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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 (00:57)
Good morning and welcome to the Good Builder Podcast. Today we're heading down to the Macedon Rangers in Victoria to talk what it actually means to be a good builder. Having a quick chat to this gentleman just before we started the pod. While Victoria and the rest of Australia is struggling, and I'm not trying to blow him up too much. He said that he's doing pretty good down there in the Macedon Rangers of Victoria and getting enough work and got a bit of a pipeline there for the next 12 months.
Our guest today is Mitch Thompson from Vista Built, and we are so pumped to have him on the podcast. Mitch works across new homes, renovations, extensions in the Massenden Ranges. And what interested us about this particular gentleman was that he genuinely loves the industry and working in it and wants to educate a few more people out there and tell people what's going on in our community, which I thought was super cool and I am forever grateful for. This is why we did this at the Good Builder and
While we stay close to legends like this bloke. He's someone that spends a lot of time listening to pods, learning from different people and thinking about how to run a business better. And I reckon you're gonna pick up a couple of tips from this gentleman, even though I reckon he's gonna be pretty humble. This is gonna be a really important conversation to have right now because being a good builder
is far more than actually being just good on the tools or delivering a quality home. It's about how you look after your clients and your cash flow, all that sort of thing. And it sounds like this gentleman here knows a lot about it. So today we're welcoming Mitch from VistaBilt to the podcast. And albeit virtually one day I'm gonna get down there and I'm gonna get
Mitch (02:35)
Okay.
Az (02:36)
him and do it in person.
well mate, how are ya? What what's what's happening
Mitch (02:39)
Good.
Az (02:40)
at in in the Mastodon Rangers in Victoria? Like I said, you sound like you're doing all right.
Mitch (02:43)
sort of
Yeah, yeah, it's our first sort of proper sunny week here in a while, which is nice. winters here are pretty harsh, so it's cool. This tide time of year everything sorta starts to flower up and bud up and everyone's happy again, which is nice.
Az (02:55)
Yeah, yeah, it does get a little miserable down south. I lived in Melbourne for a little while and and worked you're not in Melbourne, but I worked out in in Victoria for a little while and I remember the cold and grey winter mornings and they're always a little
Mitch (03:08)
Yeah.
Az (03:09)
bit tough and especially for a builder, like getting out there in the cold and that, mate. Freaking
Mitch (03:11)
especially here. Yeah, it's pretty brutal
here. Like it's not uncommon for us to get to work and it's minus two and you know, it's full fog or full frost or something. So there's
a lot we there's a lot we deal with here in during winter and then this time of year and autumn especially, it'll start off being quite cold, often around zero and by midday it's you know, twenty odd degrees. So the the swing of temperature is massive.
Az (03:32)
Yeah, so the four seasons in one day really does ring true. And you would
Mitch (03:35)
Yeah, for sure. Yeah, we get it properly here.
Az (03:38)
you would probably have to love building to build in that environment too. You know what I mean? Like it's different
Mitch (03:42)
Yeah, and
Az (03:44)
up here.
Mitch (03:44)
I don't mind summer, but the boys are sorta unlucky in a sense I quite like winter, so it doesn't really phase me too much.
Az (03:50)
I
love it and I reckon that's why you're a weapon. But mate,
Mitch, tell us a little bit about Vistabuilt where
Mitch (03:57)
Yeah.
Az (03:57)
you sort of came from and and how did you actually s you know, came to build Vist Vista built and yeah, being
Mitch (04:03)
Pay a chipie.
Az (04:04)
chippy and and and also like you know good building b good building business. How do you become a good building business? a good chippy business. How do you how do you do it? Like where did where did you start?
Mitch (04:11)
Yeah. Yeah, well
I started sort of similar to every other kid. couldn't sit still in school, hated being at school. I was never really at school anyway. I'd always sneak off I'd be at the skate park or something doing something stupid somewhere. And then my dad's actually a builder, he's been a builder since pretty much the dawn of time. So he'd often steal me out of school during school holidays and I'd spend all my school holidays working and digging holes and d doing all the labourers' jobs. So
Az (04:37)
Yeah.
Mitch (04:37)
did a few
jobs in around Turac and in the city. sort of doing a lot of like a lot of excavation by hand on the houses and stuff like that, doing some pretty cool jobs. and then sort of got to around sixteen, seventeen when most kids would leave school. Like pretty much all my mates had left school by that point. So I was one of the last to leave. And then
Az (04:53)
Where?
Mitch (04:54)
went into the union. I started my apprenticeship doing union work in the city. So used to catch a train at sort of quarter to five in the morning and find a way to work in the city.
Yeah, slaved away doing that for about eighteen months and then got to the point where I was sort of sick of the culture and, you know, the way that those sort of companies treat their employees and, you know, that sort of mumbo jumbo.
Az (05:14)
Mm.
Mitch (05:14)
Yeah, and then just pulled the pin on that and figured I'd figure something out along the way. And dad was working interstate building some supermarkets in Condoba. And so we sort of just he needed hands sort of up there and I just needed a job. So I just went and worked with him for a little bit and ended up just doing the rest of my apprenticeship with him. So
Did some work out
Az (05:31)
All right.
Mitch (05:31)
there and then came back and built him a house, built one of his mates a house. And then we went to Oyan near Mildura for about two years, doing another big supermarket out there. And then come back to sunny Victoria middle down where we are now in Victoria and
Az (05:43)
Yeah.
Mitch (05:44)
just doing like the heaps of reno work and doing some small houses and stuff like that, did some small developments and got to a point where I was sick of working for someone because I figured I could do it better on my own. So went backpacked to Europe for three ish months and come back and started all this up.
Az (05:59)
Yeah, well, mate. So you've had you've
Mitch (06:00)
Yeah.
Az (06:01)
had experience across the commercial space too. That would've been a bit a bit different, to the way that a
Mitch (06:04)
Yeah. Yeah, for sure. Like
we've done everything. Like we've done everything from shop fitting, you know, night shifts in supermarkets doing shop fit outs in shopping centres as well. And then, you know, everything from the hardest jobs you can think of to the easiest.
Az (06:17)
Yeah. Is there a lot more I don't know if you call it red tape, but a lot more process driven stuff that you have to do as a commercial builder? Do th do you think that helped you with Yeah.
Mitch (06:24)
Yeah, for sure. Yeah, and it's taught me a Yeah, it's
definitely taught me a lot in sense of what we should and shouldn't be tracking at work anyway and like what you should be doing in the background in terms of looking after blokes and making sure people get to go home with all their toes and fingers every night. So it's it's something to
Az (06:40)
Yeah.
Mitch (06:40)
take with ya, even if you don't stick the commercial thing out, like some of it's a bit blown out of the proportion, but a
Az (06:45)
Yeah.
Mitch (06:46)
lot of it definitely is the basics sing true still on the residential sites, so
Az (06:50)
Yeah. No, I love it. The reason I asked you too, Mitch, was because I used to work for Murvac in commercial construction and we used to construct shopping centres and offices and industrial
Mitch (06:59)
Yeah.
Az (07:00)
and stuff like that. So I've been through that whole phase and I I did you kind of have this over compliance and you've got all these operational managers that you answer to and all that, which
Mitch (07:09)
Yeah.
Az (07:10)
feels a bit overdone at the time, but there are some learnings, as you said, in in rese construction. Yeah.
