EP# 42: Groundbreakers and Trailblazers: Bernard Croteau's Journey from Earthmover to Industry Innovator
Apr 08, 2024Episode 42
Liz Lemon & Bernard Croteau
What makes Bernard Croteau with BC Enterprises a good neighbor?
Ever wondered what it takes to master the behemoth machines that sculpt our landscapes? Bernard Croteau of BC Enterprises joins us to peel back the curtain on the excavation industry, offering a rare glimpse into the life of a man who steers both his career and hobbies with the precision of the heavy machinery he operates. From his humble beginnings as a fresh-faced high school graduate, Bernard's tale unfolds to reveal the intricate dance of skill, patience, and dedication required to excel in the world of excavation. But it doesn't stop at the job site; buckle up as we zoom alongside Bernard's high-speed pursuits outside of work, where the adrenaline rush of piloting and racing fuels his zest for life.
This episode isn't just dirt and diesel; it's a masterclass in carving your own path. Bernard's story is a powerful endorsement of the trades and a resounding rebuttal to the 'quiet quitting' epidemic permeating today's workforce. His commitment to excellence and old-school business ethos, built on the bedrock of quality service and word-of-mouth, serves as a blueprint for making oneself irreplaceable in any industry. For those contemplating the road less taken, let Bernard's journey through the trenches of the excavation business be your guidepost. Tune in and be inspired to forge your own path with the same relentless drive and authenticity that have defined Bernard's enviable trajectory.
To learn more about BC Enterprises call: (413) 531-1079
What makes Bernard Croteau with BC Enterprises a good neighbor?
Ever wondered what it takes to master the behemoth machines that sculpt our landscapes? Bernard Croteau of BC Enterprises joins us to peel back the curtain on the excavation industry, offering a rare glimpse into the life of a man who steers both his career and hobbies with the precision of the heavy machinery he operates. From his humble beginnings as a fresh-faced high school graduate, Bernard's tale unfolds to reveal the intricate dance of skill, patience, and dedication required to excel in the world of excavation. But it doesn't stop at the job site; buckle up as we zoom alongside Bernard's high-speed pursuits outside of work, where the adrenaline rush of piloting and racing fuels his zest for life.
This episode isn't just dirt and diesel; it's a masterclass in carving your own path. Bernard's story is a powerful endorsement of the trades and a resounding rebuttal to the 'quiet quitting' epidemic permeating today's workforce. His commitment to excellence and old-school business ethos, built on the bedrock of quality service and word-of-mouth, serves as a blueprint for making oneself irreplaceable in any industry. For those contemplating the road less taken, let Bernard's journey through the trenches of the excavation business be your guidepost. Tune in and be inspired to forge your own path with the same relentless drive and authenticity that have defined Bernard's enviable trajectory.
To learn more about BC Enterprises call: (413) 531-1079
Speaker 1:
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Liz Lemon.
Speaker 2:
Welcome to Good Neighbor Podcast. Are you in need of some enterprises? Surprisingly, you might be closer than you think. Today I have the pleasure of introducing your neighbor, bernard Croteau, with BC Enterprises. How are you doing today, bernard?
Speaker 3:
Very well, very well how you doing today, bernard.
Speaker 2:
Very well, very well. Nice to see you, liz. Great, we're excited to learn all about your business. Tell us about BC Enterprises.
Speaker 3:
Well, I'm a single person enterprise, sole proprietor, and we do small excavations. We do a lot of the work that the bigger companies are too busy to do or just aren't equipped to do. A lot of the work that I do fits a niche also. So, for example, I do a lot of above ground pool preparations for people and we do some select work for concrete people, prepping sites for them. So, and again, most of the work that I do is on a smaller scale. So I'm on multiple job sites even in the same day and one of my customers can I drop a name? Is it okay to drop a name?
Speaker 3:
Yeah, so my largest customer is Teddy Bear Pools. I've done work for them for the last 30 years, so I have a good working relationship with them and they do a pretty good job of filling my schedule from time to time. But again, it's a niche, it's a specialty kind of thing that we do for them. But we work for everybody. I mean anybody that calls and if I can fit the work in I will. But we do small stuff, you know, basic, on a Bobcat scale, nothing, nothing large.
