Compton Construction

Tim Fulton 0:06Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Confluence Cast presented by Columbus Underground. We are a weekly Columbus-centric podcast focusing on the civics, lifestyle, entertainment, and people of our city. I'm your host, Tim Fulton. This week, I sat down with Blake Compton, the CEO of Compton Construction. We discussed some of the unique challenges in construction in Columbus, but primarily we focused on the life cycle of being a business owner, starting that business, knowing what your role should be in that business. We delve deeper than we thought we would into the area commissions in Columbus. And then we talk about knowing when to bring an expert into your business and at the end, the importance of having coaches and mentors. You can get more information on Compton Construction and the things that we discussed today in the show notes for this episode at theconfluencecast.com. Confluence Cast is sponsored by Best Bites Burgers. Coming up October 13th, the event is your opportunity to taste the best burgers Columbus has to offer. Tickets for the event include burger samples from over a dozen Columbus restaurants and can be purchased at Best Bites. That's B-E-S-T-B-I-T-E-S. Enjoy the interview. Sitting down with Blake Compton, Chief Executive Officer of Compton Construction. Blake, how are you?

Blake Compton 1:35Good. Good.

Tim Fulton 1:36Good. Here today to sort of talk about, first of all, Compton Construction, but also sort of talk about the landscape of change that's happening in Columbus and how Compton Construction sort of fits within it. First of all, what's the elevator speech on who Compton Construction is?

Blake Compton 1:52So we're a commercial construction firm that focuses on design build as a delivery method, uh, where we try to be the sole point of contact for our clients, uh, with the city, with the architects, designers. Um, we have niched ourselves in the brewery industry. Uh, we focused on learning how breweries are put together from a production standpoint, but also how to incorporate their aesthetic in the tap room space, uh, or brew pub, and then finally adaptive reuse, which is taking old buildings and finding new uses for them.

Tim Fulton 2:22Okay. What does design build mean specifically?

Blake Compton 2:25So-

Tim Fulton 2:25I- is it that sort of from design to build, like you were talking about, that you're the primary point of contact for the city, for the individual contractors that are working?

Blake Compton 2:34So yeah, th- that's a good question, and it's, it's one, it's one that, uh, if you ask, uh, 20 builders or 20 architects, they're all gonna have a little bit of a different answer. For us, it does mean we're, we're sometimes the only contract that's signed. So you h- you hire us to hire everyone else. So we're, we're literally the, the linchpin of, of success on your project. Rather than having four or five, you know, maybe you have an interior designer and an architect, an engineer, and a structural engineer, y- and the owner's hiring each of those individually and trying to manage that process. I feel like it puts people on different sides of tables.

Tim Fulton 3:09Right, well-

Blake Compton 3:10And, yeah

Tim Fulton 3:10... and it's difficult for everybody to sort of be at the same table and communicating everything effectively.

Blake Compton 3:15Yeah.

Tim Fulton 3:15And while that may be great for the client, do you, uh, end up assuming some liability for-

Blake Compton 3:20There, there's su- substantial more liability, and I think that, you know, it, it means sometimes that we make less money on those types of projects, but we feel that we can deliver a good project. And it speaks to the culture that I've tried to build where integrity is the most important thing, and, you know, if we make a mistake, we, we fix it.

Tim Fulton 3:36Right. When you started, was that sort of the nature of the work or was it much more like you're gonna take whatever job you can get and however that work is structured, that's what you're gonna take?

Blake Compton 3:46I would say really how this company is, has... What it's turned into is, is really just formed o- in my early years being in construction. I first started out renovating old buildings.

Tim Fulton 3:55Okay.

Blake Compton 3:56They were smaller projects and with that, you know, I, I th- kind of fell in love with, you know, tearing out an old space but saving things and understanding the building and learning the building as we're turning it into a new use. Through that, where I started to work at, we did, that's what we did. We did design build.

Tim Fulton 4:12Okay.

Blake Compton 4:12So we held all the contracts that way.

Tim Fulton 4:14Okay. And so you've always sort of worked that way-

Blake Compton 4:16Yes

Tim Fulton 4:17... and you, you believe it's the best way to work.

Blake Compton 4:18I think it's a good way to work. Some, some projects, sometimes it makes sense to, to have the architect on the other side of the table. Sometimes it, it m- uh, makes sense, uh, to have the architect involved earlier and, and the builder involved later. Uh, it really just comes down to the client and, and their trust level.

Tim Fulton 4:33Okay. How did the company actually get started? What, what made you make the decision to make the jump to own Compton Construction?

Blake Compton 4:39Yeah. Well, a quick story is that probably when you and I first met-

Tim Fulton 4:43Yeah

Blake Compton 4:43... I was a, a hooligan and I was running, I was a big soccer fan, and, uh, that was a, a couple year period where I was laid off, um, and underemployed, uh, but a full-time soccer fan.

Tim Fulton 4:54Okay.

Blake Compton 4:54Um, and, uh, when I went back to work in 2011, uh, for my former employer, I was put on a couple job sites, and in the middle of it, uh, our whole company had this personality survey test that we had to take. The consultant on that one-

Tim Fulton 5:07How big was the company?

Blake Compton 5:08Uh-

Tim Fulton 5:08What co- Can I ask what company it was?

Blake Compton 5:09Yeah. It was, it was, it was called Braxton Construction, and actually-

Tim Fulton 5:12Okay

Blake Compton 5:12... down in Grandview.

Tim Fulton 5:13Okay.

Blake Compton 5:13Um, and they've, they've grown really well in, in the last couple years as, uh, uh, as, uh, most construction companies that do a good job have.

Tim Fulton 5:20I'm just curious why a construction company would have its employees do personality tests.

Blake Compton 5:25Uh, you know, the owner of the company, you know, had a coach and the coach said, "Hey, let's, uh, y- you know, let's a- assess and make sure everyone's in the right seat on the bus." And I was, uh, the odd man out there. I, I was not supposed to be a job site superintendent. And literally in the blink of an eye, I went from as- uh, assistant superintendent to the vice president of business development for the company.

Tim Fulton 5:47Based on a personality test?

Blake Compton 5:48Yeah.

Tim Fulton 5:48That's awesome.

Blake Compton 5:49Now, there was, there were other things I was doing outside of my job that, that, that showed that I could do it.

Tim Fulton 5:55Right.

Blake Compton 5:55And they just flipped the switch and said, "Go sell." You know, I, I just started focusing on industries I liked, the brew- brewery industry being one and- Uh, tech industry being the other.

Tim Fulton 6:06Okay.

Blake Compton 6:06Um, and, and then, well, within six months almost all the business was coming through me, and, uh, I, I started to feel a cultural clash. Um, B- Brexton's a great company, but their, their direction and their culture is not who I am completely.

Tim Fulton 6:21Okay.

Blake Compton 6:21And I felt, um, I kind of felt disingenuous on how I was selling. Uh, and so I decided to, to look for another job. And in the same week of deciding to look for another job, a project fell in my lap that was an emergency situation and needed to get done, and, uh, I had somehow been prepared to become a contractor. I had an LLC registered, and I had some money sitting aside, and decided to, you know, I'd asked the client, I said, "Hey, I'm gonna start my own company and do this project. Are you cool with that?"

Tim Fulton 6:51Do you have the, your faith, the faith in me to do this?

