Shed Geek Podcast
The Shed Geek Podcast offers an in depth analysis of the ever growing and robust Shed Industry. Listeners will experience a variety of guests who identify or specialize in particular niche areas of the Shed Industry. You will be engaged as you hear amateur and professional personalities discuss topics such as: Shed hauling, sales, marketing, Rent to Own, shed history, shed faith, and much more. Host Shannon Latham is a self proclaimed "Shed Geek" who attempts to take you through discussions that are as exciting as the industry itself. Listeners of this podcast include those who play a role directly or indirectly with the Shed Industry itself.
Shed Geek Podcast
Innovative Deck Solutions and Portable Porch Benefits
Can you imagine transitioning from the world of shed sales to the simplicity of deck building? Connor Crowe from Enterprise Deck Company did just that, and he's here to share his story with us. From minimal resources and renting equipment to building a successful deck business in just ten months, Connor's journey is both inspiring and humorous. In our chat, he recounts how he and his business partner navigated the competitive market, creatively overcoming challenges and experiencing remarkable growth.
Ever wondered how a rent-to-own model could revolutionize home improvement? Our episode uncovers this transformative approach, beginning with partnerships like SmartPay and evolving to successful collaborations with Heartland. We share insights into the strategic moves and relationship-building that propelled our business, especially in mobile home parks where the rent-to-own option offers surprising benefits. It's a narrative of organic growth and enthusiastic customer reception that you won't want to miss.
But that's not all—we also discuss the practical advantages of portable porches for RVs and mobile homes. From ease of installation to customization options, these porches bring significant improvements to daily living. We delve into the design tweaks that enhance quality and customer satisfaction, such as "soft touch" handrails. Lastly, we celebrate the value of friendship and gratitude, with heartfelt thanks to Connor for his unwavering support. Tune in for a wealth of entrepreneurial insights, personal anecdotes, and practical advice.
Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, or YouTube at the handle @shedgeekpodcast.
To be a guest on the Shed Geek Podcast visit our website and fill out the "Contact Us" form.
To suggest show topics or ask questions you want answered email us at info@shedgeek.com.
This episodes Sponsors:
Studio Sponsor: Union Grove Lumber
Versabend
Cold Spring Enterprises
Welcome back to this week's episode of the Shed Geek Podcast. I am Susan Frair, The Shed Gal. I have a very special guest who I'm honored to also call him my friend. I get the honor today of talking with Connor Crowe of Enterprise Deck Company and Connor welcome.
Connor Crowe:Thank you, Susan. It's always an honor to talk with you as well.
Shed Gal:So much fun, just pure full disclosure. Connor and I actually did a podcast in person, and we had some technical problems, so now we're doing it by Zoom. But here we are. So not even going to worry about what we talked about last time, Connor, because that was a week ago, we're just going to move forward. Tell me a little bit about you, where you live, are you married kids, tell me about you, and then we'll get into your really cool business.
Connor Crowe:All right.
Connor Crowe:Well, I'm a father of two and a husband of one at least last time I checked and still married to my first wife, but she's my only wife as well, so don't tell her I said that. But I live here in Central Texas, just north of Waco, in a little town called West. Everybody around here refers to it as West comma, because West Texas everybody thinks of Odessa. But I come from a small town of Milano that everybody pronounces Milano, but I don't know, maybe we're wrong, maybe they're wrong, but born and raised there in Milano and moved out whenever I was 16 years old and started life because I thought that I knew everything and found out real fast that I didn't know as much as I thought. But, of course, as one does, when you drop out of school at a young age like that kind of, your only option is to go straight into the construction world and it uh, not sure if it was a blessing or a curse, but I've sure enjoyed everything that I've learned and the people I've met and the industries I've been involved with.
Shed Gal:That's for sure, right but, uh well, I, you know, obviously. You know I've had the honor of meeting your beautiful wife and not only is she beautiful on the outside, she's beautiful on the inside and your girls are absolutely adorable. You know, they are adorable and just great and it's so fun. So, you and I met a couple of years ago and you at that time were getting into or were in the shed industry and you've really had a huge pivot, which is what we're going to concentrate on. But that's how we met. You had seen the upflip video that a couple years ago and we had connected and just we've been friends ever since, but you, you pivoted out away from sheds and I want to hear all about what you're doing today, because I love what you're doing.
Connor Crowe:For sure I'm excited as well. I really enjoy what we're doing now doing the sheds. It was a lot of fun doing the sheds, but I think everybody can agree that the shed market has got competitive. Just because we have so many people doing it now Doesn't mean that the shed market's not a good market to be in. Still, I just found something that interested me more, but also I figured out there's a lot less moving parts to it as well, so it was a big change, but a change that we've enjoyed, that's for sure.
Shed Gal:Yes, yeah, you know we've talked about it before. It's going to be super fun for all of us to watch the trajectory that you're taking, because you started Enterprise Deck Company. How long ago was that?
Connor Crowe:So, me and a good friend of mine started, actually in November of last year, in 2023. So we started off, I mean, with just the cash in our pocket and enough money, we'd go to Home Depot and we'd buy just enough material to build, you know, an eight by 16 deck and buying material from Home Depot, as everybody knows, is crazy expensive but we'd buy enough material to build that one deck, deliver to the customer and get paid. We could pay ourselves just enough to pay our electric bills and keep the lights on and go buy enough material to build another and have a little left over to buy some extra material. And yeah, starting off 10 months ago to where we are now is a big change, that's for sure.
