In this episode, Enmanuel Tejada interviews Juk Slivka, the owner of Plum Pro Exteriors, a roofing and siding company in Massachusetts. Juk shares his journey of immigrating from Ukraine to the United States and starting his own business. He talks about the challenges he faced, including dealing with a scam company for his green card, borrowing money to start his business, and working hard to pay off his debts. Juk also discusses the growth of his company and his focus on providing exterior services like roofing, siding, windows, and decks. He emphasizes the importance of taking calculated risks and learning from others who are more successful. Plumper Exteriors uses various marketing platforms to attract clients, with word of mouth being the most effective. They have expanded their services to different states, including Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire. They are also considering investing in real estate in Florida. Plumper Exteriors has a unique mobile showroom in a trailer, allowing clients to see and feel the materials. They also celebrate project completion with clients by opening a bottle of champagne. Yuke emphasizes the importance of being open to suggestions and learning from mistakes.
Takeaways
Sound Bites
Keywords
roofing, siding, immigrant entrepreneur, starting a business, calculated risks, Plumper Exteriors, marketing, expansion, real estate, mobile showroom, champagne celebration, being open to suggestions, learning from mistakes
In this episode, Enmanuel Tejada interviews Juk Slivka, the owner of Plum Pro Exteriors, a roofing and siding company in Massachusetts. Juk shares his journey of immigrating from Ukraine to the United States and starting his own business. He talks about the challenges he faced, including dealing with a scam company for his green card, borrowing money to start his business, and working hard to pay off his debts. Juk also discusses the growth of his company and his focus on providing exterior services like roofing, siding, windows, and decks. He emphasizes the importance of taking calculated risks and learning from others who are more successful. Plumper Exteriors uses various marketing platforms to attract clients, with word of mouth being the most effective. They have expanded their services to different states, including Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire. They are also considering investing in real estate in Florida. Plumper Exteriors has a unique mobile showroom in a trailer, allowing clients to see and feel the materials. They also celebrate project completion with clients by opening a bottle of champagne. Yuke emphasizes the importance of being open to suggestions and learning from mistakes.
Takeaways
Sound Bites
Keywords
roofing, siding, immigrant entrepreneur, starting a business, calculated risks, Plumper Exteriors, marketing, expansion, real estate, mobile showroom, champagne celebration, being open to suggestions, learning from mistakes
Enmanuel Tejada (00:08.933)
Hey everyone, welcome back to another episode of the Digital Toolbox Podcast. This is a podcast where we bring on guests that are owners of businesses in the home services space. And today we have a guest. Today we have a roofer and sider His name is Yuk Slivka. Right? Did I say it right? Slivka. Boom. There we go. I'm Ukrainian now. So he's from Ukraine. He's an awesome dude. I'm going to go ahead and interview him today. So you go ahead and introduce yourself, man. Let's, let's, let's do it.
Yuk Slyvka (00:24.685)
Yep, yep, you'll say that alright, yep.
Yuk Slyvka (00:35.606)
So my name is Yuc, I came from Ukraine 8 years ago, started my own business in 2018 and never give up, just keep working, keep working, growing and I don't know, that's probably all for now.
Enmanuel Tejada (00:52.126)
This guy's being humble man. This guy owns one of the biggest roofing companies and siding companies of Massachusetts. So, tell us the story man. So I know that you recently came to the United States. How many years ago did you get here?
Yuk Slyvka (01:05.963)
8 years in 2016, so this year is gonna be exactly 8 years.
Enmanuel Tejada (01:11.313)
This year is gonna be eight years. And what was the story behind that? I mean, coming from Ukraine to the U.S., did you always envision coming to the U.S. as a kid? Or how was that like?
Yuk Slyvka (01:20.578)
So yeah, that was a small dream after I graduate and finish my 11th grade and you watch those YouTube videos and films and all that and you're like, oh my god, the United States is a country where I wanna live and you try to get to the United States, like you try everything so you try to apply for the visa, you try to cross the border, what some people are doing but you wanted that life what happened to me, I applied for the Green Card Lottery not exactly through the...
Legal website from United States it was a scam company who actually using your paperwork and your passport and your pictures and they just apply each year and over and over and Somehow I got lucky they called me. I tried to do it in 2012 after school and in 2015
They actually called me and said, hey, you want a green card? So I thought it's scam. I offered them money. Like, do you want me to pay you? And they said, no, just feel free to come to the office and talk to us. So I go to the office, talk to them and they said, yeah, actually, that's going to cost you like $5,000. But only after you receive the green card. You know, it's a green card and five grand is not that much for the green card. So what I done, I go to the embassy.
Enmanuel Tejada (02:31.342)
Yeah.
Yuk Slyvka (02:33.086)
I tried to get my paperwork back, but they said that's not gonna happen. You have to like actually pay them or try it again. I told them in United States embassy in Ukraine, I told them like you can get lucky only once. Like it's no way I will apply and get it again. So they prepare all paperwork for me that's camp company. I, when I got my visa and when I live in the Ukraine, then I paid them $5,000. I technically I don't have to, but my family back to Ukraine stay there.
and I was worried about pressure on them, so I paid them 5 grand and go to the United States. Landing in Boston, I actually didn't have any money. I borrowed $1400 from one of my friends just for the ticket, and he gave me that money, so for like a few months I work here just to get, like, just to pay my debt to him. I have a friend here, his kind of friend, he's an older guy.
Enmanuel Tejada (03:25.597)
Wow.
Yuk Slyvka (03:30.642)
In 2000s he moved to United States and he had his own business which is doing the exterior And actually he offered me a job and I started work for him I came Thursday and Monday morning I already started working on exterior We started doing the siding and for the half year it was a funny life I didn't take that seriously, I just go to the work, go home, Saturday some clubs, night clubs And again Monday and it just like over and over
Enmanuel Tejada (03:59.142)
Thank you.