Mitch (07:15)
definitely mate. Yeah. Yeah. And
it also taught me a lot about like I said, I really didn't enjoy the culture there. A lot of the guys left at a similar time to me and it was just,
Az (07:23)
Good on you.
Mitch (07:24)
you know, sort of firing up your own business. It sort of has something in the back of your mind about what you do and don't want to do anyway with the boys at work.
Az (07:30)
that's cool, mate. Yeah, no, that's awesome.
Mitch (07:31)
Yeah.
Az (07:32)
Everything's an experience, hey. You learn from everything that you go through. I think that's the coolest thing
Mitch (07:34)
That's Yeah.
Az (07:37)
and mate, yeah, this is why we you on here, you know, you're a very thoughtful bloke and obviously why we wanted you on to, you know, get
Mitch (07:44)
Yeah.
Az (07:44)
some of that info out of you. But mate, well now that you've started VistaBuild, what are some of the things that you believe that are, you know
right for the business that helps it work well with your experience now and and and why are you doing so well, Mitch. You know, you talk about you've got a
Mitch (07:57)
Okay.
Az (08:00)
pipeline where no one else kinda does. Well not anyone else but
Mitch (08:03)
Yeah.
We specialize in like I wouldn't say passive house, but the high performance route. But we sorta went down this route more for a health and longevity side of things rather than just the a lot of people look at it like greeny woo-woo, but it's sort of the sustainability and the longevity and the health benefits that come with having a nice house, they sort of it is really cool. And once you've sort of been around it and built it and experienced it, it's like
The two boys at work are quite invested in it now. It's every single
day's
Az (08:30)
Mm.
Mitch (08:30)
a different challenge. Every single day is a different learning curve. So for us, especially just being carpenters, that you know, we don't necessarily want to be in an office. I want to be at work working. So it's really cool. I sort of do a day or week in the office and the rest of the time it's like, what d what challenge do we deal with today? So even today we're boxing up a slab for the concretors so that we can get it all insulated and potted up for them so they can just come pour it next week. So doing all that and making sure we can still seal
seal it to the house and build a house here. So it's it's a good challenge. Like the house we're doing today is a hundred and five years old. So we're extending the side of that and bringing it up to I think it ends up nearly at nine stars or something by the time it's done.
Az (09:06)
Wow, a hundred and five years. Even to work with
Mitch (09:07)
Yeah. Yeah.
Az (09:10)
a hundred five a hundred and five year old house you have to be a pretty good builder or carpenter. Chip. do you find that? Okay.
Mitch (09:14)
Yeah. And it's like I'm quite interested in history as well, so that helps. Yeah, yeah, for sure. Yeah.
Like, you strip the laser out of these joints and it's like you just get ten different generations of build builder and carpenter that have been through them. So you sort of this one here's had a lot of different
Az (09:28)
well.
Mitch (09:29)
lives and we're at a point now where we're trying to really, really give it another hundred years to go.
Az (09:33)
Wow. And and you know, the other interesting thing is we've had a few sort of passive home builders on the on the podcast and things like that. And I always found that maybe it's a personality trait and passive house builders and people that lean into that side, but they do, as you said, like a challenge. They like to look at things differently. and and not personally, my personal opinion is that you know, healthy homes and building homes healthier
Is like critically needed in Australia now. Like we're the biggest
Mitch (10:02)
for sure.
Az (10:03)
problems we're kind of having up here up here in Queensland anyway, Mitch, is mold, mildew, all that kind of stuff. Isn't it? And and where it's rife,
Mitch (10:08)
It's molded humidity for you guys. Yeah. Yeah.
Az (10:14)
man. Like I I don't like saying it, but I'm just being really honest and talking the reality of it. I've talked about a few times on the podcast, but I was out of the development and the guy was like, Don't chuck the houses around here. There's all mould behind the walls. Don't check
Mitch (10:26)
Yeah,
honestly, like nearly every house we pull apart, like we've pulled apart this would be the sixth or seventh reno we've done in the space of about seven I'd say like eighteen months, something like that. And not a single one we've pulled apart hasn't had some sort of mould or decay issue in it. And like the houses that range from
Az (10:42)
Wow.
Mitch (10:42)
ten years old through to well, a hundred and we've one that was a hundred and sixty years old last year, so
Az (10:47)
Maze. I would love to get images of that if you don't mind, Mitch, and we'll post them up on the Good Builder. I would love to see what you've done there. I will, mate. I'll hit you up on Instagram and we'll grab those photos because 160-year-old home.
Mitch (10:48)
Yeah. Yeah, hit us up on Instagram. Yeah. Yeah, for sure.
Az (10:59)
What does it what does it feel like? Like actually bringing back to life, breathing life back into a 160-year-old home. Okay.
Mitch (11:03)
Yeah, like we don't we haven't done anything that's heritage yet. I sort
of dread the day we have to do one that is heritage just 'cause of all the red tape that comes with it. But we've been
Az (11:11)
Yeah.
Mitch (11:12)
pretty spoiled that we've sort of just been able to re clad and and bring them sort of copy what they are now, but sort of completely sop around the insides of the houses and and like I said, you're bringing them back to above Australia's minimum standard at the moment, which is really good. But still not even really scratching the surface on what we can do compared to some other countries.
Az (11:29)
Yeah.
Mitch (11:29)
So it's
it's nice to put this into a house that's been here forever and it's had a lot of lives and I'm a big believer some of these houses, they sort of have memories and feelings and stuff attached to them, even though some people just look at as something you can push over and set fire to. But yeah, so it's cool cool to preserve that for someone else one day to be able to drive past and live in.
Az (11:45)
Yeah, mate, that's so cool. Very, very cool. Well, mate, in terms of the type of work you take on, you're talking about the passive house and all the things that you do. What are some of the sort of fundamental things when you're building that you never compromise on a as you
know
Mitch (12:03)
definitely the r like about five years ago we did the training day with performance membranes and we've sorta run with the pro climber stuff since then and never looked back. Like we've had to work on a few jobs recently where it sort of people have used foil and stuff and it makes me wonder how we even use that. just little things like trying to be smart about what we're putting in houses so we're not just buying the minimum thing all the time 'cause that's like what the minimum says we can do and
Just honestly trying to put a bit of thought into keeping the house there for longer and making sure it's not gonna have a flow on effect that affects someone else further down the track.
Az (12:35)
Yeah. You know what, Mitch? You're the first one on this podcast that keeps talking about it or even mentions it as the minimum. And I love it. And I freaking love it. And I freaking love it, man. Well well well what
Mitch (12:42)
Yeah, yeah. Yeah. It is the minimum though. Yeah, like we've honestly
worked for people that are like, you know, you just put that in and do this because that's what the book says you can do. And it's
Az (12:53)
Yeah.
Mitch (12:53)
like, y yeah, but I know that's what the book says, but it's not right.
Az (12:57)
Yeah, well n not to be negative on the industry because you know that's not what we're about, but I think that's a vast majority of builders that I see
Mitch (13:07)
Yeah.
Az (13:08)
they call it the standard, like hit the standard, hit but you're you're going, that's the minimum. That's the standard, that's the Vista built standard, this is the Mitch standard, the Mitch Thompson standard. This is the
Mitch (13:13)
That's the minimum, it's the start, yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Az (13:20)
the stuff down there. That's f freaking interesting for me, man. I was gonna say fucking interesting and I just did, but
Mitch (13:23)
Yeah.
