Thankful For Local Business

John Sanders. owner of John's Window Washing, cleans a window at Huck Finn Shopping Center on Monday, March 9. Sanders celebrates 22 years in business, working with his brother, Steve Sanders, and his daughter, Alura Johnson.

Local window washing business owner looks back on a successful 22 years (By Trevor McDonald) -Through 22 years, the business has expanded through word-of-mouth endorsements and countless handshakes.

A local business owner knew he picked the right career path the moment he saw a man cleaning the windows at the Aldi grocery store in Hannibal. When John Sanders asked the man a few questions about the tools of the window washing trade, “it scared him to death.” After working two years at Watlow, Sanders established John's Window Washing, slowly gathering customers along S. Main St. Through 22 years, the business has expanded through word-of-mouth endorsements and countless handshakes. 

In the beginning, Sanders drove around town by himself in a 1986 Pontiac Trans Am, with a step ladder poking out the back. Today, he works out of two minivans on jobs of all sizes, alongside his brother, Steve Sanders, and his oldest daughter, Alura Johnson.

Sanders was born in Germany, but his ties to this area ran through generations. His ancestors settled along Highway 79 years ago. He remembered fondly how he visited aunts, uncles and cousins up and down the scenic river route. Sanders said he loved visiting Hannibal on summer vacations during his childhood years, hanging out in Monkey Run and walking all over town — sharing stories and jokes with people around him.

After graduating from the Munich American High School in Germany, Sanders traveled to the United States for college. After “failing miserably at the college experience,” he took a job with a window washing company in Kansas City, learning the trade in three months. When he moved to Northeast Missouri, his career took root. Sanders' with friendly interactions and positive attitudes. “I never made anyone sign a contract. The mutual understanding is great,” he said.

Dedication defined: Sanders and his colleagues work year-round, including on weekends. He recalled working 60 days in a row one summer. He said the crew is usually on call for residential customers who have events including baby showers, parties, and grand openings, prompting a fill-in window washing. On one occasion, his crew performed a grand opening when it was eight degrees outside. "you can't stop working in the winter, because they don't stop sending you bills in the winter," he said.

During a few deft strokes with the cleaner-soaked fleece and the squeegee, Sanders showed how effortlessly he parlayed his craft, using his 6-foot-7-inch frame and his with 30-inch to 36-inch tools. He reached about 10 feet up the glass with each expertly-placed stroke. He said being fast and efficient, coupled with great results, has helped him keep his price steady. Occasionally, he jokes with an employee inside a business while he cleans. When they pull out a stool or ladder to reach an item on the top shelf, he lets out a good-natured, “You need help with that?”

A local ambassador: When Sanders and fellow crew members wash the storefront windows on Main Street in Hannibal, passersby often hear blues music wafting from the nearby minivan. Sanders said he enjoys helping visitors find places to eat and things to do whenever he can. When he hears someone speaking with an accent, he asks them where they visited from and swaps stories. And if he hears a visitor speaking in German, he greets them in the same language.

In a career spanning over two decades, Sanders said he strove “to be a positive force in my world.” As the crew members courteously interact with others, Sanders said they served as ambassadors for the businesses they worked with and the historic downtown district they strove to keep beautiful.

Conversations, bartering and memories: John's Window Washing takes on jobs of all sizes in Hannibal, Palmyra and Quincy. From a two-window, $5 cleaning job to the much-appreciated, expansive jobs at the Hannibal Regional Medical Group and Hannibal Clinic — no two tasks are the same.

Working in communities where he knows so many people, Sanders has bartered his work for items ranging from pottery to t-shirts and repair jobs. He smiled warmly when he recalled the little things customers gave him over the years — an unexpected tip, Christmas cards for his children. “People have been tremendously kind to me and my kids,” Sanders said.

The view ahead: Sanders said business has increased regularly, even with a changing business atmosphere reflecting more corporate control. He said the days have changed from when he would walk into each business to talk with the manager or employee before receiving payment. Now, some corporations require Sanders to fill out a bill and fax it, removing those personal interactions he loves.