Blake Compton 6:53Yeah. And I had, I had her as a client, so I jumped in and, and made it happen, and that first job was basically my line of credit. I got enough money to start a company, and I didn't have a bank loan, didn't have a business plan. I was just, I knew how to do commercial construction renovation, and I had two part-time employees. 30 days after I started the company, my dad, who was my boss, he was a part owner of the, of Brexton-

Tim Fulton 7:17Okay

Blake Compton 7:17... decided that he didn't wanna be an owner there anymore and wanted to come work for me.

Tim Fulton 7:21Okay.

Blake Compton 7:21And, uh, he, he joined me after, after 30 days.

Tim Fulton 7:24And I've heard you state that, you know, the construction industry is a lot of father-and-son stuff-

Blake Compton 7:29Yeah

Tim Fulton 7:29... but, but not necessarily this way.

Blake Compton 7:31Right.

Tim Fulton 7:31It's much more the, the son comes on it as an apprentice. I mean, technically your father works for you.

Blake Compton 7:36Correct.

Tim Fulton 7:36Got it. What's his role?

Blake Compton 7:38So he's a project manager.

Tim Fulton 7:39Okay.

Blake Compton 7:39Um, you know, when he first started out, and it was just me and him and, and a couple of young guys-

Tim Fulton 7:44He was the secretary when you started .

Blake Compton 7:46Yeah, he was the secretary. Uh, I, he, he was my safety net, and he allowed me... And a lot of the times I was selling a project, I was estimating the project, I was project managing. I was wearing a lot of hats-

Tim Fulton 7:57Right

Blake Compton 7:57... as, as many entrepreneurs do when they first start out.

Tim Fulton 7:59As you have to when you start, right.

Blake Compton 8:01And, and really we were focusing on him doing the bigger projects that we had, and I was doing the smaller ones. Uh, so, and, and then a- as the years have gone on and I brought business partners on and lost business partners, and I've grown my team from four people to 18-

Tim Fulton 8:16Okay

Blake Compton 8:16... he's kind of just slid into the role of, like, a senior project manager. So he really focuses, you know, he's doing the Columbus Idea Foundry. He's gonna be working, uh, with Seventh Son on their expansion project, and, uh, he's working on, you know, he works on the larger projects.

Tim Fulton 8:28Okay. Yeah, and you are not doing project management anymore.

Blake Compton 8:31No.

Tim Fulton 8:31M- Your, your, your role at this point is per the website, business development, marketing, and then pre-construction, which is basically just consulting, right?

Blake Compton 8:40Correct. Uh, you know, I, I also, I deal, I deal with the problems, too.

Tim Fulton 8:45Okay.

Blake Compton 8:45So if, if we have a problem on a project, whether it's a subcontractor failing, uh, a city issue, uh, client issues, design issues, emergencies, I jump into the problems.

Tim Fulton 8:56Okay. Since you brought it up, let's jump into it just a little bit.

Blake Compton 8:59Mm-hmm.

Tim Fulton 9:00What are some of the problems that are u- unique to Columbus, you think?

Blake Compton 9:04Mm-hmm.

Tim Fulton 9:04Or things that, that could be better? That could be anything from lack of talent, lack of subcontractors, uh, issues with the city.

Blake Compton 9:12Okay.

Tim Fulton 9:13Uh, issue... I mean, there's a building in San Francisco that's leaning a little bit, too.

Blake Compton 9:18Yeah, I read about that one.

Tim Fulton 9:18I mean, is, are, are, are there any environmental concerns here?

Blake Compton 9:21So, I mean, I, I would say on the private and public side, there's so many things that we could do better.

Tim Fulton 9:27Okay.

Blake Compton 9:27I think c- the construction industry part, you know, sometimes we're just in the background, and you don't, you don't see what we're doing. Y- you know, it, we're not the glamorous story. We're not the hot chicken takeovers of the world, you know. So when a new construction company opens their doors, people aren't clamoring to go and see what the doors look like, you know?

Tim Fulton 9:44Yeah.

Blake Compton 9:45You know, when-

Tim Fulton 9:45But here you are on the Confluence Cast.

Blake Compton 9:47Yes. And so I feel like both sides, public and private, we need to embrace technology more. It's just not happening quick enough. Uh, you know, we still fax in our industry-

Tim Fulton 9:56Okay

Blake Compton 9:57... on a regular. I mean, I have subcontractors, wonderful guys, do a great job, have had companies for a long time. They don't know how to email.

Tim Fulton 10:03Okay.

Blake Compton 10:03You know? Like, that, that's part of our industry still.

Tim Fulton 10:06And it's not like they're getting cut out of the industry either. The industry isn't forcing them to update.

Blake Compton 10:11I mean, our, our local builders exchange, which is a, a local organization that, you know, brings all of our, the competitors together and, and works on industry standards-

Tim Fulton 10:20Mm-hmm

Blake Compton 10:20... still faxes their marketing pieces.

Tim Fulton 10:23Okay.

Blake Compton 10:23I mean, it, it's, it's that bad. I, I, I actually am not involved in the organization because of that. I just feel that that's something that needs to-

Tim Fulton 10:30You just can't handle faxes.

Blake Compton 10:32I'm over faxes.

Tim Fulton 10:33Okay. I can certainly see the frustration there. What about the city and sort of how it works?

Blake Compton 10:38So-

Tim Fulton 10:38Because a lar- a lot of what you do is, I mean, it really just comes down to permitting and inspections, right?

Blake Compton 10:44So the, but there's zoning.

Tim Fulton 10:45Okay.

Blake Compton 10:46There's, uh, working with the area commissions to get things approved to get to, to variance stages. So, like, you know, putting a restaurant in Short North, you're probably gonna need a parking variance.

Tim Fulton 10:55Right.

Blake Compton 10:55And that process can take, you know, if you know what you're doing, can take 60 to 90 days. If you don't know what you're doing, it can take, you know, six months.

Tim Fulton 11:01Okay.

Blake Compton 11:01And that can af- that can fail, make a business fail.

Tim Fulton 11:04Right. Exactly, because you're, you know, you have investors on the line at that point. I've certainly heard anecdotally about projects that, like, get going, and then they literally have to secure more financing because it's taking so long-

Blake Compton 11:16Yeah

Tim Fulton 11:16... for everything to get done. Are there improvements that could be made there? You said subcontractors could certainly, you know, sort of all come in line, or rather online-

Blake Compton 11:25Right

Tim Fulton 11:25... together. What are the things that the city could do?

Blake Compton 11:28So, uh, I'd say the, some of the things they're, they're doing, some of the things they're working on. You know, if you would've asked me this question two years ago, I'd say, "Hey, when I need to buy an extra inspection, um, I shouldn't have to show up and print out a piece of paper, take a, a tag, and wait in line to pay $150 so they can then enter the information that I printed out into their system, into a computer."

Tim Fulton 11:50That you could have entered yourself-

Blake Compton 11:52Yes

Tim Fulton 11:52... on a website.

Blake Compton 11:53They fixed that.

Tim Fulton 11:53Okay.

Blake Compton 11:54So that's, that's, that's a big win. I mean, to talk about how many hours of time that saved me and how many days of business that saved businesses i- is an unquantifiable number, that one little thing. Now, when they move downtown next year, they're looking to take, basically they see about 200 people, 200 applicants a day. They wanna cut that number in half. One, because there's no parking. I mean, we're n- we just-

Tim Fulton 12:16'Cause currently the Department of Building and Zoning Services is where?

