Harrison Ritchie: Mastering Construction Challenges and Customer Satisfaction at Ritchie Construction Group
Jul 11, 2024
Patricia
Discover the journey of Harrison Ritchie, the inspiring founder of Ritchie Construction Group, as he shares his path from working with his high school lacrosse coach to becoming a prominent figure in the construction industry. Learn about the nuances of residential renovations, especially kitchens, bathrooms, and basements, and the common misconceptions that challenge the industry. Harrison opens up about how COVID-19 has complicated the construction supply chain, making accurate quoting increasingly difficult. His candid insights provide a rare behind-the-scenes look at running a successful construction business amidst the turbulence of a global pandemic.
Harrison’s passion for quality and customer satisfaction shines through as he discusses some of Ritchie Construction Group's most notable projects and their vision for the future. Additionally, you'll learn more about Harrison’s life outside of work, including his love for outdoor activities and his upcoming wedding plans. This episode not only offers valuable knowledge for those interested in construction but also emphasizes the dedication required to build a trusted business. Don't miss the chance to nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured in upcoming episodes of the Good Neighbor Podcast! #GNPNorthport #RitchieConstruction #BirminghamRemodeling #HomewoodRemodeling #VestaviaRemodeling #BirminghamRemodeler #HomewoodRemodeler #VestaviaRemodeler #BirminghamKitchen #BirminghamBath #HomeRemodeling #BirminghamHomeAdditionl
Discover the journey of Harrison Ritchie, the inspiring founder of Ritchie Construction Group, as he shares his path from working with his high school lacrosse coach to becoming a prominent figure in the construction industry. Learn about the nuances of residential renovations, especially kitchens, bathrooms, and basements, and the common misconceptions that challenge the industry. Harrison opens up about how COVID-19 has complicated the construction supply chain, making accurate quoting increasingly difficult. His candid insights provide a rare behind-the-scenes look at running a successful construction business amidst the turbulence of a global pandemic.
Harrison’s passion for quality and customer satisfaction shines through as he discusses some of Ritchie Construction Group's most notable projects and their vision for the future. Additionally, you'll learn more about Harrison’s life outside of work, including his love for outdoor activities and his upcoming wedding plans. This episode not only offers valuable knowledge for those interested in construction but also emphasizes the dedication required to build a trusted business. Don't miss the chance to nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured in upcoming episodes of the Good Neighbor Podcast! #GNPNorthport #RitchieConstruction #BirminghamRemodeling #HomewoodRemodeling #VestaviaRemodeling #BirminghamRemodeler #HomewoodRemodeler #VestaviaRemodeler #BirminghamKitchen #BirminghamBath #HomeRemodeling #BirminghamHomeAdditionl
Speaker 1:
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Patricia Blondheim.
Speaker 2:
Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast. I'm your host, Patricia Blondheim, and today we have good neighbor Harrison, Ritchie. And Harrison is the owner of Ritchie Construction Group in South Birmingham. Harrison, how are you today, good neighbor Harrison, Ritchie and Harrison is the owner of Ritchie Construction Group in South Birmingham. Harrison, how are you today? I'm doing well. How about yourself? I'm doing great.
Speaker 3:
Thank you, hey tell me all about Ritchie Construction Group. Yeah, so Ritchie Construction Group is a residential home building company based out of Birmingham. We really stick to renovations for the most part, but we do have an unlimited builder license, so we are qualified to build homes from the ground up as well.
Speaker 2:
So yeah, so you specialize in any type of renovation.
Speaker 3:
Yes, particularly kitchen, bathroom, basement remodels. We also do additions as well.
Speaker 2:
So tell our listeners about your journey. Harrison, You're a younger guy, but how did you get here? Were you born with a hammer in your hand?
Speaker 3:
No, I actually worked for an old high school lacrosse coach of mine in high school. Well, yeah, there you go, an old high school lacrosse coach of mine who had a custom home building company in Birmingham as well, and he kind of brought me on as a laborer where I had the opportunity to watch piles of dirt turn into homes, and that's where I kind of fell in love with the idea of construction and it's just, it was very rewarding. So I started there and found a passion for it and then worked a couple of internships in college for some large general contractors out of Birmingham, particularly in their healthcare division. This was for BL Harvard. They sent me up to Nebraska for a summer for an internship and got to see what a large GC looks like, and then graduated from Alabama a few years ago and went straight up to Nashville where I worked for a small general contractor that actually focused on commercial and industrial renovations, and so that's where my high school experience with the residential met my post-college experience with the renovation world, and so I really enjoyed that, got to learn the ins and outs of the business, because it was the owner, a superintendent, myself and then a few laborers and then after that moved back home to Birmingham and worked for another large general contractor, hoare Construction, in their healthcare division.
Speaker 3:
So we focused on hospitals primarily new builds and had a wonderful time there primarily new builds and had a wonderful time there. And really then I started helping some friends who didn't know anything about construction, didn't know where to start, got some quotes, felt like they were high, just wanted a kind of a consultant level, just some help from me. And so I started helping friends and then kept getting phone calls, created the LLC and the calls kept coming in and finally I made the decision to go out on my own, felt like it was time to do it, and it's been a whirlwind ever since.
