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This week in home building news! Catch up with Az and a colourful array of guests, to hear about who's killing it, who's innovating, and who's getting into strife in the world of new home construction.
Az (00:17)
Well good day everyone, Az here and welcome back to the Good Builder Podcast. Before I get into it, a quick thank you to the Pulse by Australian Building Research who proudly bring you this episode of the Good Builder Podcast. Now we've had a big few weeks traveling around the country, spending time in Victoria, New South Wales, and up on the Gold Coast for the TPB summit. And I thought I'd bring you something a little different today. Rather than bring you another interview, another recap of the news.
I wanted to share a few things that I picked up along the way after having a bit of a reflection, because what I love most about what we do here at The Good Builder is getting out and about and meeting you guys out there, meeting the builders, hearing your stories and seeing how you actually operate. It's pretty fascinating to me and all of our community. So we thank everyone that's been part of it.
And it's not just the successful stuff either. It's the challenges, the mistakes, the things they've tried that haven't worked and the things they've learned along the way that is invaluable and worth sharing out there because of you out there. And I reckon it's just an enormous amount that we can learn from all of that because it's experience, it's life lessons, it's things that you just can't replicate and legends out there are willing to share.
Now I'm going to go through a few lessons and probably the first one that I've learned is there's no one way to build a successful business. One thing that really stands out when you travel around and I'm meeting all these different builders and all you guys out there is how different people approach their business. You've got builders who want to grow, take on more staff and build something bigger, and then you've got the builders who are quite happy running smaller operations, staying close to their projects, even on the tools at times, and keeping things manageable.
Now neither are necessarily right or wrong. And it reminded me of a conversation we had with Cheyne Hall from Build Launch, actually. Cheyne gr Cheyne grew Hall and Co. into a national operation of around sixty to seventy staff and he spoke pretty openly about the challenges that came with that. The overheads, the recruitment, the management, and the extra complexity that all of that size of operation brings.
One of his points that stuck with me was that before you go hiring more people or chasing more work, you need to work out what you actually want your business to look like. Do you want to be on site with the boys and the girls? Do you want to manage projects? Or are you trying to build something that eventually gives you more time with your family? Because those are three pretty different businesses when you think about it. And I think sometimes we get caught up in thinking that getting bigger automatically means getting better. But
does it. So this week, one of the lessons that I'm thinking about and I want to, you know, put out there to you guys to think about is are you building a business that you actually want or just the one you think you're supposed to build? Have a think about that. I reckon that's a pretty important lesson and one that I certainly got on the road. Now the second lesson is the best builders think beyond the build. Another thing I've been thinking about is how much responsibility good builders take for the finished outcome.
We had a fantastic conversation with Paul Hogan and Mark Vassallo from Dixon Home Sydney. And Paul made a point that I really, really liked. The cheapest block isn't the cheapest outcome. He was talking about a sloping block and how the cheapest approach to cut and fill could leave a home sitting below the road, creating drainage problems that the homeowner might be dealing with for years. But spending a bit more time up front and having the right site preparation could deliver a much better result.
And that's a pretty cool lesson, if you ask me, because the builder doesn't have to live in that house when it's finished. The homeowner does. And it's a reminder that building isn't just about getting the job completed, handing over the keys and moving on. It's about thinking through the decisions that are going to affect the homeowner long after you've left. And that's going to give you your reputation and that's going to get you more business, more word of mouth, and all that stuff that's good for your business.
One thing I've seen is there's a lot of pride in this industry. And when you hear builders explaining why they make certain decisions, you start to understand just how much thought goes into doing things properly. And I reckon that is a very key second lesson that I learned on the road and through conversations we've had recently. The third lesson, getting on site tells you things the numbers don't. One of the highlights of one of our recent travels was getting around with Mark Sutton from Goop Guys.
Around the Newcastle area and we did a few sites in Sydney, a beautiful site in the DY area, which was probably the home of my dreams, actually. But what we've been looking at, and what he was looking at, was what's happening on the ground, spending time with people who are actually working for his business and working in the industry. that's a big part of why we do these trips.
At the Good Builder, we spent a fair bit of time looking at research, housing approvals, construction activity, consumer conference, and all the other numbers that help tell the story of the industry. And it's incredibly valuable information, but it doesn't tell you everything. You can look at building approvals and see that activity is increasing, but that doesn't necessarily tell you how busy a particular builder is. You can look at house prices and construction costs, but that doesn't tell you the conversations builders are having with clients.
And you certainly can't understand every challenge a builder faces by sitting behind a computer. And that's why getting out there and having these conversations matter. And that's a big lesson in itself. Get out on the ground with the people that are at the coal face of what's going on in the industry, which is what we really try and do. And you learn so much. So that was something that I learned from Mark Sutton and something that he is very, very passionate about and wants to drive throughout.
the business to ensure that they're well supported and he understands his customer. I thought that was pretty cool. It's like getting on site when you're looking at a client's block, you know, all those sort of simple foundational things. So you've got a really good understanding of what's happening. The fourth lesson, the next generation of builders is worth listening to. And this one was pretty cool.