Shed Gal:Wow. I keep saying wow and I'm sorry I'm being so repetitive, but that part I did not know. I did not know. I mean, the only thing I can think of is like I think the right word would be scrappy, all in a positive way, as far as you just did what you needed to do, and you worked yourself right into a fantastic business.
Connor Crowe:Yeah, and the thing is we so. So we were trying to figure out is it possible to start a business with pretty much no money?
Connor Crowe:And we kind of figured out it really is because we was able to collect enough on that deposit that we was able to get the materials we needed, and I happened to have the tools left over from when we did sheds, and uh, I didn't, let's see, no, I did have a truck. I had a truck when we first started, um, but we didn't have a trailer. So, we'd go down to the, the local trailer rental place, and you could get a 30 foot uh tilt deck trailer from them for 110 a day. So, we had rent that trailer and uh, and once the deck was built, we had loaded on that trailer to deliver to the customer. And I mean, we, we literally started the business with nothing other than some leftover scrap from the sheds and, uh, it's. It's exciting for us as well to see you know how we've built this from the ground see, I thought I knew you, Connor, and now I'm learning.
Shed Gal:Like there's, there's all these depths, like I didn't realize the how creative you, you really were, that to, to be able to start something that really has I don't even know, I think I don't even know that the right word is blossomed. It's like blowing up. You know, I work with 27 dealers and they're knocking my door down of wanting to offer your product and all I did was one post. I wasn't even asking them if they were interested. Not that I don't want to introduce it to them, because I think it's a wonderful product, but just as, as you're rolling things out, being able to do it, you know not I don't mean efficiently, but you know rolling it out so that you don't just you know not, I don't mean efficiently, but you know, rolling it out so that you don't just get absolutely over bumped.
Shed Gal:I didn't realize how popular. You know, coming from Arizona and Washington. Washington may now have portable porches, portable decks, but they didn't when I was there up till two years ago. And Arizona, you know, I do know five star sheds offer some portable porches and decks for their, for their sheds. But this is different. This is what you do is different, and I know, when you and I met a few months ago, we were sitting at Starbucks down there and what, where? Where were we at Burleson? Is it Burleson?
Shed Gal:Burleson, I believe, is where we had you know, sitting there and I'm like man, how do we market these things? You know, there's so many people you know as a dealer we talk about, oh, we sell a portable building and people are like, what's a portable building? Like they think you lift it up and move it. Well, yeah, we do, but you don't, uh. But so, you know it's funny what I've learned by having some of your samples here people are attracted just seeing them. It doesn't matter what they're called. You do multiple sizes, like the portable building industry. You're building them near you and then you're delivering them to the customer. We build them in our shop.
Connor Crowe:We're delivering them to the customer. Yeah, we build them in our shop, and when we were doing the sheds is when we first started kind of testing the concept of the portable decks.
Connor Crowe:And it's kind of crazy because there's a manufacturer that was about an hour and a half, two hours from us and I hadn't seen any of their stuff yet. I don't know if they were just trying to kind of stay small. They were, you know, doing what they wanted. You know, volume wise, they were just comfortable, had no reason, and there's nothing wrong with that, you know there's. You know some people want to provide for their families and make a decent wage. Others, you know we want to try to, you know, build something, uh, quite a bit larger. There's, you know, different reasons there.
Connor Crowe:But, uh, when we first started the decks, we were still building the sheds at the time and we would literally take our trailer, level the trailer in the backyard. This was before we shut down the shed stuff and then I went in to do some repo work for a little while. We had leveled the trailer, we had put some blocks on the trailer and then we would build the deck on top of the trailer so we wouldn't have to load it. And we were downtown temple, texas, and code enforcement. They were having a heyday with it because we were building a structure on our property but they couldn't get us because we were building it on this trailer, so technically we wasn't building a structure on our property, even though the trailer was on the property so it had a little loophole there.
Connor Crowe:We went around and around a little while they got some money out of us and then it, you know, we just called it rent for being able to use our backyard. But you know, we started off there, did a few decks out of the backyard and then, of course, you know everything that happened with the sheds and everything and we shut all that down, went into doing the repossession work for a little while, repoing the trailers, and then decided, you know, I was ready to come home after I was in Atlanta, Georgia, with a SWAT team out there and a couple guys threatening to pull guns. It was. That was when I was like it's time to go home.
Connor Crowe:It was getting a little bit, a little bit crazy and uh. So, I come home and talk to a good friend of mine, Robert, and uh said hey, you know, I've got this thing.
Connor Crowe:I tried it with the, the sheds, we would throw an ad up and have to take it down because we'd get overwhelmed with people messaging and we couldn't keep up with responding back. And uh, he was hesitant about it. He was working a job, uh, selling commercial tires, um, for forklifts and agriculture and stuff like that. And uh I said, you know, let, let's just try it. You know, let's, let's give it a shot. He was to a point he was kind of getting burned out at that or at that uh that uh tire shop there. And uh I said, give it a shot.