Az (13:26)
It's really interesting the way you talk about I love the way you talk about it and I think it defines who you are and and how you build. Really interesting. When you s
Mitch (13:34)
Yeah, for sure. Yeah, yeah.
And like I said, the fit the boy two boys at work for me have quite invested in it now and both of them are heavily into their health and fitness. So like for them it's well, it's also another interest 'cause they can sort sort of see the results and see that it's worth doing. So, you know, one day
Az (13:47)
Yeah.
Mitch (13:48)
they may run their own company and then that runs down to some other kids and it becomes a flow on effect for in twenty years for us, hopefully.
Az (13:54)
Wow. And you may even think of that maybe.
Mitch (13:56)
Yeah, yeah. Yeah.
Az (13:57)
Yeah.
Mitch (13:58)
Everyone talks about us needing more apprentices, but no one really thinks about the what's happening in the long run. Everyone just looks at them as a cheap wage, I think, and that's sort of another issue on its own.
Az (14:06)
Farret. How old are you, mate, if you don't mind me asking?
Mitch (14:09)
thirty one.
Az (14:10)
You're gonna r you are a monster and you're gonna be even a bigger monster. And I mean that sincerely in a positive manner. I call people that are monsters like great people because yeah,
Mitch (14:20)
Yeah, good people.
Az (14:21)
you're thinking about the greats, you know, this is all the stuff we we try and do at the Good Builder. We talk about teaching
Mitch (14:27)
Yeah, a hundred percent.
Az (14:28)
apprentices right and passing on the knowledge and doing it right. You're doing it. And and you're completely right. A lot of people just look at apprentices like cheap labor. Yeah.
Mitch (14:37)
cheap wage. Yeah,
Az (14:38)
They're not looking at it like
Mitch (14:38)
that's right. Yeah.
Az (14:40)
who are these people gonna be? Your words, man, I'm taking them out of your mouth, were who are these people gonna be in twenty years?
Mitch (14:46)
that's all right. You don't know what the flow on effect is. Like I've gone through,
Az (14:48)
Mm.
Mitch (14:49)
you know, sort of two jet different generations of builders. Like well, like I said, my dad's done this forever. It's very old school, very old fashioned still. And we pull apart a lot of the stuff that he'd his generation would have built and then deal with the issues of the next generation that sort of didn't really care. He just needed to make money. So we're sort of the ones fixing all that. And I guess if you can instill that into some young kids now, it may mean that that
That problem gets skipped for someone else one day, which is nice.
Az (15:14)
Mate, th this is actually real cool, Mitch. This is a freaking cool
Mitch (15:17)
Ha ha ha.
Az (15:18)
pod, mate. I I love Yeah. I this is why we did it like I said before we even started the pod. Like I love meeting people like you and blokes like you that you know, normally wouldn't get the spotlight on but I reckon they deserve every fucking spotlight in the world because if we
Mitch (15:31)
Yeah. And I'm I'm very
much someone that likes operating in the background. I don't like having the spotlight on me. Yeah. But
Az (15:35)
You are. No, but we
you do you should because more people need to hear what you're saying, Mitch. Like I know like I said to
Mitch (15:41)
Yeah, I think so.
Az (15:42)
you when we started the pod, I'm like, man, don't worry about doing it because if people will listen to my head, they're definitely gonna listen to yours. But but I'm kinda like people people are here for the conversation and they're here for the great people and stuff like that. And and I think we don't talk about this enough in in all streams of media and life, like the the the stuff you're talking about.
Mitch (16:00)
Yeah, a hundred percent, dude.
Az (16:02)
it's so freaking cool, man.
Well, you know, building passive house and and and and and building those passive homes are a are a bit more of a expensive exercise and there's a lot more education around them when you w working with clients and things like that. W wh why did you choose those clients and and how did you decide which projects are good
for your Vista build? Do you do you still take on anyone or no?
Mitch (16:22)
Yeah. Well, I guess no,
we d definitely don't take on anyone. We've knocked back probably five or six decent sized jobs in the last two years that I mean a lot of other people have probably taken on anyway. But we just I just decided at one point that that's what I wanted to build and that's what I was going to stick to. And I guess the cause and effect with that is that people come to us, they've already chosen us, or they've already chosen that type of job. We don't really have to weed a lot of people out anymore. So
It does have a really good flow on effect where you sort of scary at the start saying yes and no to select jobs and only choosing clients because you get along with them and they're in the same interest as you. But that like I said, the the end result means that you might price five jobs a year instead of fifty, but you get five jobs instead of five and you've priced fifty anyway.
Az (17:03)
Yeah. Wow, that's really really interesting because, you know, for I remember when I was thirty one, now I sound like an old man, which I am.
Mitch (17:11)
Yeah.
Az (17:12)
But you know, you know, we would take on anything. You just take on anything that you can and I think it leads to Yeah. Yeah, you
Mitch (17:16)
Yeah. mate, some of the jobs I've taken on in the past, I'm just like I look back now and think, why the buddy hell did I waste my time doing that?
Az (17:24)
end up causing more damage than good. You think you need the money, but yeah, it's it's not sort of there. So
Mitch (17:27)
Yeah, that's right. Well, like I said,
now it's sort of like y the last four jobs I've priced we've we've gotten. This one here was a tender, which w I sort of feel like we had from the start anyway, and it just had to go through its process. But it's like they've already chosen us, they w they already know they want to work with us. The designer has already looked at working with us. You know, you you're not trying to weed people out of the time. And like I said, you've got kids and stuff at home, so you're not pricing fifty jobs.
You sort of just price the five and if you get four out of five, it's better than pricing fifty and getting four anyway or something. So yeah, it makes it a lot easier.
Az (17:57)
Yeah.
Yeah. No, that's I I think to I think that's a n number one, you know, a a great business lesson I think and again, while we wanted you on is that, you know, y you shouldn't you should really try and niche n not niche down, but try and find Elaine. I I remember getting a piece of advice sorry, you go.
Mitch (18:15)
Yeah. And you gotta you gotta
be interested you gotta be interested in it as well. Like I'm doing this at a bare minimum for forty hours a week. Like even if I don't do my eight hours at sight, like some nights you're the computer anyway for four or five hours. So if you're not interested in it then like probably not worth doing it 'cause I mean my body's starting to give up on me now, so I've gotta learn the other side of it and then it like if you're not there for the right reasons, there's no point putting all your effort into it.
Az (18:39)
Yeah, wow. So was that part of your reason too? Part of your why of doing it was that the interest you you know, you wanted to continually learn about this. This is r this is intr it's a real interesting pod, man. No one talks about this stuff. Yeah.
Mitch (18:45)
Yeah, for sure. Yeah.
Az (18:51)
So is that's how you got there?
Mitch (18:53)
Yeah, yeah, literally like 'cause I'm massive you I did a lot of dumb stuff when I was younger with a lot of injuries that I carry. So, like I said, the health and longevity side of building this way is is a massive benefit. So being able to look after clients the same way that have the same interests, it's it does does pay off and it's nice. Like you go into some houses, like you do like a minor defect of and say that 'cause the door needs adjusting or something like that and you can really tell that they're happy with the house at the end, which is good.
