Episode 42: Identifying Opportunities Instead Of Problems With Isaac Nickelson

In episode 42 of the Professional Builders Secrets podcast, we’re joined by Isaac Nickelson, owner of Nickelson Construction based out of Fort Collins, Colorado, United States. Throughout this episode, Isaac goes over the highs and lows of owning a business, how he transitioned from remodelling to custom homes, and the process of moving Nickelson Construction interstate.

Inside episode 42 you'll discover

• The challenges of moving Nickelson Construction from Florida to Colorado
• How Isaac transformed his business from just remodelling to full-fledged custom home building
• How to use Zoom calls to generate leads
• The strategies Nickelson Construction utilised to come back after a wildfire natural disaster
• And much, much more.

Listen to the full episode to find out how you can change your perspective, and start to see opportunities arise, rather than problems.

Isaac Nickelson - Owner Nickelson Construction

Isaac is a customer focused, experienced building contractor and the founder of Nickelson Construction. Isaac has a demonstrated history of over 20 years working in the construction industry and is always willing to share what he’s learned to help others achieve their goals, and focus on the opportunities in their business.

Connect with Isaac

Timeline

1:32 About Isaac and Nickelson Construction.

1:56 How Isaac got started in the industry.

3:19 When Isaac started working for himself.

5:38 Moving the building company interstate.

7:11 The highs and lows of Nickelson Construction.

9:14 The process Isaac went through when relocating his business.

9:52 The transition from remodelling to custom homes.

11:13 Nickelson Construction’s biggest transformation.

12:48 How Isaac started with APB and how has it changed his business.

13:46 Isaac’s journey with APB.

14:21 How APB’s Private Mentoring impacted the business.

15:04 How Nickelson Constructions generated leads after relocating to a new state.

16:44 The strategy Nickelson Construction deployed after a wild fire disaster.

17:56 Isaac’s focus for the growth of Nickelson Construction.

19:28 The struggles that builders in the industry face today.

21:10 How to stay balanced working with family.

21:51 Isaac’s advice to a younger version of himself.

23:09 How Isaac sees the construction industry evolving.

24:26 Isaac’s forecast of the custom home building market.

24:17 Achieving your desired lifestyle and success.

26:43 How Isaac promotes the balance of family and work.

Links, Resources & More

Nickelson Construction

APB Website

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APB on Facebook
APB on YouTube

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Isaac Nickelson:

Maybe things aren't working out exactly as planned. You start to question yourself. There's only so much time in the day; you can't possibly wear all the hats. The biggest thing that keeps me going in this space is I can better the industry as a whole. It's easy to have destination addiction. It is a survival of the fittest.

Bosco Anthony:

Hello and welcome to the Professional Builders Secrets podcast, a podcast by the Association of Professional Builders (APB) for building company owners, general managers, VPs and emerging leaders. Here, we discuss all things running a professional building company, from sales to processes, financials, operations and marketing. I'm joined today by Isaac Nickelson, Founder and Owner of Nickelson Construction in Fort Collins, Colorado. Isaac, thanks for being here today.

Isaac Nickelson:

Thank you, Bosco. Thanks for having me.

Bosco Anthony:

Let's start off with a little bit about your business and what you specialise in. Tell us a little about you.

Isaac Nickelson:

My name, of course, is Isaac Nickelson. I am the Founder and Owner of Nickelson Construction. We are a design-build firm. We specialise in custom home building and primarily remodelling as well.

Bosco Anthony:

Isaac, let's start off with how did you get started in the industry and was this a path that was predetermined, or did you accidentally land on it?

Isaac Nickelson:

I definitely have a little bit of an interesting story, a whole backstory to getting into the industry. I was actually home-schooled as a child, and even from a young age, I had a passion for building. It was really just something that came when I was a kid, but as I grew up I was around construction; my father actually had a cabinet company in the commercial space. I started with a family friend from a really young age, about 13 or 14 years old. I started out at base level, cleaning up trash on job sites and nailing straps. I was the strap boy; I moved all the way through to running some framing crews and then moved up to different positions in the construction industry.

Isaac Nickelson:

I really just had a passion for building from a young age. And then as time went on, I worked for a pretty large home building company that actually ended up going out of business at the end of 2008. It was right around that time that I, for some reason, decided to start my own business, probably at the worst time you could get started. That’s a little bit of my background; I'm sure there's a lot more to share on that.

Bosco Anthony:

What was it like starting out and when did you know that you wanted to start your own business?

