Nate Santos, owner of Santos Bros Plumbing, shares his journey into the plumbing industry and his plans for scaling his business. He explains how he got into plumbing through his uncle's company and how he initially resisted the idea. However, he eventually joined his uncle's team and gained experience in the trade. Nate talks about the growth of his business, including getting a second truck and his plans to add more trucks in the future. He also discusses the importance of branding and how he incorporates his love for horses and cowboy culture into his business. Nate emphasizes the value of having a coach and seeking knowledge from experienced entrepreneurs. Nate Santos, owner of Santos Bros Plumbing, shares his marketing strategies and business growth plans. He emphasizes the importance of providing excellent customer service and going the extra mile to stand out in the industry. Nate discusses how he obtained over 120 reviews on Google by focusing on customer satisfaction and asking for feedback. He also talks about his marketing efforts, including doorknob hangers, social media memes, and his eye-catching truck wrap. Nate's goal is to continue scaling his business by making each technician more profitable and expanding his fleet of trucks.
Takeaways
Sound Bites
Chapters
00:00
Introduction and Background
12:54
The Value of Coaching
29:57
The Benefits of Investing in a Truck Wrap for Advertising
40:01
Scaling a Plumbing Business: Making Technicians More Profitable and Expanding the Fleet
49:59
Attracting the Right Customers and Weeding Out Price Shoppers through Branding and Professionalism
57:08
Conclusion
Keywords
plumbing, business growth, scaling, branding, coaching, entrepreneurship, plumbing, customer service, reviews, marketing, business growth, customer satisfaction, doorknob hangers, social media memes, truck wrap, scaling
Nate Santos, owner of Santos Bros Plumbing, shares his journey into the plumbing industry and his plans for scaling his business. He explains how he got into plumbing through his uncle's company and how he initially resisted the idea. However, he eventually joined his uncle's team and gained experience in the trade. Nate talks about the growth of his business, including getting a second truck and his plans to add more trucks in the future. He also discusses the importance of branding and how he incorporates his love for horses and cowboy culture into his business. Nate emphasizes the value of having a coach and seeking knowledge from experienced entrepreneurs. Nate Santos, owner of Santos Bros Plumbing, shares his marketing strategies and business growth plans. He emphasizes the importance of providing excellent customer service and going the extra mile to stand out in the industry. Nate discusses how he obtained over 120 reviews on Google by focusing on customer satisfaction and asking for feedback. He also talks about his marketing efforts, including doorknob hangers, social media memes, and his eye-catching truck wrap. Nate's goal is to continue scaling his business by making each technician more profitable and expanding his fleet of trucks.
Takeaways
Sound Bites
Chapters
00:00
Introduction and Background
12:54
The Value of Coaching
29:57
The Benefits of Investing in a Truck Wrap for Advertising
40:01
Scaling a Plumbing Business: Making Technicians More Profitable and Expanding the Fleet
49:59
Attracting the Right Customers and Weeding Out Price Shoppers through Branding and Professionalism
57:08
Conclusion
Keywords
plumbing, business growth, scaling, branding, coaching, entrepreneurship, plumbing, customer service, reviews, marketing, business growth, customer satisfaction, doorknob hangers, social media memes, truck wrap, scaling
Nate Santos (00:04.334)
All right.
Enmanuel Tejada (00:05.418)
Yes sir, so we are live right now. We're gonna pull up and do the intro and then we'll take it from there.
Enmanuel Tejada (00:19.178)
Cool. All right, everyone, welcome back to another episode of the Digital Toolbox Podcast. This is a podcast where we bring on guests from the home services space. They tell their story. They gave us some tips. They give us some advice. We tell some stories and we have a great time. Today, our guest is none other than Nate Santos. Nate, go ahead and introduce yourself, man.
Nate Santos (00:38.766)
Hey, what's up everybody? My name is Nate Santos. I am the owner of Santos Bros Plumbing based out of Pazos Robles, California on the Central Coast.
Enmanuel Tejada (00:48.33)
Let's go. So Nate, you're a Plumbing guy. How did you how did you get into plumbing man? Tell us your story. How did you come up?
Nate Santos (00:56.526)
Well, man, um, there's a good old saying that says I didn't choose a plumbing life. The plumbing life chose me. Well, that, that pretty much sums it up for me, man. Uh, I actually had an uncle who has a plumbing company. He has done pretty well for himself. I was about, I think five trucks here, uh, within the County that I, I live in and where I was born and have grown up. And for many years, man, uh, since I was like right before about to graduate high school, he started kind of trying to talk me into.
Enmanuel Tejada (01:04.65)
Hahaha.
Nate Santos (01:26.382)
joining his team and getting involved in the trade. And blue collar work, man, probably wasn't the hottest idea of any young individual coming fresh out of high school. I wasn't thinking about doing plumbing. And I was like, nah, I'm cool. I kept telling him no. He kept bugging me for a few years. And then I was in my mid 20s. I was in a little bit of a pinch. And I needed to show proof of income. And I said, hey, Tio.
Enmanuel Tejada (01:29.962)
Mm -hmm.
Nate Santos (01:55.566)
You got a company, you got a business, do me a favor real quick, you know, just, I have this paper here that says you paid me this much money, you know, you don't really got to, but just, you know, help me out here. And he was like, oh, this is perfect. This is perfect. Mijo come work with me. I've been telling you for years, come work with me. I'm not trying to work with you, man. I'm not trying to do plumbing. I just want you to, you know, help me out here. He's like, no, no, I help you out. You help me out. So long story short, man, I started working with him, you know, I worked with him for about two years.
After him, I worked for a property management company. A few years after that, during actually the lockdowns, there was a lot of people not traveling, staying at home, people canceled parties, people weren't going out and about. So people are stuck at home. They're like, well, that leak that's been going on in that faucet, might as well replace it. Hey, you know what? That water heater went out. Let's get a new one. And just word of mouth, man. People started contacting me, and I thought to myself, oh, wow.
Enmanuel Tejada (02:37.066)
Mm -hmm.
Nate Santos (02:53.902)
I can make some money off of this might as well get my license and here I am now man starting going on my second year now in business.
Enmanuel Tejada (02:59.434)
second year in business. And Nate, you just got a second truck, right? So two years in, two trucks. Tell us about that formula. What's going on there?
Nate Santos (03:04.398)
Yeah.
Nate Santos (03:09.71)
Yeah, man, just want to grow the business, man. Calls are coming in. Phone is ringing. I can't get to all the calls. You know, I want to grow the business. Got the second truck, got it wrapped. Got my new guys working with me and taking over the North County area, man. So if anyone out there watching, you want to get into plumbing, service and repair, man, Holler at your boy, want to come to Cali.
Enmanuel Tejada (03:31.754)
Yes sir!
Nate Santos (03:38.894)
I'm hiring.
Enmanuel Tejada (03:39.53)
Guys, there it is. That's the opportunity. Anybody that's on the East Coast, that's tired of all the cold, I mean, summer's coming up now, but you only got three months to enjoy that. When you really want to enjoy Cali, and you want to do some plumbing, and you want to make some money, go to Nate. Nate's the guy. Yeah, sir, that's awesome, Nate. And Nate, I noticed too, is the truck the exact same one that you already have? Like the same model?
Nate Santos (03:53.902)
Yes, that's right. I'm your guy.
Nate Santos (04:05.326)
No, it's slightly different. So out here where we're at, there's a short supply. I learned plumbing from my uncle's company and we had the box trucks with the side bins where we put some materials and some tools and then we have the walk -in compartment in the back to store bigger materials, bigger tools. And so that's the first one that I got. And when I got my first one about a year and a half ago,
Enmanuel Tejada (04:06.666)
Uh huh.
Enmanuel Tejada (04:16.746)
Mm -hmm.
Enmanuel Tejada (04:22.314)
Right.
Nate Santos (04:31.022)
It was the only one on the lot available. And it was like two compartments bigger than I wanted it. It was a, it's a tank of a fricking truck. And I'm like, I don't want this thing's too big, but I kept looking around and didn't find nothing. So I swooped up on it. I got it. And I've been looking since the beginning of the year, kind of the end of last year, I started looking around because I just knew that that was my, my plan is to grow the business. And I was like, well, first year in business, I did this. I'm coming in the second year. I should be doing more. And I'm.
Enmanuel Tejada (04:52.65)
Yeah.