Connor Crowe:You know, if it doesn't work within a couple months, you know we can close this down and part and know at least we gave it a shot. And it's unreal what it's done. Within a matter of the first couple months we was able to buy us a trailer and it wasn't anything to brag about but it got the job done. And uh, and now we've got a, you know, legitimate, you know tilt deck trailer with the pull chain and it doesn't have tail shift, which that would be nice for the decks, but uh, it definitely does the job even better than that original trailer, that's for sure.
Shed Gal:I love it. I love it. You're touching on so many things. There's a lot of people out there number one in this industry that want to pivot to not necessarily leaving sheds or leaving metal, but they want to add something else. One company is not going to dominate the market. There is. There are plenty of customers for several good deck. You know manufacturers.
Shed Gal:But, man, what a cool story about how you can literally and I was raising my hand when you were talking about starting anybody who's watched the video on upflip of how I got started. I had $44 in my checking account seven years ago, July, and I spent $24 on my Washington State business license and $20 for Vistaprint on business cards. They've gone up in price since then double, but you know that's how I started and I didn't even have a display lot my first month. So, talk about getting scrappy. So I mean, gosh, some of the best stories are businesses like yours and mine, where you, we just did what we had to do to learn and grow and I mean this is the crazy part Like I, I can only envision where you're going to be six months in a year from now on this, um, like who knows? I saw a post recently that you did yeah.
Connor Crowe:Said, that was a big step.
Shed Gal:Talking about you know.
Connor Crowe:I know exactly what you want.
Shed Gal:You know there's a big difference between you and Robert going to Home Depot or Lowe's or using leftovers from sheds and you building something, even though it ended up being a very high quality product, and now you're buying truckloads of wood, I mean that is a very, very short period of time.
Shed Gal:I mean you have a very investable business. This company eventually down the road is going to be worth a whole lot of time. I mean you have a very investable business, a very you know this. This company eventually down the road is going to be worth a whole lot of money. Like this is a legacy for your family.
Connor Crowe:That's our goal, that's for sure.
Shed Gal:Yeah, yeah. So one of the things that I found interesting and I remember when we were sitting there talking, cause I was shocked when you said, yeah, we can even do these portable porches and decks on rent-to-own. Well, it's not shocking to me now, but did you approach a rent-to-own company? Did they approach you? Did you know? Because up until when you and I talked about it months ago, I didn't even know that was an option. So how did that come about where you could offer rent-to-own on these?
Connor Crowe:So, there was a couple of different rent-to-own companies that I talked with and one of them I was working with, and I don't know if I should say their names. Maybe, if anybody's curious, they could reach out.
Shed Gal:I could check with the rent-to-own company. No, absolutely, we want to give publicity to great companies. No, absolutely we want to give publicity to great companies.
Connor Crowe:But as far as I mean, we started off with SmartPay. They're in Ohio, I believe, is where they're based out of Dave Miller and we worked with him for a little while and actually I think we had started with Tanner Liebly, Liebly I'm sorry if I'm butchering his name. I'm trying to think of which companies he's with, but they're off of the.
Connor Crowe:East Coast out there, I can't think of the name of their company. Anyways, we were working with them and there was a little bit of issue as far as competitors in the area and out of respect to the competitors and everything, we set up with Dave at SmartPay and used them initially and then that was while we was doing the sheds and then, once we closed all that down, went through the rent-to-own stuff and then come back in and started the new company. Now we're with Heartland and Heartland was one of the primary companies that I was doing the repo work for. So, I'd built a relationship with them and I was up at their office one day and I was talking to the trailer department and they wanted to introduce me to the rest of the rent-to-own office there. And we went around to the trailer department and they wanted to introduce me to the rest of the rent to own office there. And we went around to the different departments and I kind of pitched the idea to one of the ladies there that was head over the all of the different things that they can do rent to own for, and she said that absolutely, you know they love the idea of it. It sounded good to them They'd be willing to give it a shot. And so I was like, well, it's probably going to be a few months out before we get started and I think that may have been August, maybe September of 23 when I said that, thinking that it was probably going to be more of middle of this year that we actually got started, more of middle of this year that we actually got started.
Connor Crowe:And well, I ended up clearing out their map on their trailer repos and got down to where they're. They didn't have much work for me and I was like, well, I'm just go ahead and I've got a nice little nest egg set aside for me and my family and our bills. And Robert had some money set aside from selling a house and said, well, let's set, let's start this business and see how thin we can start it and see if we can't grow the business organically and without having to put too much in. And I think in total, after the first three months, I think we put in maybe $5,000 and that was just for some deposits on like getting the trailer and a couple of tools and things like that. Um, that was more just to give it a boost or a jump.
Connor Crowe:You know, we could have completely done it without that. We might be a month or so behind where we currently are, but it uh, we saw opportunities and we needed a little more equipment and so we did. That's, that was the investment there. But, yeah, heartland said they'd be willing to give it a shot and we put some ads up and people started going crazy over that idea of the rent to own for them and they would ask if it's something that they could rent for, if it's a certain amount and they have to return it, or if they get to keep it. And when you tell them no, it's rent to own, lease to own, at the end of the lease or the agreement you get to keep it, and they just couldn't believe it. We have a lot of people that thought that they would just rent it and at the end of the term we would come pick it up.