Blake Compton 12:20It's on Carolyn Avenue, which is off of North Broadway, off 71.

Tim Fulton 12:24Okay. So it's, it's at a easily accessible semi-central location, but it's not downtown in the thick of it.

Blake Compton 12:30Correct.

Tim Fulton 12:31And they're, and they're moving it downtown next year.

Blake Compton 12:33Yes.

Tim Fulton 12:33Are you aware of how they plan to cut the number of people that they're seeing further?

Blake Compton 12:37Yeah, yeah. Well, one of, one of the... The Downtown Special Improvements District did a kind of an invite-only thing for downtown contractors and talked about this with the building department.

Tim Fulton 12:46Okay.

Blake Compton 12:46One of the things, a couple of things that they're doing is right now we still submit drawings via paper-

Tim Fulton 12:51Okay

Blake Compton 12:51... uh, in triplicates, and sometimes when you're doing zoning stuff, you have to submit 15 copies. Um, and so we're gonna be able to submit online. They're gonna be able to review and edit online, and then we'll get automatic emails that say, "Here's your comments," and then you can edit it and send it back to them. I know this sounds novel and like it's 2016, but, like, this is revolutionary honestly.

Tim Fulton 13:11At least for the city of Columbus.

Blake Compton 13:12Yeah. And so that, I mean, that saves a lot of time. That saves a lot of time. They're just gonna... You know, they've, they've also added some over-the-counter permits, um, and some overnight permits where you, you pay extra money.

Tim Fulton 13:23Right.

Blake Compton 13:23Um, but it's really a win-win-win situation. The extra money sometimes means businesses open up 30 days earlier, which is generally worth a couple thousand dollars.

Tim Fulton 13:33Absolutely.

Blake Compton 13:34The unions win because the... It's an elective thing for the plans examiners, so they elect to stay after hours and p- be paid extra to do the work. And so you're not... You're actually kinda creating job opportunities for these union workers, so that's a win. And then the city gets stuff off their plate.

Tim Fulton 13:50And these are city union employees.

Blake Compton 13:52Yes.

Tim Fulton 13:52Okay.

Blake Compton 13:53Yes.

Tim Fulton 13:53You've talked about a couple of improvements that have recently happened and things coming down the pike. What are the good things about Columbus, and why do you choose to live and work here?

Blake Compton 14:01Well, it's, it's def-

Tim Fulton 14:02This may be beyond Compton Construction.

Blake Compton 14:04Yeah. Right. So for me, I fell in love with Columbus, uh-

Tim Fulton 14:07Are you from here?

Blake Compton 14:08I'm from Granville.

Tim Fulton 14:09Oh, okay.

Blake Compton 14:10So I, I moved to Columbus in 2009. I moved to be a full-time soccer fan.

Tim Fulton 14:14Okay.

Blake Compton 14:14I lived in North Campus and went to Ruby Tuesdays, uh, way too much, had way too many trailer parks and, and enjoyed my walks to Crew Stadium. And, uh, I really, I fell in, I fell in love w- with Columbus back in 2011 when the Hooligans bar was getting shut down.

Tim Fulton 14:29Mm-hmm.

Blake Compton 14:30And I saw... You know, here we were in this situation. The bui- the business was gonna be shut down, and everyone kinda united around us. This was actually before Kickstarter, but we used the PayPal button and raised, like, $15,000 to keep our doors open for the rest of the season. It didn't meet building code standards, so there were some life safety concerns with the fire rating of the ceiling.

Tim Fulton 14:49Oh, just the actual building?

Blake Compton 14:50Yeah.

Tim Fulton 14:51Okay.

Blake Compton 14:51The building. And so-

Tim Fulton 14:52Well, Blake, why didn't you just fix it?

Blake Compton 14:54Because I didn't own the business and I didn't own the building.

Tim Fulton 14:57Fair. I'm kidding. So you guys were able to raise money. The bar isn't around anymore, right?

Blake Compton 15:01No. So that, that money paid for all the designers, the permitting fees, the fines, and then to get a parking variance, 'cause we were required to do that. And that was really, like, my eye-opening experience with that process. And I said, "Holy crap, like, I, I did this, but the average business owner cannot do this, and, like, this could fail people." And so I started to attend those meetings and really learn what works and what doesn't work just by, you know, real-world experience.

Tim Fulton 15:25Right. Any thoughts on the area commissions and sort of they are the ones giving the parking variant, or at least the recommendations-

Blake Compton 15:31The recommendations, yes

Tim Fulton 15:31... for them?

Blake Compton 15:32So now having worked on the north side, east side, south side, west side and seeing how they're all run, they all really have the same problem. It's, it's, it's that I don't think they have enough education, uh, from the city on what they're supposed to do. Now, that's not to say people in those groups don't know what they're doing.

Tim Fulton 15:50Right.

Blake Compton 15:51Um, it's really to say that there's not enough people know what the purpose is. So when you go to these groups and there is an angry neighbor about someone building a house next to them and complaining about parking, you know, they might have a legitimate point, but they don't really know how to get their point off because they don't know why, you know, why they're there to communicate and what the purpose of the area commission is.

Tim Fulton 16:12Right. Well, and the... At least from my understanding of it, the inherent purpose is that they provide advice and consent... Well, excuse me, not consent.

Blake Compton 16:19Mm-hmm.

Tim Fulton 16:19They provide advice and recommendations to council and the mayor's office. They are elected, most of them locally. They can be appointed by-

Blake Compton 16:28Correct

Tim Fulton 16:28... the mayor.

Blake Compton 16:29Mayor, yes.

Tim Fulton 16:29But I certainly see what you're saying in that, you know, somebody comes and complains about, you know, a vacant house. What do they do? I mean, they send... They're gonna send a memo or something, uh, city hall.

Blake Compton 16:40Mm-hmm.

Tim Fulton 16:40And then is that the end of it? What, you know, what happens, and then how do those grievances get solved?

Blake Compton 16:46It... You know, sometimes it doesn't, and I've, I've, I've found in my experience that a lot of the times it's the angriest of people, their voices are the ones that are heard, and, and the, the reasonable people, they don't want to attend every single meeting. And so they go, "Oh, wow, it's gonna get approved," and they don't go to the next step meeting or the, the final council variance meeting, and the angry person does.

Tim Fulton 17:04Right.

Blake Compton 17:04And so from a council standpoint or the board of zoning adjustment standpoint, they go, "Well, it looks like the neighbors aren't happy and maybe we shouldn't approve this." And I think that's one of the situations that's kind of a flaw with our city, 'cause I- I've, I've watched some young couples who wanna expand their home, and the civic association and the area commission are all for it, but some angry neighbor stops them, and then they decide to move, you know, move out and-

Tim Fulton 17:27Right

Blake Compton 17:27... and, and move to a different community because of, you know, one little situation that common sense would say you want young homeowners renovating their homes so they can have a family. I feel like-

Tim Fulton 17:37And bettering the community, right.

Blake Compton 17:38Yeah, I feel like that's a good thing.

Tim Fulton 17:39So what you would recommend is, i- in terms of what your earlier point was, is for council and the mayor's office to make it more clear what's gonna be-

Blake Compton 17:48Yeah

Tim Fulton 17:48... coming downstream from the commissions.