Yuk Slyvka (04:00.254)
And half year later I was 22 already and I look at everything and I'm like that's not the life what I wanted. Like you just over and over, over and over. It was fun but you don't have any money, you just enjoy yourself. And I'm already 22 and I'm like that's not what I wanted. So I came back to my boss and I told him like can you teach me? Like actually teach me how to do all that stuff, how to work.
And he said, I'm not gonna teach you, just do whatever, just watch what I'm doing, and based on that, you will get some knowledge. So I start watch, I start study, I start watch YouTube, what guy's doing, and in another three months, he make me in charge of four guys, and he said, now you in charge, and they will do whatever you say. And another half year I working, back then it was 2017.
Enmanuel Tejada (04:51.365)
Wow.
Yuk Slyvka (04:56.706)
He paid me like 20 bucks per hour by W2 on W2. So that wasn't that much money. And I'm like, okay, I wanna do something else. I wanna like grow and I wanna be part of my own. So I told him like, I give him a half year heads up, like you have a half year, six months to hire another guy and teach him because I plan on to live. I plan on open my own business. He said, okay, he didn't think it gonna be a serious, but when I bought the van,
Enmanuel Tejada (05:24.997)
Thank you.
Yuk Slyvka (05:27.274)
I didn't bought it so I get a loan for the van, I get a loan for all the tools, so that was like 40k in the beginning, I get a personal loan for 10k and a loan for the car and I have 15k on credit cards and I use that 15k to buy ladders, palm jigs, everything what I need. And when he saw the new van all fully loaded he like, oh shit, he like, you don't mind,
Enmanuel Tejada (05:37.795)
Mm.
Enmanuel Tejada (05:55.265)
Now he was serious.
Yuk Slyvka (05:56.518)
and he like I will pay you 30 and I'm like be like we done I yeah you can pay me 100 per hour and we done like I already see my own way
Enmanuel Tejada (06:01.224)
late
Enmanuel Tejada (06:06.573)
Bro, let's go. I love that story. And you know what you because man you covered a lot there. There's a lot to unpack. So Wow, so let's go back into it for a quick second and we'll get back to this point So you said when you so you were how old when you were in the Ukraine and you found out that you can come to The US, you know, you got the green card 20 years old Wow so That means that you're what you're 28 7 now 27 28
Yuk Slyvka (06:24.442)
On you. Yeah.
Enmanuel Tejada (06:33.277)
28, holy shit, okay. So you're 20 years old, you find out you're gonna come to the US. What do your parents say? What's going through your head? I mean, I'm sure you're excited, but you might be worried too.
Yuk Slyvka (06:43.598)
So I family of three and I am the oldest one. I have a two sister, one is 17 now and one is 19. Back then they was like 8 and 10, something like that. So one step before when I graduated school, 12 grades, I had the two options. One is go study and spend my parents money or I go to the work. So decision was made, go to the work.
I'm not from the rich family. Like we're okay, but we're not like crazy rich. We like can like make money for the livings. So I told my mom and dad that they have to take care about my sisters and I can take care of myself. So I started working at Seventeen as a security slash cleaner for the big boats for like rich people. And then I be back to Ukraine.
Enmanuel Tejada (07:19.907)
Mm-hmm.
Enmanuel Tejada (07:40.954)
or what, my god.
Okay.
Yuk Slyvka (07:45.002)
And after that I become a truck driver, I drive around Ukraine, delivery the packages, make some money, I make actually good money. And after that, wait a second, I wasn't pointing, after that, after the school I work, apply for that green card. And technically for my parents, I was the, I don't know how to explain it, I was the guy who like will take care of him by himself. Like he don't need any help and wherever he wanna go. And my parents, they never,
Enmanuel Tejada (08:11.633)
All right.
Yuk Slyvka (08:14.722)
They never hold me. Like if you come to my parents and say, hey, I wanna smoke, they will say, okay, whatever, smoke. I wanna gambling, go gambling. I wanna do that, do that. They never hold me up. Like if I wanna something, they always like, if you want it, do it. That's your responsibility and you know what you're doing. So for them, they kind of worry, I would say, but at the same time, you just like, go. If you're sure about that, go.
Enmanuel Tejada (08:38.717)
So yeah, I mean, it sounds like they were open for you. They kind of trusted your judgment. Okay, he knows what he's doing. If he wants to go to America, it's for a reason.
Yuk Slyvka (08:42.034)
Yes.
Yuk Slyvka (08:47.186)
Yeah, yeah, they trust me like they even like now they call me and ask a lot of questions like some help like hey What do you think we should do here? What do you think we should do to here? So they trust me a lot
Enmanuel Tejada (09:00.325)
awesome man that's awesome and then fast forward a little bit to you mentioned you got here on a Thursday from Ukraine Monday you started working so how did you meet your boss like how did you how do you get a job so fast
Yuk Slyvka (09:06.765)
Yes.
Yeah.
Yuk Slyvka (09:16.33)
So as he's from the same village as I am from Ukraine, it's some of his old friends and parents, friend-parents, they know he's in the United States. And they give me his information and I call him and I'm like, hey, I want a green card, I want to go to the United States, would you have a work for me? And he said, yeah, come over, I will give you some work.
Enmanuel Tejada (09:39.769)
Wow, so that's who decided that you would go to messages to Boston
Yuk Slyvka (09:42.682)
Yes, yeah, that's what it was like for me the United States is like I don't care if it will be California, New York It's like wherever I have a work and when I can get a job Then I go the story is kind of a little bit longer, but we will skip that part. I had a girlfriend back
Enmanuel Tejada (09:50.045)
Thank you.
Enmanuel Tejada (09:58.473)
Got you. Well, let me ask you this though, if you were to, if you didn't have that friend, where would you go in the United States?
Yuk Slyvka (10:04.374)
So I have a backup for two and other people. One from New York and one from Sacramento, California.
