the process for me. You know podcasting is for some companies. They see that as a marketing apparatus as well, because you're trying to build your brand. I didn't do it for that purpose. I've done it because I enjoy these conversations. I regret that we got here so late tonight that we couldn't go eat and sit and learn more about you guys, because I think it's really developed a love for people and that's why I enjoy sitting and having these conversations. The Lord's given me that and I'm thankful for that.

SHED GEEK:

But as far as changes goes.

SHED GEEK:

I'm almost not afraid to make this comment, but I want to make sure I say this and it's not stirring panic or whatever but I think that I think that people are just going to have to be invested, thinking about, like the consignment model, so like when you, when you start up and you talked about having, Steve, like you know, a couple of dealers, and I think it depends on the commitment to those dealers. So, I think those who are doing adequate marketing all these conversations about super lots you know where there's an empty shelf doesn't sell, as you said, Steve, you know it's not even 15 or 20 dealers, any are buildings on a dealer lot anymore, it's 100 or 200. But instead of opening up you 15 of them, you're opening up two or three or one or two and focusing on that or doing it out of the manufacturing and then really increasing your digital storefront. And the reason I say that is you guys probably, I'm going to assume, offer delivery within a 30, 50 mile radius, something along those lines. So we have 100 mile free delivery 100 mile, okay, excellent.

SHED GEEK:

You guys are out here. Have a hundred mile free delivery A hundred mile, okay, excellent. You guys are out here where you got to drive a little farther too.

Joel Garber:

Yeah, you know, I got to remember that we also use that as a little bit of a marketing.

SHED GEEK:

Absolutely, absolutely. You know. So, yeah, not everybody's doing that and you're able to. Yeah, no, I think it's great, uh, wonderful, competitive advantage. But yeah, uh, so even better to.

SHED GEEK:

To prove this point, you know, if you drew a radius around where you guys are, 100 miles, there's folks within that 100 miles that just are not going to drive by here. You know, or drive or do very rarely. You know, most people have their regular people, places and things. So with the online digital storefront, you're able to reach people that are still only 50 miles, 60 miles away, that don't know you're here or don't drive by regularly, which is the purpose of why you're creating a sales lot is to set it out there and hope that you invoke some emotion when someone's driving by to want to pull in or see the shed over and over and want to come in and talk to a salesperson.

SHED GEEK:

So, I do think the digital storefront's going to continue to grow. I just think that people are going to find ways to reach customers, and I think it's probably because it's part of the way our world's going, whether we want it to or embrace it or not. Um, I just think that you're, you're, you're seeing the customer make the demands for how they decide to shop. And, um, just because we're building sheds doesn't mean that that we're immune to that. We have to kind of, I guess, navigate at least a little bit and you guys are adapting for sure yeah, well, you're doing that with the impact, so that's pretty awesome already.

SHED GEEK:

So great question. I appreciate that. Uh, Joel, Steve, you guys got anything? Feel free to ask if it's podcasting, life related-related. This is just a time to really just have a conversation and not so much grill you guys on interview questions.

Steve Garber:

So what do you see as a common denominator in the shed industry that kind of unites the industry and yet enables us to you know, all of us to sell.

SHED GEEK:

Great question. You know and that's sort of a passion for ours Tyler Mahan at uh uh, better Buildings out in um Pulse Valley, Oklahoma, you would have saw he wrote in the um Shed Builder Magazine now Shed Business Journal for years and Tyler didn't coin the phrase, but he used it early on in the podcast and he said a rising tide lifts all boats and something that we sort of took and ran with for a long time because as an industry in general, Steve, we're only as good as the as the weakest link. So, the common denominator in in terms of sales to me is still being able to offer that legendary customer service. I believe it's an area that in the shed industry we're lacking in some ways, because I like to tease shed guys, shed manufacturers, and I say gosh, you know, oftentimes when shed manufacturers are holding you accountable for your work, they have the highest level of attention to detail, but whenever it comes to their customers, sometimes maybe not so much, and you know we are in the people business, we're just in the shed part of people. We could have been selling tractors or rakes or, I don't know, speakers or something, but we're selling sheds and it's still about the people. So the common denominator to me is being able to provide good customer service. There's things that I'd love to see improved People understanding RTO better, to be able to better explain it in ways that doesn't get us into a bind or bring attention to us in the way that we operate business, because we need to operate within the confines of, like you know, the attorney generals and and what they do, and just be educated.