Blake Compton 17:51I, I think it's more clear, and, uh, it goes back to technology for me. It's very convoluted to find each of these organizations' bylaws and understand what they're supposed to do.

Tim Fulton 18:01Right.

Blake Compton 18:01So if as a person, an applicant applying, if they can't find the bylaws, imag- imagine the people that might be on the board who are representing the bylaws.

Tim Fulton 18:10Right. Well, and-

Blake Compton 18:10Yeah

Tim Fulton 18:10... and having been somebody who has submitted something very minor, such as putting, you know, signage on a thoroughfare, you have-Have to, you know, submit 10 copies of it, and you have to... And you have no guarantee that anybody's gonna get back to you or know when that, what meeting that's gonna be heard at, and you sort of have to keep on these people to, to find out what the process is. And even then-

Blake Compton 18:31Yeah

Tim Fulton 18:31... it's not clear what the process is.

Blake Compton 18:32A- and it's not clear. And at the end of the day too, a lot of these people are volunteers.

Tim Fulton 18:36Right.

Blake Compton 18:36So even when they fail you, they don't return your email or your phone call, they're volunteers, you know? And, and you can only hold them, you know, so accountable.

Tim Fulton 18:44Right.

Blake Compton 18:44Um, I, I, I would say that it... We need more Ryan Szyks. We need more small business concierge folks.

Tim Fulton 18:50Okay.

Blake Compton 18:50And I think that we need them maybe specialized. Maybe there's one of those in each department, and they're a team, and they work together to communicate. So-

Tim Fulton 18:58Well, and the small business concierge, for those that aren't aware, is a new position at the city.

Blake Compton 19:02Yes.

Tim Fulton 19:02Ryan Szyk holds that position.

Blake Compton 19:04Correct.

Tim Fulton 19:04How much work have you done with his office?

Blake Compton 19:07We, we do a lot of work together. We first started working together, um, uh, with Mikey's Late Night Slice with the shipping container-

Tim Fulton 19:13Okay

Blake Compton 19:13... trying to get that open. Um, and then... And, and basically I, I just kinda let him know what's going on, and I give him just, you know... I only raise concerns when there's... it's worthwhile. You know, a lot of the times when we say, "Hey, I applied for a permit for the Idea Founder today," or, "Hey, it's been five weeks and we still haven't heard comment. You know, can you check in for us?"

Tim Fulton 19:33Right.

Blake Compton 19:33And, and he does a good job of just talking to, you know... He creates that rapport and that relationship on his side that allows him to have a quick conversation that might take me a week to get an answer, and he can just come back and say, "Hey, you know, it's still in review. X, Y, and Z reason."

Tim Fulton 19:46In your mind, is that his primary role, to sort of be tackling and blocking and putting out those fires? Or shouldn't it be a slightly more formal process, I guess?

Blake Compton 19:55I don't know. I, I've had-

Tim Fulton 19:56Or m- I mean, maybe the informality is great.

Blake Compton 19:58I, I-

Tim Fulton 19:58But there's only one of him.

Blake Compton 20:00The... I... Yeah, I agree. There's only one, and that's why I say there needs to be more. And I think that I like, I like the informality. Uh, I'm not a, a form filler. I am not very good at filling out forms.

Tim Fulton 20:09Okay.

Blake Compton 20:10Um, so to think I'd have to fill out a form to get him to go and do something might, might add, uh, some effort and, and, uh, make it not as worthwhile. But really, I think to me, it's... He's supposed to hold your hand and tell you, "Go this way. Go that way," you know? So when you're looking for information that says, "I have to turn in 10 forms"-

Tim Fulton 20:27Right

Blake Compton 20:27... well, you can go and talk to someone, and they say, "Oh, you're gonna put a sign up? You only need to submit three because of this reason."

Tim Fulton 20:34Right.

Blake Compton 20:34You know, the form might not say that, and so it, you know, to the random applicant that doesn't do this all the time, it's scary.

Tim Fulton 20:39Well, 'cause the form has all these caveats. If this happens, then you gotta do this.

Blake Compton 20:43Yes.

Tim Fulton 20:43And if this... If you plan to do this ever in the future, then you better make sure that you include this information.

Blake Compton 20:49I will say that, uh, you know, across the board on the building department side, almost everyone's a phone call away from when... Once you know their number. I collect our building department, uh, cards-

Tim Fulton 20:59Okay

Blake Compton 20:59... and I staple them on my wall. And, uh, it's kind of like, you know, now I have all these people that I can call up and ask a question, and they answer it. So that... There's a benefit to just picking up the phone, and you can solve a lot of problems that way. And that's part of why I like Ryan, is that he, he's good. I can call him, say, "Hey, go look this up," and he'll go look it up and get me an answer real quick.

Tim Fulton 21:18That's great. A large part of your business that you've mentioned is the adaptive reuse of buildings.

Blake Compton 21:24Yes.

Tim Fulton 21:24Meaning you sort of keep the shell, keep the general structure of it, and put it to a different use than it was before or basically not tear it down and build something new.

Blake Compton 21:33Correct.

Tim Fulton 21:33A lot of that is by... Excuse me. Some of it, I imagine, is by necessity. Simply, there are historic districts in the city that require you to keep buildings up if you can.

Blake Compton 21:44True.

Tim Fulton 21:44But I imagine you do have a, a passion for it.

Blake Compton 21:46Yeah. You know, y- you hear about these new projects, these, you know, knock a building down, and then you go from a one-story to a six-story. And I love the fact that, you know, we're, we're building, uh, a new generation of interesting buildings that are up to building code and aren't built with asbestos or environmental, or have environmental issues, you know?

Tim Fulton 22:04And meet all ADA codes and-

Blake Compton 22:06Yes

Tim Fulton 22:06... right.

Blake Compton 22:07ADA codes of 2016 'cause they'll, they'll probably change.

Tim Fulton 22:11Right.

Blake Compton 22:11But, um, yeah, exactly. And, and a- and building, building new i- is a good thing in my eyes. But at the same time, there are buildings out there that have history, or the community has history, and the story of those buildings is important to that history. And I feel sometimes it is more expensive to renovate a building rather than knock it down and build up.

Tim Fulton 22:31Well, I mean, one example. I grew up on Indianola Avenue-

Blake Compton 22:34Mm-hmm

Tim Fulton 22:34... between Oakland and Northwood. And so just west, you know, Family Walks Down the High Street is, you know, this series of what at a time were homes and has been converted into businesses, and they're talking about tearing all those down.

Blake Compton 22:47Yeah.

Tim Fulton 22:47In my head, it diminishes the character of the neighborhood to an extent.

Blake Compton 22:51Yeah.

Tim Fulton 22:51What-

Blake Compton 22:51Well, it, it... I, I, I would say it transforms the character, and that's not always a good thing.

Tim Fulton 22:56Okay.

Blake Compton 22:57You know?

Tim Fulton 22:57That's a better way of putting it, I think.

Blake Compton 22:58Um, I, you know, it... There's something new coming about, and some other person's life will be benefited because of that. Someone will put their business there and maybe wildly succeed. Maybe you guys will get a Hot Chicken Takeover. Like, then everyone will be happy, you know? Um-

Tim Fulton 23:12Because the answer to happiness in this city-

Blake Compton 23:14Is chicken and mac and cheese

Tim Fulton 23:15... is Hot Chicken Takeover. Um, talk about some of the projects that you're proud of.