Enmanuel Tejada (10:10.925)
And you knew people there like from back home? Wow, man, you've got some connections. You had some connections back then, huh? You had a Plan B?
Yuk Slyvka (10:12.338)
Yes. Yeah.
Yuk Slyvka (10:17.622)
Yeah, even now one of the guys won a green card from my village and he just arrived Friday, like last Friday before that. So, as someone helped me eight years ago, when he called me that guy and he was like, hey, I won a green card, he arrived on Friday, he already had a work on Monday, I found him the job, I found him a one-bedroom apartment, I found him a car rental and I bought him everything for the first time.
like air mattress, electric stove, like wherever he needed. Because it's kind of my responsibility to help him we're from the same village and some people helped me years ago. So now I wanna help him. And that guy look at, that was like last week. And that guy look at me and he like, how I will pay you back? And I'm like, forget about that. I'm pretty sure in next five, 10 years, someone else will wanna come over and ask you for the help. That's how you will pay me back. You will help someone else.
Enmanuel Tejada (11:14.489)
Wow, that's beautiful. That's beautiful. So just how somebody was able to help you when you came, you did the same now. Wow, that's freaking beautiful, man. Because a lot of times we see it all the time. It's like people, our own people, sometimes they may not wanna help us. They get like, oh no, I'm too big now. I can't help. But it's good to always be humble and pay it forward.
Yuk Slyvka (11:19.619)
Yes. Yeah.
Yuk Slyvka (11:32.398)
It's you cannot be like... Yeah, you cannot be that big to not helping people. So one or other way you should help, because you don't know where you're gonna be tomorrow.
Enmanuel Tejada (11:44.177)
Dude, that's a great fucking point. You, yeah, we don't know where we're going to be tomorrow. We don't know who we're going to need, right? That's a great point. And man, so now let's talk a little bit more about Plum Pro X Series, right? So you gave your boss a six month notice that you were going to quit. He was like, Oh, this kid's joking around. He's you were like, what you were like, maybe 23, 20.
Yuk Slyvka (12:01.087)
Yep.
Yeah, I was 22, 23, yeah.
Enmanuel Tejada (12:07.153)
He's like, Oh, this kid just came from Ukraine. He's going to start his own business. Ha ha ha. He didn't take it serious, but then you bought the truck and then you bought the ladders and you bought all the equipment. And then now it's like, okay, now he's serious. Now let me offer him $30 an hour.
Yuk Slyvka (12:20.059)
Yeah, yeah, it was too late.
Enmanuel Tejada (12:23.109)
Wow, too late. And then, so how come, how was that? Like how did you feel about taking out a loan? Cause it is a risk, right? In order to be successful, you had to take risks. So you took out a lot of money in that.
Yuk Slyvka (12:33.862)
Yeah, so for me what I usually do in I look in like the worst case scenario what gonna happen like I will not find a job, I will don't have employees, I will fail and all that. So for me I always count a few steps back. So worst case scenario I don't have nothing, I failed, what I'm gonna do next. So I count all my loans, I count all my debt and I should make like 1500 or 1400 per
Enmanuel Tejada (12:45.831)
Thank you.
Yuk Slyvka (13:02.998)
So I'm like, if everything failed, I will go back to my boss to the work and I will just work hard to pay that debt off. I will sell the tools, I will lose some money, but at least I try it.
Enmanuel Tejada (13:16.321)
Dude, yeah, like imagine that you died and you didn't try at all
Yuk Slyvka (13:19.738)
Yeah, so I will sit in until now and thinking like, oh, maybe I will open my own business. So that's Like if you want it do it and do it now That's not gonna be tomorrow if you will wait for tomorrow forget about that. That's never gonna happen tomorrow It will be another tomorrow. So you have to do it today and now
Enmanuel Tejada (13:37.885)
Dude, that's, I, 1000% I agree with you. And that's kind of me right now, actually, right? So I'm 24 and I just went full-time with my business. I own a digital marketing agency a month now, actually, almost a month in a couple of days, it'll be a month. And it was a risk, you know, I mean, but at the same thing as you, right? I have my savings in place. I was, in my case, I was already starting to make some money from that side business when I was able to transition into a full-time, but in your case, it's much tougher, right? Because you actually had to go out
Yuk Slyvka (13:50.222)
congas.
Enmanuel Tejada (14:08.019)
loans, take on credit card debt, and to this day have you paid all that off?
Yuk Slyvka (14:08.329)
Yeah.
Yuk Slyvka (14:14.158)
So first I would say from 3 to 4 years that's the worst one. So first 3 years that's for sure, you're living always in debt and you cannot pay it off. And you just work the quick story where the max days when I worked that was probably 18 days straight. No day offs, nothing, and in the 19th day the rain began. So that's only one way it would stop me. Other than that I will just keep working. So you...
working from six to seven, from six to eight, and just keep doing and keep doing, keep doing, keep doing, just to pay the debt off. If you're free of debt, that's my point, if you're free of debt, and you have money on the account, you become lazy. But when you have a debt, and like 5.30 a.m., you're waking up and you like open your eye, you have only one option, you have to wake up and go. Other than that, let's say I have 100 grand on my account, I will sleep.
Enmanuel Tejada (14:44.176)
Mm-hmm.
Enmanuel Tejada (14:59.941)
Thank you very much.
Yuk Slyvka (15:11.73)
I will sleep until 9 and 10, I will be relaxed and free, but when you have actually that and you always own, you have to wake up. You're like, I have to work. You wake up, dress up. Yeah.
Enmanuel Tejada (15:21.453)
Yeah, yeah, it feels uncomfortable. It feels uncomfortable. You're like, shit, why am I sleeping? Why am I on this bed? I own a- I owe $100,000. What the fuck?
