Epic Entrepreneurs

From Decks to Airbnbs: Creating Multiple Revenue Streams with Derek Prince

• Bill Gilliland

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Derek Prince takes us behind the scenes of his entrepreneurial journey as founder of Pro Property Services, Asheville's premier exterior contracting company specializing in deck construction, siding, roofing, and log cabin restoration. But this isn't just a story about building physical structures – it's about building multiple successful businesses with intention and purpose.

What makes Derek's approach unique is how he's transferred principles from competitive bodybuilding into business leadership. The discipline, structure, and mental toughness required to excel in fitness have become cornerstones of his business philosophy. "I can't control everything in the business, but I can control my fitness and what I'm putting in my body," Derek explains. This foundation-first mentality has helped him weather the inevitable storms of entrepreneurship without falling into destructive coping patterns.

The conversation reveals crucial turning points in Derek's growth trajectory, particularly when he began rigorously tracking his numbers. Like many contractors, he initially operated on gut feeling rather than data. Learning precisely what each project cost to complete transformed his decision-making and profitability. Derek also shares candid insights about team building, explaining how he seeks self-motivated individuals with interests in personal development outside work. His formula? Find people who complement your weaknesses rather than mirror your strengths.

Most fascinating is how Derek and his wife have expanded beyond contracting into Airbnb management (currently overseeing 85 properties) and launching a laundromat specifically to service their vacation rental business. This ability to spot adjacent opportunities and build complementary services demonstrates the entrepreneurial mindset at its finest.

Whether you're struggling in the early stages of business or looking to scale multiple revenue streams, Derek's practical wisdom offers a blueprint for sustainable growth. Listen now to discover why knowing your numbers, investing in personal development, and building the right team culture might be the most important projects you'll ever undertake.

Thanks for Listening. You may contact me or our team at https://billgilliland.biz/

All the best!
Bill

Thanks for listening. Please hit the subscribe button, leave us a 5 star review, and share this podcast. You can reach me at williamgilliland@actioncoach.com or at https://billgilliland.biz/

All the best!

Bill

Speaker 1:

Hey there, welcome to this week's episode of Epic Entrepreneurs. I'm Bill Gilliland, your host. I am the owner of Action Coach, business Growth Partners and also one of the founders of the Asheville Business Summit, so super pumped with you today. Hey, there's still time to get tickets to the summit. It's September 23rd. We've got a couple of weeks to go. As of this recording, it'll probably be about a week when you hear this, so just go ahead and get your tickets. You can go out to wncsummitcom, but I am super pumped. Today I have got Derek Prince from Pro Property Services on the line. I'm super pumped to hear his story. I know you're going to want to hear it too. So, derek, welcome to the show.

Speaker 2:

Thanks for having me. I appreciate you having me on.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, yeah. So, derek, tell us what the heck is Pro Property Services and what's that all about.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so best way to describe Pro Property Services is that we are Asheville's premier exterior contractor. So we do deck siding, everything besides landscaping so we do roofing. We do a lot of cabin restoration as well, so we blast them down and restain them and log repair or log replacement. That's kind of our niche and my wife's side of the business. She manages about 85 Airbnbs and she has a whole cleaning team. We've got a laundromat that we're starting up to provide laundry services for those Airbnbs.

Speaker 1:

Wow, okay, so you really got two businesses here. Yeah, pretty much. Yeah, yeah, all right. So let's talk about both of them. We'll have fun with this. Yeah, yeah, that'll be cool. Yeah, I All right. So let's talk about both of them. We'll have fun with this, that'll be. Yeah, that'll be, that'll be cool. Yeah, I like the. Yeah, I know it's a, it's a, it's a. The Airbnb piece is a good, is a good, is a good business. And I know exterior contracting. We work with a lot of contractors and folks and subs, that sort of thing, anybody who's got trucks, vans, crews, we're, we're kind of that's kind of, that's kind of our thing. What, um? So let me ask you a question, though. I mean you, you've obviously been doing this a while. If you, if you've, if you've got that kind of a portfolio, if you had to start over in business, what would you do differently?