Blake Compton 23:21Oh, man. I like unique and different, and I like bringing modern to Columbus. You know, more and more I'm getting closer to getting into residential. We are building our first home this year.

Tim Fulton 23:31Okay. Where's that?

Blake Compton 23:32In West Franklinton.

Tim Fulton 23:33Okay. Brand- new build?

Blake Compton 23:34New build. Yeah. It was a, it was a land bank lot. Um-

Tim Fulton 23:38Great

Blake Compton 23:38... my, my f- second employee, my estimator, Jeremy Miller, he, uh, is drummer for The Cordial Sins.

Tim Fulton 23:43Okay.

Blake Compton 23:44And he saved up his money and designed his own house, and we're gonna build it for him, and it's a, it's a pretty cool modern house. And that's the kinda construction that I wanna be known for is m- is modern and, and different, not, you know, stucco and brick, tan and brown kind of building, so.

Tim Fulton 23:59Right. And just to backtrack a little bit-

Blake Compton 24:01Yeah. Yeah

Tim Fulton 24:01... the land bank is a collection of vacant properties that the city owns.

Blake Compton 24:06Correct.

Tim Fulton 24:06Some of, some of them are just literally plots of land.

Blake Compton 24:09Yeah.

Tim Fulton 24:09Some of them are actually homes. They'll be linked in the show notes, but you can actually search. They have prices on them. The city does offer some assistance with financing if someone listening is interested in those properties.

Blake Compton 24:21Persistence is key to that success. If you wanna do that-

Tim Fulton 24:24Okay

Blake Compton 24:24... it takes a long time. Assume three to six months to get through that process.

Tim Fulton 24:28Okay.

Blake Compton 24:28But other-

Tim Fulton 24:29What are, what are the hurdles? 'Cause I've h- I, I have heard of-

Blake Compton 24:32Yeah

Tim Fulton 24:32... hurdles, but I'm not aware exactly on what they are.

Blake Compton 24:35Yeah, so I, I have limited experience with, with that organization. I did donate, uh, uh, some land to them this year. We had bought some land, and after we had paid more in taxes than we did for the land, we were like, "Okay, we, we, we need to get rid of this thing 'cause we're not doing anything with it."

Tim Fulton 24:48Other than not having to pay taxes on it, did you get a write-off on that?

Blake Compton 24:52Uh, yeah, yeah.

Tim Fulton 24:52Okay.

Blake Compton 24:53Uh, we did get a write-off, and that was part of the reason why we donated it to the land bank.

Tim Fulton 24:56Just curious.

Blake Compton 24:56And, uh, but w- there, there are some great values. I mean, he, he's getting a tax abatement. Um, and I think it depends on the neighborhood and the situation if you're gonna get that. But you've also, a lot of times there wa- was a house there, so infrastructure's there.

Tim Fulton 25:09Right.

Blake Compton 25:09You're saving money on a water tap. You're saving money on sanitary lines and, uh, sometimes, uh, on ele- on electrical.

Tim Fulton 25:17Even though it's a new build because it's already been sort of-

Blake Compton 25:20Yeah

Tim Fulton 25:20... push- pushed back into that part of the lot.

Blake Compton 25:22Correct.

Tim Fulton 25:22Okay.

Blake Compton 25:22There is some value there, and it, it's probably lot by lot so that some situations you're not gonna get that. But, um, no, just the filling out the forms, waiting on the answers. You know, there's a lot of chicken and egg where you have to show proof of financing, but in order to do that, you need to have the land. In order to have the land, you need to show proof of financing. So it's-

Tim Fulton 25:39Right

Blake Compton 25:40... kind of, you know, you have to work through all of those things, and it takes a while. But again, if you're interested in building a home, and it's a great way to save some money and, uh, you know, be a part of urban infill and, and not knock a house down a lot of the times 'cause it's already been knocked down.

Tim Fulton 25:53Right. When you come to the land bank and say, "I wanna purchase this plot of land," do you have to come with, like, plans already?

Blake Compton 25:59You have to have some kinda schematic idea. I mean, it probably could be a hand drawing, but-

Tim Fulton 26:02Could it be drawn on the back of a napkin?

Blake Compton 26:04I think they might accept that, but they might not. I-

Tim Fulton 26:07Okay

Blake Compton 26:07... I think he had a floor plan, and he had some elevations of what the outside of the house would look like. And-

Tim Fulton 26:13Which is not a final... That's not a-

Blake Compton 26:15Correct.

Tim Fulton 26:15You can't build on that.

Blake Compton 26:16No.

Tim Fulton 26:16Right.

Blake Compton 26:17And, and one of the caveats on the land bank is that you do have to go get an approval from your local area commission. For the city, I, I thi- from my perspective, that, why they do that is to say, "Hey, this is government. This is the public's interest that we're buying these properties. And so when we sell them to someone, we need to make sure that the local neighborhood is okay with what that someone is doing."

Tim Fulton 26:39Right. Do you think the... Not to keep diving into-

Blake Compton 26:41Yeah

Tim Fulton 26:42... the area commissions, and I feel like I'm gonna end up having to reach out to somebody at the city to, like, sort of get their take on it, but are the area commissions gonna exist in 10 years? I mean, are they-

Blake Compton 26:50Wow. Yeah.

Tim Fulton 26:51It seems as though the city pays courtesy to them in that, you know, you have to get approval if there's something from the land bank, and you ha- if there's, you know, new signage, at least in the historical area commissions, that it should go through them. But the city has been known to also just completely circumvent them, certainly in signage, certainly in building, certainly in parking variances. Uh, and also not all areas of the city are served by area commissions, correct?

Blake Compton 27:20Correct.

Tim Fulton 27:21So y- y- why-

Blake Compton 27:23And, and on top of that, some of them are served, uh, some of them have checkpoints that are civic associations or neighborhood, uh, groups, and some of them are private entities that are nonprofits but not connected to the city. And-

Tim Fulton 27:36And some of them are both.

Blake Compton 27:37Yes. And-

Tim Fulton 27:37Like the Italian Village Commission is both.

Blake Compton 27:39Really?

Tim Fulton 27:40Yeah. It is both the nonprofit arm, and there is the arm that's a- directly associated with the city.

Blake Compton 27:46Ah.

Tim Fulton 27:46One of them, you know, builds nice signs that, you know, are way-finding signs in the neighborhood, and then the other one is the one that actually approves new builds-

Blake Compton 27:55Yeah

Tim Fulton 27:55... approves rooftop patios, that sort of thing.

Blake Compton 27:58Yeah. I, y- to answer your question, I don't know if... I, I-

Tim Fulton 28:01What would you like-

Blake Compton 28:01I sincerely hope that the area commissions will be evolved in 10 years. I hope they're still around in some form, uh, as a community checkpoint, but I hope there's, uh, more educated and better equipped, um, residents that are running those organizations, 'cause sometimes I feel like they're, they're sitting on an island alone, and they're surrounded by angry neighbors who are mad at them for them trying to do their job-

Tim Fulton 28:24Right

Blake Compton 28:24... as a volunteer.