But some of Sanders' jobs still remind him of that bygone era. Specifically, the “mom and pop shops” and Crescent Jewelry stick out in his mind. Sanders can count on a warm conversation with Bobby Heiser when he comes in to pick up payment for his work, a payment which has been the same amount for 20 years.

Those sorts of relationships trump money for Sanders. “I never did this to get rich. I've been down and out where I had nothing,” he said. “I feel rich. This job gives me some flexibility to spend time and vacations with my kids, and my three girls are the focal point of my life. it also gives me the opportunity to interact with all walks of life, and I think that's the best education in life.”

Spring Gutter & Roof Cleaning

 Jeffrey Hausmann, pressure supervisor at Custom Window Cleaning and Property Maintenance, scrapes the moss off of a roof in Eugene. For many window cleaners in the US, winter/spring is the perfect time to offer roof/gutter cleaning.

Time to tidy up the roof - Dos, don’ts from Lane County experts for removing moss and keeping gutters flowing free: Trees can be hard enough on roofs, what with their falling needles, leaves and limbs. But even worse, usually, is a silent plague bred by dark and moist Willamette Valley days.

“The last two winters have been ridiculous,” declares roof-maintenance specialist Doug Holston. “Moss has grown on everything. If you have wet, warm, mild winters, you’re going to have more moss growing.” The only way for homeowners to know how their roofs have fared against moss, debris and wind over the winter is to have a look.

Workers use harnesses and safety ropes when cleaning a steep roof.

Leave inspections of steep roofs to the pros, implores Holston, owner of Custom Window Cleaning and Property Maintenance in Eugene. His crews harness themselves to anchored ropes for their own safety on slippery pitches.

Homeowners with milder roof pitches — 5/12 or less — can venture a look-see themselves if confident of their balance on both roof and ladder. “Be sure it’s not too steep and slippery, and that you have your tennis shoes on,” advises John Davey, co-owner of long-time River Roofing in Springfield.

Autumn and spring are the best times to go up top and inspect. “At least get up there once a year,” Davey advises. “This is a great time right now, with spring arriving. You can check on any damage from winter weather and clear off debris that’s accumulated up there.”

Moss actually eats away at the roof, causing it to deteriorate faster.

Kill and remove moss

The bane of rooftops in Oregon is moss. When dampness accumulates on a shaded area, moss breeds, potentially causing long-term damage to roof shingles and support structure. Before moss digs in and spreads, kill the growth.

Most moss-control products contain zinc sulfate. “Green” treatments, such as sprays of diluted white vinegar and baking soda, can be effective, too. However, alternative moss control solutions can void the warranty on some brands of asphalt shingles, so be sure to read the fine print before application.

“Whether you use those natural products or a chemical moss killer from the store, in about six weeks the moss will die and then you can go up there and scrape it off,” Davey says. What you absolutely must not do with a composition shingle roof is use a pressure washer to remove debris. Pressure washing can damage asphalt shingles and cause the roof to leak. Davey recommends a stiff broom and a small, light steel brush. “Work (the moss) loose, but don’t get too aggressive with it,” he says.

Pressure washing is OK on roofs of cement, steel, concrete or metal, but even then Davey recommends an initial cleaning followed by a light wash.

While pressure washers should never be used to clean an asphalt-shingle roof, it is OK to remove debris with an air blower.

Clean gutters crucial

Clogged gutters can cause rainwater to seep under a roof’s fascia and rot the wood. Gutters and downspouts should be cleaned at least once a year. Examine both the gutters and the downspouts for leaks and gaps in the seams.

“Gutters used to be installed with silicone, but now we use an aluminum-based sealant that stays pliable during temperature changes,” says Kelly Carter, who, with her husband, owns and runs Hedge Carter’s Continuous Gutter Service based in Dorena. “You won’t get the leaks you did in the past.”

Larger gutter spouts also are now available, “and that makes it much easier to clean and maintain,” she adds. Wire-mesh screens and some other gutter coverings can help keep needles, leaves and limbs from clogging drainage. But any covering requires periodic cleaning.

“There is no maintenance-free gutters, screens or anything else, no matter what anyone tells you,” Holston says. “Nothing is maintenance free.” Always make sure that gutters and downspouts lead water away from the home and its foundation, and that brackets hold downspouts tightly against the house.

