I recently was reminded of a few important business lessons from a local homeless/unhoused man. But first a little background………
When I moved here about 11 years ago I took note of a tall scraggly man in the neighborhood. He was always doing landscaping and outdoor home repair type of work. Mowing lawns. Trimming trees. Pulling out branches. Moving shrubbery. Painting fences. He rode a bicycle and pulled all his supplies (including a lawn mower) around in a grocery shopping cart.
I reached out to my neighbor the day after I saw him painting his fence. My neighbor told he he’s homeless but he’s a heck of a hard worker, has a lot of good ideas, and he’s cheap.
I’ve always been a supporter of the underdog, so one day I stopped him as he went by my home and asked him how much he wanted to weed the two islands in front of my house. He said $40. I hired him on the spot and he did a great job.
Fast forward, I’ve hired him many times since. Weeding. Removing some small palm trees. Moving plants and shrubbery to different locations on my property. He’s respectful. For the most part he shows up when he says he will. Every so often he takes advantage of me when asking him to do a few things extra. All of a sudden some short simple add-on costs me another $40 – it’s okay. Think home contractor estimates versus actual.
Thomas goes in and out of homelessness. It’s also evident there are some mental health issues going on. But he basically has a two-prong approach to business…………………………..
First, he’ll tell you he comes in waaaaaaay lower than “real” landscaping/handyman companies. He even knows what they will charge. He knows who his competition is. But it’s his “marketing” approach that I love so much. At least once a week there’s a bang on my front door. Which means he needs money. So he’ll offer to do things for less than the past. He’ll take a look at what’s going on in my yard before he even bangs on the door. So when I open the door he’s already got his pitch on what needs to be done, how my yard can look even better, or potential extreme weather tragedies waiting to happen. He also knows what I hate doing – i.e. weeding; tree pruning.
Thomas knows he has me as a revenue stream. I’m definitely part of his 80/20 rule. I also won’t take advantage of him. Just because he needs money doesn’t mean his value is $25 versus the $40 previously. He’ll still get the $40. And I tell him why. But that still hasn’t stopped the occasional taking advantage. Hahahahahahaha. Again, it’s ok.
I’ve written in the past how we put celebrities on pedestals. How we try to emulate top business leaders we will never meet or come in contact with. But the reality is that most people could learn a thing or two from listening and watching the ordinary people who are right in front of our eyes daily – the ones we actually have real life contact with. Maybe even the homeless/unhoused.
And the picture…………….my neighborhood civic association awarded me Home of the Month a couple of years ago. I couldn’t have done it without Thomas!