Painting Contractor to Local Deal Magnet: Community & Service Businesses to Grow Real Estate Deals

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Show Summary

In this podcast episode, Dennis Fehr discusses his journey in the painting and refinishing industry, highlighting his unique advantages, challenges, and opportunities in the real estate market. He emphasizes the importance of skilled labor, community engagement, and building relationships with clients to enhance business growth. Dennis also shares insights on the future of the industry, focusing on the significance of understanding customer needs and adapting to market trends.

Resources and Links from this show:

• • • Investor Fuel Real Estate Mastermind
    • Investor Machine Real Estate Lead Generation
    • Mike on Facebook
    • Mike on Instagram
    • Mike on LinkedIn
    • Dennis Fehr’s Email Address: [email protected]
    • Dennis Fehr’s Phone Number: (715) 440-1192

  Listen to the Audio Version of this Episode

  Investor Fuel Show Transcript:

  Dennis Fehr (00:00)
  I think really, especially given the trends that we’re seeing with AI and technology taking over what likely will be a lot of the business functions, ⁓ the relationship aspect of businesses will become more more important. so,

  You know, I’ve been elected to a number of different boards and I help out on all sorts of different things in our communities. And it is always the relationship piece that I’ve found that really helps not just give you a leg up in the business, but really understand what people are looking for. It’s hard to provide a service if you really don’t understand why that service should be provided.

  Q Edmonds (02:22)
  Hello everyone. Welcome to the real estate pros podcast. I am your host Q Edmonds and I’m excited to be here today. Excited because I have another fantastic, fantastic guest. ⁓ he’s going to tell you about the word of painting. You know, he gets your home looking beautiful, right? What’s a home without paint? You know, it’s, it’s a big part of the, the, house is a big part of the aesthetics is a big part of what make a house feel like home.

  And so I’m excited today to be able to look through things through his lens. And so I would love to introduce you guys to Mr. Fehr. Mr. Dennis, how you doing today?

  Dennis Fehr (03:03)
  I’m doing well, doing well, getting a little chilly here in Wisconsin. But other than that, doing well.

  Q Edmonds (03:08)
  Catch you, I love it, man. Yeah, it’s a little chilly over here too. I got this sweater on, even though I’m inside. Listen, man, I want to dive into your world. I want you to kind of take us into what your main focus is these days. Maybe if you want to give us a little origin story about how you got started, how you got into what you’re doing, we would love to hear that. And you already told me you was in Wisconsin, man. And so just tell me what it’s like to be there also, if you don’t mind. So the floor is yours,

  Dennis Fehr (03:37)
  Yeah, well, I appreciate you having me on. Again, my name is Dennis Fehr. I own Pioneer Painting here in the Chippewa Valley, which is northwest Wisconsin. And we’ve teamed up with True Living Real Estate to do our real estate branch. I’ve been doing this about 15 years now. I have a wife and eight kids and a farm. ⁓ so we have…

  been in the painting and refinishing for quite some time to ⁓ support residential and commercial homes and businesses all over this area. So that’s kind of the gist of our business. We get into a lot of interior and exterior types of refinishing naturally with the climate here. ⁓

  you know, our seasons are fairly short for the exteriors, but then we get into interior stuff through the winters. We do a lot of remodeling, generally light remodeling, and then project management type stuff for our flips and things of that nature.

  Q Edmonds (04:39)
  Love it. Now I want to make sure I heard you right. You said you have a wife and eight kids. Did I hear you correct?

  Dennis Fehr (04:46)
  Eight kids, that’s correct, yes.

  Q Edmonds (04:48)
  Listen, growing

  up, was eight of us in my household. So four boys, four girls. so listen, man, I’m praying for you brother, because we drove my dad up a wall, man. yeah, ⁓ I know you definitely got your hands full, but thank you, man. I appreciate you giving us the background. ⁓ I want to pick your brain a little bit about strategies, Said you’ve been in it for 15 years.

  What are some key strategies that you have recognized that have helped you on the business side and maybe some key strategies to help you on your personal side? know being a dad, I’m not sure if you meditate in the morning. If you do a cold plunge. I’m not sure what you know what happens, but what are some key strategies that keeps you motivated on the business side and personal side?

  Dennis Fehr (06:25)
  ⁓ Well, I tell you, I’m up early. We, you I do meditations and kind of get my mornings rolling. We’re pretty structured. My wife is very good about that, especially with the kids. And so big shout out to her. ⁓ But really it’s kind of building that, building the structure and the consistency. So every day we’re kind of getting logged in, working with our teams, making sure that everybody’s on the same page. Everybody’s rocking and rolling so we can get done what we needed to get done ⁓ every week.