Maintenance on steep roofs should be left to pros with proper safety equipment. Upkeep on roofs with milder pitches, at 5/12 are less, is within the realm of homeowners confident of their balance on roof and ladder. 

Check for wear and tear, too

With spring, also check your roof for missing or damaged shingles. Quick replacement helps to prevent water damage that might result when rainwater pools around curled or missing shingles. Also, be sure metal flashing remains intact around vents, exhaust pipes and chimneys. Check to see that the flashing isn’t bent, and existing sealant isn’t dried up or loose.

Seal cracked mortar or caulking around joints and chimneys if there are signs of deterioration. New sealants are extremely flexible in hot and cold weather, and are much more durable than their predecessors, Davey says.

He suggests using polyurethane sealants rather than the more traditional roof mastic. “These newer polyurethane options have a tendency to stick better to brick, glass, wood and shingles,” Davey explains, “and they have a longer life.”

Trim trees so their limbs do not overhang the roof and shower it with needles or leaves. And keep an eye out for animal damage, too. Various birds and insects love your roof and its underpinnings.

UK Policemen Urged To Clean Windows

British policemen urged to clean windows as part of their fitness regime.

Met's advice for blobby bobbies: Try snowball fights and window cleaning! Health guru offers tips to unfit officers ahead of upcoming fitness tests Police officers have been told to lose weight by tobogganing, having snowball fights and even walking their children to school. Overweight officers are also being urged to move furniture around, build snowmen, wash windows or jump on a trampoline in the garden.

The advice comes from Scotland Yard’s new health guru Sean Burgess in an attempt to help police pass their upcoming fitness tests. A few years ago, a survey of Metropolitan officers and staff revealed that 64 per cent of those on the force’s payroll were overweight, obese or morbidly obese. As a result, mandatory fitness tests - known as ‘bleep tests’ - were introduced in September 2014.  A total of 807 were failed - 237 by men and 570 by women – before passing them became compulsory. Any staff who repeatedly fail them face the sack.

Mr Burgess, head of occupational health, gave his fitness advice to officers in the Met’s in-house magazine The Job. He began by writing, ‘Exercise? Who has time for it?’ before listing tips to help officers lose weight. ‘Have snowball fights, build a snowman or do some tobogganing,’ he writes. ‘Household jobs involve moving, stretching, lifting and carrying. Do some cleaning by moving furniture or washing the windows.’

Mr Burgess, a former nurse, says that getting into an exercise routine is hard and suggested finding sports that officers can do with their families like swimming, running for a charity, cycling or walking. He said: ‘Walk the kids to school, or walk the dog around the local park or countryside, if you can. Have a trampoline in the garden or a basketball net.’ Mr Burgess told officers that they should not ‘fear the bleeper’ if they followed his advice. ‘Turn your preparation into a regular habit,’ he added. ‘Training sessions will become easier to manage in terms of time and motivation.

‘If you can train with a partner it will assist in motivation and help develop an exercise habit.’

Met Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe has previously told how important it was that his officers were fit. ‘I think you’ve got a duty to your colleagues,’ he said recently. ‘If they shout for help, they want fit people to come. They don’t want somebody waddling down the road who’s never going to arrive, and when they get there they’re out of breath.’ Sir Bernard added: ‘It’s taken too long to get the annual test, but it will start to have an increasing impact. For me, the standard is too low, I think it should be higher. It’s relatively easy.’

The Met Commissioner went on to say that those who fail to make the grade should be given time to lose weight and get fitter. But he added: ‘If they don’t, then we haven’t got a job for them.’ Scotland Yard guidelines say those who fail at the first attempt should be put on a physical training programme for up to ten weeks before being told to retake the test. Officers who fail three further tests are recommended for dismissal.

There are so many overweight policemen in Britain that belts large enough for 56-inch waists are becoming hard to find. Emergency Service Supplies, a uniform supplier, had recently sold out of the XXXL version of the belt that carries heavy equipment as well as holds up trousers. The next size down was in short supply. Utility belts are an essential item for all officers because they are used to carry their handcuffs, baton and other tools. The company also offers outsized clothing for bulkier community support officers, supplying an XXXL high visibility vest alongside other duty wear in sizes up to a 56-inch chest.