Az (19:16)
Yeah, that's so cool. Well, mate, as we sort of said, it sounds like you run a really cool business, a very a strong business and a a solid one that works pretty efficiently, mate. What are some of the things that you look at day to day to make sure that your business keeps working properly?
you know, how important is it for
Mitch (19:33)
Right.
Az (19:36)
you to understand or builders to understand their numbers and pricing and all that? Where do you sort of sit in there there, Mitch?
Mitch (19:40)
Yeah. I I mean,
I'm over like no matter what, every f sort of quarter or so we run through all our overheads anyway. So I know something suddenly leak will go wrong. But also having a good team around you know, like no one really got successful working on their own. Like no one managed to grind away and get to the top by doing everything themselves. So the two boys that are working for me now both did their apprenticeships with me and they're both really good lads. Like we're together, like I said before, you're eight hours a day at a minimum with some of like
You gotta be good friends with each other and you've got to learn to do the shit jobs together. So if you don't have a good culture and you don't really know what's going on in the background, you can't really apply that to running the business anyway.
Az (20:16)
Yeah, wow. And and I loved how you spoke about the commercial side and the union side and you didn't like the culture that was going on in there and
Mitch (20:22)
Yeah.
Az (20:23)
and how you've is that a big part of your success? Do you work a lot on a culture? Yeah.
Mitch (20:27)
Yeah, for sure. Like like the two
the two boys that work for me now, some of my best mates, like they've they literally came to my wedding. One of them was at my Bucks party the other week. So, you know, you together
Az (20:36)
Congrats.
Mitch (20:36)
together you're together yeah, I think you together year round. So like if you're not if you're not gonna get along and have a laugh, you can't do all the crap jobs together and and sort of get through that. Like we do a lot of really crap jobs on some houses, so trying to get things to happen, you gotta be in it to sort of win it at the end.
Az (20:53)
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. No, I think that's a really important lesson. And do you kind of we've talked about this a bit on the pod, and you actually seem like this to me, and I know I don't really know you that well and sorry for this one, but did you have a strong sporting background? You you seem to me like a bit of a coach rather than a boss. Which I think is cool. Okay.
Mitch (21:09)
Na definitely not. Nah I I
played footy till I was about sixteen or seventeen or something, but everything I've done has been, you know, I was massive into being the BMX at the skate park. I sort of do a lot of downhill mountain biking now and I ride dirt bikes a lot on the weekends. So a lot
Az (21:23)
well.
Mitch (21:23)
of what I do is quite I wouldn't say they're team sports, but they're quite social. But the two boys that
Az (21:28)
Yeah.
Mitch (21:29)
play f they they both play footy, so it's sorta nice. You can sort of have those
Az (21:31)
Okay. Interesting.
Mitch (21:33)
chats and you can sort of have a crap conversation with someone. They're not gonna go and cry about it 'cause
They're probably cobbling worse on a weekend playing footy anyway.
Az (21:40)
Yeah, cool, cool. And now I know what what
you mean about you know, hopefully you turn up to the golf day, mate, and I'll I'm d I'm dying to meet ya and and the whole crew will be dying to meet ya. But I can see what you mean by golf day versus you know.
Mitch (21:52)
Yeah, yeah.
Az (21:54)
I I love as you can see here, I've got my skateboards there. And I love I love skating. And and i if we could do it at a skate park, I would probably do one at a skate park, but we couldn't we couldn't afford the liability.
Mitch (21:57)
Yeah. Yeah. Do that. I don't need to go back there. I can it would hurt
too much these days though.
Az (22:08)
mate, I'm back at it, Mitch. I'm back at it, mate.
Mitch (22:10)
Yeah.
Az (22:11)
I I my daughter's now turned thirteen. we'll get into the pod, but my daughter's now turned thirteen and I just went, look, I'm gonna teach you how to skate. So I've been out there doing kick flips and pop shovels every afternoon at the moment. So Yeah,
Mitch (22:19)
Yeah. Learn how to do it all again.
Az (22:24)
trying to anyway. But when you're in your forties it doesn't happen so quickly. It is very slow, mate. But
Mitch (22:27)
Yeah, body's a bit slow.
Az (22:31)
yeah, no, that's that's really cool. What what about you know, we talked about
The the business and operating the business and the culture and operating that seamlessly. And it seems like you got that pretty damn pattern. I'm sure you're freaking awesome at at actually constructing the stuff and I love you've already got the team stuff down. What about the client stuff, Mitch? Like how do you
Mitch (22:50)
Yeah.
Az (22:50)
how do you form relationships with the client? How important do you think they are? Your build seem pretty intense and there must be
a lot of education around what goes on. How do you do it?
Mitch (22:57)
Yeah. Yeah.
Well, like I said, they've already done a lot of the homework anyway, which is why they've come to us. But I mean these guys here are great. Like they're they're into all the same sort of interests as us. So like all the boys click with them pretty well straight away. They've actually gone away on holiday to Western Australia at the moment while we do this house. So they're trusting us to do all this sort of remotely, which is really cool. and the last few clients have all been through word of mouth. So they've all come to us already accepting who we are, which is really good and
Like this. Again, you end up with around here, it's a very outdoor based area. Like a lot of people are into the same things, like the footy and the mountain biking and that, it's huge out here. So a lot of someone's always got something to talk about, someone's always going to be friends with each other. And you can sort of tell pretty quick if you're not going to get along with someone. So to sort of come to us with a job that you want to do and it's quite specific, I feel we're sort of blessed in a way, like I said, they're they've weeded us out, but i if we don't quite get along with them it
It's probably like something you can cut off pretty soon 'cause you don't really wanna don't want to trust someone to work on your house if you're not gonna get along with them anyway. So we can normally redirect to them like a good mate somewhere that does something similar or, you
Az (24:01)
Yeah.
Mitch (24:01)
know, a different builder from somewhere else and they'll still get their job done. It just means that we don't do it. Yeah.
Az (24:06)
Yeah, I think that's
I love the way you talk about it, man. I always I used to talk about building like a marriage. 'Cause you're with for so long and then you got the ten years afterwards and you got all this stuff. You're right.
Mitch (24:13)
Yeah. Well you are. You got ten years. Like you hear people
talk about it, like they go, you you get out of here and get the job done. It's like no, 'cause you you could be here still in eight, nine years. Like, you
Az (24:23)
Yeah.
Mitch (24:24)
know, nine nine years and six months you could be back here fixing something. So you need to know that you're gonna
Az (24:27)
Mm you're very smart.
Mitch (24:28)
get along. Hopefully it's the same people that own the house in ten years, but yeah,
Az (24:32)
Yeah.
Mitch (24:33)
you gotta you gotta hope you can get along with them, so
Az (24:34)
I reckon that's a cool piece of advice that you just said, mate. Again, you you're talking about stuff.
Mitch (24:40)
Yeah.
Az (24:41)
we've done over three hundred and forty episodes people haven't talked about, mate. So this is a super cool pod me chain. So cool, mate.
Mitch (24:47)
Yeah, that's what I said. Someone
might learn something somewhere, so
Az (24:50)
they
will. They will. And and and this is what I love. You know what I love, Mitch? What I love is man, you know, you're Vista built in the Macedon Rangers and I'm not I'm not being rude here but you're not one of the biggest builders in Australia. We have some of the biggest we have s and you don't want to be. Yeah, exactly. Bugger it. You know, you're doing a great job in what you do.