Isaac Nickelson:

I don't know if I was pushed in that direction. As I said, it did come from a passion and loving to build, loving to work with my hands, loving to create something from nothing with the building industry. But I think some of it was being pushed into the space in a sense of working with a company and probably still being young and not knowing that my career had ended there. I was presented with a big question mark of what do you do? Do you go find work with another builder or do you start on your own? I was pushed into the space and because I've always enjoyed being an entrepreneur and creating things, I said, "Hey, let's go for it." I started with some small side jobs and some little things really just to make some extra income, and that actually ended up turning into what is now our business.

Bosco Anthony:

Was it always based out of Fort Collins? When did you start operating out of there?

Isaac Nickelson:

I was born and raised in Florida. The companies I worked for there were based out of Florida. We worked there for quite some time. I started my business right around 2009 and really started ramping up in 2010, 2011. We became state licensed in the State of Florida and really then started to specialise in custom homes there in Florida. 

Isaac Nickelson:

There was a whole change of events and a lot of different backgrounds over the years that really got us asking some deeper questions, such as, “Do we like the climate? Where might we want to settle?” We really started to look at Colorado. I had some family from the area, and we decided to do something that was very challenging and bring our business to a close there in Florida, but then make a transition all the way here to Colorado. We've been here about four and a half years now. Needless to say, that was quite a challenge with definitely lots of highs and lows along the way.

Bosco Anthony:

So, you moved from Florida to Fort Collins in Colorado. You established a business in Florida. That's a big risk when you leave one state where you’ve actually built a prominent business, you've put your time in and then you start off in a new state and start from scratch. You evaluated the risk and said, “This is a risky move, but we still want to do it.” What was your thought process around that?

Isaac Nickelson:

I think we absolutely knew it was going to be a huge risk. I think from the time that we really started to think about it to the time we pulled the trigger to actually make the move was probably about a year and a half. It was maybe even close to two years from the time we really started talking about what does a move look like to the time we were actually saying, "Okay, we've got to close out some contracts, bring some things to a close."

Isaac Nickelson:

It wasn't an overnight decision by any means, and it was quite a challenge. Really, it was a lifestyle change for us. We were up for the ride to say, "Hey, this is something that is really important. We love the outdoors. This is somewhere we want to be to raise our kids." Sometimes I think in business, it's beyond just being established or being successful. Sometimes you've got to take the whole piece of life into this and the bigger picture of, yes, the business is important, but there are also all these other aspects of living. That's super important.

Bosco Anthony:

It sounds like you've constructed your life by design in many ways. I can relate to that. What were the highs and the lows of that time in your life when you relocated your business? Every entrepreneur remembers that classical high and that classical mistake that they make that will forever change how they operate business. If you look back at your career in this space, what were some of those highs and lows?

Isaac Nickelson:

There were definitely lots of highs and low. I think anyone in construction could attest to that for sure. I would say there are times in life when you decide to do something and then maybe things aren't working out exactly as planned, or maybe as quickly as planned, so you start to question yourself. “Did we make the right decision? Should we have stayed?” I think you juggle with a lot of mental gymnastics, asking yourself, “Was it the right move?” I think some of the lows were definitely those, in that space of double thinking or questioning, “Was this a good choice?” 

Isaac Nickelson:

Some of the other difficult times came about because we were breaking into a new market. Although it's familiar, it's construction, it's a lot of similar stuff, a lot of working on some of the main national codes, but now we were working in a new market and have to relearn a lot of things. Even though some of the national codes are the same, local codes are different and we were breaking into that whole space.

Isaac Nickelson:

There were definitely a lot of challenges, a lot of lows, I think in the beginning, trying to get established. We were moving to a place where no one knew us, no one knew our business. No one really knew our name. So those were some of the lows. 

Isaac Nickelson:

I think some of the highs were when we started to get some of those first sales and we were working so hard. Even though it was all familiar, we really feel like we were almost set back and began to realise, "Okay, I'm starting at ground zero." Another of the highs, I think, was that we were starting with a blank slate. We're in an area where profit margins are higher. We've learnt a lot of things along the way. I think some of the highs are when we make some of those sales, we definitely want to celebrate the wins and keep moving forward.

Bosco Anthony:

You talked about higher profit margins. Did you forecast that opportunity when you were moving from Florida to Colorado? Or did you have a notion that moving not only would help the lifestyle, but more importantly, you'd be able to see some opportunities where some people normally would just look at the problems and the challenges?

Isaac Nickelson:

We did some assessment of the area and knew where things were. Now, until you're in it and living it, you don't know exactly what those profit margins might be. That's where, by partnering with APB, we've learnt a lot along the way and have even taken some of the background that they teach and have been able to apply that to increasing our profit margins.

