Steve Baczek is a hands on architect with previous experience in the trades. After some brief background, Steve and Mike talk the importance of talking budgets from the start. Bla bla bla. It's an in-depth discussion between two guys who have a lot of experience weeding out tire kickers and getting straight to the point. How much money do you have? Both of them agree that a lot of their clients are "pre-qualified" in a sense if they came to them based on reputation but the budget question still needs to be addressed! And tire kickers? They talk about some red flags and turn down a lot of people. When it comes to friends and family, charge full price or charge nothin at all! Steve then talks about his process with clients...listen as he describes " narrative" he assigns his clients for homework and then meet and discuss before any drawings are started. Guiding, coaching, or leadership, call it what you want, Mike and Steve agree that you are responsible for making your client understand the process, the project and the product. Then its fun to do the work!
The Contracting Handbook podcast is all about the builders and skilled tradesmen and tradeswomen in the construction industry from all over the world. Here you’ll meet the tradespeople who took a leap of faith from working their craft to running the own construction company. You’ll meet people who left lucrative careers to enter the trades. For newcomers to running a construction business, there is a ton of advice on “how to” run your contracting company. For established contractors, you get to meet other industry leaders and get behind the scenes of their business and stay up to date with industry change. Mike Knoche, your host, keeps the conversation interesting. He’s been operating his contracting business for over 15 years in the oddly wonderful, Fairbanks, Alaska. Mike’s philosophy is “we are all experts in how we build where we live, but the business basics and business management are universal”. Join us for this global conversation on operating a construction company, mental health, cool projects, and construction industry progress.
Host: Mike Knoche
Website: The Contracting Handbook
Instagram: @thecontractinghandbook
Venmo: Mike-Knoche-1
info@thecontractinghandbook.com
Guest: Steve Baczek
Website: Steve Baczek Architect
Instagram: @stevenbaczekarchitect