Mitch (25:02)
Nah, definitely not. And we don't want to be the biggest builder. Yeah. Nah. Like I'm I'm very
happy having there's three of us. We may go to like four people. That would be too big for me, almost four people, so yeah.
Az (25:13)
There you go. And this
is this is what people need to hear. And and where I was going with, you know, we have some of the biggest builders because I've got good relationships with them, listen to us. They'll pick up stuff from you. This is why I love what I do, because it's kind of like
Mitch (25:26)
Yeah.
Az (25:27)
I get to connect some cool dude in the Massins and Rangers who knows how to build. Yeah, we got someone in Darwin
Mitch (25:30)
With someone in Down.
Az (25:33)
who's building, you know, they might be building three hundred homes that they go, shit. Mitch's Yeah, Mitch said,
Mitch (25:37)
This guy's got something.
Az (25:39)
Don't
work with every client and it's a marriage and remember the ten years and then they go, shit, this is where the problems
Mitch (25:42)
Yeah. Yeah, that's right. Yeah.
Az (25:46)
are.
Mitch (25:47)
you hear a lot of like, you know, there's a lot of big podcasts that get around now and they sort of sort of start to speak the same language, but it's it's stuff that we've sort of pursued for a few years now and it's it
Az (25:56)
Yeah yeah.
Mitch (25:56)
is quite daunting at the start, but it is you gotta remember it's a marathon, you gotta you're gonna be in it for the long run. So set yourself up a bit early and you might cop it for a year or so while you're going, I don't quite have enough work, but it'll start to pay off.
Az (26:08)
I love it. This is this you know what? And I think the younger generations need to hear this pod too. You know, one of the other things I'm very passionate about is again, like I said, I don't think enough good people in this industry get the spotlight like you. Now that you've got it, we're able to put this stuff out there and I swear to God, it will impact a young bloke down you know, who've been thinking about it and thinking about it, hearing horror stories from everywhere else about being a builder and stuff like that.
Mitch (26:33)
Yeah, it's a very negative industry
at the moment, but there's a lot of positives, yeah.
Az (26:35)
Isn't it? Isn't there? And you're speaking
to like you're laughing and having fun as we talk about your building business, which would be wild to operate, but
Mitch (26:43)
Yeah, that's right.
Az (26:45)
you seem like you're having good fun while you're out there, Mitch and this is what I love about it.
Mitch (26:47)
Yeah. Nah, a hundred percent
dude. Like some people take it so seriously and it's I get it, like I've got a lot of mates that just do house frames for a living and they wouldn't get along with their their like workers outside of work because they're all there just to do a certain role. But we don't we're not like that and we don't operate like that.
Az (27:02)
Yeah. very cool. I think more people need to listen to that, you know? More people need to
Mitch (27:04)
Yeah.
Az (27:07)
you know, and this is the thing. This was actually like just getting the vibe from you now, like this th I can see you love, genuinely love building and you're genuinely having funny out this this is a real refreshing podcast 'cause some of them are
Mitch (27:18)
Yeah. honestly at the at the start
at the start I hated it. When Dad used to drag me out of school, make me do everything that we were doing, like some of the jobs he had were proper shit. Like they were they're really cool jobs to have, but like for the first year or the labour, right? It was not fun and
Az (27:33)
Yeah.
Mitch (27:33)
taught me a big work ethic early and it's like now it's cool 'cause I've got the work ethic, I've got the ability to do everything and I can sort of pick and choose what I want to do and it means I get to enjoy what I do every day.
Az (27:42)
Be yeah. Everyone, young kids, listen to Mitch, be like Mitch. Do it. And if if you do,
Mitch (27:44)
Yeah. Yeah, take the grind early.
Az (27:51)
I'm not saying you know you're gonna be successful as Mitch, but there's some there's a blueprint in this podcast on how to do it. And I think that's pretty cool, man. And I
Mitch (27:57)
Yeah. I I just I
always used to say like the more I work when I'm younger, like the more I work now the less I get to work on the tools when I'm older anyway. But hopefully it means that by the time
Az (28:05)
Yeah.
Mitch (28:05)
I get to that it's a bit more relaxed for me and I can sort of manage people and you're not you're not as stressed, you sort of enjoy it every day.
Az (28:11)
Yeah. Well the other thing you don't seem so stressed about and it came through when we talked about, you know, your customer relationships and stuff like that, which I think again comes back to you being a good builder, is that you said that, you know, a lot of your clients come through word of mouth and and kind of you're not
Mitch (28:28)
Yeah.
Az (28:29)
you know, they kinda just come to you. They've already researched you, they know who you are and it's
Mitch (28:31)
Yeah. I mean we do we do advertise.
You I feel like you're missing a big chunk of the market if you're not advertising. But I think I think we've had
Az (28:36)
Okay.
Mitch (28:37)
like maybe five ish jobs in a row that are through word of mouth. This one here
Az (28:41)
W
Mitch (28:42)
was s sort of through advertising, but we knew the architect anyway. So again it's kinda like they've passed us on to the client when we've done the tender for it. So like literally everything
Az (28:50)
Yeah.
Mitch (28:51)
we do around it's such a small it is a massive area here, but it's very small. Everyone knows each other. So if you're doing
something
Az (28:56)
Yeah.
Mitch (28:57)
wrong, someone will know about it before you've even figured it out.
Az (28:59)
There you go. And that makes you a very good builder, mate. I've worked in well, I used to work
Mitch (29:03)
Yeah.
Az (29:04)
for GJ Gardner, and we used to say our whole role, and I think we've got a GJ Gardener in Massenden Rangers, actually. I think there's still one there. Yeah, yeah, which is cool because there's different levels to it in the franchise
Mitch (29:11)
Yeah, there is and they're actually quite good, which is nice. Yeah. Yeah.
Az (29:18)
world, as you know. But you know, our our our goal there was to become the most trusted local builder in their local area.
because we knew how
Mitch (29:25)
Yeah.
Az (29:26)
important it is and particularly in areas like yours where everyone knows everyone, you bugger up, you're not gonna get any more work.
Mitch (29:30)
Yeah. Well like
like I said, it's very community based. We're only everyone's into their footy, everyone's into this sport, everyone's into that,
Az (29:36)
Okay.
Mitch (29:37)
like everyone's kids, you know, know each other. A lot of the guys I worked with, my dad has worked with their dads forever. So like we've all done our apprenticeships
Az (29:44)
Ha ha ha.
Mitch (29:45)
together and now they're doing the work for us. So it's
Az (29:47)
Yeah.
Mitch (29:47)
everyone everyone knows each other and it's it's all in different layers. So if you're not paying people or you're treating people like crap or you're not doing a good job, people will know very quickly.
Az (29:55)
Yeah, very cool, very cool. Well mate, you you've you've talked about the success of Vista Build in terms of, you know, your reputation locally and all that sort of thing. What about what about subbies and suppliers? How do you view excuse me, how do you view them and how do you kind of manage relationships and what do you look for when you're working with people like that?
Mitch (30:15)
Yeah. Well, we we try and
schedule what we can schedule, but we didn't we tend to just push until we hit slab or floor or roof stage or somewhere around there. And then we can schedule this stuff like schedule everything up properly. But like I said, the like the guy that does our concrete I've known for quite a while. The like my sparky's one of my best mates. We did our apprenticeships together. We lived away
together
Az (30:33)
Well.