Yuk Slyvka (15:27.766)
Yes, yeah. Yeah, so even now a lot of my friends they were like so scared about debt, but I have a financial guy right now. He's like financial advisor and he's the one who helped me out. I hired him a year ago and like a lot of things change. And as soon as I ask him to buy something, I'm like, hey, I want to buy that stuff. It's like 15 grand. I can pay for that. He like only loan. Don't spend your money.
Enmanuel Tejada (15:38.916)
Hmm
Enmanuel Tejada (15:54.993)
Wow, okay, so it kind of holds you one check now kind of like, you know, don't spend money on this or don't do that Do this That's awesome. That's awesome that you're at that point now too Because most people would just go their whole lives like the whole business like oh I can do it I know what I'm doing and then they run themselves low and then things just don't work out I'm a fan of getting professional help for some things Such as financing and all that stuff and big into mentorship as well. That's a good question to go into next actually So who do you gain?
Yuk Slyvka (15:59.304)
Yes. Yeah.
Yuk Slyvka (16:11.551)
Yeah.
Enmanuel Tejada (16:23.757)
motivation from who inspires you have you ever gotten coaching before for what you do?
Yuk Slyvka (16:27.354)
No, no, never. I am I getting information from everyone and I usually try to Like calculate everything so let's say I want to buy something. Let's say like four years ago I want to buy a truck and I don't know which I wanted so I start getting to the each of my friend who has a truck and talk to them and One give me one information about his ram another one give me information about his Ford and other give you information about his Toyota So I collected all information
And after that I need like a week or so to think about that. So I'm like, count what is good, what is bad, and only after that I'm making a decision. So I don't have any coach, but most likely I get motivated from other people, listening them, but at the same time, this have to be like strong people. And what usually I did, I look in on the people who's like way higher than I am, and I look at them and I'm like, what I have to do to be on that point?
Enmanuel Tejada (17:11.301)
Mm-hmm.
Yuk Slyvka (17:25.822)
why they like at that point and I'm here what is going on and then I try to catch them up so if I see the guy on like in front of me who's like way higher than I am and I want to kick his ass I will do everything to make sure to kick his ass I have a one guy four years ago I asked him for work just to sub it some job for me and he said no he don't have enough work to sub it for me which is
Enmanuel Tejada (17:43.278)
enough.
Yuk Slyvka (17:55.974)
And back then I was like stupid. I read those text messages what I sent it to him and I'm like, oh my God, I will not offer the job for myself. And now we actually, I would say even, we like kicking his ass out of the market. We like, we-
Enmanuel Tejada (18:11.177)
wow and that was the same guy that wouldn't give you a job. I wouldn't wow that's a cool idea. That's a good feeling probably for you as well.
Yuk Slyvka (18:15.13)
Yes. Yeah.
Yuk Slyvka (18:21.55)
Yeah, and at the same time we're looking for other company like biggest company and we like We should destroy them. We I mean me and my wife She's part of the business and she's the one who is behind me and like a lot of stuff probably like 60 percent of everything What we have is because of her
Enmanuel Tejada (18:37.433)
Wow, and what tasks does she handle more, admin tasks or what?
Yuk Slyvka (18:40.506)
Yes, so the social media, now she's handling more paperwork, communication with the clients, everything coming from here, but she's the one who manages that and spreads it out. We kind of support each other, so something what I can do, she cannot, and at the same time, what she can do, I cannot. And when we both together, it works perfectly.
Enmanuel Tejada (19:06.886)
That's that's the magic right there that magic touch and So, how come you name the company Plum Pro Siding that's a very interesting name
Yuk Slyvka (19:15.99)
So yeah, the Plum is my last name, if you translate correctly from my language. And it just came up like, like everyone named companies by them. Like after them, like someone have a Ramos construction or something, like they try to mix that and like add it. So I don't want to be like Slivka exterior or like Yoke exterior. So I'm like, Plum, let's do Plum. A lot of my friends laugh at me. They're like, no way. And when I have a logo, they like, are you kidding me? Like you will not do it.
And I'm like, actually I already did it. But it's actually turned out great. Like people love it, people see it. I see now I have wrapped my trucks. And when I drive in by, I can see like people like reading and look at, and especially kids, they like, oh daddy, take a look, take a look. And they like all start paying attention what is going on, what car is. So it works well, but most likely it's my last name.
Enmanuel Tejada (19:49.209)
Hahaha
Enmanuel Tejada (20:11.565)
Wow, so Slivka in Ukraine means plumb. That's awesome, man. That is awesome right there. And then tell us a little bit more about Plumb Pro Exteriors, man. So I know you guys do roofing, siding, and masonry. What else do you guys do?
Yuk Slyvka (20:14.547)
Yeah, plum. Yeah, white fruits.
Yuk Slyvka (20:26.798)
Don't do masonry, we do a roof, siding, deck and windows. So everything began with the siding, as I was the professional in siding. I wear my tool belt and work on the field by 10-12 hours a day. I have one guy and after that I have another one. It was three of us, me and two employees. And we just like keep rolling. Keep rolling, keep rolling, keep rolling. So...
Enmanuel Tejada (20:31.77)
Okay.
Enmanuel Tejada (20:47.505)
Mm-hmm.
Yuk Slyvka (20:52.438)
That's how we start, that's how we began with the siding. And after that, we started doing more and more. And one of the house, the people offer us to install the windows. We said, okay, I read a lot of your information. I watch a lot of videos how to do it. And we did the windows and like half year later, we started doing more and more windows. And after that, another client offer us to do the roof. And we're like, okay, so we're just like, like coming bigger and bigger.
Enmanuel Tejada (21:13.814)
Mm-hmm.
Yuk Slyvka (21:19.97)
But most likely now we start do a painting as well. But yeah, so we like adding, but at the same time we need to like, I have to maybe paint my house to do some testing and see how it works. And only after that, I will be able to offer that for the customers.