Ungers "Clean" Magazine

Swedes Ivan Pleinadius and Marianne Pettersson, 

Unger Europe: Unger brings out an online magazine for window cleaners in several languages. With news, downloads, videos, technology, tips & tricks & much more interesting stuff for the professional window cleaner. You can also find all the brochures & Unger product details directly from the European website. Featured in the magazine are speed cleaners, Swedens Ivan Pleinadius and Marianne Pettersson who are usually in attendance at most of Ungers trade shows.

These are the recently crowned world champions of “Speed Cleaning” - As fast as it gets: the Swedes Ivan Pleinadius and Marianne Pettersson prevailed at the IWCA Window Cleaning Contest in Florida, beating 25 competitors in the process. They came first and second in the “Speed Cleaning” category. They had both already shown off their skills at Unger’s trade fair show in Amsterdam and will also be at this year’s ISSA INTERCLEAN from 10th – 12th May. We met up with the Unger fans for an interview. Read the interview here.

When The Rubber Hits - A Startup Launchpad

We’re building a startup – one step at a time!

When The Rubber Hits The Road: Notes From A Startup Launchpad: When we launched our house-detailing service Shack Shine last spring, it was a time of champagne and celebration. The ribbon was cut and we were ready for business! Since writing last, reality has set in: turns out, the launch is actually the ‘easy’ part. Managing expectations, jumping through hoops, and staying ahead of the stress associated with startup life can be downright dirty – but thankfully, this isn’t my first rodeo.

In this second installment of Notes From A Startup Launchpad, we share some of the bumps we’ve hit early in the journey and some of the awesome moments too. Going through these early stages reminds me of the value of investing time, heart, and just a little bit of grit to get a startup off the ground – right.

Hurdle 1: The Collaboration Games

After 10 years building and operating a multi-million dollar commercial painting business, Dave Notte wanted a new challenge. He approached me in 2014 hoping that Shack Shine, a window and gutter cleaning company, could join the O2E Brands family, leverage its systems, and create an international brand through franchising.

Going into business with someone is always a gamble. Author of The Founder’s Dilemma Noam Wasserman says founders feel a great sense of ownership over their “baby” and may be resistant to change, even when it’s what’s best for the company.

Since partnering with us, Dave has had to transition from lone-wolf entrepreneur to a collaborative, managing director of a startup. He’s had to grind it out in a competitive marketplace, while doing things ‘our’ way.

“Collaboration totally slows down decision-making processes – every department at O2E Brands is involved in everything! The end results are better, but I’d be lying if I said it was an easy adjustment from making quick decisions and acting on them immediately,” Dave says.

When we encounter collaboration-related issues, we go back to the vision we created for Shack Shine at the beginning of our journey. A clear vision, or Painted Picture, mitigates some of the challenges of working in a partnership by forcing stakeholders to focus on the road ahead – rather than getting bogged down with how to get there.

Hurdle 2: Reality Can Bite

Most problems in business partnerships arise from the partnership itself, not from operations or external forces. The next issue we encountered on this startup journey had elements of both.

“I assumed the systems were dialed, documented, and replicable,” says Dave. “In reality, the launch of Shack Shine was a project that built a system to launch future brands for O2E Brands. Documenting each step was a time-consuming, expensive process.”

It’s been proven to me time and again that Michael Gerber was right when he said, “people don’t fail, systems do.” After launching You Move Me in 2013, I learned the value of doing the heavy lifting up front: we grew very quickly, launching 25 franchise locations in one day. Just as quickly, we realized that many of our processes and operations needed tweaking (or in some cases total overhauls). Retracing our steps to make up for imperfect systems was an expensive time suck and it curbed our momentum.

Although it was arduous for Dave, I insisted on going slow with Shack Shine. It’s a totally unique business in a new category – house detailing. We’re not building the system for just one business – we are creating a model than can be replicated in over 250 locations. To scale successfully, we had to fine-tune and test our systems before taking the brand public.

Dave has worked hard to create solid systems and I’m certain we’ll see that the extra effort was well worthwhile.