Mitch (30:34)
quite a lot. the plumber that used to do our plumbing, he's no longer working for himself, but his dad's son of mine dad's plumbing for forty odd years. So
You know, we're all in different layers and entwined with each other, but we're all people that can have a laugh and an argument on site, but at three thirty we can be each other's best mates. Still it doesn't really matter what's happened during the day. And I think that's quite important because you sorta you're the one that feeds their family. You know, they talk about builders not being a bank, but if something happens to me, like their family doesn't get to eat this week or something. So make sure they're getting paid on time. Like the cabinet may go, I'll get paid a stage payment. I'm literally ringing him trying to get him to send me an invoice. So like
Keep people paid up, keep people happy and they'll always come back and do a good job for you.
Az (31:12)
Yeah, yeah. I love it. It's it's fairly simple, isn't it? You know, in a way. but
Mitch (31:17)
Yeah, yeah. Yeah.
Az (31:19)
the the well the the payment sort of stuff isn't just being a good business person, but I guess the the hard conversations aren't always are they, Mitch 'cause we do have a culture in construction that we do have
Mitch (31:29)
Yeah.
Az (31:31)
this mateship culture. But I'd I I was the
Mitch (31:33)
That's right, yeah.
Az (31:34)
same. I do think sometimes they take it too far and it's like, wait a minute, we're mates, you can't talk to me like that, but wait a minute, no.
Mitch (31:39)
Yeah.
Mates do yeah. Yeah. Mate
Az (31:40)
on the site when we're doing the job. Yeah.
Mitch (31:43)
I mean mates should be able to talk to each other and have a crap combo and still have a laugh at the end of the day anyway. So that's part of being good friends with each other. Yeah.
Az (31:48)
True. That's a real mate. True. No, sorry. I stand corrected on that one. I like what the way you said it, mate.
I like the way you said it, Mitch. Mate, what my mates. We can argue to the cows come home and then we're best mates. So you you're completely right there.
Mitch (31:59)
Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Az (32:03)
very cool mate. Well we before we started the pod and we kind of alluded to it a little bit as we've been chatting, you know, all around Australia everything's been, you know, people have
really thinking carefully about how they spend their money and stuff like that. And it sounds like it's pretty similar, down your way. H how do you
Mitch (32:19)
Yeah. Yeah, for sure.
Az (32:21)
how do you stop things like, you know, the government budget changes and stuff that kind of puts a down on everything. How do you sort of go about that? Do you talk about it in your business or are you kind of fairly focused on
Mitch (32:33)
Yeah, a little bit.
Az (32:34)
yeah?
Mitch (32:35)
I mean, the government down here's cooked everything anyway, so like we just get what we get at the moment. But I feel like everyone's that's everyone's very tiptoe and negative about everything, so it's quite hard. I I know a lot of guys don't have a lot of work. There's a lot of the trade suppliers around here saying things are very quiet. so I feel like it's definitely a very up and down market right now. So like it's like I said earlier, if you're good at your job, people will always be coming to you. It's gonna weed a lot of
Don't wanna say like bad operators, but guys that probably shouldn't be doing what they're doing anyway. So I think a lot of that's gonna get weeded out very quickly down here over the next sort of two to three years and then people that are rectifying these issues and renovating the houses are gonna have a lot of work for the next twenty years, I can tell you that much.
Az (33:15)
Yeah, no, I love your opinion actually. And you're the second bloke
Mitch (33:17)
Yeah.
Az (33:18)
that said it to me. I've talked a lot about this stuff. And we had the head of Can I Build in you know, the Can I Build Massive Platform and he's
a very yeah,
Mitch (33:27)
Massive, yeah.
Az (33:28)
very cool dude and very educated on what's going on and I like, What do you think's gonna happen? And he said the similar thing. He was like like as much as it's pretty painful, you're gonna weed out lot of the bad operators out. So
Mitch (33:38)
That's right.
Yeah. A lot of guys that are doing I mean, we had a few jobs we used to still supply carpentry services to a few local builders and we were getting undercut by like half of what we were pricing jobs at and like it was getting to a point where it's like this is just getting dumb. Yeah. And it's
Az (33:51)
it's shit. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Mitch (33:54)
a lot of those guys aren't here operating right now. So Yeah.
Az (33:57)
Yeah, obviously. And you and and
and this is the other thing I loved, like when I talked to you about, you know, asked how your relationships with your suppliers and all that are and you're talking about yeah, we've used them the whole time, we've used them the whole time, we've used them the whole time I think
Mitch (34:11)
Yeah. We don't ever
change trades. I think we've changed one trade in like five or six years, so
Az (34:16)
I I I think that's something that, you know, builders need to be a bit more mindful of if you don't mind me saying, bitch. Like an I I used to
Mitch (34:22)
Yeah.
Az (34:23)
when I had my building company, like I was always like I I had a p business partner in it who was the opposite of me. I I guess I shouldn't say that and he will listen to this, but whatever. but like, you know, I was always like, they're our team. They're our freaking team, man. Like we've got to treat them yeah,
Mitch (34:37)
Yeah, they're still part of the business.
Az (34:39)
and and and if someone comes in with with undercutting them
Don't just fucking dump them
Mitch (34:44)
Yeah, that's all right.
Az (34:45)
for the sake of just saving a few bucks on this build. Wait till you see what goes on and and we unfortunately weren't like ignition. We s we chopped and changed and we'd have no continuity and then we'd try and move into a a new area where we used to have relationships and we didn't have them anymore. That'd be like, We're not building your homes, man.
Mitch (35:00)
Yeah, and you're constantly
trying to figure out how other people work. Like like even this morning we put the
Az (35:05)
Yeah.
Mitch (35:06)
we smacked some sewer pipes in to start the sewer run on this slab so that we can keep working. We've rung the plumber and told him and he's like, sweet, I it's done, right? So can just come and tap onto that later. Like you gotta be there. Like we're
Az (35:14)
Then I
Mitch (35:15)
we're quite literally boxing this slab up because the concrete was wanted to have an extra few days holiday, so we're here doing his slab for him. So we're all in it together. Yeah.
Az (35:22)
I love it. And you just make it happen.
Mitch (35:26)
Yeah, yeah. I just like we're having a massive push here. I want this one done.
for Christmas or as close for Christmas as possible. So I just it doesn't matter. Like we get to learn a new skill anyway. So emails will have a crack at it.
Az (35:36)
Yeah. And you know what? I think you and and I maybe it's where my head was at when I like, Were you ever a coach or in sport? Like that's where the that but that's where the team element comes in.
Mitch (35:43)
Yeah.
Az (35:46)
And and you can never do and you said it earlier in this pod, man, you can never do shit alone. Like it's always your team. y you gotta do Yeah. You sing
Mitch (35:51)
No, you can't. You can't. Yeah, even
like like I said, my body's starting to give up on me a bit now. So we're on the hunt for an apprentice at the moment, just so I can sort of step back a little bit just from doing stuff that my body doesn't quite enjoy doing anymore. And then that means I get other free time to do other stuff in the business and it might mean we get to do some more cool jobs like this.
Az (36:10)
Yeah, yeah. No, that's that's super cool, mate. Well, I've got a just a couple of questions left for you, Mitch. And mate, I reckon
I'd
Mitch (36:17)
Yeah.
