Epic Entrepreneurs

From Second-Generation Electrician to Strategic Partner: How Thomas Fleming Builds Trust, Talent, and Cash Flow Resilience

• Bill Gilliland

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Ever wonder why a $150/hour service call doesn’t mean the owner makes $150? We pull back the panel with Thomas Fleming, president of Strategic Electrical Solutions, to explore the real economics of the trades—7,000 hours of experience, a daunting license exam, payroll and workers’ comp, trucks and tools, and the thin margins that still have to fund safety, training, and great service. Thomas blends three decades in the field with nights teaching at the community college, turning education into a competitive edge and a pipeline for much‑needed talent.

We walk through how he balances commercial projects with custom and semi‑custom residential work, using design‑led thinking to elevate lighting plans, smart home integrations, access control, and CCTV. Thomas shares why he leans on networking over mass advertising, building growth through chambers, local groups, and trusted contractor partnerships that trade referrals and stand behind each other’s work. He’s candid about cash flow, clear about the difference between fair pricing and price‑book excess, and practical about communicating timelines when emergencies collide with reality.

Hiring and culture get the same strategic treatment: show up, think clearly, repair before replace, and treat flexibility as a two‑way street. We dig into troubleshooting as a process—measure, isolate, fix the cause—and how that discipline reduces callbacks and builds long‑term trust. Thomas also explains the thinking behind the name Strategic Electrical Solutions and why a mission‑driven brand beats a vanity label, especially when succession and future growth are on the table. If you care about craftsmanship, honest pricing, and partnerships that last, this conversation is your blueprint.

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Bill

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All the best!

Bill

Bill Gilliland:

Hey there, welcome to this week's episode of Epic Entrepreneurs. I am Bill Gilliland, your host. I am the principal of Action Coach Business Growth Partners and one of the founders of the Asheville Business Summit. I am super pumped today. I've got a really cool guest. He's joined the Action Coach community. We got Thomas Fleming from Strategic Electrical Solutions. So Thomas, tell us who you are and a little bit about yourself and your company and you know how you serve the community.

Thomas Fleming:

So again, Thomas Fleming, and I'm the president and owner of Strategic Electrical Solutions. Been in this industry for close to 30 years now. So second generation of electrical contractor. Spent a lot of time in the field, spent a lot of time educating myself along with others. We've kind of taken this on as about, well, we're in year three now, so we're at that hump, as everybody would say. It's make or break time. Just really serving our customers with exceptional service and the best value that the market's going to let us allow right now to do everything. Just um focusing a lot on our trying to help our customers in not just their needs, but also the education of what is actually behind the scenes in their electrical system is something they use every day without even knowing.

Bill Gilliland:

Yeah, so so Thomas, I want to dig into that a little bit. You said you're second generation, you've been in this 30 years, and then you said three years. Tell us a little bit about that.

Thomas Fleming:

So my my father was licensed. I believe I saw his in 1980-ish. I know he was in business in the 80s. Um, so I was young, wanted to go with him, spent a lot of time with him out in the field. Loved doing it, loved the aspect of harnessing something that nobody can see, but you can definitely feel it whenever it's uh not done properly. Um and really just took took to that. Um the I don't know what it is, don't know why. Some days I'm going, why did I do this? But other days, you know, I actually enjoy I enjoy what I do, and and it helps me every day to keep pushing through. Um him and I were in business, I tell everybody, three weeks before prior, if anybody remembers 2008, what happened then, and we survived through about 2013 when uh had an um offer come along that I just couldn't turn down. So he was at the age of retirement, and we kind of parted ways, let him do what he wanted to with it, went on later on with various companies, grew from uh you know, foreman to superintendent, project manager, estimator to pretty much running everything with it, and got laid off about a little after 2020 when everything happened on in that session and year, and said, Well, I might as well just try it again. So um went back and got my license after all those years, opened our doors, and here we are today, just trying to hump along.

Bill Gilliland:

Perfect, perfect. I love it, I love it. It's a it's a great background. So, who do you serve?