I spent a couple of days on the Gold Coast at the Professional Builder Summit. And one of the things I really enjoy about events like this is meeting builders at completely different stages of their careers. Some had been doing it for thirty, forty years, others were very, very early in their journey. and I met a great young builder there, Jordy from J three Build, who we've got coming up on the podcast this week. And I think it's important that we give younger builders a voice as well.
It's easy to spend our time talking to people who've already built large, successful businesses. And there's obviously a huge amount that you can learn from them but there's also a lot to learn from people who are building their businesses right now. They're dealing with today's conditions, today's clients, today's technology, and today's expectations. They're figuring it out as they go. And I think hearing those experiences are just as valuable
for that younger generation to show that these young guys and girls are doing great things in the industry and they can too. I'd love to see more of these conversations happening across the industry. And we're going to seek out some of those rising stars that are coming through because you never know. I remember when the Grayer Boys were rising stars and look at them now. But keep an eye out for this pod because I reckon Jordy's going to be one of those rising stars. But my lesson there is
You know, spend time, talk to them, and they do have different perspectives about what's going on. The fifth lesson, and probably the last lesson I think that I've got for you, or maybe the second last lesson I've got, is technology is useful, but it has to solve a real problem. One of the other things that came through a lot of the conversations is the role of technology and systems in building businesses. Going back to our conversation with Cheyne Hall from Build Launch, we spoke about how
We spoke about how builders often wait until they're completely overwhelmed before they hire someone or start looking for help. And by that point, some and by that point, bringing somebody new into the business can actually create more work before it saves any. Cheyne described how a builder already working a sixty hour week can suddenly find themselves working 70 because they're trying to train somebody as well. And I thought that was a really useful point.
We hear so much about AI, automation, outsourcing, and all these tools that are supposed to make our lives easier. They absolutely can, but I think the question is whether we're actually solving the right problem. Are we improving the way our business operates or are we adding another system? Are we freeing builders up to spend more time doing the things they're good at? Or are we making an already complicated business even more complicated?
It's something we're exploring ourselves at the Good Builder, and I reckon there's a lot more to learn from builders who are actually putting these systems into place and practice. Now, the biggest lesson for us all at the Good Builder,
And I think I'm going to end on this, is that there is just so much knowledge sitting within this industry. And that is the biggest lesson. And it kind of falls in line with a conversation that you might have heard me talk about with Danny from the QBCC up here, where I said, you know, what is the thing that you're most worried about in the building industry right now? And she said, All that knowledge going away. you've got builders, as I said, that we've talked to that have got twenty, thirty, forty, fifty years learning things the hard way.
You've got young builders trying new approaches. You've got suppliers who are seeing hundreds of different building businesses and understanding problems from completely different perspectives. And you've got people who made mistakes, changed direction, and came out the other end, like the weapons they are and that we get here on the good builder and that we love. That's what gets me excited about the good builder. We're not here to pretend we got all the answers and that's far from it, as you can probably tell.
We're here to ask the questions, listen to people who are doing the work and learn from their experience and hopefully share something useful with all you guys out there that you pick up. And sometimes one conversation can give you an idea that changes how you approach something in your own business. And if we can help make more of these conversations happen, I reckon we're doing something worthwhile. Well, they were my lessons. We've got a big week coming up.
And before I wrap up, I just want to let you know of a couple more great conversations that we're about to have on the Good Builder Podcast. And I might have mentioned one actually just before. First up, we've got Jason Voglis from Selection Steel and Unicode. He's an absolute legend of a guy. I got to chat to him about what they're doing at Selection Steel and Unicode and the great materials they supply and how they're supplying builders and that builder supplier relationship, which is going very well. Some record months for those guys.
Also got to sit down and have lunch with that guy and talk with him on a personal level. And he is all about everything we're about at the Good Builder. That's our feature podcast for Friday. So we can't wait to drop that one. And then the young gun that I spoke about just before. We will feature on Wednesday, Jordy from J3 Built, a great young builder that I recently met on the Gold Coast at the Professional Builder Summit. And it's always good meeting people like that.
Who are having a crack and building their businesses the right way. And finally, to all you guys out there who've welcomed us into their businesses and chatted with us, a big thank you. As you can see, we learn so much from you guys out there. You guys are the people that are sharing the lessons and helping this industry get better. We genuinely appreciate everything you do. And we're going to continue to get out there, probably even a little bit more, and we really appreciate all the support we're getting.
Thanks for listening. Have a fantastic week. Listen to those two pods we're gonna drop later. They're gonna be very cool. And we'll catch you on the next episode of the Good Builder Podcast. Thank you.