Nate Santos (04:58.67)
You know marketing more getting my name out there more calls are coming in. I need to have a truck ready by this date Started looking around like I mentioned earlier. I'm in the central coastal, California. I checked out the vendors here locally For trucks nothing available when I lay out to Fresno. I got an uncle out there in Fresno. Nothing there found this one down in Southern California Ventura south of Santa Barbara and Reached out to them. They shipped it out. It's a little bit different. It doesn't have the side bins
Enmanuel Tejada (05:20.458)
Mm -hmm.
Enmanuel Tejada (05:25.834)
you
Nate Santos (05:27.022)
It's just one enclosed box truck, kind of like a U -Haul, but on the inside of it, it has all the bins and shelving to store materials and tools and stuff. What I really liked about it is that it's big, square, and tall, and to me, it's just like a giant billboard, mobile billboard.
Enmanuel Tejada (05:41.258)
You know, it literally, yeah, your guys' sign is all over that thing, bro, which is awesome because it calls attention, right? And that brings me to my next question. I have two questions, Nate. Don't let me forget these two questions. The first one is, how did you guys come up with your logo, right? And you guys call yourselves the Pipe Wranglers right? So it's very kind of like country -ish, cowboy -ish. How did that come about?
Nate Santos (05:51.982)
Just hear it.
Nate Santos (06:03.63)
So a little backstory on me, my dad sings mariachi style music and he performs, Viva Mexico, that's right. And so with that, he's actually the lead vocalist of the mariachi soul. He does a show where the mariachi band is all performing, you know, the violins, trumpets, guitars, and he's the lead vocalist and he does this show where he performs on horseback. Kind of like, I don't know if you ever heard of Antonio Aguilar or,
Enmanuel Tejada (06:09.194)
Mexico, we are Mexico.
Yeah.
Enmanuel Tejada (06:28.874)
Wow.
Enmanuel Tejada (06:32.234)
Yeah and his horse would dance very very fast. Dude.
Nate Santos (06:33.998)
Yes, exactly. So that's my dad does that I grew up around that most of my life. So I'm like, I'm big into horses. Before the plumbing man, I was trying to really make a business out of the dancing horses and providing an entertainment service. And I was going to networking things and trying to get the name out there and bro, nowadays that we live in no one needs a horse, let alone a dancing horse. So I
Enmanuel Tejada (06:49.738)
Mm -hmm.
Nate Santos (07:02.894)
As much as I love it and as passionate as I am about the dancing horse, ain't nobody needing a dancing horse at their party yet to get together nowadays. And I mean, it's just something for fun. I gave it a shot. I'm still, I've not given up on that dream. I'm just kind of sidestepping, sidetracking with the plumbing because plumbing is a lot more consistent. There's a much higher demand for plumbing. People use plumbing every day. It's more profitable than the damn horses, man. Feed is not cheap.
Enmanuel Tejada (07:25.418)
proper blowfob.
Nate Santos (07:31.822)
And so because I'm involved with the horses with my dad and I grew up with the horses, I love horseback riding, char riding up in the mountains, I've gone to the beach. I grew up literally man, a couple of blocks from the river bed. I ride my horse under the river bed. Growing up, that was just like a normal thing for me. And so starting the plumbing business, man, even though that's what I'm doing, like the horses, like that's my heart right there, you know? So I wanted to incorporate what I really am and.
my heritage with the cowboy hat. If you notice, if you zoom in, you saw the pictures of it. My boots are cowboy boots and I have spurs in there.
Enmanuel Tejada (08:08.81)
Yep, I saw the one, yeah, the little spurs, yep.
Nate Santos (08:12.43)
I'm wearing overalls overalls because right here where I'm at, it's a very, we're in the middle of LA and the Bay Area. So, and it's a lot more country like it's not real big city like Paso Robles is a small town, like maybe 30 ,000 people. There's some other neighboring towns that are kind of big, but it's real country out here. There's a lot of a cattle real big right here with grapes. It used to be known for almonds. There's fields out here. So it's a very ag like uniform from a plumber.
overalls got the flannel because it's a cowboy. I will rock the cowboy hat when I go to the jobs and stuff. It's straight up raw and I have the cowboy work boots and I've gotten so much feedback man, the positive feedback. People are like, oh my God, you look just like the guy off the truck. I have different colored flannels, but the guy, the little cartoon character has a red one.
Enmanuel Tejada (08:43.85)
Yup. Yup.
Enmanuel Tejada (08:48.586)
No, get the fuck out of here! Are you serious?
Enmanuel Tejada (08:56.938)
Hahaha
Enmanuel Tejada (09:04.362)
Yeah
Enmanuel Tejada (09:09.386)
Uh -huh.
Nate Santos (09:09.71)
So I'll wear a red flannel sometimes and then I'll always wear the overalls cowboy hat. And that's my work uniform, man.
Enmanuel Tejada (09:16.106)
Dude, let's fucking, I love that right there, bro, because you're showing up as yourself, right? Like so many people are afraid to do that. I talk to a lot of people and I do marketing for a lot of people that are so afraid to show themselves, bro. And I'm like, why are you so afraid? Like the client's gonna see you when you go there. So like, you know, show up as yourself, you know, it's okay to be you. Dude, you have fucking cowboy boots inside the, bro, no, I cannot believe you showed up with a cowboy hat though.
Nate Santos (09:21.006)
Yeah.
Nate Santos (09:35.854)
Dude.
You
Nate Santos (09:42.286)
Yeah cowboy hat. I wish I had put a hat on right now man. Because typically, I just like I said, I just have my new guy that just started with me recently and he's got his cowboy hat. He's got the overall flannels and I tell him this is a uniform. You know what during the interview process is what we're wearing. Customers love it and we get feedback for it. Do you have any problems? Like, oh no, no, I can wear that. Sweet. And then I always tell him I'm making a thing. Especially if it's a first time customer. However, when you...
Enmanuel Tejada (09:53.578)
Oh man!
Nate Santos (10:10.254)
reach the customer's house and you go and you knock and oh hey I'm here with Santa Barbara's Plumbing here to help you out or have you. We're rocking the uniform, we're rocking the cowboy hat. Once we get into the work, let's say it's going underneath the house, into the attic, maybe underneath the sink and the cowboy hat is in your way, that's okay. We're gonna take it off, put on a baseball cap if you want, get to work. The whole thing is about the presentation, I'll put on that first.
Enmanuel Tejada (10:34.218)
Dude, yeah, 1000%, 1000%. And I love that. So this is actually the culture, right? People probably look at the logo like, oh, that's just the logo. But no, you look at Nate, look at Nate. I was gonna ask you this too. That was the second question. I was like, okay, I see you have on the flannel. I see you have on the overall, like the logo. But do you actually wear this on a daily basis and need you to prove it?
Nate Santos (10:39.246)
Thank you.
Nate Santos (10:55.79)
Yeah, that's the word uniform, bro. And that's what I'm doing for all my guys that are working with me is the overalls and flannels.
Enmanuel Tejada (11:03.53)
Yo, let's go guys. Look at this guy's branding, man. That's what I'm talking about, man. All across, the way that he shows up, the way that his team shows up, the way that his website shows up, the way that their social media looks, I fucking love it, bro. That is awesome.
Nate Santos (11:09.966)
Yeah, buddy.
Nate Santos (11:16.462)
Yeah, it's congruency man. And I've noticed people really like that. They appreciate that. They see me and then that's another thing too with me is like my cartoon characters on the truck, they're smiling. So I always make sure that I'm smiling when I'm greeting the customer and hey, how you doing? I'm here to help out. And I would tell people, cause I'd get so many positive compliments when the truck mover first knew with it. And it was just so unique. It's so different. And people are like, Oh my God, I love the truck. It puts a smile on my face.
Enmanuel Tejada (11:45.642)
Thank you.
Nate Santos (11:46.19)
And so I started thinking, I was like, well, you know what? Whenever someone calls a plumber, that's never a good thing. People wake up and you got a leak, like, oh, man, I got to call a plumber. It's probably going to cost me an arm and a leg. You're having a family get together and the toilets are overflowing and the bathtub's full of water that's not draining. Like, oh, I got to call a plumber. And no one's really ever happy to call a plumber. But when you see my truck pull up, at least it puts a smile on your face.
Enmanuel Tejada (12:10.154)
Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Absolutely. And so let's talk about also on the same topic of the truck we were just talking about right before we started the recording here, the scaling formula. Right. So I mentioned, so you've gotten two trucks in two years. Does that mean that you're going to have 10 trucks in 10 years? What do you think about that?