Thomas Fleming:

Uh is North, we're we're North Carolina, unlimited license for for the state of North Carolina. Our real area that we focus on is the Piedmont Triad. Uh, we're based out of Winston-Salem, so Winston-Salem, Greensboro, High Point, surrounding areas, Stokes County, Yadkin County, Davy is a big one. Iredale, we've done some work in. We've we've even traveled as far as uh Raleigh, Durham, and Lenore. So that kind of gives you a big wide advance of of what our coverage is and and the people who find us who want us to do the work.

Bill Gilliland:

So we're so are you mostly residential, or are you doing commercial or both? We do a little bit of both.

Thomas Fleming:

Uh my background is primarily in commercial, and as much as I love it, there are times that the commercial does do some issues with our cash flow. Um we're all the guys that I have worked for me, they basically have a background in commercial, so we try to stick a lot with that. However, now that we're um with the way the market and everything is, and we just got to be multifaceted. We're looking for uh good custom to semi-custom home builders. Get in, help them to actually, yes, they have a great design team on the finishes and counters and everything else. Our expertise can come in. Helping with the lighting design, have help to actually make some of that pop whenever we're we're looking at those design considerations they pick out. Um smart homes, uh, access control alternatives, uh security, not so much as far as the burglar alarm, but close uh CCTV or premise video, so that you know everything is attached to that customer. So they they can monitor what's going on in their house.

Bill Gilliland:

Yeah, no, I got it. I got it. Well, let me ask you some business questions. I think we got the idea. I mean, basically, you're you you're most you're like an electrical, you're like just an electrical subcontractor in a way.

Thomas Fleming:

And yeah, we're we're a contractor. We do a lot with uh general contractors, but a lot of service calls with homeowners and upgrades.

Bill Gilliland:

So yeah, we work with everybody. So you do both. You got so you got service and subcontracting. Oh, yes. Absolutely. If it's electrical, you can do it. I love it. Yeah, yeah. No, I love it. I love it. So let me ask you something. I mean, if you had to start over again, what would you do differently?

Thomas Fleming:

Oh, I would I would probably have a little bit more money in the bank um to to make sure that we have everything together, a little bit more cushion on the entrepreneurial end of where we're we are in the you know, cash flow crunches at times, and and sometimes that does affect everything. Um really doing anything else over again, I don't even think I would open my company up any sooner than what I have, just because of the knowledge that I acquired over um throughout the years. Um, another fun fact is I'm actually instruct uh an instructor at the community college here, and I have some of my students ask, well, what about my license? What about my license? And and the answer to that is yes, the license exam is is difficult, but that's actually the easiest part of the business in itself is having that license. Um without the business knowledge, without knowing how business operates and cash flows, and making sure that you have everything there. I've I've seen a lot of people who have gotten gotten their license, opened up a company, and failed within a few years just because of the business aspect. So probably one thing I'd do differently be get a little bit more business-minded courses behind me and and take it in that realm.

Bill Gilliland:

Yeah, got it. No, I like it. Yeah, business, yeah, got to get the knowledge, gotta get you got to get the learning before you can do the earning. So, yeah, it's good. So speaking of that, what have been some of your bigger learnings as an owner and an employer?

Thomas Fleming:

Oh, what uh payroll actually cost and involve. Man, that is that is a fun topic. Workman's comp and understanding how all that's billed, how all that does affect all the bottom line, uh, just the taxes, keeping up with everything, just making sure that all of those items that Uncle Sam and the state want to make sure that you have, uh making sure those considerations are made. So, you know, outside of what our pricing is for a project, making sure that we we have enough in there. You know, again, it is a business, and I tell people that I should file as a nonprofit sometimes, but it is a business, and it is a delicate act of you know, what what do we charge as a business, and what should us as the entrepreneur, owner, and the the qualified person, what should we actually we don't want to disconnect with our customers of the customer going, wow, this is an astronomically high price for a service where again we are providing a service and we are doing exceptional quality to make sure that in the end we are protecting the lives and property of those individuals.

Bill Gilliland:

Yeah, a lot of people don't actually understand what all has to go into it. I mean, I don't even think they understand the licensing. I mean, you guys you gotta have a lot of hours of experience before you I mean, you can take the exam, but you you you can't get your license until you have till you've put in the hours.

Thomas Fleming:

So that's it. It it is 7,000 hours for the state of North Carolina. Other states have 10,000 hours on the job. And honestly, there's there's still a lot of people out there who they cannot pass the test on the first, second, or even third attempt at times.