Az (36:17)
like to do a you know, bring you back on if you don't mind, a bit regularly actually. I I think you're you're a w mate,
Mitch (36:21)
Yeah, yeah, for sure.
Az (36:23)
you're a weapon of a builder. Like you really are. And I I I love talking to you. No, you are. I love talking to you, man, and I love
Mitch (36:25)
Yeah. Tryna be.
Az (36:29)
I'd I've loved this conversation. and I've loved that you've brought new insights into looking at stuff. Like you look at things
Mitch (36:36)
Yeah.
Az (36:37)
And and especially I don't mean to be rude, mate, but I'm in my forties now, so I feel like I'm nearly your dad. But like, you know, for such a young bloke that kind
Mitch (36:42)
Do I
Az (36:45)
of i is coming up and thinking about these things, and as I said in this pod, this is exactly what we want to do. We wanna put the spotlight on people like you so people look up to you. You know, people shouldn't and and they don't, and I'm I'm gonna sound like a fucking utter dickhead right now, but don't don't don't look up to me. Like
look up to these guys that are doing the work. These guys are the dudes
Mitch (37:02)
Yeah.
Az (37:06)
doing the work and this is why I do it. I don't do it to put my head on the podcast. No one wants to actually see that. They want to see the people at the other end that are doing the good work. So mate, so you know what I mean?
Mitch (37:14)
Yeah, it gives some other people a voice that might not otherwise get a voice, which is cool.
Az (37:17)
Yeah, and it's freaking awesome, man, because I've learned so much just talking to you now. Thought about things differently. you know, the
Mitch (37:24)
Yeah.
Az (37:24)
way you think about things, the next generation. You know, I we talk a lot at the Good Build. You've opened my eyes to a bunch of stuff. Like
We talk a lot about the good builder, about the apprentice shortage, but we're not talking about actually doing an apprenticeship right to bring proper people in the industry that are gonna stay and then become a better generation. You know.
Mitch (37:41)
And and yeah, and push that on. Yeah.
Az (37:44)
Man, that's cool stuff. That is what is gonna save this industry and what is gonna put us in better stead and and build a better reputation for the entire industry, mate. So, we're
Mitch (37:55)
Yeah, for sure.
Az (37:56)
gonna have you freaking back on a few times actually. But
made a couple more questions. The you you said earlier that you listen to a lot of pods and and and stuff
Mitch (38:03)
Yeah.
Az (38:04)
like that and you spend a lot of time learning in the industry. you know doing that, what's something that you think has changed your mind a and and helped you grow your business and and you as a person that you've heard from a podcast and you definitely don't need to mention the Good Builder pod either.
Mitch (38:18)
Yeah. Jeez, I wouldn't ever know where to start.
No, I don't know. I listen to a lot. like I said, nearly every day I'm walking the dogs, so that's sort of my de-stress downtime. I'll just I would
Az (38:28)
Okay.
Mitch (38:28)
just constantly be saving random podcasts in the list and it's like whatever comes on next is what comes on next. So there's a lot
Az (38:33)
Yeah.
Mitch (38:34)
of really good info you can get just from listening to some guys at the moment. There's a few from Victoria, there's a few up your way, there's a couple from
Az (38:42)
Yeah.
Mitch (38:42)
overseas.
Yeah, you can go on forever. You can learn everything about what you should and shouldn't be putting into a business. You know, everyone harps on about systems and processes and stuff like that, but there's a lot more that goes on before you even get to that point that you should be learning about. So yeah, do
Az (38:55)
I love it.
Mitch (38:56)
something similar to that. If you're in the car driving around doing you think you're doing nothing, you just listen to radio or, you know, banging some music or something, like save some podcasts and while you're driving around doing the site checks for a day, just listen away and see what you can figure out. And I know a few of my mates actually have like little
like notepads and stuff in their cars. So they're constantly just like writing down thoughts while they're driving around and yeah, keep track of some of the stuff that pops into your brain while you're at it.
Az (39:19)
That's so cool. I love it, mate. And I love it i it shows how seriously you take the business. It's like further education every day. what
Mitch (39:27)
Yeah. Well your downtime
is just sitting in the car, you're doing nothing anyway. You may as well listen and try to learn something.
Az (39:31)
Yeah. Mate, it's
freaking cool. What was the what was the last coolest one you listened to? Plug anyone, man, I don't care.
Mitch (39:38)
I don't know. I listened
to definitely listen to Mindful Builder a lot, the Hamish and Matt.
Az (39:42)
Yeah, they're cool.
Mitch (39:42)
they've had my mate Brad's on there a bit. so they've been
Az (39:45)
wow.
Mitch (39:46)
talking a lot about pre construction at the moment, which is if you're into seriously doing any sort of renovac work in general, you should really have some sort of pre construction process checking these houses out. So I'd start there. If I think it sounds
Az (39:57)
Yeah. Cool.
Mitch (39:59)
like they're gonna do a bit of a series going from start to finish on a job, so you it's probably a good time to jump in and start listening to some of those guys. And
Az (40:05)
Yeah.
Mitch (40:06)
Obviously
Dwayne Pierce up on up in Brisbane there.
Az (40:08)
Yeah.
Mitch (40:09)
E endless, endless info. And yeah, I've actually done his basic coaching course, his launch pad course and his pack process.
Az (40:16)
Yeah.
Mitch (40:16)
And he actually rang me and spoke to me on the phone a few times and he's an awesome bloke. So very similar
Az (40:21)
Yeah.
Mitch (40:22)
to you guys, just really wants to help the industry out and he's definitely worth listening to. He's been through a lot and he understands a lot of different things in his head, I think. Yeah.
Az (40:29)
He's a cool dude. You know what? One day he
invited me to his house and I went to his house and hung out with him for a for a few hours and I'll tell you what, he is that's Duane. You know? It's that's just Duane, man.
Mitch (40:40)
Yeah. Yeah, honestly he's just
blue blue collar bloke and just wants to do a good job for everyone.
Az (40:45)
He does. He's such a freaking legend of a bloke. He was the first guy that we practically told when we started The Good Builder. And he was like, I'll support you however you want, mate. Like, and that's
Mitch (40:52)
Yeah, yeah. Do whatever. Yeah.
Az (40:56)
why I'm like the mindful builder guys, two legends of blokes. I don't care who who people talk about on this podcast, I'm not that much of an idiot to know that we're not the only one. And there's some really good info out there. So yeah, guys,
Mitch (41:07)
Yeah, yeah.
Az (41:08)
go check out those pods of of the mindful builder and definitely Duane.
Mitch (41:10)
Yeah, especially if you're
if you're looking at getting into this side of the industry, the passive house healthy homes thing that's getting harped on a lot about at the moment. Mindful builder is an awesome spot to start. And
Az (41:20)
Yeah.
Mitch (41:21)
Dwayne Dwayne has a lot of info in some of his podcasts with a lot of, you know, top dogs in the industry talking about it as well.
Az (41:27)
Yeah, very cool. Very cool. well as you're gonna be on the Good Builder and you are a feature right now, I reckon you're gonna be featured across a bunch of them, mate. You'll be you'll be doing the podcast circuit and I'll be listening to every freaking one of mate. You will, you will.
Mitch (41:37)
One day.