Speaker 2:
I know, as the owner of a construction firm and a general contractor, you run into all sorts of misconceptions about well, about construction. I mean, I don't know if you can even narrow it down. There must be so many, but do any jump out at you?
Speaker 3:
I would say that the number one thing that I always hear people talking about is that I guess it's two things that go hand in hand One, that all contractors and builders price gouge, and two, that they are untrustworthy. And again, those go hand in hand. And really I think that what that stems from is people not understanding what things cost these days. Unless you've been in the industry, if you've built a house before, if you've seen this kind of work happen firsthand, you don't really know. And so one thing that I try to do is set the expectation up front and kind of give guidelines of what a person can expect on a certain type of job. I've had somebody come to me and just, for instance, you know these are not exact numbers, but they thought that something that would cost a thousand dollars was gonna. They thought it would cost a thousand dollars when really it was five to ten, and it was just because they had no way to gauge what things cost.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, and COVID changed everything in the industry Absolutely. It made doing quoting almost impossible, because from day to day, everything changes, um, inside of the supply chain and the cost of materials has only gone up. I don't think I've, I can't think of a single thing. Wood has gone down slightly, but, um, most of the other things have really gone straight up like a rocket ship. And that includes the material that you have to buy in order to do your job the tools, the ladders, the bait, the scaffolding, everything. So, um, I mean, this is a. This is a tough uphill battle for people who are trying to do the right thing inside of this industry, because they are. They are under the misconception that every time you raise a price, it's because you're trying to gouge someone. Is does it disservice both to the customer and to the contractor.
Speaker 3:
Right. A prime example of that is when I was working in Nashville. I'd have to get prices on steel and rebar almost daily and I had to call daily because they would say, hey, that quote is good until the end of the day because the price could go up within the next six hours. So it happens all the time and it's really, it's really not ideal for anyone like you're saying.
Speaker 2:
Yeah. Well, what do you do, harrison, when you're not working? Do you have another? Do you have a life? If you do, what do you do for fun?
Speaker 3:
I do. Fortunately, I spend a lot of time with my fiance and we're working on planning a wedding, so that's been fun and exciting. But other than that, I really enjoy spending time outdoors go hunting whenever I get the chance and play some golf and just stay active any way that I can.
Speaker 2:
Has there been hardship in your life, Harrison? I'm sure there has been, but one that sort of made you a better and stronger person.
Speaker 3:
There was one. Actually we had not too long ago a drunk driver. He came and hit my fiance's car and my car and our home in the middle of the night and so totaled our car. We had about $40,000 worth of damage to our home, my truck that is what I use to work every day now.
Speaker 3:
That was in the shop for three weeks and so really it was kind of that, with the culmination of wedding planning, running a relatively new business and all of these things that it's. You know what they say when it rains, it pours. And so there was a lot of opportunity to sit there and think why me and you know kind of have a pity party for yourself. But instead it was a good opportunity to learn and grow and kind of strap the boots up and say, all right, what are we going to do about it? And so it was probably a month of finagling with the insurance company, the car shops and trying to run a construction business out of a rental sedan. But really it was just I'm blanking on the word for it, no, it was a complete challenge.
Speaker 2:
I mean, it turned your life upside down. How does somebody, even if they're drunk as a skunk, how do they take out two cars and a building?
Speaker 3:
Gosh, going too fast and not having the chance to hit the brakes, I guess Just a ton of sleep.
Speaker 2:
That was amazing.
Speaker 3:
Yeah.
Speaker 2:
Amazing and shocking and I'm so glad you got through it. Is there something you would like our listeners to you know be the takeaway about Ritchie Construction Group?
Speaker 3:
Sure, I would say two things are one, like we touched on earlier, the specific type of work that we do is the larger scale renovations with kitchens, bathrooms, basements and additions, basements and additions, but also that kind of what sets us apart, and I think you'd be hard pressed to be able to argue this is just the customer service. That's really what we provide, better than most. I would like to think so. Really. It's just. If you call us, we're going to do everything in our power to make sure that one that you you feel like you are working with, somebody that you can trust, that is not price gouging you, and somebody that's going to get the job done and leave you happy and satisfied at the end of the day.
Speaker 2:
Well, someone in the in the city nominated you so clearly. You are making a good impression out there because somebody cared enough to put you forward, so the rest of the city can learn about you. How can listeners learn more? How can they contact you?
Speaker 3:
So we've got a website. It's called richieconstructiongroupcom and on that website we've got a gallery of work that we've performed. We've got a About Us page where you can kind of see my story and how I got here, and we've got a contact page and then some customer testimonials. So really you should be able to find anything and everything that you can on that website. And for those of you with social media, we've got an Instagram page that's up and running at Ritchie Construction Group and we are still working on the Facebook, but it's out there.
Speaker 2:
Wonderful Harrison. It's been great getting to know you. Thank you so much for coming by and sharing Ritchie Construction Group with us. Yes, ma'am, Thank you so much for coming by and sharing Ritchie Construction Group with us.
Speaker 3:
Yes, ma'am, thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 1:
Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to gnpbirminghamcom. That's gnpbirminghamcom, or call 205-952-0148.