Bill Gilliland:

Yeah. Well, I mean, 7,000 hours, you can do the math. I mean, that's that's over three years. It's it's about four years is what it averaged into. I mean, the average the average thing is, you know, on a 40-hour week, it's 2,080 a year. So you know, that's that's you gotta have you gotta have 7,000, you gotta work four hours. That's a tough profession to get licensed in.

Thomas Fleming:

It's it is it and the the exam and the the math and everything else that we have to go through, and it is it is a daunting exam. Um kind of one of the reasons why it took me so long. I was honestly, I was scared of it.

Bill Gilliland:

So Yeah, well, I mean, it's certainly that can be done. It's just a matter of uh of you know putting yourself into it. But you know, you gotta want it. If you if you if you really want it, you gotta do it. So and then and then the business side of it that you talked about, I love that. So uh what are you what are some common misconceptions about running a business?

Thomas Fleming:

Uh that that us as the owner has has it made. Um the biggest thing, and and I again I go back to educating my customers with it, especially some of the my service customers, you know, our bill rate is is kind of in line with with a lot of the others. You know, it's it's anywhere between 130 to 150 an hour. Well, when when we talk about that, you you kind of think, wow, you're making 130 to 150 an hour. Well, not exactly. You know, I've got to pay my employees, whoever are going out to there, you know, they're gonna make a good living because part of this is that employee-employer relationship, they're relying on me to make sure that they have what they need. You know, I can't underpay them. So, you know, when we look at $30, $40 an hour for for a technician to go out, take that off the top, you know, now we're at $100. Government's gonna get their cut of it at 30%. So out of that $100, we're gonna have another, you know, $30 uh or more out of there with that cut. So now, you know, each one of these steps is is kind of dwindling us down. So, you know, at the end of the day, it's I look at a lot of these companies now who, especially some of the the ones who have gone to these price books and this flatten rate pricing, and I look at those and I'm going, yes, they're out there to make money and they're making good money at it, but at what expense to who? You know, is the customer doesn't understand what all going on and what all it costs. We do on there, but at the same time, again, it comes back to to my biggest balancing act is what can what can I do for a customer to make sure they're taken care of and not break their bank also. And and it all comes back to the full circle of what we're talking about is the what an hourly rate actually includes in it. There is not really a whole lot, us for the ones who are bearing the burden of the insurance, the workmen's comp worrying every night of what is what could go wrong or what will go wrong to really make sure that at the end of the day that we're we're providing for our family also.

Bill Gilliland:

Yeah, well, you got yeah, I mean you didn't even talk about taxes, you didn't even talk about um overheads, you didn't talk about insurance, you didn't talk about rent, you didn't talk about uh you know trucks aren't free, fans aren't free. But you know, you got you got those payments. You got you know, so there actually when you sit down and think it's it's interesting to me. Well, that's high. They don't know what they you know, it's it's it's not. I mean, what we what what's what's right is it's gotta be a win-win. It's gotta be fair for the customer and fair for you and fair for your team. Exactly. So it's gotta it's gotta be yeah.

Thomas Fleming:

So what do you attribute your growth to? Uh networking. So we we really do not rely a lot heavily on um marketing to the masses, um, such as you know, Google, Facebook, any of those advertising overhead expenses that we were just talking about. Our growth has really become from the networks that we're involved in. So with the chamber, um other networking groups that we're members of, and just the where we have educated those people inside of those groups and they understand that we are actually here to not just perform the task, but to also educate and make sure that those things at the end of the day that those other customers of customers are you know really taken care of. Um that's what most of our growth has come from. We've met a lot of con uh general contractors and other subcontractors throughout this, and we work hand in hand together. They have something come up, they give us a call, we have something, or with a customer, we're we're giving, we're passing those back and forth to each other and going, hey, we this is a trusted source. Um so we've really become that trustworthy person in our realm. Um and then what a little bit does we do have the web presence and everything else. You know, we have contractors that are Indiana, Ohio, um, other places that you know they want us to bid on jobs, and we've been very successful with them to be able to perform their task whenever they're coming into towns. So I love that. We're trying to keep, again, it's for the customer, keep the overhead expense down for the advertisement, but we we've got to keep things rolling too.