Enmanuel Tejada (21:24.677)
painting as well. Wow.
Enmanuel Tejada (21:37.805)
I like that. Yeah, I like that. Instead of trying on a real life customer, maybe you try on yourself first and see what the effects are. So then it sounds like you guys originally started as a sighting company and then added windows and then added roofing. Is that how it worked? Wow.
Yuk Slyvka (21:41.566)
You can, yes, yeah.
Yuk Slyvka (21:51.234)
Yes, yes, yes. It's not coming everything at once. You're like, for me personally, I started getting some knowledge. So I have to know how to do it first and how to do it best. And only after that I can add it to my company. So that's what happened with the Windows. I installed the Windows by myself with my hands. And when you do like one, second, third, hundred installation, you're like, okay, you start teaching guys.
and you show them and after that only after that you can bring the more customers
Enmanuel Tejada (22:25.469)
Cool, cool, cool. And then how big do you envision things getting for you guys as far as are you guys going to continue adding on services? Are you guys gonna service the whole home eventually?
Yuk Slyvka (22:33.946)
So far we're gonna stop on the... So first of all exterior only. So whatever exterior carpentry is, like siding, windows, roof and decks, we may add a painting as we're gonna stop on that. We may start investing in other businesses. Maybe we will start doing additions and some like building new homes. But most likely, like in the exterior...
That's where we're going to end it. We definitely will not start going bigger on services. We will keep the services.
Enmanuel Tejada (23:07.974)
You guys whenever do you think you guys whenever do interior like interior renovations or any like that?
Yuk Slyvka (23:11.758)
No. No, because I don't know nothing about that. So if I will, maybe, but no.
Enmanuel Tejada (23:15.384)
Gotcha.
Gotcha. Cool. That's cool. That's cool, man. I like that you have a boundary and you're not going to stress yourself out by taking on a job that you don't know how to do.
Yuk Slyvka (23:25.286)
Yeah, we expanding now in service areas. So now we cover four states. So before we work, yeah, before we work only like Massachusetts and like 40 minutes drive from my house. And after that, we get one client from Maine, which is like two hours away. What we're doing, we increase the prices for like 20%. And if customers agree to pay,
Enmanuel Tejada (23:34.225)
Force 8, really.
Enmanuel Tejada (23:42.497)
Mm-hmm.
Yuk Slyvka (23:52.83)
Then we ran the RnBnB for the guys and they can actually stay next to the project.
Enmanuel Tejada (24:00.385)
Oh, and it's still profitable that way.
Yuk Slyvka (24:02.015)
Oh, yes.
Enmanuel Tejada (24:04.665)
What about for materials and all that?
Yuk Slyvka (24:06.486)
I try to manage them better, but sometimes we pick it up material where we usually buy and we have a huge dump trailer and we move into the project.
Enmanuel Tejada (24:16.289)
Wow, that's awesome man. And have you guys gotten some clients like that are like different states away, maybe in New Jersey? Cause I live in New Jersey myself.
Yuk Slyvka (24:19.326)
Yes. Yeah.
Yuk Slyvka (24:23.874)
So New Jersey is far away, most likely is Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine. And we're actually looking at Vermont as well.
Enmanuel Tejada (24:31.401)
Well, Maine is, oh, I actually know, I guess my geography is wrong because you're from Massachusetts, right? That's above New Jersey, I think. Like, okay, so, okay. Gotcha. So, man, that's awesome. You guys are doing Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island. That's awesome, man. You guys are expanding. So it sounds like instead of adding even more services, you guys are just expanding the region of where you offer the services.
Yuk Slyvka (24:41.1)
Yes, yes, up north.
Yuk Slyvka (24:56.01)
Yes, yeah. Yep.
Enmanuel Tejada (25:00.741)
That's cool, man. So when are we gonna be seeing Plum Pro X series in Florida? Hey, man.
Yuk Slyvka (25:07.563)
Oh, I don't know. They have a different type of exteriors. Now, in Florida we may be investing in real estate. If everything goes well and we will have enough money, we may start investing in real estate in Florida.
Enmanuel Tejada (25:15.224)
Okay.
Enmanuel Tejada (25:20.509)
Oh really dude, that's awesome. Are you, uh, into realistic right now? Do you want any properties?
Yuk Slyvka (25:26.057)
Not yet, we bought the land. We're planning to build a house in Vermont. So now we're in the process to get a loan, which is not fun at all. Like it's hard, it's very hard.
Enmanuel Tejada (25:31.74)
Yes.
Enmanuel Tejada (25:38.649)
What type of loan do you have to get for a new home? Like, I- Okay.
Yuk Slyvka (25:40.47)
construction, construction loan. And they not, so I wanna be on GC who gonna build it. And then like maybe one of hundred banks offer that. They can lend the money to the guy who gonna build it. Usually you have to find the builder. They lend the money for the customer and customer pay for the, customer pay to builder. But as I wanna be my own builder, technically I asking money for myself.
Enmanuel Tejada (25:49.821)
Thanks for watching!
Enmanuel Tejada (25:59.677)
Mm-hmm.
Yuk Slyvka (26:09.886)
and now not a lot of banks want to do it. And we already have a decline from two banks. Now we're working with the third one and we'll see how it goes.
Enmanuel Tejada (26:13.997)
Oh wow.
Enmanuel Tejada (26:20.965)
Gotcha, so you want to be the GC for your own home? That's going to be awesome
Yuk Slyvka (26:23.238)
Yeah, at least like no reason to hire someone because they're gonna charge like 20-25% of build.
Enmanuel Tejada (26:32.129)
that can definitely hide things up. And as far as construction and masonry, would you would your guys be handling that too or would you be subbing that out to somebody?
Yuk Slyvka (26:42.478)
we're gonna sub it out, whatever we can handle it like roof, windows installation all that we're gonna do it, but rest of the stuff like excavation, masonry, interior finish, electric, plumbing, that's all gonna be subbed out.