Speaker 2:

Um, I would hire a coach almost immediately. Nice, nice, yeah, first couple of years didn't really make a whole lot of money, didn't even know there was coaches for this type of thing. Uh, I'm a bodybuilder, a competitive bodybuilder, so I had coaches for that. And, um, you know, didn't really know if there was business coaches or anything like that. And uh, so, um, yeah, I would go back and get mentors and coaches from the get go.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, no, I love that. Thanks for thanks. Thanks for saying that. So what have you? This is a little bit off script, but I got to talk about bodybuilding a little bit here, now that we've brought it up. What's, uh, what are some of the similarities, like, what have you learned from bodybuilding that you've been able to take over into business?

Speaker 2:

uh, the discipline, um, the structure you know, inputting certain foods at certain times to get different results, adding certain, you know physiological changes, adding cardio, taking cardio out and kind of manipulating that thing to either maintain muscle, grow muscle or maintain muscle and lose body fat, to get stage ready. And the mental toughness that you get from it, that you get from business as well get from it that you get from from business as well.

Speaker 1:

The yeah, it seems to me that, like, like, what I heard was that you, you know you have to adapt to where, to your specific situation. So not every you know exterior, build or remodel is going to be the same. I mean, they're all different. You got it, you got to adapt and have a plan depending on where you are. For that I love that. I love that. I think, you know, I feel like most of the entrepreneurs and clients that we've worked with, they almost always have something outside where they're working on themselves in addition to just working on themselves in the business. It's sort of mind, body, spirit. So I love that.

Speaker 2:

I feel like that's what's helped me grow so much is having a strong foundation, because I can't control everything in the business, but I can't control my fitness and what I'm putting in my body. So keeping the foundation strong keeps everything, because we are our business 100%.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, you got to have it. So what have been some of your biggest learnings as an owner and an employer since you started?

Speaker 2:

uh, learning to track, tracking things, knowing exactly like what it cost me to do something and hitting a certain what it costs from the cost of a lead to to the sale to produce a job, uh, and job costing at the end of the job, that was game changer to actually see. You know like it's like being sick and not having a diagnosis. You know exactly what's going on. You're kind, just. I think I did good on that job. I'm not sure, but actually at the end of every job you know, grading it pretty much and then figuring out, catching those mistakes way ahead of time before I do two or three jobs at that and, you know, get get in a bigger hole. That was, that was. Probably the biggest thing for me is learning my numbers and learning what it actually cost me to do some projects.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, you got to know your numbers. Got to know your numbers, so what do you think? Some of the common misconceptions are about running a business.

Speaker 2:

That's a good question that the owner makes a whole lot of money. Yeah, that you don't do anything. You know, maybe especially when you step outside of actually being in the field, and flows and the stress and the sleepless nights that that you go through. You know, cause the buck stops here. You know, and you know sometimes you don't get paid. You know, especially in the early days and everybody else does, and that happened for a couple of years where all my employees were making more money than I was, which was fine, take care of them. But yeah, I would say that is probably the biggest one that you own a business. You've got. You know all this money coming in, but it tends to go right back out.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, they don't see it. Oh well, that was an $80,000 job, but they don't see. I mean it's sort of like they forgot that they have expenses at home. Yeah, yeah, don't see, I mean it's sort of like they forgot what they have expenses at home. Yeah, yeah, it's always been interesting to me that, you know they forget like, all right, well, I got a rent or mortgage payment, I've got a. You know, I've got electric, I've got water, I've got, you know, insurance, I've got car payments. You know it's like they don't think, hey, just because it's a business, it's the same thing, it's just big numbers, Right, you know. So it doesn't end up. Yeah, it's a bit crazy. So what do you attribute your growth to?

Speaker 2:

Being, I would say, you know, somebody who's into self-improvement and always wanting to get better, pretty competitive, naturally, anyway, so just striving to be the best. I'm one of those people. I want everybody to win, but I also want to beat you.

Speaker 1:

yes, I love that. Yeah, you can win, as long as I beat you. As long as I win, then I'm better.

Speaker 2:

Yeah I love that yeah yeah, no, that's funny.

Speaker 1:

Well, I think that helps. I think a competitive spirit really helps in business, I mean because it is a game. It is. You know it's a game, you know we just keep track with money, so it's an interesting one. So how do you balance, like the personal and business sides?

Speaker 2:

Um so I'm blessed to have, uh, some really good people in place in my business, to where, you know, I'm not having to put 12 hours in every day. Um so you know, I've got sales reps, I've got an office manager, uh, good project managers and stuff like that. I've been through quite a few of them to kind of find out, uh, exactly what I'm looking for and that we're all on the same page. So all of my crew are pretty close to me. You know, they're all self motivated into self-improvement, into fitness. A lot of them, uh and that seems to be our culture is that we're competitive, we're taking care of ourselves. Um, so that helps. Uh, you know, take care of them financially as well.