Bill Gilliland:

Yeah, gotta make it. So, how do you balance personal life with the demands of running a business?

Thomas Fleming:

Uh ask my wife, and she's gonna say, probably not very well. Um ask me, I'm gonna say I am overstressed most of the time trying to get things done. Again, the the biggest the biggest thing that's really come around is this uh role of the educator also at community college. So four days a week, we're I'm teaching at night. So it's run the business, uh, you know, eight to five, teaching from five to eight, getting home, seeing the kids, everything else. We keep going just for that reason. Um, you know, I I look at the future of the company, and I've got two kids that may or may not, do not know yet. Eight and five years old, do not know whether they're gonna take it or not, but that's part of the contingency and and plan of it. If they want it, great, they're gonna have to work for it. Um if not, then you know how do we how do we do succession plan in the company to make sure that the name, you know, here again, I'm building a brand um and wanting to be a leader in in this in this field and trade. So, you know, succession plans of that. How do we balance it? Well, you know, we're the dedication that we're putting to our customers and and trying to make sure that yes, they realize life happens at times and we're not always there, able to be there within 24, 48, even two, two to three weeks later, you know, that's that's all what it is. We're trying to be as uh transparent as we can of what's going on in our life so that that way they can play in around theirs. Right.

Bill Gilliland:

I love it. Well, I love building a brand, and you've got um I mean the business is going to be sold one way or the other, whether it's sold to family or sold outside the business. Either way, you the the path to build the business is the same. So that's pretty exciting that you're already thinking about that. Most people don't think that far ahead, so well done on that. So what so what qualities do you look for in employees?

Thomas Fleming:

Uh dedication if they want to show up. Um everybody says has the same thing. I can't get people to show up. Well, how do we fix that? You know, one of the ways is we've got to make it worth their while to show up. Um so may not always be the highest pay, but we've got to offer them something, you know, flexibility. I've got problems that come up, you know, life happens again. I need to take my kids to the doctor. My mother has whatever issue. You know, I I as a person, and especially being a principal of, I'm very understandable that take care of what you need to. You know, yes, we're we have a job to do, but at the same time, um my philosophy is, you know, I'm not trying to live to work. I am trying to work to live a little bit. So, you know, I want flexibility myself. One of the reasons why I became an entrepreneur. If I if the kids need to go to the doctor, I need to pick them up early, and my wife's not able to, you know, we have that's that flexibility. Um, I think a lot of employers have gotten away from that, that you know, the employees are people too, and without those employees, they really are nothing. Um, I I see that a lot, which is why I strive for not just to hire a body, but hire the right ones that they go out and do do what they need to do. They have the flexibility of doing what they need to do, and we all work together as a team with it. Um some of the other aspects that I'm seeing with it is just the training that some of the the skill set trainings and the knowledge that that the that even some of the so-called foremen, I will call them, or technicians who have been in the field for five, six years or more, some just still don't have the full skill set of finding a problem. Um, yeah, I run a lot of service calls because I've seen a lot of it and I can process. I have I have a way that I process a service call. And instead of just going to the leaps and bounds of I can't find it, let's just re- tear it all out, replace it, do it all this way. Yeah, my my biggest thing is you we want to we're trying to repair, we're trying to make sure that everything is safe as a repair and not just a replacement. Um, so you know, just understanding the concepts and logic, especially in the electrical realm, of what does it take? Because again, I one of the biggest sayings is a plumber knows where his problem's at. It makes a big mess on the floor. We don't know where our problem is at. We have to be able to actually see it, smell it, harness it, find it, touch it, whichever, to know where our problem truly is. And I think that makes a lot of us stand out. And a lot of people just don't have that anymore.

Bill Gilliland:

Yeah.

Thomas Fleming:

Yeah, I love that.

Bill Gilliland:

I love that. So what words of advice would you offer other business owners who are looking to grow?