Shed Gal:But they were super excited when I found out they actually got to keep it. Yeah, oh, I think it's absolutely fabulous. I know you and I talked about it recently and we talked about it several months ago too, about because of course my brain gets going and then I'm like, wow, the risk of it and then you know you, the way you kind of explained it was well compared to like a shed, which of course I'm very familiar with. On rent to own versus a porch, if you have to give up one, it's probably not going to be the porch. You need a nice manufactured home and they need this to get into, in and out of their home. You know, it's going to see, it's going to be interesting to see over a longer period of time. You know, my guess is it's probably not going to be any more risk than anything else on rent to own and probably much less risk on many things that are offered on rent to own.
Connor Crowe:So, something we figured out, you know, a few months into it, and it was a complete accident that we had figured this out. We was at a mobile home park and uh, we, anytime we go to a mobile home park, we go to the office first and talk to them before we go hand out flyers and whatnot. But uh, something that we figured out with them was, if they're, if they're doing rent to own and they default and we come pick it up, well, the um mobile home park requires that they have a porch or a set of steps so they have someone putting pressure on them to make their payment as well, because if we pick it up, they have to figure something else out for steps for their, their mobile home. They won't allow them to have just the back steps or whatever they. They've got to have a front entry into their home, yeah, so it's part of the agreement.
Shed Gal:It's kind of like similar to being in an HOA where you're agreeing to keep your home up or yard or whatever. They're having to make an agreement with that manufactured home, park and part of the yeah saying that they're going to keep the front door of their property presentable.
Connor Crowe:You know, there's not, there's. There may be some mobile home parks out there that say that you have to have a shed on your property. There's, there's one that I know of in Georgetown, but I don't. I haven't come across too many where you see a shed at every single mobile home.
Connor Crowe:Well, home, well, if, uh, if you're at a mobile home park that doesn't require you to keep a shed on a property and you default, you have no incentive to get it back or make that payment If you're willing to just clean it out. But uh, that was a complete accident that we figured that out and uh, I don't know yet if it's gonna, if it's gonna help or not. But uh, I guess if we get a, an order to go pick one up eventually at one of those mobile home parks, you know we go down there and talk to them and see if we can't get them to make their payment, and I'm sure the mobile home park they're going to put some pressure on them as well. So, if anything, it may be kind of a more of a security to the rent to own company, because then they have multiple points of people trying to help them make the payment.
Shed Gal:Yeah, I'm thinking of a picture that I saw recently on your Facebook page of a before and after. So it was a manufactured home and it had the old porch on it, and then I think it was above it, I don't remember which, it doesn't matter. You know it had the new porch and I was like I couldn't believe, aesthetically, how much of a difference. And granted it's, it's not judging the people that were living there, it's all of us. We get used to how things are.
Connor Crowe:Oh yeah.
Shed Gal:I'll bet those people were so thrilled when you guys were done because it just made their place look incredible. Very low investment for a very low investment it just made their place look incredible.
Shed Gal:The curb appeal Very low investment For a very low investment. I saw one of yours and I was thinking, boy, I wish I would have known about this. A couple years ago we had one of my lots was up in Heber, Overgard, Arizona, which is three hours from Phoenix. You know, we weren't driving back and forth each day, so we had an RV at the RV park. It was a very nice RV park but I didn't know about these and it would have been really nice to have one built, because you know how the metal steps are on an RV, ah, you know, and then you go up and down them 10 times a day and just you know we had to. Oh, it would have been so much better. So, I saw a picture on your site about with a, you know, travel trailer that had like a four by four and I was like that's a four by four deck, that's brilliant, with nice steps that are safe and there's so many applications.
Connor Crowe:Well, it gives you a nice platform to stand on. Get your door open. You know you don't. You don't have to stand on the ground. Try to get your door open. You know you don't. You don't have to stand on the ground. Try to get the door open. Try to go up and the door start closing on you and you're holding groceries and everything that you can get up there on that four by four platform and get the door open. Get in. Definitely a lot, a lot safer, and we can. You know the steps are steps. They come standard at seven inches and step height. Well, if we get, you know, elderly people that need a shorter step, their knees or their hips, you know giving problems. We'll shorten that down to like four inches. You know it makes it so much easier for them to get. Get into that mobile home or that, the mobile home or RV primarily those.
Connor Crowe:RVs that have those really tall steps.
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Shed Gal:Well, that's a good point Customization.
Shed Gal:I was thinking about my dog, my dog Zyra. She's a pit bull. She has no idea she's supposed to be a vicious guard dog, but I'm not kidding you, it was so funny she did not. I finally had to bribe her with the donut, but it took days, so she would not go up those metal steps of the RV and then she'd shake, and then they'd shake and I'm like, oh, this is so embarrassing. She's supposed to be a vicious guard dog, but boy, yeah, so many applications. So, let's, I know we've talked about this a bit in the past, but I want to talk about it on here.
Shed Gal:What advantage? Because I know there's many. What's one advantage of hiring you to bring a portable porch versus hiring a handyman or a contractor? I mean, I'll well, I'll start. I see a whole lot of Facebook posts where people are like I've reached out to three contractors and two of them no-showed and one of them ghosted me and nobody returned my call, and that could be because they're very, very busy. Now. It's not a great way to do business necessarily, because things are cyclical in our society and those contractors that are very busy might not be so busy two years from now and wish they had provided better customer service, but that's for another episode. So, aside from that, because I know you provide a way better level of customer service, but why? If I'm a potential customer. What are some advantages?