Bosco Anthony:

What made you transition to custom homes? You talked earlier about transitioning to custom homes from remodelling. Was that a choice or was that the business was calling for it? I'm just curious as to what prompted that restructure.

Isaac Nickelson:

Some of it was because when I was growing up, that's what I started with. I had a lot of my expertise in custom homes and started from the ground up within that. As markets change and things happen, we had to make a shift and diversify a little bit into some of the remodelling and things like that. Even when I was getting started, we took on a lot of different projects, but I think it's always been a passion of mine to build with something new. It's similar to the move here and that blank slate that I talked about.

Isaac Nickelson:

It's similar in that situation. On a custom home, you're starting from a dream and you're making this dream a reality. That's something that's pretty exciting. As we moved, we did kick off a lot of remodelling, a lot of smaller stuff to get in and get known and get our name out there. Probably one of the other driving factors for us as a business and now what our system is today is, of course we're a larger contract, a larger sale, so for our business model and some of the things we have planned for the future, it fits our business model as well.

Bosco Anthony:

How did you transform the business to where it's at today? You talked a little bit about increasing your profit margins, but what does that business look like today? How big's the team? What led to the growth of the company?

Isaac Nickelson:

I think the biggest transformation has come from the move. You can see all the lows or all the challenges, but in a lot of ways it can challenge you. It can give you a new perspective on business. I think some of that has transformed as we have made the move. I grew up in a really small town in Florida. All builders just did the same thing. It was the known stigma of, "Oh a 10% margin." That was just the known thing in the industry. It's funny how you can grow up with a certain perspective and you apply that just because it's the norm. Some of the biggest transformation has been that move and that new challenge.

Isaac Nickelson:

Some of it comes back to just having been a one man show. You could say it was having the attitude of, "I'm going to work in the business. I'm going to wear all the hats." I think the biggest transformation for us has been that we're actually setting up systems and working with a team and still trying to build these systems and things as we continue to grow. That would be the biggest thing, I think, learning to delegate, learning to set these systems up and really trust a team and growing a business, not just trying to wear all the hats yourself.

Bosco Anthony:

You alluded to the fact that you came across APB and they also helped play a part in your growth. How did that relationship start and how did you hear about them and how did they impact your business?

Isaac Nickelson:

I think the first thing that I saw from APB was an advertisement, I believe on Facebook. It might have been Sky. I think she had a little video and something she was running about not doing free quotes. That really stuck out to me. I think that’s something in this industry that's another one of those things that we just think, "Oh, it's always been done that way. Why change it?" For us, especially as we quote on a custom home, it's such a process and there's so much that goes into it. These custom homes are not commodities. Every home is different. There's so much work that goes into it. So that really caught my eye when she showed an outline, a path to say, "Hey, you can charge for these essential services." So that's how we became acquainted. I think we did a little interview, and the rest is history from there.

Bosco Anthony:

How did the relationship mature after you started working together? Did you start the coaching program, and what did you take from it?

Isaac Nickelson:

I think we had signed up initially just for some of the initial membership. Then as time went on, we really did see the value in some one-on-one coaching and working with our coach to dive in a little deeper on some of the issues that we were facing as a company. That's where it started. And today we are in the private coaching, the mentoring program.

Bosco Anthony:

How did the mentoring program impact your business? You talked a little bit about systems as well, were there any strategies or any sort of tactics that you're applying right now, or that you have applied that you've seen really great success with?

Isaac Nickelson:

One of the biggest ones was really critiquing and providing us with a better sales system. As I mentioned, providing and building the building blocks and the foundation of how to actually have a three-step sales process. Some of these things APB really drives home; that was really big on our sales end, and then on the systems end of things that's what we're really into now. And trying to systemise better parts of the company. There's definitely a lot of good information.

Bosco Anthony:

When you move into a new state, and nobody knows your name, how do you outreach to get clients? Are you advertising? Are you cold calling? How are you drumming up business?

Isaac Nickelson:

For a lot of it, we’re doing some of the APB systems, following some of their marketing programs and doing some different things on social media or AdWords and things like that. That’s what we started with. My coach, Erik, had actually given us some good information. One of the APB protocols is a 10 by 10 by 10 strategy. There was an unfortunate situation here in Colorado, where there was a wildfire, and a lot of people lost their homes. It was quite a tragic situation, but it was also an opportunity for us to work with some new clients on these rebuilds. Erik had given us this strategy to say, "Hey, we were working with one client," and they call it the 10 by 10 by 10.

