Episode #36 - Starting a Skilled Trades Business
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David Wilton: Thank you for joining us on Money Clip podcast series for business from Scotiabank. I’m David Wilton, director of Small Business Banking at Scotiabank and in this series we are focusing on business issues that affect small businesses in the skilled trades industry. Our topic today is starting a skilled trades business and I am delighted to be joined by Joel Scopelleti, a partner and operator of Carick Home Improvements. Welcome to The Money Clip podcast series for business, Joel.
Joel Scopelleti: Thank you, David. Glad to be here.
David Wilton: Good to have you. I understand Carick Improvements is a family-owned home renovation and remodeling contractor that’s been in business since 1975. You are a member of BILD – The Building Industry and Land Development Association that serves the Greater Toronto Area and I understand you are also active in the community through Habitat for Humanity and through sponsoring local sports events and a corporate sponsor of the United Way.
Joel Scopelleti: Yes, that’s right.
David Wilton: Being part of a community is a wonderful way to find opportunity to further your business, I am sure.
Joel Scopelleti: Being involved in the community is something that people expect nowadays – they expect people to give back and it’s very simple that you will do business with people that you trust and like and being part of the community is a great way to establish that trust.
David Wilton: That’s a great tip. Joel, tell us a bit about yourself and how you got started in the skilled trades industry.
Joel Scopelleti: I was fortunate enough to be born into a family business. And as a young child, I have always been around the construction industry. I have always admired and looked up to people who were able to build something from nothing, being able to solve problems, being able to, at the end of the day, have something concrete that they can look back and be satisfactory - and they can be satisfied with. And that really appealed to me and I really felt that that was my calling.
David Wilton: Wonderful. If you were giving advice to somebody who didn’t have the benefit of growing up in a family where you had role models to rely on, what would you suggest that they do to be able to pick up the skills that they are going to need?
Joel Scopelleti: Well, I would say the first thing is to find out what you love to do. If you love to do a certain aspect of a trade, that’s the first and most important thing. Learning is something that we all have to do. So there is a couple of ways – you can go to school, you can take some certain courses, read books. But really, there is no substitute than actual on-the-field training and, hopefully, that you are in a position where you can learn from someone who is an expert at what they do. And other than that, that’s the only way to really get involved and, basically, just get started and have the confidence. Everyone starts from nothing. If you have a love for what you do, for what you want to do, and a passion, the rest is easy if you are able to get yourself in a position where you can learn on-site from someone who is willing to teach you.
David Wilton: Now, is that a formal apprenticeship program?
Joel Scopelleti: Well, there is formal apprenticeship programs, depending what type of trade. Definitely, there is schooling that you have to take and you have to, sort of, go to school for a month or two and then go on the field until you get your license. But I think you have to get started somewhere and the first thing is to get yourself in a position where you just do it on the field and then you can take it from there.
David Wilton: Right. We see a lot of small business customers, as bankers, across the country, who are starting in skilled trades and they are going through the apprenticeship program. There are also the business aspects of running a business that they need to consider too. So for somebody starting up a business, what about the idea of a mentor?
Joel Scopelleti: I think a mentor is really probably one of the smartest things anybody can do. You know the old saying: why re-invent the wheel. And if you’re able to find a mentor and to learn from what they’ve been able to experience, it’s really probably the most important thing that you can do. And, mentors - there’s people who are successful, are happy to help, are happy to share, but it takes initiative to find that mentor and source them out and look for them. And I think that’s a great point, David. That’s something that can leapfrog you in your business if you can learn from someone who’s actually been there and done that.
David Wilton: Yes. Think back for us, trying to put ourselves in the shoes of somebody who’s just getting started in a small business, and I know, there are always challenges and there are also opportunities. For you, what was the biggest challenge – I am going to ask you that first and then we are going to talk about opportunities. What would you say was your biggest challenge getting started?
Joel Scopelleti: Well, being a small business owner, there’s numerous challenges, David. There’s challenges in all facets, there’s challenges of the production side, the management side, the marketing sales side – so, there are many challenges. And I think that’s where getting back to that mentor kind of gives some clarity. And when it comes to challenges, I like to call them opportunities because when you are looking at a challenge, it could be daunting and, like I said, there’s many challenges to a small business owner or someone starting a small business. But my biggest, I guess, obstacle to the challenges is being able to write them down and, sort of, attack them. One of the big challenges that I found as coming and being young into this business, was the confidence that I could do the job.
David Wilton: Yup.
Joel Scopelleti: And, ultimately, confidence comes from experience and being able to accept the fact that we all make mistakes. There’s no mistakes that are fatal and being able to break down those challenges piece by piece, I think, is probably the most important thing that I was able to do.
David Wilton: That’s great advice. And, as bankers, we often run into situations where we are dealing with small business owners who are dealing with one particular challenge at a time, and so the use of mentors, the use of advisors – whether that be bankers, accountants, lawyers or other people in the trades – I can see how that would be an important way to help you deal with each of these challenges. Let's talk about the other side, the opportunities. What was the biggest opportunity you saw before you as you started your business?
Joel Scopelleti: I think the biggest opportunity is “sky is the limit” and I think that's probably what drives most small business owners – other than the fact they want to be their own boss – but the ability to think that there is no limit, there's no ceiling on what you can do. And that, I think, is exciting. One of the challenges – getting back to challenges – is, when you have your own business, where there's so many opportunities and where do you focus your attention on – that, kind of, takes time to work itself out. You know, you can't be an expert on commercial, residential, industrial – you have to find your niche and I think that is what – getting back to the challenges – that was one of my big challenges, is figuring out what my niche was going to be.
David Wilton: So, it's almost like going through a process of setting up a business plan – deciding what you are going to do, where you want to go and what skills you need to get there.
Joel Scopelleti: Exactly, I think that's the very first thing that, you know, again, if you don't have a road map, who knows where you'll end up and a business plan is the ultimate road map.
David Wilton: : That's great advice. Joel, it's been great speaking with you today. Thanks for joining me. This wraps up our podcast on starting a skilled trades business – the first in a series focusing on business issues for skilled trades. Join us for the second in our series – sales and marketing for skilled trades. I am David Wilton for Scotiabank's Money Clip for business. Thanks for joining us.
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