Connor Crowe:Well, one of the biggest advantages for a lot of our customers currently is obviously the rent to own. The second would be the ease of ordering it. If you want a standard uncovered deck, you call us, tell us what the measurement is from the ground to the bottom of the door, and you send us a picture of where we're putting it. And then they need to measure and make sure there's no obstruction to get the deck in. Yeah, the third advantage is going to be that when it comes time to get your deck, you're not out, you're not having to listen to us out there with saws and nail guns and air compressors, all those tools. We're not tracking back and forth around the deck destroying your, killing your grass while we're building the deck. We don't have lumber and scraps and nails and stuff that's laying on the ground. Once we're done, you know we come in and the only thing that we're going to leave behind is the deck and the stairs. You know it's very efficient to bring them in. You know if it's a covered deck, we typically go out and measure ourselves to make sure. But you know we get a picture to make sure there's no hose, bibs or, you know, faucets or anything like that, sticking out that we're going to have to work around. But even then, if we need to, typically we can. We've done them before where we've notched out a foot and a half a foot and a half notch to where it'd go around a hose spout, to where they could get a water hose in there and they could still have their deck but have access to their hose bib there. So, and then just the versatility of positioning.
Connor Crowe:You know, if you get a deck on a house you've heard, you've probably heard people you talk to hey, we just got a deck built, but you know if we would have had them shifted over to the right you know a foot or if we could have went to the left, you know four or five footer. I wish the step into the house was, you know, a lower step, or I wish there was a step into the house. They're so adjustable, um, once we get out there and get them up to the house, you know we would go in pretty much any direction, um, and then they're not. They're not attached to the house. Um, so you don't have to worry about, you know, having somebody or a bad connection or something like that, and then water damage, getting in where, uh, where you've got lag screws into the side of the house or anything like that.
Connor Crowe:Um, we're working on getting some equipment to where we can put in the anchors, um the you know the auger style where they drill them down into the ground. Um, because we get people that are concerned, um, with the wind blowing and knocking them off the foundation. An 8x16 deck weighs 1,800 pounds.
Connor Crowe:That's a pretty good chunk of weight for the wind to knock off the blocks and then the deck boards once they dry. You know you've got a quarter-inch gap between them so the air can flow through there. But it's just the ease of the order and delivery of it. And then the fact that we can customize it in so many different ways. And then also, if you have a deck built, say you get an eight by 16 and you wish you would have got a 10 by 30. Well, if it's within that first year, give us a call, We'll come out and we'll give you a valuation on your deck and you can trade it in and you can size up. Or if you determine that it's too big, we can size you down and give you some trade-in value there. Um, you know, after it's a year old, as long as it's been sealed primarily, not necessarily stained, but if it's been sealed and maintained well, there's a possibility that we still maintain a pretty good trade-in value on that deck.
Shed Gal:So, it's so for the trade-in? Is that on all of them, or just on if they purchase it outright or on rent to own?
Connor Crowe:right now it's just on the cash sales, the. The only option we have on the rent to own would be for them to either do a voluntary pickup on the deck and we try to work a discount in for them there on their new deck. But it's not very cost effective to do it that way. The best thing to do is if they can pay that one off and then we can work something on uh trading in and getting them a new RTO contract. Um, I've mentioned it to heartland a while back and they said they may kick the idea around, see what we can come up with. But obviously there's so many different things that we've got going that we're trying to get integrated, and so that's kind of a back burner deal there.
Shed Gal:Yeah, and I mean it's, it would be very uncommon, even in the shed industry, of taking a, you know, trade in on a rental. Yeah, so yeah, that's a whole different aspect, but that's really, really cool, because you know, I've thought about that as a dealer, you know, trying to implement some sort of a trade-in system on a shed. I just, you know, I haven't personally figured it out, I'm sure there's people out there doing it and they're probably I mean, wow, what great fantastic, what a great customer experience that you know, I get my deck and that's what, what I'm comfortable with right now. But you know, a year from now or eight months from now, I decide you know what I. Year from now or eight months from now, I decide you know what I want to go bigger and have the option of you know, I took care of it and to get trade in value. I mean that's amazing.
Connor Crowe:We've already had two people where we've delivered smaller decks out and they'll have it set up for their, their backyard or their, their front, their back door or front door, and then they'll decide, hey, we're going to use this for a little while, but then in six months we want to buy another one. What would you charge to move the old one to this other door and put the bigger one here? And I don't know if it's a financial thing they're doing or if they're just wanting to just test the quality to make sure that before they get the big deck that the, that we have the quality there. Um, but we've done that twice so far where we went out and we've moved like a six by eight from the front around to the back.
Connor Crowe:They have a small backyard, they just need something small back there, and they decide they want to go up to you know, a 10 by 30 deck on the front of the house. Um, so typically on those we'll work a deal out. Where it's, you know, just a couple hundred dollar move fee, because we're already there, we already have the equipment out. All we have to do is just pull the stairs off, drag the deck around to the other side and set it back up, and like I said the small ones 30 minutes, the 8 by 16 and up.
