090 - Building a Family Legacy with Michael Barnett

In this episode, we’re talking with Michael Barnett, the owner of Barnett Electrical, to learn how he went from working 90 hours a week making minimum wage to closing in on his goal of retiring by age 40.

Show Notes

  • Who is Michael Barnett, and what was his path to being a business owner? (1:24)

  • When should you get lawyers involved in a family business? (3:26)

What was life like when he took over the company?

  • 2012 - 2016: Growing the company, focused on sales, no idea how much money was in the bank. (6:12)

  • What caused his vision of the company to change? What were the biggest issues he faced as a new business owner who was trying to build and grow a legacy? (7:18)

  • How was he prospecting for new customers? (9:14)

  • 2017: Focused his sights on commercial work because there was more money in it. (11:22)

  • They hit a million in sales, but started to feel some cashflow problems. (12:46)

  • Even though they grew in 2017, they lost money. So, Michael started talking to other business owners and took a mastermind class with Martin (14:41)

  • Bookkeeping 101: How to use good books to make decisions. (17:16)

Becoming a business owner, not just an electrician

  • Being a business owner is fun. (18:43)

  • They started focusing on service work because it had 40% margins without putting in any work to improve processes. (24:06)

  • BUT, Michael DID improve the service processes. Here’s how. (25:30)

  • Michael’s mentality through the changes? “Jump. We’ll build the wings on the way down.” (30:18)

  • The power of getting rid of the hourly rate and charging a service fee. (34:48)

  • How Michael sets his costs AND protects his customers. (36:30)

  • How technology supports his business. (38:30)

  • What was the key to turning around his business? (42:58)

  • The evolution of his vision. (45:28)

  • What’s Michael’s advice for others who want success? (47:35)

  • Ethan’s Insights — Ethan’s favorite moments from the interview. (49:25)



Quotable Moments

  • “If you’re cheap enough, you can get as much work as you want, but you won’t be around.” — Michael

  • “We broke a million, so where’s the money?” — Michael

  • “If you have 35 margins and you raise your prices 10, you can lose 22 of your business before you lose 1 penny of profit.” — M

  • “Jump. We’ll build the wings on the way down.” — Michael

  • “As a business owner, you have to make those leaps of faith all the time. Otherwise, you just stay stagnant, get in a rut, and you don’t improve. You miss out on opportunities and you don’t grow.” — K


Resources

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More from Khalil

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091- Protecting What You Build with Eric Daffern

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089 - Mo' Money, Mo' Problems with Sergio Garcia