  And then that kind of is between our personal life, the kids and the family, and then same thing for the business. So, you know, we run a lot of calendars. We sync them together. We’ve got our VAs that kind of help organize and structure things in each of the businesses that we run. And that just helps make sure that everybody’s on the same page there with the scheduling. And then whether it’s the estimates or meeting with real estate clients or, you know, whatever that might be.

  keeping everybody on the same page and effective communication is the number one factor that kind of keeps us moving on a day-to-day and week-to-week basis.

  Q Edmonds (07:32)
  I love when people talk about communication. Communication is so key. I really try every day really to be a better communicator and to be, know, communicate effectively, right? Just because I’m communicating and saying a bunch of stuff, I mean, I’m being effective either. So I hear you, man. Communication is so key. And you being a dad of eight and communication is so key. I know between you and your wife and everything. So I definitely get that, man.

  So you said, you know, been in it for 15 years, found success. I want you to help me out. I want you to take me from the journey from point A to success, right? Like there has to be times when things get real, things go sideways. I’m sure everything has not been perfect. And so I would love maybe if you could share a story because I tell people all the time, I like to show the journey to success. people…

  I’m at if they starting off or where they are in their business, they understand things may not always be easy. And so if you had any stories like that that you could share, I would love to hear.

  Dennis Fehr (08:40)
  Yeah, well, I tell you, it has definitely not been an easy journey and I started out, like I say, I started out 15 years ago in primarily just the exterior residential market for painting. And as I really, I learned that skill and I learned the trade of just going in, doing the estimates, doing, you know, working with the customers, working with crew members, doing the training, all of that. ⁓

  it has been quite a ride. so, you know, now as I kind of look from where I’ve come, now we’re doing real estate, we’re doing interior, exterior, commercial projects, we’re doing just a wide variety of different scales and different types of projects for customers. And so the big thing, you know, when I kind of look back,

  ⁓ I guess I just really kind of focus on my family and thinking, well, what can I do every day here to make sure that I’m providing for them, I’m providing for a crew, I’m making sure that our customers are well taken care of, kind of all has started with kind of the end in mind and what kind of a product, what kind of a service are we looking to provide into our community?

  And so.

  We get into a lot of types of refinishing, ⁓ predominantly the residential type. And in there, you’re working in people’s homes, you’re getting to know them, what they do, what they like. And so it really provides a good opportunity for you to get involved in the community, ⁓ understand your client base, what they’re looking for on more of ⁓ a transcendent and just the painting or the refinishing. And I think as we’ve moved into the real estate market,

  The same thing has found to be true there because you really get to understand ⁓ what the people want, what they like, what their hopes and dreams and ambitions might be. Even if it’s something just as a pink color on their walls, there’s more to them than just what that might be. so I think a lot of people getting into the business initially, they’re really looking at just

  this service that they’re providing. You they might be looking at just the painting or just drywalling or just selling a home. ⁓ But really there’s so much opportunity if you take into the whole picture of how can I get to know this person? How can I really take into account what their goals are? And then that kind of will help you bridge that gap over a period of time and well, what

  What are they looking for and what services can I provide? Or what do I know that would be beneficial to them in the future?

  Q Edmonds (12:20)
  See, I love it. And this is why I love talking to so many different people that provide so many services to real estate is because even with you as your skill set, your number one still mindset is how can I serve this client? Like, what are your goals? What do you want for the future? And what I see for you as a businessman is that that helps you think maybe how you can scale your own business, how you can

  create a different vertical and maybe go to a different level and add another service based on what your clients, feedbacks your client is giving you. So it’s like, you know, it sounds to me you’re thinking not only do I service you now with what we were talking about, but what are your goals? Cause maybe in the future I can create something that can help you out in the future. Is that fair? Is that fair? ⁓ A fair way to think on my end?

  Dennis Fehr (13:12)
  That’s exactly right. so one thing that we’ve been kind of working on building out for the last year or so is we’ve been working on building out these nonprofit structures where we can partner with other community organizations ⁓ in other skilled trades, other industries. like to, ⁓ know, one thing I’m very proud of is that when I go into a customer’s home and I’m looking at the painting,

  A lot of times they come to me with other issues. might say, Hey, you know, I need a, I need a landscaper or a septic is accurate or, you know, we’re considering these other things. And one thing I’m, I’m proud of on that front is that I always have a contact that I can pass off to that customer. And even if they don’t go with us for painting, many times I’m able to refer out other services and other, other individuals just to help them. Yeah. And so I think that’s been.

  largely beneficial to that working relationship that we’ve had with a lot of our clients because some of these projects will lose the project but we’re still going out fishing with them or we’re still running into them at the store and working with them in a variety of other aspects. And so I think that’s been very beneficial.