Connor Crowe:Typically it's an hour, hour and a half, um depending on what kind of obstructions I mean.
Shed Gal:Sometimes we can still do those in 30 minutes, if it's you know no fences or nothing's in the way there well and I there's another huge price is an issue with anything and that you know. I've traveled the country, I've seen tons of different companies, sheds, and I've yet to come across a bad shed. I mean, every company has their things. They do really, really well and I think you know, seeing the quality of your decks and in talking to you, I think by far you do some things that are important, like with the 4x4s going all the way through to the ground. Tell me about that a little bit. Why is that important?
Connor Crowe:to the ground and tell me about that a little bit. Why is that important? So, we, when we first, when we first started um enterprise, we decided to that some of the shed builders how they got their start was, you know, buying old sheds and putting new siding or painting them or whatever, just basically flipping them. Well, we were like, well, we could do that with the decks as well. You know, as long as it's decently built, we could cut the four by fours off, we could put skids, add some bracing and then just have it, you know, sell it as a pre-owned unit. And uh, there was a deck come up for sale that they said it was three years old. And uh, it was a, I believe, a 8 by 26 or something like that. And uh, they wanted like a thousand dollars for it.
Connor Crowe:I was like, well, let's go out there and see, because we could probably, you know, flip that one for maybe two thousand, depending on the shape. And uh, we go out there and it was actually a portable deck from another company. And uh, we go up on this deck and I walk over the handrail and I kind of lean up against it and I about fall off the thing. And this, this decks they. According to them it's only about three years old. Well, they would run the four by four through the deck boards and down to the bottom of the two by six, directly below the deck boards. But they wouldn't run that four by four all the way to the skid, so they're relying on the, the handrail strength to come off of you know five and a half inches of two by six and the deck boards were cut around it. So, there was no strength from the deck boards. They didn't have any blocking underneath, um, on either side, kind of sandwiching that four by four and then connected to the other floor joists.
Connor Crowe:It was literally just that one 2x6 that was holding it steady and we was looking at it and it's like it would have been simple just to add another you know 24 inches of 4x4, and they could have lag, screwed that into the skids there and lock it in. And so that's what we did on our design is we ran those four by four posts. They run either all the way down to the skids on anything from or all of our sizes, except for eight by 16. But on our eight by 16, the way the skids land, the skids would hit the tires on the trailer when they go on.
Connor Crowe:So, we've just done two skids, but we still have that same L shape, like the shed foundations do on the skids, so that we can connect that four by four at the top and the bottom and really lock it in. We don't do the four by four posts where they stick through the top of the handrail and have like a decorative cut or cap on there, cause then you're taking your two by four top, that's your handrail and you're cutting that in half and putting it on either side of that four by four. Well, if you run that two by four all the way across the top of that post, it just makes it that much stronger, because then you don't have that break right there. So, we've already got two advantages to strength on our handrails there.
Shed Gal:Um well, I'm speaking to your handrails. Uh, you pointed out something to me that and I can't remember the technical term, but your handrails are, uh, smooth and rounded around the edges. There's probably a technical term, but it just now, of course, when I am out looking at certain things. Now, you know, now I notice these things where I wouldn't have even noticed before. But you know, you walk up and your handrails are smooth, they're not in the rounded edges, what do you call that?
Connor Crowe:So, we call it a soft touch.
Shed Gal:Thank you, thank you, I don't know if it's a technical term.
Connor Crowe:I don't know if there is a technical term to it.
Connor Crowe:That's what we call it. It's just easier than asking the guys hey, did y'all router and sand the handrails or anything that somebody's going to touch? The soft touch to us is, if it's something your hands are going to touch, does it have a soft feel to it? So, all of our edges are routered, all of our handrails are sanded.
Connor Crowe:The top six inches of the four by fours, um, at the entry of the stairs, that's been, that's been sanded to have a soft edge. So you don't have to worry about somebody grabbing the handrail and sliding their hand down that four by four little, getting a splinter there. But. But we sand the sides, the top and the radius around where we routered to give it a nice smooth, soft feel. And it's when they dry out it has, you know, it still feels solid like wood but it has, you know, kind of a soft feel. And that's the first compliment we get when somebody walks up and they put their hand, they'll run their hand up the stair handrail and back down and say, wow, that is, that feels like I want my hand to be on it, you know.
Shed Gal:Exactly See, and I think we've just coined the term soft touch, that I knew there was a technical term for it.
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Shed Gal:Yeah, I it. Uh, let me ask you this, Connor.
Shed Gal:Let's talk about pricing, because I think that, uh, you have a very high-end product. Tell me about your pricing compared to if I were to hire a handyman, or and I and I am not slamming contractors or a handyman at all please, no, no hate mail. If you're going to send hate mail in folks, do it on fabulous, on Fabulous, fun Fridays, not Magnificent Mondays.
Connor Crowe:Or you can send it to Shannon about the podcast. He likes hate mail. Yeah, yeah, you know whatever.
Shed Gal:But tell me about pricing. So, Comparative to, because we know the advantages of you don't have the noise, you don't have the mess, more customized Well, I mean, a contractor could be customizable but there's huge advantages to having it built off site and delivered and no disadvantages that I that I've literally been able to come up with. But tell me about your pricing so we, we are cheaper.