Az (41:40)
I'll be listening to every freaking one. And we'll definitely have you back on which and again, you know, y y information around the the podcast and what f other builders and trades can have a listen to. That was yeah, super cool to share that stuff, man. So
Mitch (41:53)
Yeah, for sure,
dude.
Az (41:54)
Yeah, legend. Well, I feel like I don't even know how long we've gone. I could talk to you forever, but I've I've
just got the the one question left to you for you. But this is just
Mitch (42:00)
Yeah.
Az (42:04)
a for everyone out there, this is just a real introduction to Mitch Vista Bilt and we're gonna have him back on and this is like this is his thoughts, this is how he runs his business, and then I wanna do one where we catch up on you and your pack process and your stuff like that and how you build and projects
Mitch (42:18)
Yeah. Yeah, yeah.
Az (42:20)
going over there, but
My last question for you, mate, is you know we're called the good builder. What do you reckon makes a good builder? And I reckon I could answer this just by saying Mitch Thompson, but What do you reckon, mate?
Mitch (42:32)
No, I don't know. Start
with the basics, I guess. You hear like I said, you hear everyone talk about systems and processes and doing this and doing that and trying to get away from work to be on the computer more and that. But if you don't if you don't have a good team and you don't have a good culture, you're not going to get anywhere anyway. So I I know I can leave my two boys with two or three weeks of a time, I don't have to worry. I know they'll do everything right by me. And if you can't stand the start there and and let that go, then you're probably not gonna be able to run a good business to begin with.
Az (42:58)
Yeah, wow. Wow. So
Mitch (42:59)
Yeah.
Az (43:00)
i i I'm not trying to surmise it to something so simple, but is it is it almost people? You gotta have good people around ya. I love it. You know why
Mitch (43:06)
Yeah, people, man. Yeah, people. Yeah, yeah, for sure. Yeah. Yeah.
Az (43:11)
I love it? I and it's not about me, this is about you, this pod, but I released a little social thing on everyone's most hated social platform, LinkedIn. you're probably not on it, Mitch, but I hang I I hang around
Mitch (43:22)
No, no.
Az (43:24)
there a little bit, but don't judge me, man.
Mitch (43:26)
Yeah.
Az (43:27)
but
I put a post up on LinkedIn, it was only yesterday actually, just funny you said that. And I talked about when I left a particular builder prior to starting my own building company that he said to me, we'll find someone ten percent better. That was a going away speech. He said, yeah, your speech. Everyone
Mitch (43:43)
Yeah, right.
Az (43:44)
went round the table and he's like, We'll find someone ten percent better. I was just like, Holy fuck. That was the worst
Mitch (43:47)
Yeah. Yeah.
Az (43:50)
speech in my whole life that I've ever received. And you know what? It
Mitch (43:52)
Yeah.
Az (43:53)
i in in me
It kinda hurt a little bit, but at the same time I was like, I never want to be like that and I think people are the heart and soul of everything. And I gave
Mitch (44:00)
No, that's right. Yeah.
Az (44:03)
my heart and soul to that business and I know I did a good job and now I'm trying to justify myself on a podcast which I shouldn't be doing. But you know what I mean?
Mitch (44:09)
Yeah.
Az (44:10)
But at the same time why I loved your answer, mate, was exactly because that is
Mitch (44:15)
Yeah.
Az (44:15)
my belief is people are everything and I can see it in you, man. Like I could see that, you know, if I was a young apprentice, take off
maybe thirty something years, I'd come work. I'd come work for you, mate. You know what I mean? With a bad back. so I wouldn't be I wouldn't be too good
Mitch (44:26)
Mature age. Yeah.
Az (44:33)
for you, mate. You wouldn't put me on the labouring, I'd be fucking slow. But
Mitch (44:35)
Yeah.
Az (44:36)
I don't know what I'd do. maybe I don't know. But yeah, you y y y I I truly believe that, you know, people are the heart and soul of a lot of businesses and when you get that little equation right, you're pretty good.
Mitch (44:49)
Yeah, that's all right. Yeah, I think a lot of people miss that. Like I said, there's a lot of lot of businesses at the moment that just see young kids as cheap labour and all that sort of stuff. So if you if you can sort of create a good culture and a good headspace for everyone and everyone's happy to come to work, no one's scared to take time off if they need to take time off and like I said earlier,
Az (45:06)
Yeah.
Mitch (45:06)
everyone gets to go home with all their toes and fingers and get to go home to their family, then that's the that's the end result we'll all after anyway.
Az (45:13)
It's the coolest thing. Well, mate, while that was my last question I lied, I have one more question for you and I'm gonna put you on the spot. Will y will you be there November twelfth at the golf day?
Mitch (45:23)
Might depend
on might depend on this job to be honest, but I can aim to be there.
Az (45:27)
Okay. How far
away is Moon R Link from you?
Mitch (45:30)
be a while. we're forty minutes into the
Az (45:32)
is it?
Mitch (45:32)
city, so I reckon it's probably on the other side of the city, it's still probably another twenty, thirty minutes after that. Yeah. Yeah.
Az (45:37)
I think it is. All right. Well, I might have to arrange a bus 'cause we're gonna have an open bar and three and and three course lunch. So I'll let you know.
But mate, I want you there. We're gonna send you an invite. if you can't make it, no problem. But Mitch, mate, thank you so much for your time. Thank you for your sharing your experience and yeah, man, like I I'm I'm so glad I met you. I'm I'm really blown away
Mitch (46:03)
No, thanks, dude.
Az (46:04)
by
Yeah, no, I am. I'm I'm really blown away by the way you think. I know you run a good business and I can see why. And I think the the community of our little community, and hopefully beyond that needs to hear it, mate. So if you you probably
Mitch (46:17)
cool. Thank you.
Az (46:18)
know yeah, you probably you know Dwayne or anything but like that. But mate, I'm gonna pass on your details to Dwayne and go get get him on your pond 'cause I think it'll be good. Yeah, well why not, mate? Like
Mitch (46:25)
Get him to hit me up.
Az (46:30)
You know, like he's got different people that listen to him and and all that sort of thing, and I'm not that egotistical to think that I'm the only one, mate, and we're the only one and we're definitely not. These other guys have big audiences.
Mitch (46:40)
It's it's part of being a community as
all. There's you know, the last four or five years this has all really taken off and it it does,
it helps a lot
Az (46:46)
Yeah.
Mitch (46:46)
of people out.
Az (46:47)
It does, mate. And and you're part of it now. You know that Mitch, now you have a little sense of you are,
Mitch (46:50)
Yeah, hopefully.
Az (46:52)
mate. Now you've got a little sense of duty that you are now part of this little circuit of learning that that goes around and and mate, I I would be, you know, talking to you today and I I actually have never really said this on a podcast. And I love when I meet
Some of these, you know, and I don't mean to be rude in any way, but some of these younger up and coming builders that are doing really well and doing really well for the industry. I love sharing them around, man, and talking to other people that I know and getting them on other pods because this is exactly what we need, man. If more people look up to people like you, as I said, we've got a better industry. So yeah, look
Mitch (47:29)
Yeah, for sure.
Az (47:30)
look out for that email Dwayne Pierce. I know you listen to us too. I listen to you too, and we're gonna send
Mitch (47:32)
Yeah.
Az (47:35)
over
you up with Mitch you already know so yeah mate thank you so much for your time that was that was a fucking cool pod
Mitch (47:39)
Thanks, mate. That's all right.
Thank you.