Growing Your Social Capital ~ Assignment Twenty

I contacted three different people that I haven't talked to before for these assignments and I was nervous because it was different than just talking to a family member or even a stranger. These are people that are in my field, whether they are in the business, a person in the market or a supplier. These are people that I might work with in the future. I had to make sure that I presented myself properly! 

1. The first person I talked to was a person who owned their own construction company. I wanted to interview them because I want to eventually own my own company. I would eventually like to talk to someone who doesn't own their own company too because I would like to see how they feel about working for someone else. 

Scott Carswell ~ Owner of Carswell Construction

His dad was the owner before he took over the company a couple of years ago. He went to school to become a general contractor.

I found him through my hometown because I was there last weekend and he was also my soccer coach throughout middle school and high school. I contacted him by phone and then we met in person at his office. I asked him to give me some advice in how I should go about starting a paint company. He told me what kinds of paint I should use and where I can get the best quality for the lowest prices. I also asked him about flipping homes and rentals and which one he thinks is better because I know he has done both. He likes both of them but he said definitely get a couple rental properties for monthly income that will (most likely) come every month whereas flips profit only comes if you sell the home. He didn't ask for anything in return. I think it was because I am a family friend and also I am young and usually people in my field love helping young adults trying to learn and strive in their career. He said he liked my idea that I pitched to him and gave me some advice on how I could make it better. I think knowing him will help me because I will always be able to go to him for advice and he will give me honest advice and will look out for my best interests. 

2. I had a tough time thinking of someone in the market but then I thought of someone and I think it is a pretty good one.

Monica at Lowes ~ Employee

She has worked at Lowes for 12 years and has been in the painting department for 5 years so she seemed to know what she was doing. 

I thought Lowes would be a good company that is an expert on my painting market because they get customers who come in to buy paint every single day. They know how to appeal to customers. At Lowes, they have a paint section and it is so organized with paint colors on both sides of the shelves and then a station to mix/make the paint in the middle. They categorize the paint by color, putting similar colors together so customers can choose which shade is their favorite. I told Monica that I was thinking about starting my own painting business and she actually said they have a special that they can provide for prices of paint if I were to buy a certain amount. I didn't know that before so just talking to was great for my business already. She also said the best way to appeal to your customers is  price because that is what they care about but they also care about the quality. She said when customers ask for paint, the most common phrase they hear is "I was the cheapest paint but I only want to have to do one application". She didn't ask for anything in return but if I were to use them to buy my paint, I would be giving them my business. 

3. Last but not least... Suppliers!

Ralph at Sherwin Williams ~ Employee

I reached out to Ralph at Sherwin Williams because I know that they are a supplier of paint. They want people to use their paint. I also saw the brand in Lowes so that was neat. Ralph said that they are in a lot of stores like Lowes, Home depot, Ace Hardware and others. They even have their own little stores and that is the one that I went into to talk to Ralph. I told him my pitch and he said that it was a good one, but he said to make sure that if I am offering a discount for my customers to make sure that I can get the paint as low as possible because paint is not cheap. From experience, I already knew that but I didn't think about it that way. He didn't ask for anything in return when I talked to him but he did say that Sherwin Williams was a good brand if I wanted quality paint for less. 

Overview 

Overall, I think my interviews went well. This assignment made me talk to more people about what I want to do and get more advice from the people who would be supplying me with the paint and then people who know what their customers want. They gave me opportunities that I wouldn't have had if I didn't talk to them, like the discount from Lowes. It did differ from experiences in the past because I am so used to talking to people I know and I think that is where a lot of people get lost and end up not having a big network. It's hard to talk to new people and sometimes hear the criticism they have on your idea. We like to stay in our safe bubble but this one definitely made me more confident in getting out of it!