  Q Edmonds (14:30)
  Yeah, I sound like it’s beneficial. And I think this is why I can see you moving to different phases of the company. And I love how you mentioned the nonprofit. And I want to ask, there any other real goals? What are the next real goals for you in the business?

  Dennis Fehr (15:31)
  Well, of the big things that I’ve been looking at here is the changing demographics in the country and in this area overall. We have a lot of

  A lot of people that are selling out service type businesses looking to retire. And so we’ve been looking to roll up into our existing service base a lot of these services. So ⁓ we have an excellent CRM system, management systems that help us really manage each of the businesses that are within our field. And as we look to grow, we’re looking for both vertical and horizontal integrations into our systems.

  And so what are

  Comparable systems that we can or systems or businesses that we can buy out and start working with those might include drywall and landscaping cleaning services ⁓ all sorts of home-based services that really help integrate what we’re already doing and then that provides us there again an avenue to Get in touch with understand and then help us on the real estate side of things as well So it becomes a full circle where we can really integrate a lot of these services

  into one system.

  Q Edmonds (16:49)
  Yeah, no, I love it, man. I love the way you thinking. I love the way you’re expanding your business of different. love how you say, horizontal and vertical. We’re looking for both ways to attack in both ways to get, know, to expand the business and really to help people, right? To put yourself in a position to help people because that’s, that’s what I hear that you’re doing, right? Like we’re cloning. Like if you can clone you or you can get your hands at any other kind of operation, you’re coming with the mindset that

  Yeah, of course I’m coming to grow the business. Yeah, of course we’re going to make money, but also I’m looking for ways that I can help people as I go ahead. so listen, as I mentioned, you know, I would love to get your views, Mr. Dennis, when it comes to building relationships. Like I want to get your viewpoint on building relationships. Is building relationships important to you? And if it is, how has it made a big difference in what you do?

  Dennis Fehr (17:48)
  I think really, especially given the trends that we’re seeing with AI and technology taking over what likely will be a lot of the business functions, ⁓ the relationship aspect of businesses will become more more important. so,

  You know, I’ve been elected to a number of different boards and I help out on all sorts of different things in our communities. And it is always the relationship piece that I’ve found that really helps not just give you a leg up in the business, but really understand what people are looking for. It’s hard to provide a service if you really don’t understand why that service should be provided.

  And then in addition to that, ⁓

  If you take the step of working with, you know, understanding your customers and your clients and getting to know them on a deeper level, a deeper level, ⁓ they will bring things to your attention that you can really learn from, whether it’s ways that you can improve your own business or…

  you know, just all sorts of things that you have not had personally the experience of dealing with, you can absorb that information and you can learn from their mistakes or you can learn from their perspective, even if you may not agree with them on what they’re saying or what they’re doing, it still provides, that relationship still provides an excellent opportunity.

  for you to take advantage of their skill sets and their knowledge base if you’re willing to take that extra step in building that relationship.

  Q Edmonds (19:31)
  Yeah. No, man, I hear you so clearly, man. I tell people all the time, people is the real currency, right? If you build long-lasting relationships, long-lasting relationships will bring you tremendous income and it will bring you income on the money side and it will just bring you resources, right? So it can bring in money, but also just the resources that you need to get a job done. And I tell people all the time, people is the real currency. So I absolutely love the way you think about

  building relationships with people. ⁓ Mr. Dennis, I cannot thank you enough. This has been awesome. Listen, if someone wanted to reach out to you, connect with you, collaborate, learn more about what you’re doing, what’s the best way for them to get in contact with you,

  Dennis Fehr (20:19)
  I love a good phone call. A lot of people like to push it to ⁓ emails or whatever. We have always a phone number available. Pick up the phone, give us a call. Someone absolutely will answer or get back to you almost immediately. so of course you can email or text if you’d like as well, but I have been known to be kind of a talker. And so I love a phone call.

  Q Edmonds (20:45)
  I love it, man. Well, I know why you’re a talker because you’re a good communicator. You make it very clear what you’re trying to say. You make it very clear who you are, what your standards are. And so, I thank you so much. It’s been great. Thank you for your story. Thank you for your time. Thank you for your perspective. This has really been a great episode that Alvars can get a good, good nuggets and value from. So thank you again, man.

  Dennis Fehr (21:14)
  Yeah, thank you for having me. It was nice to talk to you.

  Q Edmonds (21:18)
  Absolutely. Listen, y’all heard Mr. Dennis Fehr. He’s giving you a ton of value. So listen, go ahead and make sure you’re subscribed. That way you can always come back and just keep getting this incredible content from incredible people, just like Mr. Dennis. And so Mr. Dennis, I thank you again. And to everyone else, we will see you on the next time.