SHED GEEK:

Training is a big thing that seems to be lacking. You know, if customers, if a manufacturer starts up and someone comes into the sales side, you know that that the training in the sales side seems to be lacking more than anywhere. You get good hauling training because you, you're forced into it, but with sales, sometimes maybe you're just you're guessing and there's ebbs and flows and it's, it's an emotional roller coaster. So I would say you know customer service and, uh, you know, and attending trade shows like the Shed Expo, attending Shed Hauler events, if they're local or near you, to be able to get around others that do the same thing that you do, to be able to learn, and basically you're having a podcast conversation without the microphone, because that's what's happening at the tables is everybody's sitting around, chatting, discussing where they've seen success, and I think, ultimately, if you're, if you're in any business, I think you will want the industry to do better, because you will recognize that as the tide rises, all of our boats do rise if we all do just a little bit better. So you know, that's part of why we did an educational podcast.

SHED GEEK:

We try to do something entertaining. I'm not the funniest guy around, I'm not winning any comedy awards, but we try to keep it fun and lighthearted and sell fun. That's normally why I'm in the bowtie and suspenders is just to kind of have a little fun and the kids come and get the glasses off the table at the expo and stuff like that. We did all that because we're, you know, we want to not take ourselves so serious that we forget that the Lord gives us a sense of humor and ability to laugh, and so, yeah, that's. I hope I answered your question well enough.

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Mike Garber:

One thing I do think at least I think it's going to change something for our company, and that is financing versus the rent I own. You took my question right out of my mouth.

Joel Garber:

I was getting ready to ask that rent to own. You took my question right out of my mouth.

Mike Garber:

I was getting ready to ask that. So, we've just got set up with the financing company so we can offer it. I mean, the customer can be right in front of me. I can, you know, text them the link, email them the link and within five minutes of filling out that application they'll have somebody on the phone, and they'll figure out there, the length of the term and everything. And it's great for people with good credit because the rent zone is so high interest, if you want to call it that, for the people with good credit.

SHED GEEK:

You're right on and not to steal your thunder from the conversation there, but we've just been blessed with a plethora of opportunity ourselves at shed geek and outside of the podcast, and helping to expand other people's markets. We uh, you know we did jump into the marketing and RTO, but we literally just partnered with a company as well where we'll be launching shed geek finance before long, because we see the need for that for that customer, that's, you know, high end 680 credit score or more, and they don't necessarily want to pay the fees associated with a rental contract, but maybe they don't want to go to the bank. They're here, they're with you. Like he said, they want to close that that thing out. So, we started offering our will, start offering some of those services.

SHED GEEK:

I don't mind saying it on this podcast, because it'll be a month or so before this comes out and even though we've got it tidied up, we've still got a few things to do before we launch.

SHED GEEK:

But I think it's an excellent move on you guys' part to be able to do that, to be able to do that it is. It is, you know, I hate to say national politics plays a role in our industry, but it does and, like you know, with it being an election year, it depends on what happens here, but I still think that interest rates are going to begin to fall. You know, I don't know what I'm basing that off of, other than like talking to a few bankers, but for the most part, I think that you are going to see a bit of a change in the purse, the wallet, the way that people decide to act over the next couple of years, and some of that inflation is just not going to go back down. Maybe it'll subside some, but I don't think it's going to go away. So, I think finance is a great, great opportunity and I'm glad to hear that you guys jumped into that as well. Rent on so competitive now.

Joel Garber:

so one reason we really felt the need to go get into the financing was we were starting that we did quite. We've done quite a few big sheds this year, like 16 by 52s and people finish them out for cabins and stuff. We typically don't get into the full finishing out. We might get the insulation, electrical and some of that stuff run, but what happens is a price goes. You know you're selling a $30,000 shed, $35,000, $40,000, $50,000, you know depending, $30,000 shed, $35,000, $40,000, $50,000, you know depending and it just becomes uncrunchable the numbers for people to handle per month and the financing gets set a little more.