Nate Santos (12:27.982)
Nah, bro, the way I see it is a compound interest, my friend. So I mean, there's goals, bro. There's goals to it. I'm on the second truck. My goal is to get a third truck before the end of this year, as long as things go well, you know, who knows how things go with the economy. Everyone's talking about it. I'm still getting my name out there. I'm still new. That's the goal. And I'm rolling with the punches, man. And if, and even though.
Enmanuel Tejada (12:30.858)
Hahaha!
Enmanuel Tejada (12:46.73)
Mm -hmm.
Nate Santos (12:54.766)
My goal is to get one more truck if there's a demand for it and the phone is ringing and the calls are coming in and people are happy with the service I provide and the guys in the service that my guys are providing and I can get a fourth truck. Shoot, I will, you know? Yeah. Yeah, I didn't, I didn't start this business to just be myself driving the truck by myself for the next, you know, 30, 40 years.
Enmanuel Tejada (13:07.402)
Let's go. Let's go. So you're not afraid to scale. Let's go. That's what it's all about right there.
Enmanuel Tejada (13:19.882)
Let's go.
Nate Santos (13:20.494)
That wasn't my vision when I decided to get my license and start the business.
Enmanuel Tejada (13:24.682)
Let's go. I love that right there. And on the same topic, let's talk about that. So how hard is it to get your plumbing license in California?
Nate Santos (13:32.91)
Bro, like I've had this conversation with a couple of different guys, man. I'm gonna tell you, bro, I'm gonna assume, dude, I'm gonna say you've probably read some books, right? Right, you know, Thinking Girl Rich, The Magic of Thinking Big, The Science of Getting Rich. I read that one, those are some of my favorite ones. I haven't read The Magic of Thinking Big, but I know it's a really good one. The one that I read was called...
Enmanuel Tejada (13:42.889)
I have.
Enmanuel Tejada (13:52.362)
Right?
Enmanuel Tejada (13:59.306)
for the.
Nate Santos (14:01.838)
Psycho cybernetics. I don't know if you heard about it.
Enmanuel Tejada (14:02.474)
Yeah, uh maxwell mac what's his name maxwell?
Nate Santos (14:08.014)
Yes, Maxwell. So and check this out, bro. I didn't even finish reading the damn book, bro. I only got to like chapter two or three. But with those first chapters, it's just talking about the mind and how you envision, you know, without getting too woo -woo about manifestation and all that kind of thing. Cause you got to take action. It's not just about thinking about certain things. You got to take action. I've been involved hands on with the trade for several years.
Enmanuel Tejada (14:13.834)
Mm.
Enmanuel Tejada (14:27.018)
Right.
Nate Santos (14:32.142)
I do things right. I was taught to do things right up to code and you know, there's certain things that you got to do certain ways. What I did, bro, is because that book's like, oh, when you're want to achieve something or you want to create something in this life, just envision it and think about it. I just envisioned myself passing my test, bro. Like that's what I did. Yes, I know code. Yes, I know there's certain things that you shouldn't do, bro. I studied very little for it, bro. And that's the kind of guy I was, bro. Like in high school.
Enmanuel Tejada (14:49.642)
Hahaha.
Nate Santos (15:00.046)
Like literally the day before graduation, my mom was getting called saying I wasn't going to graduate. I wasn't going to walk. And I was like, I'm out. Don't worry. I'll be fine. And I graduated. I didn't go to class. I would ditch. I'd show up to do my test. I would do the major project. I never did homework. I never studied. That's just kind of how I've been. Um, I envisioned myself passing my, my contractor's test. Cause actually, you know what? It's funny. I rescheduled it three times because I hadn't studied. I was like, Oh, I haven't studied. I'm going to reschedule my test.
Enmanuel Tejada (15:26.378)
Let's see.
Nate Santos (15:29.358)
So I rescheduled it once, twice. The third time, I was like, you know what, fuck it. I've already rescheduled it twice. This is the third time. I have not slated yet. I'm just gonna go fucking take this test and see, see how it goes. And I'll learn a thing or two if I don't pass or what have you. I had skimmed through my, my training course. I had ordered some material. I skimmed through it, but I didn't do that much with it. What I did is I envisioned myself passing my test down to the detail of the hat I was wearing, to the shirt I was wearing, the pants I was wearing, socks, boots.
to the friggin' ta ta rams, everything, dude. I was envisioning myself in the classroom, passing my test. I get to the classroom, and then the classroom actually looked different than what I had envisioned in my head. So then I just upgraded my thoughts in my head. All right, boom, here's the classroom. So I started replaying me passing my test, me passing my test. And then I started seeing some different people that are taking different classes or different tests for different trades. And...
Enmanuel Tejada (15:59.21)
Hahaha.
Nate Santos (16:27.726)
when they're passing their test, the teacher is going and fist bumping him like, oh, good job, man. Good job. And they're passing. So then I started envisioning myself when I passed my test, homeboys gonna come up, give me a fist bump, cause I passed my test and I'll be good. Bro, I fricking flew through my, the, the ethics and like the California state laws. I've been a supervisor and manager in different, different companies. So I just, it's all basic stuff, you know, team lift, you know, you gotta give your guys.
Enmanuel Tejada (16:48.522)
Mm -hmm.
Enmanuel Tejada (16:57.162)
Right. So that's common sense.
Nate Santos (16:57.166)
water, you know, simple stuff, man. Yeah, a lot of common sense stuff, right? Blew through that one. The one with the code for the actual plumbing. It took me a little bit longer. I did math, bro. I did math that I hadn't done since like fucking elementary school. You know, that was that was pretty cool. But I mean, I passed, bro. And I mean, that's, I mean, I chop it down to competence and experience along with the thought of thinking big, I guess.
Enmanuel Tejada (17:23.914)
Let's go. Let's go. That's awesome. And I'm this I was kind of similar. I mean, I was I had good grades luckily coming up. But I was very I would procrastinate. That was my thing, bro. I fucking made I completed in two years back to back when I was like in sixth and seventh grade, I completed the science fair project. They still like a science fair. You got to do something, some sort of experiment. But I do that shit the week of I was in high school and they had like my school where I went to it was known for.
Nate Santos (17:26.798)
Yeah.
Enmanuel Tejada (17:51.658)
a 21 page paper that you have to write. Dude, I did that shit the night before, all nighter. And I was like, fuck it, I was just going rolling with it. It sounds like we're kind of similar in that aspect.
Nate Santos (18:03.022)
Bro, you know what? Some of the greatest minds I think think kinda like this.
Enmanuel Tejada (18:05.578)
Yeah, I agree bro. And I think there's power in that too, right? Wouldn't you agree? Like I guess kind of like that brutality that like, all right, fuck it. It doesn't matter what it is. I'm just going to jump into it and I know I'm going to figure it out. I feel like there's power behind that instead of like, oh shit, you know, I don't know if I'll do it. I don't know.
Nate Santos (18:23.822)
You know what? I think some people, I think for myself and it sounds like you probably as well, we do better under stressful situations. Like, bro, like, that's funny because I was just hanging out with a buddy of mine. He helped me out with some work and we're talking and he's hearing me answer the calls. And then I'm talking to the customer and then I'm doing the work and then another call comes in and I'm stepping away and I'm coming back and I'm setting up from customers to talking to my marketing people, to talking to the customer there in person.
Enmanuel Tejada (18:31.114)
Oh, thousand fucking percent.
Nate Santos (18:54.414)
And he's like, God damn man, aren't you like stressed out? And I was like, took a deep breath and I was like, yeah, a little bit, but I don't, I mean, I don't think I would be satisfied if I wasn't. I just, it wouldn't be for me, man.
Enmanuel Tejada (19:05.546)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And what's what I forgot what the name of the this effect is called. There's like, you know, there's raw laws like Perkinson's law and shit like that. There's one of them that says a task will take the amount of time that you allot to it. And a lot of times when we have pressure on ourselves, there's only as limited amount of time that you can do it. And it's funny how we make it happen when the pressure is on us. Right. But a lot of times when that pressure is on us, bro, you got all day to do something.
And then it's like, fuck, it doesn't get done. But when you have somebody on your ass and they know, okay, this has to get done, you figure it the fuck out. It's funny how that works.
Nate Santos (19:42.958)
Yeah, that's awesome.
