058 - The Foundation of Schindler Design Co. with Reid Schindler

The tales, journey, and successes of a luxury pool prodigy, Reid Schindler. We sat down with the 33-year-old owner of Schindler Design Co., a pool, outdoor living, and landscaping architect to hear just exactly how he’s made a name for himself for nearly two decades. Listen to hear his entrepreneurial insights and lessons learned from a nearly 300 pools constructed rap sheet.

Show Notes

  • Reid’s start. (5:00)

  • How to manage customer expectations. (21:00)

  • The entrepreneurial epiphany. (32:00)

  • Getting the first job. (42:00)

  • Why added expenses are worth it. (52:00)

  • Why we only have 2 employees. (57:00)

  • How to keep good subcontractors. (59:00)

  • How to winterize your pool. (1:05:00)

  • The margins you bid for. (1.15:00)

  • Mentorship. (1:24:00)



Quotable Moments

  • “My last interview was for an internship when I was 16 years old.” – R

  • “No matter how good of a designer you are, in my opinion, you also have to be a salesman. If you’re not, your designs will just sit there.” – R

  • “You have no idea how many calls I get from customers I submitted bids to who called me 6 months later and said “we actually should have gone with you because we ended up over what you actually bid us.” – R

  • “The key to getting referrals is managing customer expectations of budget and time.” – R

  • “In this field, you’re married to your customer.” – R

  • “When they step on my job site, I don’t care what subcontractors do on other job sites but this is how we do it. I’ll only work with guys that can handle doing it my way.” – R

  • “When covid truly hit, it was the same week oil and gas went negative. We went two weeks without a single phone call and the weirdest thing happened… we got at least 15 phone calls that third week.” – R

  • “4% of all the companies in the world ever make it to $1 million.” – M

  • “The single biggest issue that I see with contractors today is that they’re paying for the current project with the next project.” – R

  • “We had the snowiest and coldest winter on record and we still had to get one job done so we actually rented a tent and tented the whole job and put gas heaters in it. We built the whole project under a tent.” – R



Resources



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059 - When You Know They Need To Go

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057 - Customer Profiles