Isaac Nickelson:

It's reaching out to the one client who you might know. Then through working with that one person, maybe they know some of their neighbours and those neighbours know neighbours. So, it's this outreach of who you're already working with and who they might know. We did set up some Zoom calls and provided some value to say, "Here's who we are, here's what we can do. And here's how we can help with that rebuilding process." So, that was a really good takeaway from the mentoring as well, that we have that support in all this.

Bosco Anthony:

When you talk about the outreach, and you were asking for referrals, and you were asking for people who knew each other as well, obviously they're going through a really tough time in their lives right now and you have to be really gentle with that approach. Can you tell me a little bit about the impact of the outreach? Were people surprised? Were they open to chatting with you about rebuilding their homes? What was the impact on the business?

Isaac Nickelson:

Yeah, they were open. We had started with one contact who we had signed into some of our early steps, which we call our CPA, it's a Conceptual Package Agreement. Then we moved to step two, which is the PBA, a Preliminary Building Agreement. We had signed on one deal in some of these early preliminary phases. By setting up this outreach, we had reached out to several other neighbours there and also signed up quite a few others into this phase and are moving some of these now into the building contract phase.

Bosco Anthony:

It also speaks a lot about people and adversity as well. Not only from your end, but also from the client's end as well. I can only imagine the tragic feeling that someone has when they lose something. That emphasis to rebuild and start again is really inspiring because it's finding the opportunity in things and finding the opportunity amongst challenges, as well. As you've grown the business, what are you focusing on today? You talked a little bit about that you've got to focus now for the future. What does that growth look like for you and where are you putting your thoughts and actions?

Isaac Nickelson:

The biggest thing I think we're still working on is to better implement systems. I think for so long, because I was so hands-on with so many things, it was hard to let go of certain areas of the business and certain things. I always felt that I had to keep my hand in. I think, as we have grown, what that does do is it really reveals that there's only so much time in the day, you can't possibly wear all the hats, even as much as you want to. It's probably something done by a lot of smaller builders who are very particular, and have a certain way of doing things. That's been the biggest change for me, to definitely focus on systems and to better put those in place. Our team can look to these systems in a sense and say, "Okay, without having to bring it all the way to the top, where do I start? If I run up against something, can I have some good support without having to go up the chain of command, in a sense?"

Bosco Anthony:

When you talk about systems, you're also talk about technology as well, I'm assuming?

Isaac Nickelson:

That's right. Yeah. We've worked with Buildertrend for quite some time and project management software, better marketing and CRM software, things like that, some better things that help set up some automation and some things that don't also have to always be done by someone manually doing some repeatable tasks.

Bosco Anthony:

What are some of the struggles that builders face in the industry today? I'm just curious what your perspective is on this.

Isaac Nickelson:

There’s quite a lot facing the industry as a whole. Inflation is a big question and challenge at the moment. No one knows exactly where things are headed with that. There's a lot of subcontractor shortage and a shortage of good trades in the industry. So those are a couple big one. And of course, just with what's going on in the economic world of supplies and trying to get things timely, that's another big one.

Isaac Nickelson:

One issue that I think's probably in the back of every builder's mind, at some point, as a custom home builder, is something around those lines changing in the sense of the way custom homes are sold. I think a lot of people nowadays want something and they want it now. I think it's providing a good clear sales process to the steps, because there are a lot of steps to building a custom home. I think it's trying to make that as clear as possible. I think that nowadays, it's sometimes easy to find a home on the market and purchase a home, but it's a process to go through a custom home. So, I think that's going to be interesting to see how that unfolds in years to come.

Bosco Anthony:

Obviously, those struggles are your struggles too, because you just listed a bunch of things that you're probably going through. Every builder goes through some of these things as well. How do you balance the struggles and the anxiety that come with those struggles and then live a normal life and turn off and turn on and go back to work every day? What keeps you getting up in the morning to do what you do, despite all the struggles out there?

Isaac Nickelson:

You definitely have to have a bigger perspective of what you're doing in life and the value you do bring, definitely having a balance to it all. There's definitely a lot of good things to focus on. I think the biggest thing that keeps me going in this space is looking at the problems that I can solve and looking at the things that I can better in the industry as a whole. That's really a motivation, is to keep bettering myself and also bring my best for the industry as well.

Bosco Anthony:

If you had to travel back in time, what advice would you give a younger version of yourself?