Enmanuel Tejada (19:44.042)
Yeah, it's funny how that works. Man, and I also wanted to ask you, Nate, I also wanted to ask you, so yes, you're a plumber, you own this business, how long do you plan on working in your business until you get out of the truck? Do you know yet?
Nate Santos (20:03.534)
So my goal as of right now, like I said, my goal is to get a third truck before the end of this year. That being the case, I'm planning on going into next year 2025 with three trucks. That'll be three trucks. And I need one person to be answering the phones, the CSR, customer service representative answering the phone calls, scheduling the phone calls, maybe checking some emails, checking the mail type stuff.
Enmanuel Tejada (20:23.434)
Mm -hmm.
Nate Santos (20:30.702)
That'll be the beginning of 2025. And as soon as I have that like established early 2025, that's when I plan on hiring a third tech, keeping three trucks and getting myself out of the truck to oversee the business as a whole, oversee the three texts, what they're doing, oversee my CSR, the business, uh, continue to go out there and network and meet people and get the name out there. I really enjoy the marketing side of it. Probably focus some more on that and.
really step more into a manager role instead of wearing all the different hats. Like right now I'm wearing the hats of the tech, the hat of the manager, the owner, and the one answering the phone. Like I'm wearing all the hats right now. So that's kind of what my goal is.
Enmanuel Tejada (21:07.722)
Everything. Yep. Yep.
Boom, boom, it sounds like you've got it, man. And I'm glad that, I mean, I'm sure you're glad that, of it too, right? That you're kind of in this position and that you didn't just come in to something that was already in place because now when you become a full -time owner where you're not doing the everyday things, the small things, you'll be able to know what that's like, right? Instead of just coming in as the CEO of something and then you don't know what it's like to be the guy.
That's the tech, you don't know what it's like to answer the phone. So you can't really train somebody to do something that you haven't done yourself.
Nate Santos (21:43.63)
Bro, I think it's so much more enjoyable as a man to create something from the ground up and build it up. And like, that's like, you know, that's like, like with the fact that the truck has my name and my logo and my face, like that's me right there. And to grow that from one truck to three trucks to six plus trucks, like that's me right there. But like I built that, I created that. I think that just, it just feels good to me. To me, that just feels good to be able to create something like that.
Enmanuel Tejada (22:08.906)
Yes, sir. Sweat equity, sweat equity. Let's go.
Nate Santos (22:14.19)
Yeah, bro. Hard work pays off, bro. Hard work freaking pays off, man. It's not easy. It hasn't been easy. There's been some sleepless nights. There's been some holiday working weekends. I've missed that on some parties and family time. But I figured if I buckle down right now for a few years, I'll have so much more time to spend and do whatever the heck it is that I want to do with my time. And that's the real goal. That's the real goal.
Enmanuel Tejada (22:33.29)
Absolutely. Let's go. Let's go. And Nate, we also talked about a little bit about coaching, right? So you mentioned that you have a coach in the space. Now, let me ask you, if you were to go back and start over, right? Let's say you were two years ago, you're thinking about starting. Would you have hired your coach earlier if you knew of the benefits?
Nate Santos (22:44.27)
Yessir.
Nate Santos (22:53.934)
Oh yeah, a hundred percent. Yeah, I would have hired my coach sooner and I encourage anyone who's listening to this, if you're unsure of how to navigate the business that you want to get into, why twiddle around and try to figure things out when there's someone who's already been there, done that, who has a blueprint can be like, yo, instead of circling the block over there the wrong way, bro, this street over here, it gets you there quicker.
and easier. You know what I mean? 100 % I would have. I'm the type of guy, dude, I've been listening to different podcasts about business, entrepreneurship, self -improvement, reading the books. I've done some seminars, I've done some courses. So I've been kind of on that path of seeking knowledge and stuff. And I'm real receptive to gaining new information. I listen to my coach. I...
took the material that he was teaching and I took what made the most sense for me and I applied it and I'm seeing the repercussions of that, of me taking those actions and I'm digging it.
Enmanuel Tejada (23:58.154)
I respect it, I respect it man and I'm the same way too, right? In fact, I get in trouble sometimes with my, not in trouble, but like disagreements, I guess, with my, some people in my family, right? Because they're like, oh, why you pay, you pay $2 ,000 for that course? $2 ,000, because I'm Dominican, right? What the fuck? Like you spent $2 ,000, you should have given that to me. I'm like, no, first of all, $2 ,000, that's an investment that I'm going to make so much fucking more money on.
That is so worth it, right? Like you said, instead of circling the block 50 times, I can go and pay somebody and I don't have to do that. I can start ahead of where they started, right? Because now I have that knowledge. So I'm like paying off my, what does Alex Hermosy call it? He calls it the ignorance, ignorance that he's paying that off quicker, right? So the fact that we pay it off, the more that we know, we can, you know, get ahead further, right? So like, you can kind of get ahead of where your mentor was because you have the shortcuts. All you have to do is now.
Nate Santos (24:45.486)
ooooh
Enmanuel Tejada (24:54.507)
Now that's when the real work begins, right? Because now you know the knowledge, now it's up to you to apply it, even though it's difficult, even though, like you said, there's sleepless nights, you're gonna have to sacrifice, that all depends on you now. You can't say, oh, but I didn't know how to do it. No, motherfucker, now you know, but are you gonna execute?
Nate Santos (24:59.822)
Yup. Yup.
Nate Santos (25:12.622)
No, fuck. Yup, it's taking accountability, bro. Taking the fucking bull by the horns is what my dad told me. And just taking accountability, bro, and going after it. You mentioned Alex Formozzi. Rich that poor dad. I don't know if you read it with... Yup, yup, exactly. He talks about how the rich will save, will spend money to save time and the poor will waste their time to save money.
Enmanuel Tejada (25:25.866)
Yeah, kind of.
Enmanuel Tejada (25:40.234)
This ain't money, yeah.
Nate Santos (25:42.51)
Like, oh, that shit to me is so freaking hard. And those are some conversations I have with some family members who can't quite comprehend that. How you mentioned, the familia, like, oh, taloco como que, you know, 2000 or whatever. The same thing I mentioned to some family members about a coach and how much I was spending on the coach. And they're like, oh, what? That's crazy. You shouldn't have done that. You got to do it like this. And I'm taking it with the grain of salt, bro. I love my family. But I'm like, OK, I can listen to you.
who you've been an employee with all due respect, I love you because we're family, but you've been an employee your whole life. You've, you know, yeah, you've maybe moved up within the ranks of the company that you work at, but you've never created a business and scaled it up to being a multimillion dollar business. Like who would I, whose advice would I take? The person who's an employee or the entrepreneur who built something from the ground up. To me, it's like, you can't know ifs, ands or buts about it. The entrepreneur with the experience is who you should listen to. But you know.
Enmanuel Tejada (26:26.986)
Yeah.
Enmanuel Tejada (26:38.666)
Yeah, dude, 1000%. And I feel for you, bro, because like you said, I love my family too. You love your family. We want the best for them. In fact, a lot of the reasons why we're even building businesses is for them. But if we listen to what they're telling us, then we'll never fucking make it happen.
Nate Santos (26:52.782)
Exactly. That's exactly why.
Nate Santos (26:59.374)
I had a mentor tell me this, when you take someone's advice, that means that you'd be willing to live their life. And you can apply that to something as literal as you want, or you can tweak it, because I've learned to do that. I'm like,
Enmanuel Tejada (27:06.538)
Oof.
Nate Santos (27:15.598)
Sometimes I'll listen to someone what someone has to say. I'm like, all right, cool I like that cuz that's kind of how I'm you and I like how that makes sense and sometimes and someone's kind of going against Migraine a little bit and then I start kind of thinking I was like, all right Well, do I really want this person's life exactly? Well, you know what? I want to build your house so I can't take his advice I want a harder wife. I can't take his advice That was my mentor shout out to him RIP Steve we're doing your man that that was a great man had a lot of
Enmanuel Tejada (27:30.762)
Hahaha!
Nate Santos (27:45.262)
Conversation with him dude. He was an awesome entrepreneur and he gave me a lot of solid ones
Enmanuel Tejada (27:47.978)
Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Dude, I love it, man. And what you just mentioned is powerful, too. In fact, you mentioned that you kind of flip it and you kind of twist it in a way, right? I kind of do the same thing. So recently, I was actually in Miami with a couple of friends, right? And of course, we know people go to Miami and they go and show off. They rent cars. They act like it's theirs, but it's not. So I saw a couple of nice cars, right? And I'm like, damn, that's a nice ass motherfucking car. And I have a couple of friends and sometimes...
they would say, oh, but you know, that's fake, right? But in my mind, I'm like, it's probably fake, but in my mind, I make it seem real. I make it seem like, oh, that person worked his ass off to get that, and I can do the same thing too. So I let that shit motivate me instead of looking at it like, oh, fuck, yeah, he's starting, that shit's rented, bro. That shit's going back to the dealer. I'm like, oh, damn, he worked his ass off, bro. Let's go, I know I can do it too.