Hurdle 3: Every Business is Risky Business

No matter how much experience you may have, a constant feeling in any new venture is the fear of failure. “I’m concerned about having a sophomore slump. We’re taking a lot of risks,” says Dave.

Some days seem more troublesome than others, like when we have to deal with bureaucratic red tape and banking regulations for our U.S. expansion. We know that more obstacles are ahead: it’s on us to legitimize house-detailing as a new category. And to find a younger crowd of franchise partners, we’re foregoing typical recruitment methods to focus on digital channels and social media.

We’re not in our comfort zone and it’s a vulnerable feeling, but I’m encouraged by the Shack Shine’s franchise partners, who are spirited, young entrepreneurs. Despite his understandable worries, Dave is an intuitive businessman and we have a strong, well-balanced partnership. And we have experience and proven systems to fall back on.

When the going gets tough…

The honeymoon period is over and the realities of startup life have set in. But there are plenty of small wins that keep us thinking about the next bottle of champagne. Stress, anticipation, and the exhilaration associated with risk-taking are all part of the entrepreneurial journey – and what make launching a new brand worthwhile in the end.

I’m the founder and CEO of O2E (Ordinary to Exceptional) Brands. I’m passionate about helping others grow small to medium businesses and corporate culture. Tweet me @brianscudamore

Window Cleaner Needing Help In Peru

Bryce Astill in Peru, he left his window cleaning company for 2 months to be run by his brother while he was away.

Community stepping in to help Utah man in critical condition in Peru: On Feb. 17, Dylan Astill got a text message from his brother, 35-year-old Bryce Astill, who was on a two-month solo adventure in Huaraz, Peru. The message said that he wasn’t feeling well and wouldn’t be participating in an upcoming trek he had planned, said their sister Aubrey Waldron.

Dylan Astill, who was at home in Park City, managing his brother’s high-rise window-cleaning business while he was away, thought nothing of the text message, but wished his brother well, Waldron said. Six days later, Dylan Astill got another message from Bryce Astill saying he was at the local clinic to be checked, followed the next day by “I have acute pulmonary edema and pneumonia. I am being moved to the ICU. Call Dad.” After that, silence.

Dylan Astill and his family were now in Utah, faced with the unknown. Bryce Astill was in a foreign country unable to communicate with his family, and nobody knew where he was and how to get to him, Waldron said. After a series of calls, and overcoming a large language barrier, Bryce Astill’s father, Dennis Astill, and sister Alicia Astill, who is a traveling nurse, were able to find out that he was at Clinica San Pablo, Huaraz, Peru.

What they found when they got there was not what they expected. Just two hours before the two family members arrived, Bryce Astill began showing signs of renal failure. He was not responding to antibiotics and was sedated and intubated, lying in the hospital bed in critical condition unable to speak to his father and sister.

Bryce with some running friends.

Family members wondered how such an active, healthy person could have a sudden, life-threatening condition like this. Bryce Astill is an athlete who teaches CrossFit and has run and trained at high altitudes — even up to 100-mile distances at a time. He was well-equipped to handle the high altitudes (up to 10,000 feet) of Peru, as he had often trained in the high Uintas. Nobody had answers, only speculations.

What family and doctors knew was that Bryce Astill needed to be moved quickly to a hospital in Lima, Peru, if he was to survive, but that presented other problems. Transporting Bryce Astill could be dangerous, even deadly. Also, in Peru, you pay for treatment before you receive it, so Bryce’s family needed to raise funds quickly if they were to save his life, Waldron said. Close friend and family spokeswoman Jenny Powers set up a GoFundMe account to raise funds, and that is where it became known how loved Bryce Astill is.

Just two hours before the two family members arrived, Bryce Astill began showing signs of renal failure. He was not responding to antibiotics and was sedated and intubated, lying in the hospital bed in critical condition.

“Bryce is a fixture in the running, ultrarunning and CrossFit communities,” Powers said. “He has run many 100-mile races, placing consistently in the top 10, but he is an even better pacer. He has helped many people cross that finish line and many other finish lines.” Waldron described her brother as “the most genuine, kind, giving and passionate person you'll ever come across,” adding that as a nine-year sober recovering heroin addict, Bryce Astill has helped recovering addicts and mentored troubled youth and battered women through a meditation technique called mind-body bridging.