Enmanuel Tejada (26:56.449)
Hey man, that's awesome. That's gonna be an amazing story there. Are you guys gonna live in that house? Is that the goal?
Yuk Slyvka (27:00.958)
Know that house gonna be like investing property for and BNB and short term rent If we will have enough money if you will not we will probably sell it
Enmanuel Tejada (27:13.325)
Oh, after it's built? Gotcha. That's awesome, man. I wish you guys the best with that. That sounds like a really cool project. And a little bit more about Plumper Exterior. So how do you guys get most of your clients? Right? This is a podcast where we talk about some marketing. So I'm kind of curious to see what you guys are doing to bring on new clients. How do you guys bring your clients on?
Yuk Slyvka (27:14.123)
Yeah.
Yuk Slyvka (27:18.21)
Thank you.
Yuk Slyvka (27:32.783)
So we try to be everywhere as much as possible. Yelp, Tumtek, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram. Most of the clients come in word of mouth, most likely. And you just do one project and you have one customer talking about you and he shared that with his friend and you finish his friend and now you have two customers talking about you.
And that's most likely how you like just keep growing people talking about you. And that's most likely what you're doing. But now we have more customers from Instagram. We like.
Enmanuel Tejada (28:09.401)
Oh really your Instagram is bringing on new clients and those clients are where? In Boston, area of Massachusetts or where are they at?
Yuk Slyvka (28:15.762)
Yes, yeah, they all in actually have one guy in Maine I have two guys in Maine who actually following like hey, will you go that far? And i'm like, yeah, why not? So We're getting probably like 15 percent of leads from instagram now before it didn't work at all It is good, but word of mouth I would say like 35 40
Enmanuel Tejada (28:37.334)
And that's a great number.
Yuk Slyvka (28:43.01)
and the rest of platforms like Google is maybe like 5-10%, Yelp maybe like 5%. So we like try to be everywhere, but it's hard to manage all of them. And that's hard point with getting new clients. I think this has to take some time until you actually start getting the new clients.
Enmanuel Tejada (29:03.861)
Gotcha. So at first you recommend what that people take care of their physical marketing, as far as like door hangers and the business card and then start investing more into like.
Yuk Slyvka (29:09.864)
Yes. Yeah.
Yuk Slyvka (29:14.066)
Yeah, because even like, let's say I just start today and I have a hundred thousand for marketing And I'm gonna invest that hundred thousand to marketing nothing gonna change I'm pretty sure nothing gonna help like nothing gonna happen. It will not help And I don't think that's gonna work because first of all, I have my first client and they're like, oh Can you show some buildings what you've done? Can you show some houses? And uh, No, so how I can sell the job if I cannot show nothing
Enmanuel Tejada (29:38.522)
Alright.
Yuk Slyvka (29:43.978)
So only like now we're going to like any town and they're like, oh, do you have any houses nearby? And yeah, we have like three, five houses within like five minutes drive. So that's easy to sell and marketing itself is working. Like we have a signs on our job sites with our name. And that's one of the thing which is bring the clients as well.
Enmanuel Tejada (30:08.017)
That's cool. And I think I agree with you as far as, you know, like, yeah, at first if we just, people are going to want to see results, right? Okay. Oh, you build houses. That's cool. Let me see some of the ones you have done. That's you're making great point there. Um, although I would say if I had a hundred thousand dollars and I was like, I was told, okay, so out of business, I would focus most of it into marketing though. But
Not all of it. Because for example, what most people do, and I think you probably agree with this, is most people go and buy a truck, right? Like a brand new truck, when in reality, maybe if you buy a used truck, and then you keep some of the money to market, or to get maybe some marketing material, that might be more worth it, I would say.
Yuk Slyvka (30:37.959)
Yes.
Yuk Slyvka (30:45.164)
Yes, yes.
Yuk Slyvka (30:50.23)
That's like marketing still needed, but if it needed on the beginning, I would say it's gonna be hard But if you like two three years in the business, then you can really start the marketing
Enmanuel Tejada (31:04.537)
Mm-hmm. That's when you start putting some money behind it. Now you have a team that can actually fulfill. Now you have, I see what you mean, yeah.
Yuk Slyvka (31:09.506)
Yes. So we start our marketing and we have a marketing team from January. So all marketing was done by my wife and that's all just like give a shot. Like let's try this not working, let's try this not working. So we actually find a guy, they're from Chicago but most likely main guys in Ukraine. So we don't spend a ton of money and so far they're good.
Enmanuel Tejada (31:17.053)
Thanks for watching!
Enmanuel Tejada (31:23.421)
Yeah.
Enmanuel Tejada (31:32.125)
Mm-hmm.
Yuk Slyvka (31:36.25)
and only now it's kind of start working. If I will start doing that four years ago, I don't think they will be able to help me. Because you have to like have a good foundation for your business before you like start doing the marketing.
Enmanuel Tejada (31:50.845)
I agree with that. Yeah. For example, yeah, like making sure that you have a proper team to be actually fulfill those things or to have a good portfolio that you can show your clients. So I definitely agree with that. And by the way, you mentioned that you guys are also running ads on Google on dumb tech on Angie's list. So what type of ads are you guys running on Google, by the way? What type of do you know?
Yuk Slyvka (31:56.308)
Yep.
Yuk Slyvka (32:12.534)
Oh, this hard one. My guy is doing... So actually for like a Yelp and Tomb tag, we don't do nothing, we keep it organic. So we just have a... We hired a girl and she like just keep it organic. She like post the videos, she comment something, she reach out other people, so we don't spend any money there. We just like try to do organic. So far it works. We got like few leads.
Enmanuel Tejada (32:21.017)
Okay.
Enmanuel Tejada (32:37.669)
Gotcha, and then what about on Google or Facebook?