Nate Santos (28:41.838)
Hell yeah, bro, and then think about it, bro You can either be a hater and be like, oh that shit's rented. That's not his or whatever or be like dawg, Even to rent one of those fucking cars it takes money. So Here's another like on that same example Back in the day like everyone knows Tai Lopez now, you know Tai Lopez the dudes use marketing stuff that you did and all that all that stuff or back when he was first kind of coming up and I mentioned him to one of my cousins that was like I want to do marketing I
Enmanuel Tejada (28:50.698)
Yo, facts, that's a fact.
Enmanuel Tejada (28:59.594)
Yeah, of course, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Nate Santos (29:10.318)
I'm like, oh, you know, you should check out this dude Tai Lopez. He's like, oh yeah, I seen that guy. Isn't that dude fake? Aren't all those cars rented? That mansion's not his. And I'm like, okay, let's say that mansion's not his and those cars aren't rented. That still takes fucking thousands of fucking dollars. So those are thousands of dollars more than what you have. So, you know, like how do you want to view it? How do you want to view it? You know, are those paid models hanging out with him? Well, that costs a lot of money. How do you want to view it? Like, you know what I mean?
Enmanuel Tejada (29:27.914)
Hahaha!
Enmanuel Tejada (29:34.474)
problems.
Enmanuel Tejada (29:38.538)
Dude, yeah, that's a fact. That's a fact. Like even if you wanted to rent it yourself, you probably couldn't do it. So, dude, that's funny right there. But man, shout out to Tai Lopez, man. I actually, he's making a comeback too. I've been watching some of his videos recently.
Nate Santos (29:46.574)
Yeah, exactly.
Nate Santos (29:57.774)
Me too, man. Me too. I like his stuff, too. He's one of the first guys I started watching online some of his videos. I seen him come back and he's gonna guess on a couple of different podcasts. I like that dude's style, bro. Everything that he's explains, the fact that he's like worked on a ranch and like it's cool to me. Yeah, it's relatable, bro. I hear him talk about how you work with cattle. I've seen videos of him horseback riding and I wanna hit him up like, hey dog, you ever fucking ridden a dancing horse? Like come check out my horse and ride a dancing horse. We're like, that should be badass.
Enmanuel Tejada (30:10.186)
Dude, I was gonna mention that, you probably resonate with that, you know, he's doing ranching.
Enmanuel Tejada (30:24.298)
Yeah.
Nate Santos (30:27.982)
You know, Tyler was already who knows him. You see this fucking shooting my way, bro. We could do a little. I won't make that shit happen, yes, sir.
Enmanuel Tejada (30:29.034)
If somebody connect nickname with Tai Lopez right fucking now That would be awesome But yeah, I actually didn't like him too much at first Tai Lopez because I was kind of like everybody else like oh this guy's you know fucking fake and shit like that but then I kind of got into him a little bit and I saw him riding horses and I saw him talking about Raising cattle and doing things on his own raising his own food I'm like, you know, that's kind of dope how he's doing that and then I started letting his message kind of resonate with me So I like that
Nate Santos (30:57.134)
Yeah.
Enmanuel Tejada (31:00.202)
Yes, sir. Yes, sir. And Nate, who are some other people that you kind of draw motivation from or that inspire you, that you listen to frequently?
Nate Santos (31:01.838)
There you go.
Nate Santos (31:12.526)
I like listening to the Patrick Bet David podcast. Valuetainment PBD. Um, I met him, uh, last year in my Miami last year, about a year and a half ago. I was at Miami. No, actually it was two years ago, bro. Two years ago. Cause it was during my birthday in May when I went out. Um, no, I just ran into him, um, at the, uh, at the airport, but I had actually met, uh, his boy sauce, Sausnick, Adam Sausnick at an event.
Enmanuel Tejada (31:13.322)
Yes sir.
Enmanuel Tejada (31:24.458)
Was it at an event or what was it?
Enmanuel Tejada (31:36.65)
Yeah, yeah.
Nate Santos (31:40.206)
Yeah, there was a networking event out there called, I don't know if you heard of Donovan Sharp.
Enmanuel Tejada (31:43.498)
I've heard his name, but I actually haven't looked into him too much, but what about him though?
Nate Santos (31:49.07)
Forget the name of the event, but there's some guys out there like I don't know if you heard of Justin Waller Yeah I Resonate with his message a lot to broke cuz he's a blue -collar baller That's the first time I ever heard of that phrase was a blue -collar baller was from him I got that she was badass cuz he you know, he got his money by building steel buildings. He says Growing up with the South the only way we knew how to make doctor money was with work boots. I'm like fuck. Yeah. I
Enmanuel Tejada (31:52.202)
Aw, that's my fucking guy right there. Come on cowboy!
Enmanuel Tejada (32:06.986)
Yeah, what's going on, cowboy?
Nate Santos (32:18.414)
I'm fucking damn near getting there bro. My work boots making some doctor like money. So yeah, I resonate with his message. Sterling Cooper was out there too. I wish he would have been there bro. That would have been tight to have met him. But those are some of the guys bro. You know what, with Tate dude, when I first saw Tate, I resonated so much with him and his message. He was out somewhere out in the, somewhere out in Europe. It might've been.
Enmanuel Tejada (32:25.258)
do all of them. Tate was, Tate probably wasn't there though, but he's one of the more.
Nate Santos (32:47.31)
He was like out on some mountain, like camping or something, but it was like a nice villa up into the mountain. It was all foggy and it was during the lockdowns and during all that craziness. And me personally, bro, I was hardcore against all that shit. Like, I, you know, I don't think it was as big as it was, you know, the media kind of portrayed it. You know, like here in Cali, man, there's a bunch of, you know, sad to say a bunch of homeless people out here in the streets. And I'll tell you what, man, they weren't dropping like flies.
Enmanuel Tejada (32:54.09)
Mm -hmm.
Enmanuel Tejada (33:04.938)
portrayed as me.
Nate Santos (33:16.91)
You know, those are the people that have the least amount of sanitation and healthcare going on and they're not dropping like flies. So I'm like, how do you expect me to be all paranoid about all that stuff? But his message was awesome. Like I really like his message that he speaks on. Like I said, Patrick but David, I really like Bradley. Bradley, I was put on to a buddy. You're my Bradley that dropping bombs. Yeah, I like his.
Enmanuel Tejada (33:34.538)
Bradley Parker. Dropping bombs. Yep.
What about this guy? I think you might like him too. You kind of look like him, like your style. Bedros Kulian?
Enmanuel Tejada (33:50.314)
Mm.
Nate Santos (33:50.72)
You know what? I have listened to him a little bit. Yeah, I like it when he's a guest on other people's podcasts. Oh, you know who else, dude? Fucking... Is it Wes Watson? Oh, he's a fucking G, bro. I like his message, like his delivery, like...
Enmanuel Tejada (33:59.21)
Andy Frisella? Was Watson in Miami? Yes, sir.
Hahaha.
Nate Santos (34:11.726)
Dude, I'm a fat boy, bro. But when he's talking shit, you fucking fat boy with your fucking torpedo titties and shit. I'm like, fuck, I need to get in the fucking gym. I need to get in the fucking gym. And I've been, I've been going to the gym this year. I've been staying pretty consistent with them. Still working on it. But I like his message, bro. And just getting your brand out there. Like when he talks about building your brand, I resonate with that, with what I'm doing with my business and, you know, my outfit that I wear for my brand, stuff like that. Those are some of the guys that I listen to, bro. I like a lot of their stuff.
Enmanuel Tejada (34:35.338)
Dude, for sure man, and all of them, all of those guys that you just mentioned, one thing they all have in common is they're quite controversial, right? Now, some people choose not to resonate with the message, some people choose to shoot the messenger and not accept the message, but all those guys that you mentioned, bro, I fucking love. Out of all of them, I would say Tate probably resonates with me the most. He's probably been one of the most impactful people in my life, if I'm going to be 100 % real, because...