“Through this challenge, we have seen that Bryce’s family goes way beyond his immediate family,” Waldron said. “It has been so eye-opening to see how many lives he’s reached. So many people see him how we do, and love him how we do.”

Bryce Astill before he became ill in Peru.

Since the GoFundMe account was set up, over $41,000 has been raised, mostly in small donation amounts. The family wants to tell all those who have helped how grateful they are. “We know he is not out of the woods yet, and there are so many more hard days ahead, but it has been so great to have the support of all of Bryce’s friends,” Waldron said.

Astill is in a private hospital in Lima, still sedated and in critical condition, and will stay there, as it is too dangerous to transport him to the U.S., Powers said. The family is still in need of help to cover the thousands of dollars in upfront medical costs, she said. A donation account has been set up at America First Credit Union under “Bryce Astill Charitable Account.” The gofundme.com page is under “Bryce Astill emergency medical fund.”

Ordinary To Exceptional

Our parent company O2E Brands is ordinary to exceptional, and everything we do is about taking ordinary businesses, we made it exceptional through the branding and the customer experience. Now we're doing the same thing to the painting world, the moving world, the house detailing and window washing world.

Entrepreneur Interview - Brian Scudamore: The break-in alarm wouldn't stop screaming - and I knew I was screwed. Just as self-made multi-millionaire Brian Scudamore, the person I was about to interview, walked through the front door of the building, the ticket machine had malfunctioned and let out an ear shattering series of shrieks. We hadn't met before. "Hi, I'm you're 12:00" I tried to smile over the screeching.

Luckily, Brian had a sense of humor and playfully shrugged it off. " Trying to break into the building?" he joked, before retreating from the turmoil. After I managed to get the machine to calm down, I boarded the lift and took it up to the offices of his empire's parent company O2E Brands. Greeted by smiling secretaries at the front desk, coffee was thrust into my hand and I was seated by a table in the middle of the large and colorfully decorated office space.

As I waited for Brian, I could see that Brian's story was reflected on the walls of the office. He started 1-800-Got-Junk in Vancouver, BC in 1989 to help pay for college, and there was a huge wall size photo capturing where he started. Having began with one truck which he bought for $700 dollars, the image stood in stark contrast to the fast-paced modern office where I sat now.

Brian started "The Rubbish Boys" as a way to pay for college in 1989.

Over the next decades Brian used his philosophy of taking ordinary businesses like junk removal, and executing them in extraordinary ways. He has tackled junk removal, painting, the moving industry and most recently window washing & gutter cleaning services. The parent company for his businesses is O2E Brands, which stands for ordinary to extraordinary.

Brian soon joined me and we began recording almost immediately - below is the transcription from our conversation. It's geared toward advice for upcoming entrepreneurs, with a focus on the theme "tips for my 25 year old self". However, upon finishing the interview there are great insights for people at all levels of their entrepreneurial journey.

What is your opinion for someone who just got out of high school and they like the idea of being an entrepreneur - what would you recommend that person does?

Brian: For me, my education was learning on the job. It was getting out there and buying a truck and starting to haul junk. It's hard to learn about entrepreneurism in school from a professor who's never run a business.

So for me, someone who's 18 that wants to get out and do something on their own; go learn from an entrepreneurial business like O2E brands. We look for people that are entrepreneurial and we say "How do we help you be an entrepreneur" how do we help you find your entry point into this wonderful world of entrepreneurship. So people will often start here, learn things, and go start their own business.

Find a place to get your learning; is it from mentors? Is it from asking questions of other people? Is it working in an entrepreneurial business and learning from them? Or is it just taking the leap like I did?

In school did you ever have a "small man's complex" where other kids thought you were stupid, but now it's kind of the other way around?

Brian: I've never really been one to care what people think, so for me there were some people that thought, "Why are you not into school, why aren't you working hard, why aren't you focused?" They might be looking back going, "Okay, well it's worked out for him!"

Brian Scudamore is the Founder and CEO of O2E Brands.

Tell me a little about your new window washing & gutter cleaning company Shack Shine.

