Tyler McFarlin: One on one with Tyler McFarlin of 9 Eighteen Property Services

Join us for an enlightening one-on-one conversation with Tyler McFarlin, the visionary owner of 9 Eighteen Property Services. In this podcast episode, Tyler unveils the innovative approach his company takes towards property maintenance and management, revolutionizing traditional trade services.

Discover how 9 Eighteen Property Services fills the gap by offering a comprehensive range of solutions, from small electrical repairs, including low voltage systems, to specialized tasks like pre-sod grading and project management. Tyler shares insights into the challenges faced by property owners and managers and how his company's versatile services streamline processes, saving both time and resources.

Delve into Tyler's journey as an entrepreneur, navigating the ever-evolving landscape of property maintenance. Learn about the principles and strategies that have propelled 9 Eighteen Property Services to success, earning them a reputation for reliability, efficiency, and innovation in the industry.

Whether you're a property owner seeking efficient solutions or a fellow entrepreneur looking for inspiration in business innovation, this podcast offers invaluable insights and practical wisdom from Tyler McFarlin's entrepreneurial journey. Tune in to discover how redefining traditional trades can lead to new heights of success in the property services industry.

Transcript

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What's up guys, Chris Bowen here with Level Up the Podcast. I am joined today by Tyler McFarlane of 918 Services. Tyler, why don't you introduce yourself, man? Hello, I'm Tyler with 918 Property Services. We're a small business based out of Aubrey, North Dallas area. We specialize in pool builder services, swimming pool builder services. Yeah, so what all does that entail? Are you guys doing project management, site cleanups? What does that all entail? Yeah, so it's been described a few different ways. My favorite is, we've been called the Swiss Army Knife. I have guys that do specialty small item stuff with the equipment, and then I've got some guys that can do everything from mason repairs, tile repairs, electrical repairs, low voltage installs, everything that, the whole nine, yep. I love it. So what is it, how do you foresee kind of the company going? Is that kind of what you guys wanna follow as sort of a model or do you wanna build your own eventually? What's kind of the goal? Yeah, so right now we're not really interested in doing our own new construction. There's, we've discovered that there's such a need for this sort of interim in between trades services throughout, you know, all the way from dig to plaster. It seems like there's a real need in the industry. So I think we'll stay, stay where we're at and slide into a niche. Yeah, I think that's a good place to be, man. I foresee a lot of builders kind of needing that. Like you said, the in-between trades, so the punch list items, the project manager, the cleaning grades, the guys that can come in and repair things, I really think that's a good spot to be. And so you said you work with a lot of builders. How do you guys go about kind of finding those clients? So it's right now for the, well, we've been doing this for three years now and this whole time it's been completely organic. My wife, Tori, she handles all of the sales and she'll just go down the list. We try and focus on, you know, four stars plus reviews with the builders and everything like that to make sure that we're really seeking builders that care about their homeowners and care about the end product and care about their legacy. We really want to help out and raise those builders up on a pedestal to try and shine a light on the guys that are doing it right. Yeah, I think that in the pool industry, that's one of those things that there's so much negativity in regards to the, you know, who's doing it right, who's not doing it right. And I think that we really do need to lift up some of those guys, you know, not just in pool construction, but in business in general, that are doing things the right way and doing things the proper way and making sure that, you know, projects are done the way that they need to be done. Yes. Yeah. There's a lot of two year projects that look like 15 year projects and poor homeowners that they just don't know any better and they put trust where they pick and sometimes they pick the wrong one and I hate to see it but it is becoming more and more prevalent but you know we're getting a lot of really amazing builders come up as well so it seems like as a whole the industry is wanting to change and get back on track. that. I think that the more education we have within the industry, the more we're going to see builders continuing to rise up. Things with PHTA with the Genesis program or Watershape University, things like that. I think the more that we see those things, the more that those things are out there, the more people that are doing it, the more the industry is going to rise up. per se, you know, especially when you look at like what's required to get an electrical license or a plumbing license, Texas has no regulation on pool builders at all. To the Wild West. It is the Wild West and you know, that can go both ways. I mean, you look at places like Florida and it's not a whole lot better and they have a whole lot of regulation there, but you always hear about builders, you know, doing bad work there. So, I mean, we'll see if it makes a difference or not, but I definitely think that's the way the industry's kind of headed. I think so. I think the days of just getting by as a fly by night are on their way out. I think so. I think it's going to come down to who has the complete package, who can market, who has the branding, who's social media