Nate Santos (34:45.646)
Yeah.
Enmanuel Tejada (35:03.914)
And it's not just his style, even though I really fucking like his style of cigars and dressing up, because I was doing that before I knew about Tate. I'm 24. I found out about Tate when I was like 21. I remember when I smoked my first cigar, I didn't know Tate yet. And then a year later, I got to find out about Tate and I was like, fuck bro. Like this guy has, he has the girls, he has the style, he can fucking communicate. He dresses well. I like his points. He's not a bitch. He's, you know, he's about, he's about it.
And he kind of showed me that like he's a he was like a walking talking version of what I wanted to fucking be one day. So I was like, fuck, bro, like, like, that's motivation to me right there. And I know he gets a lot of hate, but I'm like, fuck that, because I have resonate with his message. And I don't agree with everything, just like I'm sure you probably don't. But for the most part, though, he's a fucking G overall to me.
Nate Santos (35:45.07)
Oh yeah.
Nate Santos (35:56.334)
Yeah, bro.
100 % 100 % bro, and I like the fact like I discovered him I remember when he was on IG and I found him out he was like around I think like maybe 50 to 70 thousand followers and his message I'm like fuck yeah everything that he's saying like I'll post on my IG but not wearing no fucking face diapers about ain't no one fucking jab me with no shit all these sort of things
Enmanuel Tejada (36:08.33)
Mm -hmm.
Enmanuel Tejada (36:18.026)
Hehehe
Nate Santos (36:22.958)
What's funny was I would have some friends like dude stop posting that shit food's bad for business Don't be doing that shit my you know, I'll fuck that shit if someone doesn't want to be business only because of my viewpoint fuck them, you know, I mean That's not how I get down like if someone someone can have a different viewpoint with me, bro And I'm still gonna shake their hand. I'm still gonna say what's up. I I'll still do business I'll still buy something from them. I'm not gonna completely reject them. Well, that's like the the funny the you know talk about like you said all these different guys are controversial they were
Enmanuel Tejada (36:30.058)
Swim stronger, man.
Nate Santos (36:51.31)
mainstream nowadays consider these gentlemen to be more, you know, conservative or on the right, what have you. And it's the tolerable left that are so intolerable. You know what I mean? Like that was like their whole thing that they were supposed to be tolerable, that they're okay with everything, but now they're not okay with anything. They want to, you know, shut you down and silence you and all that kind of stuff.
Dude, I agree, bro. Tate is a fucking G. I resonate a lot with most of the stuff that he says. Yeah, there are some things that I don't agree with, but I like it, bro. And he's motivated a whole wave of young men, you know? And that's what this world needed, bro. Honestly, with everything that's been going on with the, with some of these other guys talk about like, you know, the clan of the West or, you know, the feminization of men. Men need to be men, bro. Men need to freaking step up to the plate. They need to fucking work. We need to work. We need to work out. We need to provide.
Enmanuel Tejada (37:19.114)
100%, bro. 100%.
Nate Santos (37:40.686)
take care of our family. And I think if men do that, bro, everyone wins. Everyone wins, you know?
Enmanuel Tejada (37:42.346)
I fucking agree with you, bro. Everybody fucking wins. Yeah. 100 ,000%. And it's good that we're kind of going back to those core values of men, right? I forgot what the name of the book was. Donovan Mitchell, I think is his name, The Way of Men. And he states in that book that when things go... When we strip things away, like when things go bad, like let's say there was like a zombie apocalypse or like some sort of world issue.
Nate Santos (37:54.862)
Yes, sir.
Enmanuel Tejada (38:11.754)
We go back to our roles, where men are masculine and females are feminine and females are also gonna cook and take care of the kids and the men are gonna go out and fight. But those things don't have to happen for us to be men and for us to step up to the plate. It's a decision, right? So yeah, yeah man, that's a good point right there.
Nate Santos (38:34.734)
No, and on that same on that same thought right there on that same track, there's that old saying, I'm sure you heard of it, you know, hard times create strong men, strong men, great, good times, and good times create weak men. And right now, dude, it's it's it's a good thing. And at the same time, it's a sad thing because in this country, but we've had a good for so long. That's why there's so many weak men out there, because we've had a good for so long. We haven't had any real problems, any real things.
Enmanuel Tejada (38:41.546)
strongman creates all the times.
Nate Santos (39:04.558)
to overcome any real ordeals to face. And because of that, now the most minute little thing, oh my God, you're not wearing a face sniper, keep your distance. Like that's the problem that you wanna tackle. You know what I mean?
Enmanuel Tejada (39:13.322)
Yeah, yeah, man. I mean, we didn't go through a fucking war. We didn't experience all this shit. So now it's all this soft shit. But men like us, we put ourselves through that hardship on purpose so that we can come out, we're willing to throw ourselves into the fire to come out molded. And that's what sets us apart.
Nate Santos (39:31.854)
Bro, you said you're Dominican. I'm gonna assume that you're first generation born here or you got here at a young age and, okay. So I'm first generation Mexican born here. My parents are immigrants that came to this country to work and prosper and get ahead in life. And so I still have that. And like my dad, my dad was a very strict guy. I love my dad. I thank him for raising us the way that he did. But because of that, bro, like that's why like,
Enmanuel Tejada (39:35.946)
No, yeah, I got here when I was seven.
Enmanuel Tejada (39:41.994)
Mm.
Nate Santos (40:01.326)
We put ourselves through the ringer. I've been referring to myself as a fucking grown -ass man since I was a little boy You know, we need more of that type of shit bro dad's being there like oh, you know be a man I'm doing it. There's young men nowadays bro that are fucking late teens that are still referring to themselves as kids Like where the fuck is the mentality at right there bro, like and and other times in the past bro Like by age freaking 15, you're ready to go to war quite literally
Enmanuel Tejada (40:16.842)
Yeah, like what the fuck bro?
Enmanuel Tejada (40:26.538)
Yeah legit bro legit and it's not it's not you know some funny shit. No like you're a legit a man at fucking 13 14 15 years old
Nate Santos (40:37.422)
You know, 13 years old, some, some, you know, Hebrews, you know, that's why they have that rite of passage. At 13 years old, the young boy becomes a man at 13 years of age. Yeah. And we're missing that as a nation here.
Enmanuel Tejada (40:42.634)
Dude, that's a great fucking point. That's a great fucking point. That's a great point right there. And I had a quick question actually. Yeah, so like, do you have any kids yourself yet or not yet?
Nate Santos (40:59.022)
I don't bro, not yet man. I'm single, just focusing on the company, on the career, growing the business and definitely one day dude, I'd like to for sure, 100%. I'd like to have a bunch of kids.
Enmanuel Tejada (41:02.058)
Hmm.
Enmanuel Tejada (41:07.146)
Hell yeah man, a couple little G's walking around, walking around with wrenches and shit, cowboy hats and running around in horses and shit.
Nate Santos (41:13.198)
Hell yeah.
Yeah, angling horses, man, tackling them down.
Enmanuel Tejada (41:17.962)
That's awesome. Yo, I actually have a passion for horses too. Not in a way of like, I actually haven't explored it yet. But when I was like six, me and my brother rode a horse and my brother was like riding it and I was like in the back and we got kicked off because I was like slapping the horse if we fell into mud and shit. But dude, I've always fucking wanted to like.
go to a resort in the Dominican Republic or anywhere in the world that has horses and has good weather and just ride a fucking horse bro I feel like doing that like it makes me feel traditional when I think of doing that I feel it's good bro I want to fucking do that maybe I'll even fucking pull up to fucking California bro we'll get on the fucking dancing horse
Nate Santos (41:41.006)
day.
Nate Santos (41:58.958)
Y 'all, whenever you're in Cali, bro, if you wanna make that your trip to Cali, bro, mi casa su casa, mi rancho su rancho, come out here, bro. We'll get you on a dancing horse, bro. Think about that, bro. You said you had this idea, this vision of riding a horse somewhere, wherever it may be. How about a dancing horse? That should be pretty badass.
Enmanuel Tejada (42:02.954)
Hahaha!
Enmanuel Tejada (42:13.322)
Dancing horse, holy shit. I don't know if I'll be able to handle it though. Do I have to do anything specific for it to dance or what?
Nate Santos (42:22.541)
Yeah, yeah, but you will teach you about that once you're out here.