Speaker 2:
How did you get into the business?
Speaker 3:
Well, out of high school I decided that I wanted to pursue something in the trades and I have a lot of family members aunts not aunts, but uncles and cousins who are in different aspects of the construction business. So I decided I wanted to try my hand in the business as well. Now I tried early on to be a carpenter.
Speaker 3:
I tried to be a lot of different things a mason, I sort of stumbled onto running equipment early on and it just seemed like a natural fit. I mean, when I was a kid I'd play in the sandbox and I'd have little loaders and dump trucks and you know spoons and you know make them act like shovels and you know. So it just seemed like it was fun, all right, to run equipment. So I bought a Bobcat and basically taught myself to run it. And then I found that I could actually find work for myself with that machine and it was work that paid me a little bit more than it would to be, say, a carpenter or a mason, and it was work I found much more enjoyable and rewarding and I got pretty good at it. So you know, fast forward, 30, 40 years later, I've done pretty well, just kind of staying in my lane and doing what I'm best at. So that's kind of in a nutshell.
Speaker 2:
That's good. What are the myths and misconceptions within your industry?
Speaker 3:
It's a specialized piece of equipment that looks like a toy. Specialized piece of equipment that looks like a toy Okay, kids are drawn to it because of the bright colors and you know. But it actually is challenging to run. They're very responsive, so you can do a lot of damage in a short period of time with it if you're not good on it.
Speaker 3:
Probably the biggest misconception is people thinking they can get good on the machine right away.
Speaker 3:
Probably the biggest misconception is people thinking they can get good on the machine right away. We kind of live in an instant gratification sort of society where everybody wants to reach the top of something right away and the biggest misconception is you can just hop on this machine and be good at what you're doing. It takes time and I think anybody can do it, but you have to be willing to put the time in and you have to be patient with yourself. And you know I get compliments all the time about how I make the machine kind of dance and it's like an extension of my body. But you know you're talking about, you know, 35, 40 years later, running equipment. I'm sure it took me a while when I first bought a piece of equipment to learn how to do it. I made all the mistakes on my own projects before I was willing to go out and risk working for somebody else. So that's the biggest. Biggest misconception is that these things are easy to operate and can be mastered overnight.
Speaker 2:
Patience Outside of work. What do you do for fun?
Speaker 3:
Well, I've. I've done a lot of things in the past. I'm 66 now, so you know that bucket list that people talk about, my bucket list is pretty empty right now because of you know the fact that I've been fulfilling it all along. I mean, I'm a pilot. I've, you know, had my own airplane. I've had three different airplanes. As a matter of fact, I also am a helicopter pilot and I've owned my own helicopter in the past as well. I've raced stock cars for about 20 years. I did um nascar racing. I've got a couple of motorcycles still that I don't get enough time, or you know time on um. I've always migrated to things that go fast. You know, love motorcycles, love jet skis, uh, snowmobiles, that kind of stuff, um. So yeah, that's what, what I enjoy doing, although I'll admit to I've slowed down quite a bit over the years. But yeah, that's pretty pretty much it in my off time.
Speaker 2:
Let's change gears just for a moment. Can you describe one hardship or life challenges that you rose above and can now say because of it you're better and stronger? What?
Speaker 3:
comes to mind. Oh, good question. Wow, a lot of have to do a lot of introspection there. Huh, I've been fortunate. I it's. I'm hard pressed to think of any. I mean, I was a hockey player growing up and I was pretty good at it, so I was fortunate to get a lot of confidence, you know, from doing well at something.
Speaker 3:
When I decided to take a different avenue instead of pursuing college degree, decided I wanted to work in the trades, that was a challenge. Everybody expected me to go on and do something maybe more intellectual, let's put it that way but I'm a guy that likes getting down and dirty and likes getting in the trenches and feeling the dirt, not just looking at it. So I think the biggest challenge for me back then was to convince people that this wasn't a bad course. This was just my course and not knowing anything back then. You know, deciding to get into a trade or to get into an industry that I wasn't groomed for.