SHED GEEK:

Yeah, I think you're right. I think we're seeing that. We see the competitive way that our deal works currently and it seems like the best natural next progression. You know, the biggest concern is really like when or when are the banks gonna feel the need to take that risk? On the unsecured loans like sheds, you know we, whenever we jumped into this program with ours we, we decided to partner with a company that could do a healthy amount, go up to $100,000, looking for post frame as well, carports or metal structures, but then also sheds and tiny homes and things like that, so the customer would be able to have a pretty wide array of what they can choose to purchase. So we say sheds, but that word's kind of interchangeable with house frame and tiny home. But the unsecured loans the hardest part is getting a bank to commit to something like that. But if your score is high enough and your debt to income is pretty good, there is a customer base out there that doesn't want to pay cash but does not want the rental fees. Also, they want a more secured, lower interest way of being able to purchase the shed and oftentimes they can put more down, especially if they're looking to finish something out because they're going to have to do that on the inside.

SHED GEEK:

So great questions. Yeah, any questions that you guys have for me at all, feel free to ask. I want to make sure we give out again a shout out to Austin, James, Charles, Chris all the guys over at e-impact certainly appreciate them making this connection here today and I love what you guys are doing your business. You're somewhere around episode number 250. So we've been doing this a while and you can just tell whenever you're around, a company that really values their processes, their processes, and I just really feel like you've created a really awesome family dynamic that anyone could be proud of and I don't think you guys got a long future in this thing. Looks like you're going to be around doing some sheds for quite some time. Anybody married yet?

Mike Garber:

Oh yeah, Both of us are married.

SHED GEEK:

Both of you are married, uh children I got one boy oh man talking about third generation here.

Steve Garber:

Yeah, shed building stick yeah, he's had his little son down here in the car seat too, so you know he started out and it out in the car seat down here, so his son has been here as well.

Speaker 4:

So yeah.

Steve Garber:

But I want to thank you for coming and having the privilege to meet you and communicate together. Thanks for taking that time.

SHED GEEK:

Well, it means a lot to me that they would make the connection, that you guys would oblige and that you've been so open with your schedule to let us come in here and stay overnight and crash your parking lot here and really just keep you guys up late to have a conversation that we hope is fruitful. We hope it helps someone's day. We hope they hear this and are encouraged, inspired. I know others have told me they always appreciate the history of different shed companies being able to come on here and share. You don't have to give away your competitive advantages. We just encourage people to come on and have a conversation. That's very simple. Encourage everybody to go check out the newsletter for Shed Geek. Just go to ShedGeek. com. If you've got any questions. Feel free to email us at info I-N-F-O@ ShedGeek. com if you want to get signed up on the newsletter. There's lots of cool things on there. Often times there's some ways that you can save money through some of the vendors that are exclusively working with Shed Geeks.

SHED GEEK:

So, other than that, we'll see a lot of you guys at the expo, if it hasn't already passed, and appreciate you guys coming out to that. Steve, it's a beautiful thing that you've got here with your family Love being able to have the opportunity to be here coming out to that. Steve, it's a beautiful thing that you've got here with your family, love being able to have the opportunity to be here. Appreciate that so much. Thank you and wish you nothing but the best. We're a fan of prayer here at the Shed Geek Podcast. Do you guys care If you don't have anything else to share? Do you guys care if I just close this out here in prayer as we finish?

Steve Garber:

Sure we'd love that.

SHED GEEK:

Excellent. Lord, thank you for this day. Thank you for this opportunity just to sit and be together and communicate and fellowship with each other. Lord, we thank you for each and everything that you do, for guiding us, leading us through our business adventures, through trying to make our industry a better place, our community a better place.

SHED GEEK:

Thankful for folks like Steve who've stayed the course and made this thing into a family business and encouraged others like myself to continue to be in this wonderful industry that you provide for us to be in, this wonderful industry that you provide for us to be a part of. I ask that you'd bless them, bless their home, their business and all of their customers as they come and see that it's oftentimes more about your kingdom. It's always about your kingdom and not just a shed that you just give us that shed as an opportunity to witness. We ask that you continue to bless the whole industry Safety as everyone moves to and from different events in the industry, and we just pour out a heart of absolute thanksgiving for you and your son, Jesus. Amen, amen. Thank you, gentlemen, so much. I really appreciate you guys being able to be flexible with me. It means a lot.