Thomas Fleming:

Finding find your niche. Um find your niche in not just so much one realm, but find a niche in what your service really is. You know, you've got to look at yourself of while business itself should not be a hobby, there are a lot of people who are, especially smaller businesses, that act like a hobby. Um, you know, if you're going to grow, you need to have those proper things in mind of how do you grow. Um explosion is nice, but it also creates a lot of different headaches on the back end of if we have a lot of jobs going on, well, we've got to get vehicles, we need to get people, we need to get everything in place and in order. You know, we've got to have our suppliers who are giving us competitive prices so that we can compete in prices with the bigger box stores from their shelf. Uh it it really you really just need to sit down and it may not be a plan on paper, and it's like I tell Jason a lot, you know, I'm the principal of it. Everything I have is up here. It's my job to get this out on the paper so that you can help understand what's going through my mindset. But you've got to have a plan somewhere. Um, whether it is growth, succession, how am I going to make sure that things are taken care of? How am I going to make sure that even in slow times, because there will be slow times, you know, make sure that cash flow is still there so that you can still live also and not become one of the statistics. Yeah, no, I love it. So what's the next big thing for strategic electoral solutions? We're hit again, we're we hit our three-year mark. So I the biggest thing that we're having on the horizon now is now that I have gotten in my head that this is a viable plan and and it will continue to grow and does grow every day, is is now just trying to find more partners to work with. Um, and it it's it's not just any partner will do. We are looking for the the right people to work with who want to who have the same kind of um thoughts that we do. We're trying to serve a customer. We want them to be able to serve a customer. We want to work hand in hand with them in a relationship with their customers, whether it is design, what's coming out, what's new on the horizon, what can we do to future-proof and make sure that, especially in the in the residential realm of everything, you know, there's so many changes that have happened in the past 10 years that what can we do to make sure that those customers have everything that they may need going forward that that they're not having to do an upgrade or expansions or anything else, you know, in the next three to five years while they're still trying to pay off their investments on that. So, you know, that's what we're really looking and gearing towards is we're trying to become pardon the pun, we're becoming strategic partners with others who were trying to serve their customers um to the best of their ability, also.

Bill Gilliland:

Yeah, I love it. I love it. Strategic partners. Well, that's a good name, then.

Thomas Fleming:

It was kind of how it all came around. Is we were it it was it's was about a month and a half long debate of what name do we call it. You know, do we call it Fleming and Sons? Do we call it Fleming Electrical? Uh go back with when my my father and I were in business, he called it Wayne Fleming Electric Company. And one of the first things I looked at him is I said, Well, when you retire, what does that do for me? Because my name's not Wayne. So it it really became something I did not want the company named after me, but it's at least still has what our goals and and what we're looking to do. We're strategic partners. We come in and we're we're doing a strategy whenever we're looking at your project, whether it is new construction, existing construction, service, you know, there's all a strategy involved of how do we approach the problem in front of us. So, you know, simple troubleshooting. No, I love it. Yeah, and then the solutions, you know, we're finding a solution to your problem. So it it really all became put together in all that once we go, what is what's our ultimate goal that we're trying to do? So, you know, what better way to name a company, I guess.

Bill Gilliland:

No, I think it's a very good name. I I you know, I think one of the worst things you can do is name your company after yourself because no one actually cares. It doesn't, it's like a waste of a word almost. No one actually cares except maybe your mother and your you know and your family, yeah, your family if it'd been named like Thomas Electrical Solutions. I mean, but you know, strategic electrical solutions is a great name. It's a great name. So how does somebody get a hold of you? Like what if they want to get in touch? How do they do it?

Thomas Fleming:

Well, the biggest thing is, and I tell people, please text me. Um, my it's it everything comes to my phone, which is a blessing and a curse. Um, you can text me 336-312-4199. Um, that's the best way, because with all the spam calls and everything else, go to voicemail, leave me a message if you do want to call. I will get back with you. Um email us. Um right now it's Thomas at SESolutionsonline.com. Uh, you can visit our website, and I believe that we should have some of that active that you can get a hold of us there. Um SESolutionsonline dot com. You know, find us on there and let us know what your problem is. Let us know what you're thinking or doing, and you know, we'll we'll work you in the schedule as best we can and and make sure that you have all the options and and knowledge to go with it.

Bill Gilliland:

Yeah, that's awesome. Hey, thanks. Yeah, I really appreciate it. That's a fantastic interview. Uh, thank you for being part of this community. Appreciate all you're doing out in the world. And uh yeah, you know, we're gonna blow this thing up. We know I know you're gonna be continued growth and success. So uh really appreciate you being part of this. We're gonna give it the best shot we can. Thank you, Bill. Hey, and until next time, all the best.