Tim Fulton 28:25Right. Well, I think y- you gave the absolute right answer there in terms of, you know, what's going to happen to them. Over the past four years that you've had Compton Construction, you talked about sort of how you had the impetus for the company to start.

Blake Compton 28:38Yeah.

Tim Fulton 28:38How were you able to... We talk to a, a lot of business owners and sort of how their role evolves. How were you able to sort of step back from doing project management and now just doing, you know, business development, marketing, pre-construction?

Blake Compton 28:52Well, I didn't know what I didn't know, and I jumped in not knowing what I was good at and what I was bad at. And-

Tim Fulton 28:58What are you bad at?

Blake Compton 28:59Filling out forms.

Tim Fulton 29:00Okay.

Blake Compton 29:01Um-

Tim Fulton 29:01And you need... And somebody's gotta be good at that.

Blake Compton 29:03Somebody's gotta be good at that.

Tim Fulton 29:04Okay.

Blake Compton 29:04I don't have to be good at that. And, uh, you know, some of the things I wasn't good at in 2012 and '13, I, I've really learned how to be a lot better at. You know, firing people. That was a nightmare. I, I... My first fire, I mean, you could-

Tim Fulton 29:17You almost hired him back.

Blake Compton 29:18You could have taken all my money in a poker game th- how bad my poker face was. I mean, my hand was over my face. My body was crossed. I sat completely on the other side of the table-

Tim Fulton 29:27Ugh

Blake Compton 29:27... so far away from the guy. Uh, and now, you know, I know how to do it, and I wouldn't say it's because I'm callous or dead inside, uh,

Tim Fulton 29:35We hope not.

Blake Compton 29:35Hope not. But after the last week I've had, sometimes I feel like it. But some of the things that I've learned have come from my failures. So having two business partners, both for two years, w- uh, one year where they overlapped, um, and then having both of them exit and dealing with that and learning what I was good at and what I was not good at and, you know, the gaps that they had filled and then all of a sudden were opened again, and how I kind of evolved and changed my company to, to fill those gaps.

Tim Fulton 30:02'Cause you then end up making a choice of, do I get another business partner to fill that gap?

Blake Compton 30:07Right.

Tim Fulton 30:07Do I hire, you know, an outside firm, let's say it's accounting or something like that-

Blake Compton 30:11Yeah

Tim Fulton 30:11... or do I bring it in-house?

Blake Compton 30:13Right.

Tim Fulton 30:13And that's a, you know, you gotta do certainly a cost-benefit analysis there.

Blake Compton 30:16Right.

Tim Fulton 30:17Can I ask, were the business partners also investors in the company?

Blake Compton 30:20I would say any business partner, if they're on paper, is an investor, but, uh-

Tim Fulton 30:23They're investing something

Blake Compton 30:24... financially, neither of them entered the partnership, uh, through, through money.

Tim Fulton 30:28Okay.

Blake Compton 30:29Yeah.

Tim Fulton 30:29And was that simply by... Did you bring them on?

Blake Compton 30:32I was like, "I have a bag of peanuts and free ownership." When Dennis DeVerte first joined me, I was, I think I was, I think I made 16 grand my first year in business-

Tim Fulton 30:42Okay

Blake Compton 30:42... uh, for personally.

Tim Fulton 30:43Personally, right.

Blake Compton 30:44Um, that's pretty hard to live on.

Tim Fulton 30:45Yeah.

Blake Compton 30:46And, uh, you know, I think I had just raised myself to 25,000 as a salary, and I said, "Dennis, that's what I can pay you. You can get what I get." Dennis and I had the, had the, have the same-

Tim Fulton 30:56But also have an ownership stake.

Blake Compton 30:58Yes.

Tim Fulton 30:58And he was doing, I imagine, more than $25,000 a year worth of work.

Blake Compton 31:03A substantial amount.

Tim Fulton 31:04Right.

Blake Compton 31:04Yes. And, and he came in with... Both of us came in very green on what being a partner meant-

Tim Fulton 31:09Right

Blake Compton 31:09... and really very green on where we were going. He came in and realized I wasn't good at filling out forms, and there were lots of forms that needed to be filled out, and that we had an whole side of the business, the administrative accounting side, that was really lacking.

Tim Fulton 31:22Right.

Blake Compton 31:22I'd say that was my biggest mistake from, uh, day one, that I didn't focus more on the accounting side, and I think I've made a, made a lot of mistakes there, uh, that have cost me money that we've, we've now really kind of fixed. And it's a constant battle, but, uh, we're doing a lot better job now.

Tim Fulton 31:37Can you talk about that a little b-

Blake Compton 31:38Yeah

Tim Fulton 31:39... bit more just in terms of what advice do you have for a new business owner, be it starting a bar or a pedicab company or a construction company?

Blake Compton 31:48Yeah.

Tim Fulton 31:48Like, uh, pay attention to the finances, but does that mean making sure that you, you know, know how to do accounting or-

Blake Compton 31:55I would, I wouldn't even say it's... I mean, yeah, pay attention to your books. That's important. Don't, don't... You don't need to know how to do accounting. You just need to know how to read your reports.

Tim Fulton 32:04Okay.

Blake Compton 32:04And your reports need to be accurate. So-

Tim Fulton 32:06Well, how are you generating reports if you don't know how to do accounting?

Blake Compton 32:09Uh, you know, I have employees. I have a focus CFO, which is a rent-a-CFO, that comes in once a week, and then I have a really good CPA firm that provides, you know, uh, accounting and financial consulting.

Tim Fulton 32:20Okay. What sort of shortcomings did... Not necessarily shortcomings that you discovered in yourself, but what are you really thankful that you had when you got going? Again-

Blake Compton 32:29Yeah

Tim Fulton 32:29... advice for a new business owner.

Blake Compton 32:31Yeah. It, it's the questions I ask new business owners when I'm talking, uh, now to them about, like, potentially being a tenant in one of the buildings that I recently purchased. And that's, "What is your partnership like?" And when I hear it's 50/50, I say, "Well, is it in writing? What happens one of you, when one of you disagrees?" And they don't... They say, "We won't disagree." I'm like, "That's a lie." You know?

Tim Fulton 32:49Right.

Blake Compton 32:49You won't disagree for 5 years or 100 years, but at some point you'll disagree.

Tim Fulton 32:53Right, or your estates will disagree-

Blake Compton 32:55Yeah

Tim Fulton 32:55... with each other.

Blake Compton 32:56And so, uh, you know, I said, "Have a good operating agreement, and then, and vet it. Read it with your partner. Make sure both partners or multiple partners, everyone has a lawyer that looks at it, too." I can say that Dennis and I and, and then the next partner, Steve, all of us page by page read our operating agreement, and we all, when we signed it, agreed to everything that was in pap- on paper. But when we had to do the exit, there were a lot of things that we were like, "Wait, that doesn't make sense. That's not fair," because we didn't, hadn't gone through an exit, so we didn't understand the exit.

Tim Fulton 33:24Right.

Blake Compton 33:25So it sounded good in theory, uh, but-

Tim Fulton 33:27Can you give just a, just a, a vague example of that? Is it sort of like, was there a clause that if there's an exit, so and so person automatically receives this amount of continued equity and this amount of cash? Was it something like that or...?

Blake Compton 33:41There was, there was some ambiguous definitions-

Tim Fulton 33:44Okay

Blake Compton 33:44... that were not specific enough to the point that, you know, we, we, we didn't see eye to eye on what it meant.