Brian: Shack Shine is our newest brand, and it's going really well. I partnered up with Dave Notte who created this idea; I didn't love the look and feel of the brand but I thought the concept was great.

Shack Shine is a window cleaning, gutter cleaning, and power washing service based in Vancouver.

And I know you are very serious about branding.

Brian: It's kind of funny, but I went and hired our branding guy to recreate the Shack Shine look and feel before Dave and I actually did a deal. I was THAT confident that we would come to a deal. I knew that the name worked, but I said let's create something that VISUALLY looks right and it turned out really well.

One of the things that I was reading about that you do is that you're REALLY meticulous with branding. You said that you spent $200,000 on a logo, and I had never heard of that before for a home services company.

Brian: With WOW 1 DAY PAINTING the colors were very collegiate; they were blue and orange. I looked at the brand and thought with an industry filled with college run painting companies, we wanted to stand out. So we looked at colors and green is fresh, it's rejuvenating, so we really liked the color. We hired a branding company to help us create the right look, and they got us part way there, but not all the way. So we hired another branding company to come in and take over and they got us further, and then we actually went back to the original guy to take it across the finish line. So it was interesting that we had two branding companies work on it. It cost us more money than maybe it should have, but it took the time and energy to get the look and the feel right.

We hired a branding company to help us create the right look.

But the thing was was that you understood very well what was broken and you fixed it and it worked. And the ROI (return on investment) on that kind of branding has been, well what was it?

Brian: It was about $200,000 to re-brand. It was expensive, but the $200,000 wasn't hiring one company, it was the inefficiencies of us spending one year trying to re-create the new look and feel.

That's entrepreneurship, though?

Brian: Exactly; and once we got it right we shared it with James Alisch, who's our managing director. I shared it with him before he was a part of the brand, and he got excited about the vision of what we could create; revolutionizing the painting industry - a very "mom and pop" fragmented industry. Just the look of the logo was enough to bring him in to go, "Yeah I can see it." Our customers IMMEDIATELY got excited about the new look and feel, and it's been great.

Looking at the way that you've done things, you took world class business chops and applied them to things that were being done inefficiently. And now you've got this business that does a world class service, world class branding. You're obviously run well and centralized, so it's hard to compete with you.

Brian: Yeah, and I think that we're taking all the learning from everything we do and building on it even further. Our parent company O2E Brands is ordinary to exceptional, and everything we do is about taking ordinary businesses, junk removal couldn't have been more ordinary when I started, and we made it exceptional through the branding and the customer experience. Now we're doing the same thing to the painting world, the moving world, the house detailing and window washing world; who knows what's next. The goal is a billion in revenue by the end of 2021 with ten brands. And it's not a money-making thing, there's not a lot of billion dollar Vancouver companies; so to stand out knowing that we made a difference in the business world and the lives of people culturally is special.

You're really successful in Vancouver and as an entrepreneur, do you think about the place that you live? As a 22 year old entrepreneur it's a big decision I am just starting to make now and would love some insight.

Brian: I'm inspired in Vancouver. I love Whistler, I ski almost every weekend with my family. I love the mountains, I love the ocean, I love the forest. So to me Vancouver's home, and you need to start something in a place where you feel inspired. Could there be more efficiencies to my business and my life is I was in Toronto or New York? Possibly, but it's not worth giving up the inspirational side of if I'm doing something special.

Vancouver's a smaller market and there aren't as many big head offices; so for a company like ours that's growing it's been harder to find really seasoned people, but you've got to deal with that. We hire on attitude and train on skill, so a lot of it is just finding really great people and then building them up.

O2E Brands strives to make the ordinary businesses of junk removal, painting, moving and home detailing exceptional by being leaders in customer experience and innovation.

You're one of the more interesting companies in town; O2E and HootSuite are two of the most recognizable companies. It's sort of like, "Where do I want to work?" you know you're not competing with Apple or Google, you can keep really good talent out of match.

Brian: We can stand out in this market, but it's also harder because you don't have the big brands to pull people from as easily. Also the real estate in Vancouver is so ridiculously expensive that it's hard to pull people from the U.S. and say, "Hey why don't you come live in our city where EVERYTHING is over a million bucks?