Enmanuel Tejada (42:22.858)
Let's fucking go. Let's go. And Nate, real quick, let's get into a little bit of marketing and then I know I want to be respectful of your time, so I don't want to take you too long, man. But I wanted to ask you, how did you get up to 120, what was it? 120 reviews on Google?
Nate Santos (42:45.678)
I did that by providing the best customer service in my area, man.
Enmanuel Tejada (42:46.25)
Oof. And now, how does it look when you ask for the review? Do you ask for it? Is it automated through a CRM? How does that work?
Nate Santos (42:59.79)
It's a combination of those things. So last year was my first year in business during the month of February was my slowest month, like scary slow. Like I was worried I wasn't going to, you know, I was like, man, I did the wrong move. I should have stayed on one and a five. So I started going online researching and I saw came across some podcasts and they're like, Google my business. You need to have this. Once you have your, your business, you have your website, Google my business. And these are all your socials.
So I was at Google, my business, I looked into it. I applied, I got the postcard, had to do a little video to proof of where my address is at for the business. Google, my business went live in March, beginning of March of last year. And I gave myself the goal. I was like, well, between now and the end of the year, I want to get a hundred reviews minimum. And I came in on New Year's Eve. I got my hundredth review. And like I said, I was providing excellent customer service.
Answering the phone when the phone rang, scheduling the call, showing up when I scheduled the call, communicating with the customer for whatever reason. I wasn't going to be able to make it. I give them a call like, hey, my apologies. I can be there at this time or this day. If that works for you, cool. Boom, I'm there. I'm real big on being transparent upfront, letting the customer know like, this is an issue. We can do this, this, or that. It'll cost you this much. Customers appreciate that.
Enmanuel Tejada (44:16.938)
Mm -hmm.
Nate Santos (44:26.35)
smiling, dude smiling, keeping clean bro, clean. That's one of my biggest things is clean bro. Like as a plumber, especially service and repair, we get a bad rep for being dirty and making messes. And sometimes our work is dirty. However, I lay down tarps. I, if it gets messy, I clean stuff up. I have disinfectant spray, I spray, I wipe things down and smells good. At the end of the job, I clean up. Thank you for everything.
Enmanuel Tejada (44:30.826)
Mm -hmm.
Enmanuel Tejada (44:46.506)
Mm -hmm.
Nate Santos (44:55.758)
Process payment, hey, you know what? I'd really appreciate if you'd go online and give me some feedback. Send them the link, and they go online, they give me some feedback. And I also do have an automated service through my scheduling software where after I complete a job, they get an email asking for a review. So it's a combination of all those things.
Enmanuel Tejada (44:56.202)
Hmm.
Enmanuel Tejada (45:12.042)
perfect. That's a beautiful way to go about it. And dude, it sounds like you go out the extra mile. You know, you don't have to clean things up. You don't have to put down towers, but you do. And that is what makes a difference right there. That is what sets you apart. And I can definitely, and dude, it's like five, it's like 4 .9 stars, right? That's fucking damn near perfect right there.
Nate Santos (45:27.182)
Mm -hmm.
Nate Santos (45:36.846)
Bro, and if you look at the negative reviews, you'll see that two of them are based off a price. They're upset at the price. They feel it's too much. And they didn't, I didn't even do any work for them. And then, uh, the other one was like, Hey, you know what? I'm not going to put a bandaid on this. I'm going to do it the right way. Oh no, I want you to put a bandaid on it. Well, then I'm not your guy. So I'm not even bothered by those negative reviews. Cause the other one's far away.
Enmanuel Tejada (45:40.33)
At the price, yeah, yeah.
Enmanuel Tejada (45:57.61)
Yeah, exactly, exactly. That's actually a question that I get a lot, actually. It's like, oh, how do I get rid of those negative reviews on Google? I'm like, no, you can't. The only way to get rid of it is to get so many fucking good reviews that those two become obsolete.
Nate Santos (46:14.99)
Yup. Shout out to my boy Zach out in Canada. He says, whenever you get a one -star review, bury it with five stars. So that's, that's the mindset. Yeah, buddy. Whenever you get a one -star review, bury it with five stars.
Enmanuel Tejada (46:17.29)
Whew, let's fucking go. I like that mindset right there. Say it one more time.
Enmanuel Tejada (46:25.642)
Yes, go, let's go. And then how about your current marketing, right? So how are you bringing leads into the door? I know you're working with a marketing agency. I know you're killing it locally. Of course you have that beautiful truck that people are going to see and call. But how does that look like? What is the combination of you guys getting work?
Nate Santos (46:48.014)
Cool, yeah, so it's like what you said right there. I do have a marketing team. I also have the truck, it stands out. I get tons of positive feedback for that. Last year during my slow time that I said I was real worried about, February, March, I had a bunch of doorknob hangers printed out with our information, our logo, a little backstory. On each one of those doorknob hangers, I put a magnet. Literally took the time of cutting a little piece of double -sided sticky tape, putting it on the doorknob hangers, sticking the magnet on there. And then I went through...
Enmanuel Tejada (46:56.714)
Mm -hmm.
Nate Santos (47:17.102)
the neighborhoods and I hung them up. I knocked. If I got an answer, I would engage with the customer, you know, put a face to the name, interact with them, hand them the pamphlet. If they didn't answer the door, put the door knob hanger on the door knob. I did that. Social media, that's how I found my coach during those times watching podcasts. He said, hey, you know what? Everyone's on social media nowadays, post these social media memes related to plumbing.
Enmanuel Tejada (47:43.498)
I've noticed you have quite a lot of those memes. How well are those working out? Are those to target clients in your area? Do they work?
Nate Santos (47:44.398)
And so I started doing that two memes a day, every day and boosting the posts.
Nate Santos (47:55.054)
Yes, it's it's oh, yeah, dude, i've gotten um, so like it's a combination of all those things Uh the doorknob hangers I got on calls this year from last year Uh last year during that time. I think I got maybe one or two calls from them uh mind you the average homeowner needs a plumber about every I think it's every
Enmanuel Tejada (48:05.834)
Mm -hmm.
Nate Santos (48:17.838)
two to three years on average, a homeowner is gonna need a plumber. So it's like they're planting seeds is how I see it. I left the card there, they get the magnet, they put it on their fridge. Every day they go to open the fridge to get food, dinner, lunch, what have you. One year, two years, three years later, oh snaps, I got a leak. My water heater stopped working. My toilet won't flush. Oh yeah, Santa's rose, let me call them real quick. That's how I see that. They see my truck. I've gotten calls. So whenever people call me, I always ask, oh, how is it that you heard of us?
Enmanuel Tejada (48:41.13)
Yes.
Nate Santos (48:46.734)
And I've got multiple times where I was like, oh, I just Googled Plumber near me, and I've seen your memes online. And I recognize you on the list of Plumbers here. So it's like a two and two connection. They didn't just, I've had a couple of people say, oh, I see your memes. So that's why I called you. And then I've had more people say, I've seen your memes. I Googled the Plumber. You came up. I recognize you from your memes. So that's why I called you.
Enmanuel Tejada (49:08.138)
Wow, it's funny how all those things are tied together like that. That's beautiful.
Nate Santos (49:15.822)
Yup. And, and I've even had people just say random people, bro. I'll be like at a parking lot, like at Albert Sins. I've been a Target and people pulled up next to me on the road at a stop like, Hey man, I've seen your memes are fucking funny. So it's getting the name out there. Like I said, it's just, it's brand awareness. It's planting seeds. Not everyone needs a plumber on a daily basis, but whenever the plumbing emergency comes up, they're going to think about me.
Enmanuel Tejada (49:26.09)
So it's working. It's working.
Enmanuel Tejada (49:39.658)
Let's go. That's something I'm actually starting off getting in memes. Mostly I've just been doing a lot of regular, serious, like, towards to the camera content, but I want to keep it fun. I want to keep it like kind of how you're doing it too. So I'll, I'll definitely implement some of that. Sure. And Nate, how are you? So, so, okay. Like a call, like a lead comes in from the website. It probably comes into your CRM or do they call you? Do they fill a form? What is that? How does that look like?
Nate Santos (49:56.014)
Yeah.
There you go.
Nate Santos (50:13.294)
So there are some people that do fill it out online. I think it kind of depends where you're at. We're a pretty small town, like I said, right here. Population 30 ,000 in the media town that I live in. It's still kind of a little bit on the old school side. So I rarely, seldomly do I get an email saying like, oh, this person booked a call and they gave me all their information. Most of the time it's a phone call. And when a phone call comes in, I'm the one answering it. Hi, I'm Nate Santos. Thank you for calling Santa Cruz Plumbing. How can I help you?
