Shop Talk is a weekly column featuring locally owned and operated businesses. This week, we talk to Precious and Sean Dwight, owners of Christian Brothers Construction Inc. in North Franklin.
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How long have you lived in the area?
Sean: I was born and raised here; my father's family is from Unadilla, and my mother's family is from Oneonta.
Precious: I'm from Nigeria.
Tell me about your business:
Sean: It's primarily residential construction. We do remodeling and building, including all phases of construction, from the foundation up to the roof. We do some commercial work as well.
Precious: We do a lot of work for Chenango and Delaware counties through grant work.
Sean: We're certified with the state of New York as a minority and women-owned business, because she's the president and I'm the vice president.
How did you get started in this line of work?
Sean: I had worked for other (contractors) for years. I got into contracting right out of high school, and in 2000, I went to work for a friend from my church who needed some help. We became partners, and business picked up from there. We incorporated in 2001 as the business started to grow.
We're not brothers, technically, but we do consider ourselves brothers spiritually through the church, so that's where the name came from. We started advertised, printed out some business cards, and hired our first employee. 2002 was really when it took off. Since then, it's been growing more and more, with my wife and I in charge.
Precious: We have had up to 15 employees at certain points, but it can be hard to find people who are willing to work. We've been working with a good base right now, but we would like to get more people we can work with.
Sean: I know it's the Lord that has enabled us to see it through the tough times. The partner I started with, he had arthritis, so over time it ended up where I was doing most of the hands-on work myself. Then I taught my wife to do a lot of these things so that she could help out. We went through some difficult times where money was tight, we were sitting at home and the phone wasn't ringing with jobs, but through prayer, we did it. We give God the glory for allowing us to come this far.
Where do you see this business in five years?
Sean: I'd like to continue to expand _ I'm trying to bring more work in. If I could entrust more of the company to partners, I'd like to be able to do that. Right now, Precious and I personally work a lot more than any of our employees do, because there's so much to be done on the management end.
I'd like to stay in the same area, especially because of gas prices. I'm just looking for good, dedicated, reliable people.
What have you learned from your work?
Sean: It's rewarding in that there's a lot of satisfaction in what we do. We're both licensed ministers in the Gospel _ it's our desire to do more mission trips together, but from this business, I get to interact with people and minister to their needs, whether it's personal or spiritual.
What is the hardest thing you have to do?
Sean: Handling employees, managing personnel.
Precious: Dealing with tough customers.
Sean: There are some customers who are difficult to please. Everything might be done right, but they will still refuse to pay. We're just finding out how to handle these things. You can put a mechanics lien on a house, or go to small-claims court, but it still doesn't mean you'll actually get the money that's owed to you.
The most enjoyable?
Sean: Satisfied customers who are appreciative.
Precious: Tearing a place apart, and then seeing the end result, seeing the customer happy.
Sean: We get letters from customers who write to us just to say "Thank you," and that means a lot to us.
Precious: We have a customer for the last four or five years who will call us up any time for whatever they need. They're not going to go to anyone else, and they refer other people to us, because we have had a good relationship with them.
We have a core of employees who are so thankful and so appreciative to be working for us. We can trust them and they are confident with us as well. We've seen employees go through personal issues, and we've been there to help them.
Sean: The business should be like a family. We'll be there for them, and they'll be here for us.
Precious: We're interested in their personal welfare _ it's not just a job.
What are some advantages/drawbacks of doing business in this area?
Precious: You know how the economy is in our area _it's not as buoyant as it is in the bigger cities.
Sean: You have to be very competitive in your pricing. There are a lot of other companies or contractors in this area who are working without insurance or worker's compensation. We're not going to be able to compete with their prices, but on the other hand, I've been called to a job more than once to fix other people's work who were working by themselves or didn't finish the job. We have a sizable enough crew where we can get the job done in a good amount of time for a decent price.
Precious: We have seen other contractors quote prices so low that it's not even enough to pay for materials. They get partway through the job and they're out of money.
Sean: Whereas on all of our estimates, it says right there that the cost of parts and labor is included.
The benefit is, we started small and grew through repeat business and word of mouth. We established ourselves through customers who come back to us, and the grant work fills in the rest.
Precious: We're looking forward to doing more grant work from the state.
What sets you apart from your competitors?
Sean: Word of mouth. A lot of people have come to us saying they heard about us from someone else, a friend or a neighbor.
Precious: Also the fact that we are Christians, and we don't hide it. This is not charity _ it costs us money to do business _ but we're honest people. We have had people say we should get rid of the name, that it might put some people off, but we've had other people say, "I trust you, because you're Christians, so you're not going to rip me off."
Sean: Mostly, people have seen or hear about the good job and the quality work that we do. The other thing is, we're available. If a customer has an emergency, we're flexible enough that we can be available right away.
What advice would you give to someone trying to enter your field of work?
Sean: To drum up business initially, I would recommend selective advertising. I tried a few different things when I started out, and what worked for me were newspaper ads and the Yellow Pages.
Precious: Just be honest with your customers.
Sean: Whatever job you start, finish it.
Precious: Don't ever take anybody's money without finishing the job.
Sean: And do a little homework as far as researching market pricing. Ask around and find out what other people are charging. I knew one guy who got himself into trouble because his prices were so low, he wasn't making any money.
Precious: Do not be prideful. Do not think you know it all. Be open to learning, even from the people who work for you. There is no shame in that. Having been through difficult times, we're in a position to tell people, "Don't buy things you can't afford. Don't run up a lot of debt."
Sean: I know where I was at one time in my life, so I have to look at the ignorance someone else might have, and still extend love and grace and peace to everyone.
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To suggest a business for Shop Talk, contact Emily F. Popek at 432-1000, ext. 255, or epopek@thedailystar.com.
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