Tim Fulton 33:51Even if it's on the best of terms, an exit is still a breakup.

Blake Compton 33:54Correct.

Tim Fulton 33:55Right. And so somebody's gonna-

Blake Compton 33:56And it's a fi- it's generally a financial breakup, you know? Um-

Tim Fulton 33:58Right. And what do people argue about?

Blake Compton 34:00Money. Yeah.

Tim Fulton 34:00And sex, right?

Blake Compton 34:01Yeah.

Tim Fulton 34:02So-

Blake Compton 34:02Yeah

Tim Fulton 34:02... don't have sex with your business partner.

Blake Compton 34:04I, I, I haven't in years.

Tim Fulton 34:05Good.

Blake Compton 34:07Yeah, so the advice is that have a good operating agreement if you're getting a business partner. You know-

Tim Fulton 34:11How do you put that together?

Blake Compton 34:12That's a good question. Look, everyone when they start out has no money-

Tim Fulton 34:15Okay

Blake Compton 34:16... and you need to wear a bunch of hats. I just, I just wanna know that you, when I look at an entrepreneur, I wanna know that they understand how many hats they're wearing, and that it's not one hat, and they can do it all, and that they are the, they can make the best food in the city, and they can also hang the drywall and run the electric. When I hear those things, what they're saying is that they don't value my services, they don't value what I do, and they don't understand when they need to bring an expert in.

Tim Fulton 34:41Right.

Blake Compton 34:41So know when you need to bring an expert in. You know, there are resources out there to get free or cheap legal advice. Put an agreement together that makes sense at the time y- that you have the money, or do whatever you can. Put it in writing without legal support.

Tim Fulton 34:56Right.

Blake Compton 34:56But know that you need to get it sometime, and you need to do it when the, you know, the sun is out and everyone's happy-

Tim Fulton 35:03Right

Blake Compton 35:03... not when someone's exiting out the back door.

Tim Fulton 35:05Right. Talk a little bit more about how your role has evolved.

Blake Compton 35:08When I first started out, I was trying to build a company without really knowing where I wanted to take it. Dennis came on and helped me focus on my why and helped build a company with a vision that was bigger than me. And then when S-

Tim Fulton 35:21That's gotta feel good.

Blake Compton 35:22It was awesome.

Tim Fulton 35:23Yeah.

Blake Compton 35:23Uh, what, what he did, honestly, in the, the, the winter of 2013, we launched our, our current website. Immediately overnight, I stopped having to sell. Immediately everyone got it. They knew what we were doing and why we were doing it. And so that was such a big benefit that he's brought, he brought to the table. And then Steve came in and brought process. We had, we, we could build stuff, but we, we could really tell that it was not repeatable and you couldn't grow. I couldn't bring a random project manager from another company in, and they couldn't-

Tim Fulton 35:50Teach them how you worked-

Blake Compton 35:51Yeah

Tim Fulton 35:51... because you didn't have a process of how you worked.

Blake Compton 35:53Correct. So Steve really brought that process and kind of allowed us to amplify our sales, because throughout the history of the company, we've never had a sales issue. It's, we've always gotten more business than we know what to do with, it's just balancing that out and delivering on our promises. And so what I learned in that moment with, with Steve was I need to stop being a project manager, 'cause I was just n- I couldn't follow the process.

Tim Fulton 36:15Okay.

Blake Compton 36:15I was too client-focused, so I was always bending to the client and doing it the way I felt the client wanted to achieve, you know, the finished product. Which is a good thing, and, and I still do that in my role, but we limit my contacts with the clients because we wanna move the project forward.

Tim Fulton 36:31Well, you, I imagine, are the guy that sort of when the project starts, if it's a large enough project-

Blake Compton 36:36Mm-hmm

Tim Fulton 36:37... you're the guy that works with them and says, "Okay, what do you need?" And then you sort of compile everything, and then you hand it off to a project manager.

Blake Compton 36:43Correct.

Tim Fulton 36:44Okay.

Blake Compton 36:44In some cases, I show up to, like, the weekly meetings, like the Idea Foundries, or the Seven Sons, or Hot Chicken Takeover, where, you know, it, it's, it's bigger, it's bigger than just a project. I mean, we do a lot of those projects where it's bigger than just, you know, building out a, for a business. There's a lot of, I feel like we're amplifying the voice and we're amplifying the success or the opportunity for those businesses.

Tim Fulton 37:05Right.

Blake Compton 37:06So I try to stay involved in there to make sure that it's getting driven the right direction, and kinda focus on, you know, a litmus test of where everyone's at-

Tim Fulton 37:14Right

Blake Compton 37:14... at all times.

Tim Fulton 37:15Well, and those are the passion projects.

Blake Compton 37:16Yeah.

Tim Fulton 37:16Those are also the high-profile projects for you.

Blake Compton 37:19Yes.

Tim Fulton 37:20Yeah. Talk a little bit about the philosophy that Comp- 'cause Compton Construction seems to have a philosophy toward philanthropy or at least community involvement. Can you talk about that a little bit?

Blake Compton 37:32Our involvement in the community is just really about being authentic and also being involved in the communities that we work in. I always feel, especially now that we're doing, you know, million-dollar projects and multiple of those where we're shutting down roads or we're making loud sounds in people's neighborhoods and, you know, every morning for six months you have to see guys going to a port-a-john. It's like, there are things that are, like, not most pleasant, but it's part of construction.

Tim Fulton 37:57Right.

Blake Compton 37:58And it's needed to shut an alleyway to get, do X, Y, and Z. And because of those things, I feel like when I'm doing work in Italian Village, I wanna get in- involved in Italian Village and make sure that the community groups and the organizations that are, are making the community better know that they have support from the people that are helping build up that community. That's the simplest way to put it. And then I also just enjoy helping. My mom, my, you know, my dad was in construction. I'm third generation. But my mom was a social worker and a, you know, is a, is a therapist. And so I was really... And we were a foster family, so I was really raised-

Tim Fulton 38:31Okay

Blake Compton 38:32... uh, around helping people. And I just, it's kind of ingrained in me.

Tim Fulton 38:36Great. Talk about sort of the position that you're in right now and where you see the company going.

Blake Compton 38:41Yeah. When my, my last business partner, Steve, left at the end of last year, there was this gap about, like, kind of m- he was the vice president of construction, and he was kind of m- he was managing the project managers. I realized I didn't wanna fill that position immediately. I feel like that position's important, but one of the side effects of him leaving is that all of a sudden now my project managers didn't have that checkpoint, so they were a little bit more autonomous. And so I let go of worrying about, you know, where they were and just focused on when they needed me.

Tim Fulton 39:08Okay.

Blake Compton 39:08Because they all are capable-

Tim Fulton 39:09And that's putting a lot of faith in your people.

Blake Compton 39:11Absolutely.

Tim Fulton 39:12Yeah.

Blake Compton 39:12I also took my marketing-

Tim Fulton 39:14Which can be a good and a bad thing.

Blake Compton 39:15Right. And, and I've seen the successes and the failures. And I took my marketing manager, who had a degree in accounting but fell into marketing, and I promoted him to general manager, 'cause one of the bottlenecks I saw this year was that I wasn't at the office enough to approve simple things. And I also realized one day, I'm like, "Why am I approving, uh, to cut a check to our printing company for $57?"