Enmanuel Tejada (50:18.538)
Uh huh.
Nate Santos (50:43.598)
and they say they got something going on. You know, all of a sudden I hear that, I can definitely help you out with that. Yeah, let me get your information down. What's your first and last name? You know, what's your email address? Best phone number to contact you is at this one here that you're calling me from. What's an email address? Street address. I can be there between this time and that time. It's going to be an $89 diagnostic charge to come out there. However, if I do any work for you, I waive the $89. Oh, cool. Awesome. And that's pretty much it right there.
Enmanuel Tejada (51:01.77)
Boom, boom. That's pretty much all there. That's awesome right there. I love the flow of it too. And I like the fact that you kind of mentioned, you know, that you'll reimburse them if they actually do work with you. It's kind of like a little hook kind of reeling them in, right? Because you're going to inspect it anyways. Now you might as well be the guy that faces it because you're already there, right?
Nate Santos (51:21.422)
Yeah.
Enmanuel Tejada (51:25.226)
Ah.
Nate Santos (51:26.574)
Yeah, some guys don't wave that. There's some guys that'll be like, oh, it's $100 for us to come out plus whatever work we do. And yeah, on top of that. So I think it's kind of like an incentive. If I do any work for you, I wave it. Because on average, man, any sort of plumbing work is going to be more than $89. So to me, that's an easy charge to wave.
Enmanuel Tejada (51:31.978)
Mmm, on top of that, yeah.
Nate Santos (51:55.086)
And that just shows that I'm helping them out. And it also kind of weeds out some of the guys that are, that are price shopping. You know, there'll be some customers because you know, not, not every customer is the right customer. You know, you know, I'm not compatible with everybody for some people. You know, I consider myself to be a premium service and premium service comes at a premium rate. And so some folks aren't looking for a premium service. You know, some folks don't care.
Enmanuel Tejada (52:11.53)
Exactly.
Nate Santos (52:21.838)
that I put a drop cloth down and that I'm clean and that I'm available the same day. They're okay with waiting a couple of weeks, a few weeks for, you know, Joe's plumbing to show up with dirty boots and no uniform and he can be a little less clean and they'll pay less and they're okay with that. And if that's the route that they want to go on, I'm okay with that also. So if you know.
Enmanuel Tejada (52:25.162)
shitty service.
Enmanuel Tejada (52:37.706)
Yeah, yeah, dude 1000 % yeah, in fact, I just had a podcast Last week with a friend Chris from ICS each back here in New Jersey He mentioned but I'm glad that you're doing what you're doing right because he mentioned that if like let's say you as a business owner if you start targeting those weak or not weak, but those cheaper Clients that value your service less then it comes with a bunch of headaches right because those people tend to be the ones that complain the most And the most shit, you know goes wrong plus
It's just not as you know, they're not gonna be rooting for you as much as somebody that actually values you and that you know Sees the value in what you do appreciates it
Nate Santos (53:08.686)
Yup.
Nate Santos (53:22.062)
Yup. My uncle that I learned the trade from, he would say, no good deed goes undone. You know, sometimes someone might be struggling and they want, you know, kind of cut them a break, give them a better deal. And that's why I said, uh, one of the bad reviews that I have is from a person that was upset because he wanted me to put a bandaid on the repair. And I said, I'm not going to put a bandaid on this because it's going to fail. And when it fails, you're going to be upset at me because it failed. And then I'm going to expect me to come back out here and make it right again. And once I touch.
the job, I own it and I'm not going to put myself in that predicament. So we can either do it the right way at this rate. If that works for you, let's move forward. If that doesn't work for you, I'm okay with walking away from any work man, because you know, we're pretty much taking on that liability whenever we do that job, you know, and if it's not for the right price.
Enmanuel Tejada (54:03.978)
Yeah, and I love the fact that you said right there, when I touch it, I own it, meaning that you're going to take full accountability for it until it's done right all the way to the end.
Nate Santos (54:15.278)
100%. And I work, I warranty my work, man. There's some guys that don't, don't offer that. You know, I warranty my work. If anything fails with this, I'm going to come back and I'm gonna take care of it. So that's why I do things right.
Enmanuel Tejada (54:22.058)
respect, respect, respect, man. And it sounds like you really have everything dialed in as far as your marketing, man, because not only, because a lot of the times one thing I recommend to a lot of the clients that I work with, right in the home services space is like they come in, they don't, they're not even doing any marketing physically, right? So that means they're not doing door knocker. I mean, door hangers are not doing business cards. They're not doing uniforms. They don't have a truck. They don't have any material that's physical. They can hand out.
but they're trying to go digital. And I'm like, okay, that's good. That's, I mean, you know, it's, it's sometimes even more advantageous to go digital first, but you also have to make sure that when you show up, you're coming, the way you present yourself has to be professional. Right? So I recommend business cards. I recommend these things. I recommend investing in a truck wrap because that's free marketing, right? That's free eyes. You pay for that once. And then as many people see it, it's not like pay per click where you're spending a set amount of money and then it's gone. Right? It's one time and then you use it forever.
So that's very important to take up the physical and you've done that masterfully, right? You've got the truck, you got the, you have the appearance that you guys show up on the website. That looks good. You guys have a shit ton of reviews. So you guys have a piece together, man. And I love the formula that you have right now for scaling, which is to continue to, um, make each technician more profitable and then bring in more trucks and get more process. And then you step out of the business. So dude, I see a bright motherfucking future for you guys over at Santos, man, for sure.
Nate Santos (55:52.046)
Hell yeah. Gracias bro, I appreciate that bro. I really appreciate that. Yeah, man, it's, you know, being professional and how you show up, bro, like my whole idea of how I show up, bro, is a reflection of me and where I want the business to be. And I don't know if you read my little backstory on the website, like during the lockdowns, I was working out of a little broke down Toyota Corolla.
you know, and I'd have pipes sticking out the side of the, out of the fricking windows. And I had the trunk full of all my tools and there's some of the bigger tools that I couldn't carry, carry in there. And I'd kind of leave it at home and come back if I needed it. And that's how I was operating, man. And I was able to scale up and I got a pickup, finally got a box truck. Now I'm in my second box truck and that's just, that's the deal, man.
Enmanuel Tejada (56:32.842)
Now we're going to come up to the third by the end of the year, man. So, dude, you guys have got it, bro. And I'm super fucking excited to see you guys grow. I'm super fucking excited to pull up to California one of these fucking days and ride that dancing horse, man. Yeah, for sure, man. And Nate, I just want to say thank you so much, man, for being a part of this podcast, taking time out to be, you know, to talk to our audience, be able to shout yourself out. And I kind of want to give you some spotlight, right? How can people get in contact with you? You know, what's the best way to reach you?
Nate Santos (56:40.654)
You deserve, you deserve.
Nate Santos (56:49.966)
Hahaha!
Nate Santos (57:08.718)
Oh, first off, man, thank you for having me, Enmanuel I really appreciate it. Like I said, I checked out your shows before I agreed to it. I like the way that you're running it. You know, having the conversation with the guys, getting to know them, kind of getting a backstory on them and then coming in at the end and offering your two cents and your opinions. I think that's awesome, bro. I think the market's going to see the value in what you're providing for as far as podcast listeners go and be able to apply some of the stuff that you're offering.
And if anyone wants to get ahold of me, man, you can find me on my website SantosBrosPlumbing .com or you can also find me on Instagram, SantosBrosPlumbing, as well as Facebook, SantosBrosPlumbing. Yeah, if you're listening to this anywhere in the States and you're a competent plumber and you're willing to drive your own truck and tackle the day of service calls and you're looking to come out to Cali, man, give me a holler.
Enmanuel Tejada (57:57.066)
Yes, sir. There it is guys reach out to Nate if you're looking for a job in California as a plumber You're gonna have a great experience a great culture And Nate man again. Thank you so much for being a part of this podcast everybody I hope you guys enjoyed it This was another episode of the digital toolbox If you guys need any digital marketing advice or have any questions reach out to me if you're in the California area Definitely reach out to Nate if you're a plumber anywhere in the u .s. And you're looking to relocate to California to pursue your
California dream and your plumbing dreams work with Nate and Yeah, that was another episode of The Digital Toolbox Podcast Take care guys. Peace
Nate Santos (58:39.118)
Duces