Speaker 3:
You know, I was groomed back in high school to go on to college and to be a doctor or a lawyer or something. You know, something prominent, something that my parents would be proud of. Just going into the trades, or especially going into the excavation business wasn't met with a whole lot of I'm not sure what the word is. It was fighting off the disappointment that I could see in everybody's eyes when I quit college and decided I was going to work for myself and do this for a living. So just the challenge of overcoming that, I guess.
Speaker 2:
Right, you've stayed the course. What is the one thing you wish our listeners knew about? Bc Enterprises.
Speaker 3:
Oh, what would I think? That if I can do it, anybody can do it. Okay, you know, I think I'm an example of somebody that doesn't necessarily have to grow up with a lot of doors being opened for me. You can get the doors open for yourself. You just have to be persistent, dedicated, motivated. You've got to be able to get yourself up in the morning and put your clothes on, put your boots on and go to work, and there's no excuse for that, there's no substitute for that. You can't let somebody else phone it in for you. You've got to do it yourself.
Speaker 3:
And I guess if I was going to give advice to people, it's you get out of life what you put into it. So don't be afraid to put a bunch of stuff into it. Don't be afraid to put effort into it and do your best. Do the best, don't settle for just okay. I do.
Speaker 3:
From time to time, when I stumble across some younger people, I do try to ask them if they have something that they feel they're the best at. And they look at me funny and say, well, what do you mean? I said well, everybody should have something in their life that they feel they are the best at. Something, pick something. Pick the thing that you are the best at and be the best you can be at that. That's what I've tried to do and you know I know a lot of people don't agree with that. They think that just being mediocre should be good enough. You know, have you run into a lot of people that fit into the newest category that I just stumbled onto and something called quiet quitting? Have you got any familiarity with that, liz?
Speaker 2:
A little bit, yes.
Speaker 3:
I stumbled onto that and I got such a kick out of that that people are almost rising to an art form of trying to find how little work they can do and get away with it. You know, that's that's never been my philosophy. It's always been sort of like pay it forward. You know, make yourself invaluable to somebody so that you don't have to worry any longer about you know your job, or you don't have to worry about the future. I mean, I'm very fortunate. I've done a lot of work for people over the years repeat work and I'd like to think that it's because I do the best job I can for them and then when they're ready for something else that fits for me, they'll call me back to work for them again. I've never advertised. I've worked for myself now for probably 40 years now. I think about it and I've never advertised. So I rely on other people picking up the phone and calling me.
Speaker 2:
That's very wise and we commend you for that. How can our listeners learn more about BC Enterprises?
Speaker 3:
I don't know, because I don't advertise anywhere and I don't do Facebook. This is something unique for me, right here talking to you in a podcast. This is probably as far afield as I get. I mean, I'm still a paper and pencil person. I have a little bit of familiarity with computers, but not a lot. I still get a kick out of 25, 30,. I still get a kick out of 25, 30, maybe even closer to 40 years ago, when somebody bought a computer it wasn't a laptop, it was a big machine and convinced me that I needed to buy one.
Speaker 3:
I remember saying to them why should I buy a computer? It's a fad, it's going to fade, it's going to go away. It's the newest, latest thing, but it's going to go away. You know, it's just, it's the newest, latest thing, but it's going to go away. I mean, could I be any more wrong? The other thing that I remember people saying was that computers and paper was going away. That was going to be replaced, everything. We're going to go paperless society. I don't think we've managed that, I don't. I mean, every time I do any banking or any financial work and they send stuff over to me and I see how many pages after pages after pages you got to print out. I laugh because there's no way we've become a paperless society. In fact, sometimes I think we're even more paper prone.
Speaker 2:
Right. Is there a phone number you'd like to share?
Speaker 3:
Sure they can have my cell number. It's 531-1079, area code 413. Please, no prank calls and no hate calls. Please Call me if you need me. I'd be happy to talk to you. If the job fits for me, I'd be happy to take a look at it and possibly even do it for you.
Speaker 2:
That's great. Well, Bernard, I really appreciate you being on the show and we wish you and your business the best moving forward.
Speaker 3:
Thank you, liz, appreciate it very much.
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 gnppalmercom. That's gnppalmercom, or call 413-414-5940. Thank you.