Connor Crowe:Obviously they're not cheaper, but we're not, as you know, expensive. We we're priced a lot more competitive. Yeah, it's more cost-effective to purchase a pre-built deck because we can build in our shop on our concrete where the guys they're comfortable walking around on that flat, smooth surface. They work more efficiently. We can have all of our lumber strategically laid out around the workstations so we can just pull lumber straight off so we can build the decks quite a bit faster and still maintain that quality. But the price point comparison you know for something like what we're building I really did a lot of research on it to make sure that we were priced fairly and we get some people that say it's mind blowing to them that we're priced where we are as far as, why are we not charging more? But right now on our uncovered decks we're setting somewhere around 30 to $35 kind of depending on size.
Connor Crowe:The larger the deck, obviously we can go down and square foot price because it becomes more of a almost like a volume purchase. So we can offer a little bit of discount there. But if you called one of your local contractors and if they're going to build a reputable product and if there's an issue and you call them and they come back and fix it, they're going to start at least at 45 square foot and go up and you can get someone to come out and build a deck on site for 20 to 25 dollars. But when that little two by two baluster or the spindle, when that warps and you call that phone number, it's almost guaranteed that it's going to say out of service. You know. So we do charge a premium but we try to make sure that we have customer service and that we can warranty our product and take care of it and ensure that you're going to have a good product for what you pay for it.
Shed Gal:Yeah, I think that's critical, I think in five years from now. It's kind of like the shed companies, and it does. I've addressed this before. Coming from Arizona and Washington, no matter what area of the country, no matter what state and it's umpteen states I've been in and talked to shed dealers, every single state there's dealers that are like we're saturated, we're saturated, and what I really hear is I'm struggling and I don't know how to fix it, because I can assure you in Washington and Arizona there aren't nearly as many shed companies as back.
Shed Gal:I mean, it just blows my mind with some areas. So there's always a reason, but there's always something that's cheaper, right, I mean you, I just think your prices are so, in fact, randy, that works for me and I were going over your price list and I'm like man, this just seems like a really, really top quality product, top quality company, top quality owners. You stand behind your product and a very, very fair price. Very fair price. You know and you're not eight months out either you and I had talked about that before where a lot of the contractors I think when you get a reputable contractor and there are many, in fact, most contractors are that way they're busy. This is a small job to them. It's going to be more expensive and it probably is going to be at the bottom of their importance level, but this is your specialty.
Connor Crowe:Yeah.
Shed Gal:There's a difference. It doesn't mean it's not important to them, but it's just. You know, if they're building a house or they're doing this where their you know their profit is here, well you know, you might charge 3,800 for a deck and they might charge five or 6,000 for the same deck because they're trying to get out of doing that. They just don't want the job well they.
Connor Crowe:They have all that travel time to the job from the job dealing with the material. If they don't have enough material, they got to go back. They have too much, they got to load it up.
Connor Crowe:Take it back to the shop we've eliminated all of that and as soon, as soon as our guys are done with one customer's project, they hook onto it, drag it out of the shop and they're starting on the next one. There's no driving to another job site. There's no overhead cost of paying sleep time, driving between jobs while the guys have nothing to do. There's so much unnecessary costs that we've been able to cut out of it.
Shed Gal:I just think it's such a. When I first heard about I don't even know where I first heard about it, I don't know if it was from you or I saw it online or some I thought this idea is crazy. But somewhere along the line years ago someone thought a portable built a shed, portable building was crazy too. And yet here we are right. It's just such a fantastic idea. You've mentioned it a couple of times about covered porches and I know you've done a couple. Is that something that you're going to do more regionally, locally to your plant, or do you plan on eventually having a plan where, when you expand your dealer network, that the dealers will be able to offer those as well, because they're gorgeous?
Connor Crowe:so as of right now, we've we're kind of only offering the covered decks, primarily in texas.
Connor Crowe:Um, we we're wanting to bring that up into the other states, you know into Oklahoma and Arkansas and a few other locations that will soon be some of the other locations will soon be announcing, probably on the next time we meet up, but the, the covered decks, the having the width and the height and transporting that for us we've just got to figure out. You know all the laws, or at least we've got to find transport drivers, um that's willing to to deal with them as well. Um, right now we're doing a lot of the stuff ourselves, or we're able to hire some local guys that you know are kind of like. Everybody jokes about the 250 guy um, mainly because we'll call shed, shed, shed haulers, shed transporters. We'll call them and just ask them, hey, would you, would you, would you transport a deck? And they immediately say, no, well, they don't give me a chance to even talk to them about.
Connor Crowe:You know, we've, we've got a higher percentage that we're paying because we understand that, yeah, there's, there's more risk as far as involved with, with, when you set the deck up against a house, you're literally putting that deck, you know, an inch away from a house or, in some cases, almost right up against it. We understand that it takes a little bit of extra effort to attach the stairs, but we've there again. We've got that, you know, accounted for in our costs. So we will be expanding the covered decks and the oversized decks into the other areas once we find some drivers that are willing to work with us on those. But as of right now we're having to kind of stick to the smaller size until we get that sorted out, which I know you've sent a couple names and phone numbers that I've got to call and talk with, as well as if anybody knows anybody looking for work in the Arkansas area right now and Eastern Oklahoma, they can reach out. Or in Central Texas we're going to be needing some drivers pretty soon.
