What I am going to discuss today is the product of my spending a week at the WIN THE STORM convention in Las Vegas, as well as the International Builders show…. in Las Vegas. After spending a few days recreationally…. IN LAS VEGAS.
- LAS VEGAS has always been a transformational city for me. I seem to come here at major inflection points in my life.
- LAS VEGAS is FUUUUCking expensive. LOL
- LAS VEGAS tinder has a LOT of Hookers
- LAS VEGAS is the Capital City of Discomfort.
What does all this have to do with YOU as a Roofer? Why should you READ this? Well after speaking with LOTS of roofers, hearing the speakers, talking to vendors and doing my own self reflection is that many of us entrepreneurs in the roofing industry fall victim to the same curse.
Here are some of the things that I saw that would blow the minds of many roofers.
- A Roofer that sold 9.6 MILLION dollars in roof work PERSONALLY
- The 10th in America sold 1.6 Million PERSONALLY.
The challenge with most of us who own our companies is that we get the a point where we have “Made” it.
There is a line that we hit, when the challenges that used to over come us, no longer challenge us.
There is a line where the things we use to struggle for, the bills we used to strive for, the weight we used to want to be, the material things we used to drool over…. end up in our driveway.
The hard fact we need to face is that we are not successful because we have those things. THE PAST VERSION OF OURSELVES is successful because we have those things, accomplished those goals, achieved those goals, lost that weight, got that new truck, own that house, or have that girlfriend that looks the way you want her to look, dresses how you love her to dress, and treats you the way you want to be treated…
IS BECAUSE OF YOUR PAST SELF!
It only takes a week, maybe a month to start getting comfortable and complacent. To start becoming LESS grateful for what we have and start patting ourselves on the back like we “deserve” it.
You don’t deserve SHIT. I don’t deserve SHIT. WE DON’T DESERVE ANYTHING in this life. Noone owes you a thing either!
Once that thinking creeps in, after that first ding on that new truck, when the big house starts to fill with stuff and the work piles up from mowing the grass to shovelling the driveway. Once the Beautiful woman has a bad day and stops being the Princess you think she is supposed to be every minute of every day….. you start to get complacent. The clothes get faded, the Boat starts to smell like Fish….
Even when it comes to your roofing company, things change. At one point all you could think about was getting that overhead between what you sold the roof for and what you we paid on the sale. When it comes to the Roofers out there, all you used to say to yourselves in your heads….for hours… was that this hourly wage was a fraction of what you could earn per bundle or Square.
As a Roofer you would start speaking with your inner self and tell yourself that someday you are going to own a real construction company. With a Brand and a Logo and we Website and people in town know you for your business. You just want YOUR passion, YOUR craft, YOUR dedication and hard work to MEAN something. To be something your mom, your dad, your kid, your wife can be PROUD of you for.
So you get there.
But as you get to whatever level you set for yourself, whatever level that is…. You get comfortable.
When in LAS VEGAS, for this Win the Storm Conference I rode in a McLaren 720S…. for 24 hours. I stayed in a really nice suite… with other guys…. at the Luxor.
It was RENTING the lifestyle, and if that’s not your choice. That’s fine. Aside from the CAR, I really dont give a shit about fancy hotels, night clubs, and upscale clothing brands.
Las Vegas is the Great Humbler of us ALL. It reminds us of one thing.
UNLIMITED POTENTIAL.
Las Vegas is a Case Study for Potential beyond need, potential beyond necessity, potential beyond reason, potential beyond rationality.
Just the fact that Vegas Exists shows the potential of consistency, action, vision, persistence, and salesmanship.
It takes a real salesman to convince people that Vegas should have started, and grown, to the level that it has. The same goes for DUBAI…. (on that note…. what is it about Deserts that attract all this exuberance lol)
Las Vegas took massive massive massive action to build, to design. and the people who enjoy the spoils of Vegas take MASSIVE MASSIVE Action in their lives to provide the ability for them, and their children and families to enjoy the greatest that Las Vegas has to offer.
Imagine the vision it took to Create what is Reno and Freemont Street in the middle of the desert before computers, and social media, and the internet! Imagine the vision it took to walk away from Freemont Street or “OLD VEGAS” and go invest in the monstrosity that is the Las Vegas Strip today? That is Vision. Do you have that kind of Vision for your roofing company getting you up in the morning?
Through Recessions, and Wars, Vegas has CONSISTENTLY been growing upwards and outwards. The Cost of living is affordable for residents and yet creates thousands and thousands of jobs in Construction, Management, Sales, Retail, Service, and Maintenance every day. Sports teams are moving to Las Vegas. Las Vegas has never had the need to re-invent itself and evolve into something different. It has been persistent in its VISION to be the greatest hub of gambling, entertainment, showmanship and luxury.
When good times come and go, Las Vegas has remained persistent in its goals and never stopped growing. Even today, as I drive back to my AirBNB after the show I will see new houses under construction, new developments selling plots of land, the Raiders new home stadium is under construction and another GIGANTIC hotel is under construction on the Strip.
So are you still getting uncomfortable, are you still growing beyond your wildest dreams? Are you maintaining vision? Are you persistent in your goal of building the roofing company that delivers on the values that you feel are important to your community? Have you stayed consistent in achieving a reputation in your desired vertical?
Many of the roofers that go from Storm Chasing, to Chasing Builders. They jump from commercial to retail residential roof replacements. Success leaves clues and when you’re visiting Win the Storm in Las Vegas, you need to look no further than the strip to see that PERSISTENCE in your efforts to build your reputation and your foundation of your roofing companies service offering.
So what we all need to remember is to get comfortable with being uncomfortable. Go back to the days of being hungry, desiring more. Feeling a sense of dissatisfaction with your current position. Do you feel like you have made it? Do you feel the need to puff your chest up an others, and find faults in others? That might be something to look at.
There is real power in the people we once were, there is power in the people we could be. But in many cases… the people we are today have no power. This is as much a message for me as it is for you. Which is why I decided to take this down in the written format.