Yuk Slyvka (32:40.354)
give me one sec sorry uh the google if facebook we have guys who actually taking care about that uh they um they actually i don't know what they're doing like we still we try to keep organic but they are using some of the instagram posts and videos and pictures and they try to keep it yes yeah
Enmanuel Tejada (32:49.254)
Mm-hmm.
Enmanuel Tejada (33:02.801)
they promote those. Gotcha. And does that result for you into followers or into leads that actually fill out forms? Gotcha. Okay, cool. And then what's the process like for you to fulfill those leads? Like how does somebody go from I'm interested in a roof, for example, to you guys going on site? What does that look like? That time span in between?
Yuk Slyvka (33:11.878)
Leads, most likely leads.
Yuk Slyvka (33:29.174)
So they, whoever is reaching us out in the next few days, we're going to project to visit the people and talk to them and see what exactly they wanted. Before I do it all and only me, but now we have a salesman. He's going and doing that type of the estimates. And in the next like one or two days, we collect all the information, measurements, everything that we need, and we're providing the pricing.
Enmanuel Tejada (33:39.606)
Mm-hmm.
Enmanuel Tejada (33:57.085)
Gotcha, man. That's awesome. So you guys even have a salesperson now that's going out to estimate. And so how did that work? Cause I know that's one thing that I want to cover here, right? Because most people that are going to watch this podcast, they probably own a home service business, but they're smaller, right? They don't have a salesman yet. So how did you train your salesman? Cause of course you have to, yes or no pricing, you know, has to know estimating how did you teach him that from scratch?
Yuk Slyvka (34:18.222)
Yes, yes, so... Yes, all information get provided by me because for many years You know all that information, you know the pricing, you know how much you should charge, for what you should charge And you start showing that to the guy and explain that and after that for the first two or three weeks He actually traveled with me to the each estimate and we just go to the client and I'm like, hey, that's the guy He just in training purposes here. He will be quiet. Just listen to what I saying and what I proposing
We have the cool thing what we have it's a mobile showroom I have a trailer and we actually inside the trailer. We build the showroom We put like siding on the walls. We put the windows on the walls and we bring it that to the customers So we open up the door in showroom in the trailer And they can see like all type of the siding and what we're doing and like it's labeled and they know how much everything It's cost and they like I like that. I like that. I like that and after that salesman just collected information and he have a
like a spreadsheet where he just typed in how much squares they have, how many linear feet of something or how many windows they have and after that he came out with a price. He always sent it over to me first and I do a quick review and I'm like yeah that looks good, that one you need to change and it's good to go and he sent it over.
Enmanuel Tejada (35:38.925)
Wow, that's awesome, man. That seems very organized too. And that little trailer, is that what he drives now? That's fucking cool. I've never actually heard of that before. So you guys have like a model that travels with you all the time.
Yuk Slyvka (35:45.803)
Yes.
Yuk Slyvka (35:54.17)
Yes, yeah, so that's something unique I would say I don't know if anyone have it I have a dead idea probably from 2020 I believe like I wanted that showroom I never have enough money to build it and I have a lot of plans how to do it and Only last year. I just pulled the trigger and did it and It works like it works. Well because customers don't have to go anywhere. They don't have to drive travel to someone office
that's actually coming to them.
Enmanuel Tejada (36:25.729)
Exactly, and you can feel it right you can feel it's not like you're showing them a magazine But they can actually feel the material see how it'll look that's very creative. I've never heard of that before
Yuk Slyvka (36:27.21)
Yes.
Yuk Slyvka (36:34.834)
We have people on the highway pointing the fingers, taking videos and shooting the pictures and I can see it
Enmanuel Tejada (36:42.657)
You gotta get that thing patented you so you know, that's a plumper
Yuk Slyvka (36:45.514)
Technically, yeah. It's like, you know, I look at that way. Like I know it's like hundreds of people out there who like, oh, I want to do the same. Yeah, but you never did it. And you can do the same. You want to you want to that for 10, 20 years, but you never did it. So that's the difference between me and someone else. Like you want it. That's fine. But did you did it? No. So.
Enmanuel Tejada (36:51.27)
Hahaha
Enmanuel Tejada (37:10.565)
So what sounds as you're kind of saying that you're not afraid that somebody will take your idea because most people will just not like they know what they need to do, but they they're just too lazy to do it. They're not going to do it.
Yuk Slyvka (37:13.835)
No.
Yuk Slyvka (37:19.062)
Yes, yes. And at the same time, sometimes it's even better when someone will try to replicate it or do something as I do it, because then they will kick me out of my zone comfort zone, when I feel so good and I'm okay with that. And after that, someone arrive on the market, start doing some things better than I am, and they actually pushing me to do it better. So
Enmanuel Tejada (37:46.625)
Yeah and to innovate and to do something more even more better than that
Yuk Slyvka (37:48.566)
Yes, yeah, we, the one thing which is we start and no one have, no one has it and I know that for sure. We start that video review with the clients, open up of the champagne, it's our clients, so we finish the project. No one, so now I start seeing online on the Instagram other companies, exterior companies, who doing that. And one of the exterior company, I believe they from New Jersey, they actually did it better than I do.
Enmanuel Tejada (38:01.574)
Yes.
Enmanuel Tejada (38:11.279)
Hahaha
Yuk Slyvka (38:16.574)
in terms of video editing, like usually I just stay in with the client talking, client talking, that's all. They start editing the video and they actually start putting like pieces of process of work, how they met the client. And I'm like, shit, like they use same thing as I do and they doing that better. So now I have to came up with a better idea to be like one head ahead, one head on top, ahead, yeah. So just to make sure.
Enmanuel Tejada (38:37.623)
Yes.
Yuk Slyvka (38:45.946)
I keep like rolling and I keep getting more clients because we're unique.