Shed Gal:Yeah, I was actually talking to a hauler about it yesterday and there was apprehension, just because of not really understanding it. You know, if they're getting paid based off, even if it's a price from five years ago, that whole controversy, whatever. You know, boy, if there's any shed haulers out there and they're wanting to supplement their income they're built on runners, they're built on skids they can go right on your turn, and not only that, you know the shed.
Connor Crowe:The floor joists are directly on the skid so you have five and a half inches, plus whatever blocks are under there, to get under there. If you have to adjust something. Well, the decks we have, we have piers underneath there, so the floor joists are up higher. So, I'm a big guy and I can get underneath our decks the display out by the road. I had to crawl around under there and do some leveling and a lot of space. You know it's they're, they're, they're luxurious to get under, to have to adjust blocks and whatnot, that's for sure and I don't know if they'll edit that part out, but I was just looking out the window.
Shed Gal:People are probably like she's not even paying attention. No, I was actually looking at one of the beautiful decks out outside my office because, uh, yeah, they're incredible. I like the fact that you have, you know, different things you can do. Um, I apologize if I don't say it right. You have a beverage rail, or so?
Shed Gal:you have a cocktail rail, thank you, a cocktail rail, and what that simply means is the top rail is wider, it's more conducive if you know, you've got a water or a soda and you're out there and it's very nice. You've got the updated um, not updated, the upgraded railings. There's, there's so many fun options. You know we're running out of time, which, of course, you and I, I mean. Literally.
Connor Crowe:We could probably talk for 10 hours and we could have a broadcast run all day if we wanted to talk about decks. There's so much to talk about.
Shed Gal:You know what, Connor? I'm going to give you one guess what's my favorite part about this industry?
Connor Crowe:Probably me.
Shed Gal:Well, you are definitely one, definitely one, and you're spot on. It's the people that I mean. Man, I've met, the most incredible people in this industry and who would have thought, just over seven years ago, I didn't know the difference between a two by four and a two by six, and that's the truth. Uh, you've got something cool that you had mentioned to me, and I don't remember the specifics of it, but you're working on and it's not. It's not available right now. It's something you're working on that you are going to be staining your product with something special so.
Connor Crowe:So that is where our price comes in. You know, comparative to some of the competitors, yes, we are quite a bit more expensive. Um, but we're actually working with our lumber supplier to get them to mix a stain into the treatment so that that board is treated and stained through and through. So, if there's any gouges from furniture you don't have a, it doesn't gouge in and then leave a bright green or yellow from the raw wood I know exactly what you're talking about yeah so.
Connor Crowe:So it's really gonna. It's really gonna make it that much more durable, um, but then also we're working with them to get not only the stain and the treatment, uh, mixed and put in, but they're also going to dry the lumber in a big kiln. So, it's going to be treated and kiln dried ready to accept sealer immediately. So as soon as the deck is built, we'll drag it out, we'll seal it and make that deck where it's ready to last a lifetime.
Shed Gal:I think that's wonderful. I think we've talked about before. I can't wait to see the progression of your business and I know I've got a whole bunch of dealers that are like itching to go. Who is your first dealer, Connor?
Connor Crowe:First dealer was ShedGal. Shedgal is the first dealer.
Shed Gal:Come on, Shannon. That's where you put in the clapping audience first. Dealer. Come on, Shannon. That's where you put in the clapping audience. Connor, it's been an absolute pleasure. I wish we had more time, but we are out of time. I want to thank you so much.
Shed Gal:We're gonna we're gonna do another podcast here in a few months and just see how things are pivoting and where they're going. I think the uh, there's going to be some folks that are listening, that are going to probably want to talk to you. I hope that dealers will reach out to you. This is a fantastic opportunity. I know in Roland, Oklahoma, you brought three decks and I may be exaggerating a little bit, but there was like 10 people that stopped by and or called the first week these buggers were here. So, folks, if you're out there needing something that attracts more folks to your display lots, whether it be shed metal or all the above boy I'll tell you what you're not gonna there's. There's other great people out there, but you're not gonna find any better than Connor. Connor, any quick questions for me before we go.
Connor Crowe:I believe that's all we've got today. I've got a million questions I could ask. I wish that time would allow for it, that's for sure. But maybe we can get a little earlier start. I'll be a little more organized and plan for the next one and we can make up for it then.
Shed Gal:You know, you just made me think of a podcast idea. I'd like to thank you, Connor. You're a dear friend of mine. I just think that you and your family are absolutely wonderful. I appreciate you taking your time to just be a truly great person and a good friend. So, thank you.
Connor Crowe:Yes, and I want to thank you for being such a great friend as well. You've had a lot of great advice and we've had a lot of great conversations and working through growing all this and the and the growing pains that comes with it, and, uh, you've been a great mentor for us as well.
Shed Gal:Wonderful, happy, happy to help any anytime. You know that. Thank you all for listening to this week's episode of the Shed Geek Podcast. This is Susan Freer, shed Gal, and I hope you have a fantastic week. Thank you for listening to Magnificent Monday.