It seems like one of your biggest strengths is creative PR; do you have any tips for being creative with PR and thinking about things this way?

Brian: It's just paying attention to press and thinking differently. Seeing opportunities in a situation where someone might not.

Brian: One crazy example: we teach our truck teams to always be on the lookout for opportunities, and two of our 1-800-GOT-JUNK guys were driving along one day and some guy comes running out of a store and chased by someone else because this guy was robbing the store. The 1-800-GOT-JUNK guys got out of the truck and helped catch the guy. It turns out the guy was stealing a bag of shrimp, so right away they pick up the phone and they call our office and they're like, "Guys, we just caught a shrimp thief!" I mean it's ridiculous, and it made the evening news.

We're just always thinking about how we can get that awareness and that attention.

When the Canucks years ago were in the playoffs we decided that we were gonna do a media stunt, and we put on blue wigs. We gave out a thousand wigs at the Canucks games, and a thousand wigs in 18,000 people, those blue wigs stand out. Everyone's like "Where'd you get those, what's that about?"

So fun is kind of an element in that, too?

Brian: Yeah have fun, be different. Everyone in the press is looking for a story every day. People have writer's block, people are stuck, so when there's a journalist, help give them a story. Pick up the phone and call and say, "Hey I've got a great idea for you." and run it by them.

What is often overlooked when building a company?

Brian: I think people don't talk about how hard it really is. If you knew how hard it was going to be on day one, you wouldn't do it. That's why so few people do actually start businesses, because it isn't easy. But if you REALLY knew how hard it was going to be and how much you were scraping the bottom of the barrel financially, and making wrong people decisions and all the stuff that happens to entrepreneurs, if you knew how hard it was I don't think you'd do it.

What's funny is once you're so into it and you care so much, there's just no way that anything can stop you once you've gotten your momentum going.

Brian: Absolutely. It's absolutely worth doing. I think most entrepreneurs don't talk about how hard it actually is and all the challenges you face, but it is that challenge that makes it worthwhile. If you didn't have to overcome anything, it would be boring.

What personal traits or strengths helped you stand out as an entrepreneur?

Brian: I think vision. There's a quote from Walt Disney which we love, "It's kind of fun to do the impossible" I love going, "Wow, nobody wants to do that because it's impossible. We're going to figure out a way to make it possible." I think storytelling and captivating the vision in my mind, and being crystal clear as to here's what it looks like. I'm bad at figuring out how to get there, but that's where I've got Eric Church - who's our president and COO. He's great at encapsulating - taking the vision and packaging it into a plan and going, "Okay, let's rally the team now."

So I'm an entrepreneur who is earlier in my journey than you are - how do you cultivate skills like that, or SHOULD you cultivate skills like that to be successful in business?

Brian: I think it's the Marcus Buckingham "Focus on your strengths, don't try and fix weaknesses" I was a terrible reader and I'm STILL a terrible reader. I just focus on the stuff that I've been gifted with. So I think it's cultivating your gifts much more than trying to improve your weaknesses.

What are three things a starting entrepreneur should focus on?

Brian: Vision, people, and systems.

Vision is number one, it's knowing where you're going, but don't even think about how you're going to get there. Think of where you want to change the world and create a business that can do that. Don't think about all the steps, don't get overwhelmed, just think about the destination.

Second: People. The very first employee you hire, the second, the third, the five hundredth employee, be incredibly selective. Don't ever compromise on people. If you bring in one bad apple, it spoils the whole bunch.

Number three: Systems. Take everything that you created the business with that you're good at, and put it into a one page best practice and say, "Okay here's how we do things." Teach someone else how to do it and improve on it, and get things off your plate as an entrepreneur so you can do it.

Brian is a regular contributor to Forbes, writing about small business ownership and franchising.

Lastly, what is one piece of advice you'd give to your 25-year-old self?

Brian: Never stop believing. When you have that picture in your mind of your vision, don't ever give up. There are so many times in my life where nobody believed in me, and I still had to believe in myself otherwise it's game over. Surround yourself with supporters and continue to believe in where you're going. If you don't know how to get there, it doesn't matter. Just keep believing and you'll get there.