Enmanuel Tejada (38:51.241)
Yeah, you just reminded me too. So you guys do a couple of things that are unique. You've got a trailer, the champagne. I was looking at your page and I was like, yo, that's kind of unique. That's cool. So how did you start doing that? Like what made you do that?
Yuk Slyvka (39:00.519)
Yes.
So showroom it was my mind, champagne it was my wife's sister, she's the one, we like, she's a blogger, she records a lot of videos and she has her own business in Russia, my wife from Russia, and she's the one who actually saying that like, oh maybe you will do something cool with your clients, maybe open like champagne on the end and we like, oh yeah, we will do it.
Enmanuel Tejada (39:20.13)
Mm-hmm.
Yuk Slyvka (39:31.414)
But at the same time, again, a lot of people may say, oh yeah, we will do it, and never. So again, that's the thing. But most likely that one that wasn't my idea, which is work. Like again, it's a lot of people out there who don't wanna listen. They like, nope, I know better, I smarter, no, be open. Be open to suggestions, listen other people. Like some of them saying something smart and don't be...
Enmanuel Tejada (39:38.163)
Never.
Yuk Slyvka (39:58.39)
Don't be a jerk to say like I'm the one, I'm the smart one. No, listen, if they have a cool idea, say thank you. That's insane cool idea, and if you don't mind, I will use it.
Enmanuel Tejada (40:09.725)
Instead of saying oh, but my idea is better or oh I have this idea too, but their idea sucks, dude I love that. I love that Man that's awesome. And then You one last thing here. I know that because I want to be respectful of your time Of course So if you were to start over again your entire business What's one thing that you would do differently that you would like to change? That you think would speed up the process of you becoming more profitable becoming a better business
Yuk Slyvka (40:11.554)
Yes. Try it. Yeah, try it. Yeah. Let me...
Yuk Slyvka (40:24.066)
Yes.
Yuk Slyvka (40:41.376)
You know, my personality is if you will ask me let's go back to 2012 and like after I graduated the school and you will say you have another like 12 years leave it again with your knowledge what you have it now what you would change what you will change nothing same with the business nothing
Enmanuel Tejada (40:54.481)
Yeah.
Yuk Slyvka (41:08.062)
Everything was in place. Everything was in time. Some mistakes what I made and lose at thousands of dollars. I had one mistake made in probably like four years ago. I started growing and I set up another crew. I spent 25 or 30 thousand for the new van and new tools. And in one month I fired four guys and I sold the van twice cheaper and I sold the tools twice cheaper. and
Even that thing I will not change. Because that was a good lesson. If I didn't do it, I would never know. One thing we have a commercial on the radio. Advertising. We spent 7500 for 3 weeks. We get zero. No clients, no reviews, no site visits, no Google page, nothing. For 7500 it was just like... And throw it away. If I will change it...
No, that was a good lesson. Like that was in time where it should be and that showed me like, hey, that doesn't work. Other than that, you would never know, you would never think about that and if I will change something, no. No, definitely not.
Enmanuel Tejada (42:28.771)
Dude, that is awesome. That's awesome. And that's a great way to end this thing right here, right? Because a lot of times we may be experiencing a bad time, but there's a lesson in that most likely.
Yuk Slyvka (42:38.446)
Yes, yes, everything happened for the reason and even if something happened bad today is happening for the reason. If your tire flat, maybe the truck should hit you on the traffic light but your tire flat and you have to fix it and you didn't get in time where you have to be. So everything happened for the reason and if it happened don't... is something bad happen like usually if like something bad happening I count that in the year we have at least like 18 to 20 bad days
very bad days from morning to evening only bad things happening but it's a time for those days they have to be in those year and usually when it's happening to me i'm like okay i need a few more days i know that start that's gonna be ended next week gonna be better and whatever is happening now is happening for the reason
Enmanuel Tejada (43:28.609)
Wow, that's beautiful. That's a great way to end it right there. And guys, you thank you so much for being a guest, man. That's a great way to end it. Everything happens for a reason. So even if you're going through a tough time right now, it's for a reason, right? There's a lesson to be learned. So make sure you learn the lesson. So you don't have to repeat the bad time again in the future to learn it. Boom. You do you have any final words, man? Go ahead and shout yourself out. How can people reach you?
Yuk Slyvka (43:47.862)
right.
Yuk Slyvka (43:54.42)
Don't be scared and if you make a decision make it quick and do it. And even if it's a bad decision, it's better if you did it than you think to do it. So just do it quick. And life is too short. Like too short. If you think you can do something tomorrow, you're later late. You should do it yesterday.
Enmanuel Tejada (44:17.245)
Hahaha, you should do it yesterday. I fucking love it. Let's go and you how can people get in contact with you? You're putting out some amazing content on Instagram and Facebook. How can people?
Yuk Slyvka (44:26.694)
Instagram, go through the Instagram, direct message through the Instagram and most likely answer them all. Any questions? Yeah. What's that?
Enmanuel Tejada (44:33.922)
What is your income? What is it? What's your profile so people can look you up?
Yuk Slyvka (44:39.662)
Plan Pro X Series
Enmanuel Tejada (44:42.309)
on Instagram, on Facebook, on YouTube, all the same.
Yuk Slyvka (44:45.152)
Yes, yeah, everywhere is the same. Most likely I will answer Instagram.
Enmanuel Tejada (44:50.489)
Boom, guys, there you guys have it. If you want to reach Yuk, if you want to reach Plumper Exteriors, reach out to him on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, watch his content. If you want to get in contact with him, Instagram is the best way to reach him. So Yuk thank you so much for coming onto the podcast. I hope everybody enjoyed this episode of the Digital Toolbox. My name is Emmanuel Tahada. My guest was Yuk with Plumper Exteriors. Have an amazing rest of your day. Let's go.
Yuk Slyvka (45:06.551)
Awesome.
Yuk Slyvka (45:16.951)
Thank you.