savvy, who's able to put teams together that do very well, who has the training to do it. And I think that's what it comes down to. So what's kind of, as far as working with new builders, what's that kind of look like for you guys? Are you guys actively pursuing new clientele or are you guys busy as is? So we just finished up a phase of meeting with several builders and entering into trade partnership with them. So we just finished that phase. So for the next six to nine weeks, we're going to be really focusing on the quality of our responses, making sure that with this growth, we stay focused on the things that are most important to us, which are communication and execution. Communication is massive. especially in this industry, it's very hard to get even a simple picture sometimes just because everyone is so busy hitting three or four jobs per day. Crews, 10, 12 crews out. We're going to take the next few. Yeah. So we're going to take this next few weeks and make sure that we don't sacrifice anything like that. No, I love that. That's fantastic to hear. Not a lot of guys do that. When they grow, they want to grow really, really fast and not do it strategically. And I think it's really important as a business owner that you're growing strategically. And it sounds like that's what you guys are doing. So what we're trying to do, yes, sir. So do you guys own a lot of your own equipment or have you guys rented it? How does that kind of work for you guys? Yeah, so when we first started, we were renting everything. In the early days, it was me and a truck. Thank God we've been able to amass a pretty good arsenal of trailers and flatbeds and stuff to do all the heavy lifting for us. We really focus on the mini skids in these backyards. So we have one mini skid, and then we'll rent whenever we need to as well. Um, but like I said, I'm really glad that we're not having to rent jack hammers and hammer drills and stuff like that anymore. Um, that was one thing we, that is. Yeah, well, really returning them at seven o'clock at night is the worst part. Returning them at seven PM is the worst part. I would agree with you. After you're tired after a long day, yeah, that's not fun. So. so we'll be looking to add probably a couple of mini excavators this year just to help out with... We do get a lot of calls for oddball trenching services, but a couple mini skids and maybe one more mini... or mini-Xs and maybe one more mini skid this year. Very cool. How are you guys kind of financing that on the business side of things? Are you guys paying cash or are you financing? What's that look like? Yeah, so we operate a lot on cash. I, this is my first construction services company that we've started. So we've really been lucky to find a great credit union out of Denton that we've, has just helped us so much. They're a small town, really home feeling bank and they let us collateralize the equipment we do have whenever we need to. So it's been really. Really great finding them. Yeah, that's clutch when you have a business that is very asset heavy. And I feel like the construction industry is a very asset heavy industry. And you have to have those things. I mean, it's just part of it. When I had my construction business, we had trucks, we had trailers. I had... Masonry vehicles, you know all the tools so I understand that better than most of What it takes to amass? You know a small arsenal of equipment basically So but so hold on just one sec looks like you disconnected Alright, are you back to us? There I got audio. There we go. There we go. All right, cool. We're back. So what's kind of your background? How did you get into this? What made you decide to start your own business? Yes, right out of high school, I found myself in the oil fields of West Texas. I did oil and gas work for about 11 years. By the time I was reaching the end of my oil and gas career, my oldest daughter was going to be starting kindergarten and that was my cough. So once she started kindergarten, thank God I had some contacts in the Frisco area. in pool construction. So I made a few phone calls and started as a shovel hand on a crew. And luckily, yeah, it was a very tough way to start, but I asked for anything that they could help me out with. And thankfully, they were able to see a path for me quickly. And I think two weeks, I went to managing the warranty department. That's awesome. And so when you were doing the warranty department, what type of work, was it construction work or was it equipment or a combination thereof? It was A to Z. Anything that could go wrong, you called Tyler. A lot. Yep, yep. All the subcontractor warranty, all the subcontractor warranty. Yeah. Yes, yeah, I was a busy guy. But it was probably the biggest blessing being able to learn in a, I think being able to learn by remedying problems is the best way to learn. I was able to deconstruct things and see where stuff went wrong and that has just helped me tremendously throughout. I can imagine. Well, you learn how things were done wrong in the first place. So, you know, how they got there. Now you know how to come back and fix it and do it correctly. Yeah. That makes total sense. So what kind of with some of the veterans in the pool industry was, was the best training I could have ever asked for. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. So what kind of led you to starting 9 18? What was kind of the catalyst to that? The extreme need that I was seeing and just day-to-day operations, um, particularly in the situation I was in, seeing all of the in-house resources just stretched thin for, for things that should not, they shouldn't even be on, you know, and having seen the invoices for, you know, minimum charges to get someone to go out there and put one tile back on stuff like that, it just. saw the need and figured we could probably fit right in somewhere. Yeah, it's kind of crazy expensive what some of that stuff costs. I don't think a lot of people realize that anytime you send any sort of crew out to any job site, there's a minimum charge that gets billed. Whether they're there five minutes or five hours, you're getting billed for five hours. and it's rare to see minimums under a thousand anymore. Yeah, which sucks. You know, that's like, I kind of saw a post the other day on Facebook where somebody was offering, you may have seen it, $47,000 pool builds. And I'm like, man, there's no way. With what things cost now, it's not even possible. Even if they did it, it would be fantastic. Everybody would be busy if they could offer that. But realistically, it's just not possible. and then heaven forbid something goes wrong on that job site, they've lost all their money. Yeah, that's the lean type of jobs that end up getting abandoned in most cases, because there's just nothing in the budget to combat anything that pops up. Yep. Yeah, I mean, you can't stay in business doing those types of jobs. You just can't. So, but I thought that was kind of interesting as we were talking, you know, thousand dollar minimums. I was like, what's... I had a group text with a couple of buddies and I was like, I'm willing to bet that doesn't include equipment. It doesn't include plaster. You know, there's no way.$47,000. That's exactly right. a cheap pool. Yeah, that's right. So when you guys decided you were going to start this company, how did your wife kind of take it? Was she on board or how did that look? So, I'm going to go ahead and start this company. So yes, she was 100% on board. Before we went out on our own, you know, I can't leave anything alone. I'm a wheeler dealer. I get it from my grandpa. I'm always trying to buy and sell. So it was really nothing new to her. She was just glad that I was gonna be able to focus a little more, I think. But yeah, she's been the biggest supporter at times, my only supporter, but she never falters, so she's everything. I couldn't do it without her. That's awesome. I wish my wife was a little more supportive of some of my ideas in the beginning. It usually takes her a little while to warm up to them. She's still my biggest supporter, but it usually takes her... It's gotta be income producing before she's on board with it. Which I get, I get, but... much you know maybe it does freak her out every time I have a new idea But she does a really good job of just patting me on the shoulder and saying you can do it Yeah Yeah, I know how that is for sure. So what does she do within the business? So she is my entire back office, my accounts receivable, accounts payable, everything. I am lucky enough that I get to run around and make sure things are executed how they should and call customers and all of that. Yes, you don't have to worry about any of the backend office stuff, which is a huge piece of it, man. That is really nice. You get to worry about everything that goes on within the field and then, you know, not have to deal with that quite as much, which is awesome. She can even send, I mean, she can build and send quotes. It's amazing. Yeah. So if we have somebody who's listening that's interested in you guys, what's the best way for them to get a hold of you, number one? And then number two, what's those typical charges look like? I mean, we talked about a thousand dollar minimum. Do you guys have minimums and stuff like that as well? We have a daily minimum for our builders, which means we don't have a job minimum, we just have a daily minimum. If we're going to, if I'm gonna roll a truck out, we have a $340 minimum for the day, but no, and then we have flat rates for everything else. So everyone, every builder gets their own price list, and then six months after we... open relationship with the builder, we'll revisit and see if we need to add, if they've been needing more of something and we'll just kind of make sure everyone is happy together and the prices and the offerings are in line with what they need. So lots of flat rates. My site clean packages are flat rates and it includes all of the topsoil, all of the hauling, up to a weight. It's really nice for the builders. They pretty much just... Send for site clean and wait for pictures. That's awesome. That's super convenient. As someone who used to be a builder, that's clutch. Yeah, we try and make it very menu based. That being said, we do let the builders know if we get one service order that's got us doing 10 tasks on it, you're not gonna pay full menu pricing for every task. We work with them and we cut deals all the time to keep our builders happy. Yeah, absolutely. And it keeps you guys busy too at the same time. So that makes total sense. We just want to invoice honest work. Yeah, I love that, man. So how can people get ahold of you? Yeah, my main, the best way to get ahold of me right now is through our Facebook page at 918 Property Services LLC. We're going to be working. the number nine and then spelled out 18, correct? Yes, sir. That's the number nine, one word, 18 property services. We're going to be here in the next month or two, we're going to be working on designing and launching a webpage. And I hope to have some, maybe some really cool working on some menu, click and go options for builders to be able to drag and drop pictures, select the services they want. It generates a service order for them to approve and sends it directly to us. So lots of exciting stuff in that corner coming for us for the first time this year. Well, cool, man. Well, thank you so much for your time today, Tyler. We'll talk soon, man, and I hope you guys had the best of luck and enjoy this busy pool season that's about to get started. Thanks, Chris. Congratulations on your podcast, and I wish you the best. Appreciate it man, you as well. Thank you.