Speaker 2:

Um so, you know, I I make sure I get my training in the morning before I go to the office. You know, come on, come into the office for eight or nine hours and work on the business, leave by three or four and then go to the gym again. You know, go to church, stuff like that, and you know, keeping the mind, body and spirit in place. And uh, yeah, I love reading the podcast. You know, uh, just everything that I do, I try to afford momentum. Nothing that's pull, hold me back. You know, I love it.

Speaker 1:

I love it Cool. So you said you had a great team. So obviously you've been through a few team that probably wasn't. I mean, they might've been good at the time, but they, you know, they've cycled, they've cycled off or whatever what. What do you look for in an in employees these days?

Speaker 2:

Somebody who's motivated, somebody that shows up on time. You know that first couple meetings, you know when I'm interviewing, are they five minutes early, Stuff like that. I ask about their personal life a little bit, not too much, but do they have a good family life as far as? Are they married? Are they single? Are they out partying, that type of stuff? Those are some red flags for me. Yeah, good, family Foundation is key for me. So they're. You know it can be more reliable, um, and for me, like, especially on the sales side, uh, like I said, I look for somebody who takes care of themselves. Uh, it doesn't have to be bodybuilding, it could be anything outside of. Uh, it could be karate, it could be yoga, it could be anything like that. But something that they're working on themselves outside of work is kind of a and I just stumbled upon that recently and that seems to be the formula for me.

Speaker 1:

No, that's a good one. I mean, it's kind of who you are, so you naturally should be attracting those kinds of people anyway. It doesn't mean you want clones because that, that won't that don't work, you know right, right exactly it definitely. I mean, if you had a hundred percent so I would say one.

Speaker 2:

I'm sorry to interrupt. One more added thing is finding people that are better at things than I am yep not smarter like not always being the smartest person in the room. So, um, some people are better at talking than me, some people are better at doing spreadsheets and computer stuff, um, and stuff like that. So I try to find areas that I lack in and find the people that are better at that than me.

Speaker 1:

I love that, I love that. So one of our tag lines is be epic, and it's an acronym. So I'm going to ask you, I'm going to give you the letter, or the letters, and just get your quick, like a quick thought, like a couple of words or sentences about each one, just to get your thoughts on it. So I think this one's going to be easy. The B stands for bring the energy.

Speaker 1:

Like, just like describe it, or yeah, just give me a couple of words or sentences that come to your mind when I say bring the energy be motivated, be positive mindset, be focused. I love it. E is for education.

Speaker 2:

Self-improvement Education, always trying to be better, I guess.

Speaker 1:

No, I love it. No, education, self-improvement. You know Jim Rohn said work harder on yourself than you do on your job.

Speaker 2:

You know, if you want to be successful, p planning, Knowing your numbers, strategizing and have a game plan.

Speaker 1:

I love that. I love that.

Speaker 2:

I stands for inspiration, being a lead as the owner, leading from the front. You know you can't ask somebody to do something that you're not willing to do, and so yeah, leading from the front.

Speaker 1:

I love that Lead from the front. Yep Got to be out there.

Speaker 2:

And the C stands for commitment, yeah, being fully committed to our principles, our commitment to the customer and to delivering a great product and service.

Speaker 1:

Love it. So what words of advice would you offer to other business owners who are looking to grow?

Speaker 2:

um, I would say take care of you. It starts with you first, so start taking care of your health and spirituality, whatever that looks like for you, because when the storm comes, if you don't have a strong foundation, other vices tend to fill that gap, whether it's alcohol or anger, that sort of thing. So taking care of you first and foremost, so you can take care of others, diving into the numbers and knowing your numbers I wish I knew that from the get-go and then investing in yourself and your business that's where that looks like. I know not everyone can hire a coach right off the bat, but you know, looking at, there's a lot of free content, online podcasts and just one thing I did from the get-go when I was flat broke, didn't have any jobs lined up, my wife was like you need to get up.

