Domain Expert:
Eddie Garton, Vice President of Construction for Arthur
Rutenberg Homes. Eddie has extensive experience in residential building
construction as well as several years in commercial construction. Additionally,
he is familiar with the process, from beginning to end, on building
construction including permitting, estimating, budgeting, managing construction
as well as interacting with customers. I found this person by working with him
for three years. This person provided me with information on how to start the
building process as well as requirements I would potentially need to start a
company like I have in mind. By including this person in my network, it will
provide me a resource for information as well as networking in the area since
Eddie works with many subcontractors and owners of construction companies.
Market Expert:
Debbie Shagnea, real estate agent for Watson Realty Corp. Debbie
is a very experienced real estate agent and has been practicing for over 20
years. She consistently sells a large volume of real estate annually and has
the #1 real estate agent/team in Florida six times in the past 10 years. I
found this person from working with her in Jacksonville to sell a couple
houses. Debbie was able to provide me insight on how the real estate market
work and any required certifications I might need in order to sell real estate
after building it. She also gave me advice on selling real estate and how to
target a specific audience. This person is a great network because she has a
very extensive reach in the real estate market, loads of experience and knows
many other realtors in many areas that would provide a very large customer base.
Supplier:
Jason from One Stop Kitchens and Bath. Jason is the head
salesman for one stop which supplies cabinetry for new construction as well as
remodels. This person fills the spot because he has an insight on the logistics
of supplying a complicated item like cabinetry. I found this person by working
with him over the past 2 years while I was working in residential construction.
What he did for me was provide detail on how the whole process works on his end
as a supplier/installer and how they typically do business with building
companies as well as requirements for what they need to build they products. By
talking to this person, he can help me network to other suppliers that will be
able to provide me with additional product I will need that go into my final
product.
This experience has showed me that networking opportunities are
huge. They are extremely important to growing a business as well as simply
finding information that can help determine if an idea I feasible. This
interaction did differ from other networking experiences because instead of
representing a company I was working for, it was my own idea I was working for
so it made me more inclined to talk to people as well as ask more in-depth
questions in order to figure out information for my idea.
Hey Matt! Having Eddie Garton as a contact must be very calming for you since the line of business your opportunity consists of involves high investment while at the same time being very regulated. Having someone you have already worked with for three years and have the comfortability with to be able to call about the steps you should take in your ventures and what you should watch out for is a blessing. The only thing is that I do believe that before entering the realm of construction you gain some experience in real estate simply because it is a step down and it ties together greatly with your overall plan of going in to construction.
ReplyDeleteHey Matt,
ReplyDeleteI think your picked three good candidates to help you further your knowledge. I think it was very smart to talk to Debbie to learn about the real-estate side and seeing if your need a certification. Talking to Jason, a supplier, was also good having someone when you need a supplier and learning how supplying works. Great Job!
Hey Matt,
ReplyDeleteThe people you talked to for this exercise seem very qualified and able to help you in your line of interest through future networking. By talking to an exec in construction, an experienced real-estate agent, and a head salesman for a construction company, I think you covered a lot of ground in terms of the different aspects of a business you would need help with.
Hey Matt,
ReplyDeleteGood job connecting with relevant people for this assignment. All of the people you talked to seem to have a tremendous pool of knowledge that you can benefit from. If you end up pursuing your business idea, these three people will definitely come in handy at some point. Eddie being a vice president of a construction company, should have some interesting takes on technology in the construction industry.