Tim Fulton 39:37Right.

Blake Compton 39:38Like, I don't need to do that. You know, that's not part of, I, I-

Tim Fulton 39:40That shouldn't be your role.

Blake Compton 39:41Yeah.

Tim Fulton 39:42Right?

Blake Compton 39:42And so I, I shifted him into managing the business. And now all of a sudden my company really runs itself. There are things that they need me for. There are times where I undermine without, without realizing it, where they'll make decisions and I'll come in, I'm like, "Why are we doing it that way?" And I'm just the classic business owner at that point.

Tim Fulton 39:58Well, and they literally say, or at least say to themselves, "We already went through this, and we already figured out the way to do it."

Blake Compton 40:04Right.

Tim Fulton 40:04And you sort of come in and stir the shit up.

Blake Compton 40:06Yes. And I, I break up process. And so I try not to do that. And we also, it is a jovial center. We have an open office, so, so when someone's upset, everyone's upset.

Tim Fulton 40:15Okay.

Blake Compton 40:15And so you really, you've gotta have a good energy. But that's really elevated me to a position this year where I can really focus on, you know, the high-level clients, the six months to a year out projects, and building a relationship. And then honestly just continuing to grow myself. I mean, having a good coach this year. And then at the end of the day, taking time for myself. I mean, for three years I wasn't healthy. I was working way too many hours, and I was not focusing on, you know, me being an okay person. And I, this year I really feel like I've taken that energy and, you know, applied it to pastimes and, and having life outside of work.

Tim Fulton 40:49One last thing I wanna touch on. You've mentioned a couple of times, you know, mentors and coaches.

Blake Compton 40:54Yeah.

Tim Fulton 40:54Can you talk about the significance of that in building your business, but also structuring your business and, and, and realizing your shortcomings?

Blake Compton 41:02Yeah. When I first started my company, I was in a small mastermind group, and it was four or five, uh, small business owners, and they really helped me take... You know, the first month I met with them I had printed out this sheet and, like, wrote all these facts down about pros and cons of where I was working, my LLC, and The Hooligans. And within-

Tim Fulton 41:22Okay

Blake Compton 41:22... within three months later, I was down to just that LLC. And they helped me realize that I was just doing all of these things, and I wasn't doing any of them that well, and I needed to just focus.

Tim Fulton 41:32Right.

Blake Compton 41:32So that was really important in to jump-starting me into saying, "Hey, maybe I can do this on my own." And so- I had that, and then I had a leadership coach for a while that was just focusing on personal development and, like, making me a better leader. And-

Tim Fulton 41:44How'd you find that person?

Blake Compton 41:46Uh, it was Dan Stover, if you remember him.

Tim Fulton 41:48Yeah.

Blake Compton 41:48I don't think he's still around, but, uh-

Tim Fulton 41:50Yeah

Blake Compton 41:50... how did I find him? Oh, I, I don't know. We went on a, a, a double date once, and then-

Tim Fulton 41:54Okay

Blake Compton 41:54... that's how I found out what he did. And then all of last year I was in a Vistage group, which is a little higher level, uh, leadership group, small business owners to medium-sized business owners. But the requirement is that you have to do a million in business a year-

Tim Fulton 42:07Okay

Blake Compton 42:08... or be on the upward trajectory for that.

Tim Fulton 42:10Okay.

Blake Compton 42:10So there's quite a bit of cost. I mean, it's, it's, it's, uh... I hear it's, it's more now, but I think it was, like, 1,000 bucks a month. It was expensive.

Tim Fulton 42:16Oh, wow. Okay.

Blake Compton 42:17Um, but it was immersive, and it was so valuable to have o- one, we had this coach, Artie Isaac, who's just a-

Tim Fulton 42:24Okay. Yeah

Blake Compton 42:24... a wildly creative, disruptive man who really knows how to engage your thought process and, and change your views on whatever you're doing.

Tim Fulton 42:32Right.

Blake Compton 42:32Um, but then surrounding yourself with successful business owners who are trying to get better, and we all know that, you know, we have that weight on our shoulders. And you get to know them over the years. And, and it's a whole day once a month where you spend the whole day together as all- as, as business owners working through each other's problems. So that was really valuable.

Tim Fulton 42:51Yeah.

Blake Compton 42:51And then I had a strategic coach that focused on kind of the day-to-day, where it's like, "We got this problem today. Let's fix it," and, and he was there. And that was all of last year. I really feel like those two coaching groups last year, I probably spent 30 to 40% of my time in coaching last year.

Tim Fulton 43:07Huh.

Blake Compton 43:07And, and that was like an MBA.

Tim Fulton 43:09Yeah.

Blake Compton 43:09So this year I've really, like, learned how to let go of some things because of all my practicing last year.

Tim Fulton 43:14Right. Well, and I think that's another part of advice, not, not necessarily for somebody starting out, but for somebody who's maybe hit a rut-

Blake Compton 43:22Yeah

Tim Fulton 43:22... or somebody who can't figure out how to get to that, that next step.

Blake Compton 43:26A c- a coach is, is always va- I always suggest that you have a mentor or, or someone that you can confide in on a monthly basis that either is in your industry or is connected to what you wanna be. My current coach right now, uh, Juan Purpose is the company's name, and he's a business coach, but also, um, focuses on meditation.

Tim Fulton 43:45Okay.

Blake Compton 43:45And so one of the goals for, for working with him was to, one, show up on time to things. That was, like, a, a little thing that I struggle with.

Tim Fulton 43:53Okay.

Blake Compton 43:54And then also be intentional and make sure that the emotions I'm feeling and the way I'm thinking and talking are on purpose, and I, I know and, and do and say what I want to and, and why I'm feeling why I feel. And it's, it's been amazing to be able to tackle... You know, I, I... You saw on Facebook I was, uh-

Tim Fulton 44:11Right

Blake Compton 44:12... burglarized-

Tim Fulton 44:12Yeah

Blake Compton 44:12... over the weekend. And, uh, I've had to deal with some anger over the weekend that I was able to really just, like, let go. I really wasn't angry about the situation. I... The first time I got mad about it was when we were trying to install some cameras and my dad and my roommate were telling stories about something that had nothing to do with anything, and I didn't know how to put the camera in. I got angry, but then I was able to deescalate the situation and explain why I, I had an outburst and explain what I needed to move on, and we dealt with the situation. And, and before working with Juan, I, I couldn't do things like that.

Tim Fulton 44:45That's awesome.

Blake Compton 44:45And so, yeah, that was really, really, really valuable.

Tim Fulton 44:47Blake, thank you so much for your time today. I think a lot of great advice, and it seems like you guys are on a great path.

Blake Compton 44:53Awesome. Thank you.

Tim Fulton 44:54Thanks. Thank you for listening to the Confluence Cast presented by Columbus Underground. Again, you can get more information on what we discussed today in the show notes for this episode at theconfluencecast.com. Please rate, subscribe, share this episode of the Confluence Cast with your friends, your family, your contacts, your enemies, your favorite contractor. If you're interested in sponsoring the Confluence Cast, you can get in touch with us. We can be reached by email at info@theconfluencecast.com. Our theme music was composed by Benji Robinson. I'm your host, Tim Fulton. Have a good week.