Speaker 2:

I was kind of depressed, and she's like you need to get up and go do something. So I got up and decided I was going to ride around and pass business cards out, but I'm going to use every little bit of time to get better. So I wouldn't even listen to music. I pass business cards out, but I'm going to use every little bit of time to get better, so I wouldn't even listen to music. I mean, let's do a podcast as I'm driving around. Uh and yeah, just utilize each time you know as much time as you can to to get better and on and off the job yeah, and I love that.

Speaker 1:

I call it car college. Yeah, you, just, you, just you know, don't. Yeah, music's okay from time to time to get you fired up or whatever, but you know there's a lot of time in vehicles or walking or whatever it is you're doing, between things where you could be learning. So you know we have a saying that only place you know earning comes before learning is in the dictionary.

Speaker 1:

So, yeah, so you got. You got to learn. Hey, this has been awesome, so I know you've got. Uh, we've been mostly talking about the um, the construction side of the business. Um, all of this stuff applies to the other side of the business as well, I'm sure. Um, but? But talk a little bit about that business and what you've learned over there.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so my wife was a registered nurse during the COVID era and she got a little burnt out on the craziness so we decided to add a cleaning service because we're already at the home and I've had a few people ask me anyway, um, so she started that four years ago, um, and she's done a great job growing it, um, and what we've learned over there is a little bit different. Uh, as far as cashflow goes, you know, um, and then it's one thing we've noticed with that is she doesn't get any of the praise that we do. You know, like, once we complete a deck and the customer's happy, get a good review. Well, most of her stuff is a lot of negativity because a guest finds a piece of hair, you know, and then once they find that, then they go looking for everything. So that's a struggle for hers.

Speaker 2:

Uh, uh, finding some positivity in it, um, it does do pretty well as far as you know, consistent income, um, but getting getting payments has been the struggle from cause we pay the girls and then waiting on the payment from the homeowner can be a struggle and we have an inspection lady goes in and inspects the cleans after the girls are done and then finding good help. To be honest with you, that's been the struggle on that side, but there's room to grow. We found that the construction side is a little too expensive for that clientele with the Airbnbs on our side. So you would think that would lead to us working on those homes, but they tend to be out of our price range because we're more higher end on that side, right out of our price range because we're more higher end on that side, right.

Speaker 2:

So so we've took on a couple handyman, hourly handyman yep to kind of because there's money there and we want to take, take advantage of it, um, but also finding real viable handyman has been a struggle, um.

Speaker 2:

And then we just recently hired a we call her an office manager, so she's going to be answering the phone for the construction side, you know, doing the admin stuff for that, and then with her side, is getting back to the homeowners and with the Airbnbs the scheduling is always changing so fast, even on the weekends Like ours. You know it shuts off on Friday, but hers is Saturday and Sunday and having that communication with the homeowners answering questions. So we finally got and my wife has been doing all the invoicing and all that stuff for that side and that's an all-day task and so we're trying to free her up so we can focus on building the handyman side. And also we've just got a 1,600-square-foot facility and we're putting in, I think, 10 washer and dryers in there and that's kind of to go to supply the linens for those Airbnbs and we see a huge opportunity, uh, with that. We just got to get it up, get her freed up so she can focus on that and yeah, so you've added a third business, really, which is the handyman business.

Speaker 1:

So it's a different business than your other business. I mean it sounds like it's construction, but it's just not right. Yeah, I mean because you might. I mean you know, I've had clients who were in the handyman business. I mean they sometimes just change light bulbs. I mean it's not like it could be just about anything. I mean it could be major, it could be a remodel job, but it could also be a. Yeah, that's an interesting thing. I love how you guys have just sort of morphed into the opportunities, like you saw what was there and then you've looked for what's next.

Speaker 1:

Right, yeah, and I love that, I love that. That's great. So, lastly, what's the best way for somebody to get in touch with you?

Speaker 2:

You can go to our website ProPropertyServicesWNCcom. Pro Property Services wnccom. Our phone number is 828-202-1328 is our phone number.

Speaker 1:

I love it Well, fantastic. Listen, thanks for being on here. There's a lot of good wisdom here. There's a lot of good experience here. Appreciate what you're doing in the community and all the things that you're doing, and it sounds like you guys are serving a big need on both sides of the well, all three sides of the business. At this point it's going to be yeah, but it's fun. I love the entrepreneurial drive. Congrats on your success so far and certainly wish you continued success.

Speaker 2:

Thank you. I appreciate you. Thanks for having me, yeah.

Speaker 1:

Hey, and until next time all the best, thank you.