Isaac Nickelson:

I think definitely to be patient. Be patient with yourself. I think it's easy to have destination addiction and a sense of always wanting to be in a certain place and having a lot of questions. Yes, set your goals up, set your aspirations for the future and what you might want to work towards, but never to forget to be present, to live in the moment. A lot of things that seem like they may be big problems you'll handle chunks at a time and one day at a time. Then you'll look back and think, "Wow, how far have we come by tackling those, by really just taking moment by moment and being patient."

Bosco Anthony:

I find it very fascinating that you call it destination addiction. I don't think I've ever heard anyone call it that before, but it makes sense because we are living in this world of instant gratification and digital noise and people live their lives through touch screens. They create all these expectations for themselves. I can totally relate to what you just said there, that people are addicted to success, but sometimes that takes time and work and patience. I totally get it. You've talked a little bit about the struggles. I'm just curious, where do you see the construction industry evolving to? What does the future of it look like today?

Isaac Nickelson:

In a sense, there is a lot changing. In some way, it is a survival of the fittest, and the opportunities are huge for the ones who put in the work. They’re working on their businesses and working through these issues, putting systems in place and building teams and following a lot of these APB protocols. 

Isaac Nickelson:

There's so much changing with a lot of this inflation, as I mentioned. With things like these fixed contracts that are signed, you really have to have the right background in all of this and know the language and have systems to not only protect your homeowner, but to protect yourself and your business. It's going to be an interesting few years as things shift around, to see what the construction industry as a whole does, and what those changes will actually look like. I'd say those are some of the key things that make it essential to really put in the time into your business.

Bosco Anthony:

Do you feel that the demand for custom homes is still going to be there? Do you feel like there are going to be people with an appetite to build their homes, especially with where you are right now? Is that demand increasing over time?

Isaac Nickelson:

I think it will. I think there's going to be a big shift in the market, but I also do think that there's enough people who are always going to want what they want. There are some things that you can only get with a custom process. I think the companies who are going to be here to stay around and be a part of this industry and help improve the industry are the ones who are going to put in the work on their businesses and have clear processes in place and make the education of this whole building process very known and very clear. I think that's the big difference in where things are headed.

Bosco Anthony:

You talked a little bit about the reason for moving was this lifestyle that your wife and you wanted to promote, and you moved to Colorado for a different type of lifestyle. Do you feel you've achieved that? What do success and happiness look like to you today?

Isaac Nickelson:

In a sense, it's forever a work in progress. I think to create some balance is not easy, and it's something that I'm not always good at. But I put in more effort all the time to really look at what's important. There are so many things that demand our attention this day and time. Being a business owner, especially in construction, is very demanding, but there are certain things that are important to me. This might seem funny, but every day I even put on my calendar a certain time when I'm very intentional to spend time with my family and a certain time that I focus on health, my gym routine and things like that. And there are certain times when I think, "Hey, you need a mind break."

Isaac Nickelson:

Although in business, all these things are very important, when any one thing gets out of balance, it can really throw everything off. So, I think that's the key. To try to be aware is the first step and then say, "Okay, what can I do?" Even if it's small steps to set these things up based on what is important to you.

Bosco Anthony:

Now, you're a family man, and looking at the website, it sounds like your wife is also in the business as well. How do you promote that balance where you have that work time and then you switch off and take care of the family and everything else? What does that look like for you? Do you have to have someone hold you accountable or do you prompt yourself to turn off when you're done working?

Isaac Nickelson:

In a sense, we try to hold each other accountable, but it is easy to let all of that roll into, "Oh, it's dinner time. We're still talking about work," or something like that. I think we've become better at that, but that is a challenge when you work with your wife or a family member, and it's easy to just merge it all together. In a sense, there's a time and a place for that all, but I've found it personally very healthy to set a time where this is work, and then this is time for me. This is based on my values. It's very important that at some point I shut it off and it's going to be there tomorrow and we're going to pick back up and carry on with the important things.

Bosco Anthony:

Isaac, I think I could talk to you about work and life and business for quite some time, but I want to thank you for your time today and for your insights. I really appreciate you taking us back to the roots and talking a little bit about change. Some people fear change. Some people look at all the challenges that come with change, but it sounds like you really saw the opportunity in this change in your life and the move. And it sounds like you are achieving what you set out to do, which is finding the opportunity for making the most out of it.

Isaac Nickelson:

Yeah. Thank you. I really appreciate you having me on and chatting a little bit.

Bosco Anthony:

Cheers.

Bosco Anthony:

Thank you for listening. Remember to subscribe to Professional Builders Secrets on your favourite podcast platform and leave a review. To learn more about how the systems at APB can help you grow your building company, visit associationofprofessionalbuilders.com. See you next time.