Dennis Oz:

Welcome to Remodeler Success Podcast While we dive into the word of remodeling, and, uh, you know that I’m bringing you. The industry pioneers, we are handpicking these people to just to these pioneer people to just to bring you the knowledge and expertise that you’re looking for.

I know you’re learning a lot of different things from our podcast. And if you’re watching this, it’s another value for you guys, I’m sure. Uh, but you know, the reason why we are doing this after seeing a great moment and great, Appreciation from our audience and listeners. It’s, you’re just giving us the feel to continue, uh, this episode.

And I’m so excited to, uh, I’m so excited for this one, for this episode as well. Because today is going to be, we’re going to be talking about. Uh, how to start, uh, and also run your business, your remodeling business. And this time is a little bit different because I have an amazing guest all the way up from Canada.

It’s first time it’s happening in the remodel success podcast. I’m so excited about this one as well, but I have Oscar Arbolada here with me. Oscar, welcome to the show.

Oscar Arboleda:

Thank you de thank you so much for the invitation. I’m really happy to be part of the, of this podcast and I hope that I can help you and I can help all the listeners in on any possible way.

Dennis Oz:

Sure, sure. Thanks so much. Oscar, can you, could you please introduce yourself a little bit for us?

Oscar Arboleda:

Yeah. De uh, my, so as you say, my name is Oscar a and a guy from Columbia, uh, that I used to live in the States and I moved back and I moved to to Toronto about. 11 years ago, and I was in a totally different industry before I get jump into the remodeling kitchens and vanities and bathrooms before.

So I was in the car business. And I was doing the kitchen business just as a part time job. Uh, we did it for about eight years with my best friend and about three years ago, four years, almost four years ago, we decided, you know what, I think it is, it is time for us to make a jump in. And that’s how we ended in here.

Dennis Oz:

This is great. Thanks so much for introducing yourself. So the idea here is going to be in this conversation just to pick your brain about different things that our, you know, fellow remodelers may face. So that’s why I would like to ask you my first question for let’s say someone is looking to transform their space, right?

With, let’s say an ideal client. And, uh, What would you the 1st step that you recommend that they can take when working with your company for his kitchen and for his kitchen cabinetry

Oscar Arboleda:

in our personal experience and for us right now, when the customer get in contact with us, the 1st thing that we do is schedule a consultation.

And I know for us in this business is really the timing is time is something that is really really that we need that sometimes that we miss, you know, we don’t have enough time to do all the things that we want to do. But the experience let us know that. You have to stop for 1 minute on the 1st consultation on the 1st meeting, because it will save you more time down the road.

If you actually have a 1st consultation. So, what we, the 1st thing that we do is inviting to the customer to have an own sign meeting because.

The perspective, the perspective that we have about this space, it is completely different what the customers have. And you can have an online meeting that is is super nice. And it’s easier for for you if you don’t have enough time, but. When you actually sometimes that when you actually go to the place, it is not even close to what the customer described to you.

So, uh, it is difficult because it’s not easy, honestly, but we always say, you know, what? Perfect. Let’s schedule a meeting and let’s have a consultation. On the site, where it is going to be the project, where it is. And we go and we meet him exactly right there. It is nothing like having, you know, your feet’s on the ground and checking and seeing, and you can explain that to the customer.

So the first thing is consultation and we go from there.

Dennis Oz:

Thanks so much. That’s it. That’s really golden information there. And, uh, thanks for sharing. Let’s talk about this ideal customers and, uh, can you paint a picture of your perfect customer there? Like qualifications and, uh, Uh, what is that your business is designed to serve best to this customer when you’re considering these people?

Oscar Arboleda:

The perfect picture for us on a customer, it is the customer that has done the homework. If, if, if we, if I’m complete honest with you, uh, because, uh, there is a lot of competition out there and it is fine in the, the, the competitors is why you want to make you stronger. The problem that I have with that is that the customer doesn’t understand.

What is a good quality kitchen versus what is a kitchen that is just, you know, just for use and, and, and, and sometimes the customers are drive more on the price because, not because they don’t have the money, it’s because they don’t know what is the difference between, uh, good finish versus, uh, cheap material.

And, and, and that is the part that Mm, you make it really difficult. So for us, when the customer comes and say, you know what? I want this type of finish, I want this type of material, I want this, this, this. Oh, my God, beautiful, coming in. And let me help you. So that that brings us to the next point that, you know, what is that my business is designed for my business.

If I notice. My business is designed for direct clients and designers.

Dennis Oz:

Great. Uh, that’s an incredible, incredibly useful advice. I’m sure our listeners will love this. Well, uh, since we are talking about like customers and designs and everything, we all know that the kitchens are like the heart of our homes.

And this is where the whole family spends the most time in. And I just want to talk about trends a little bit. What’s some What are the some of the trends that you see or innovations, let’s say, in kitchen design that you really makes you excited?

Oscar Arboleda: 

Not just on kitchens, there are different trends right now, not just on kitchens, in all the cabinetry industry right now.

A pocket doors are killing it. Pocket doors are so you have a space that you don’t know what to do. And you say, you know what, let’s put a cabinet and let’s start with something. And for some people is like that for some people. No, let me have an office right here. And let me just being able to close my office, have a cabinet and still receiving people like if I’m the middle in my, you know, in my living room.

So pocket doors are crazy right now. And when it comes to kitchens, the, you know, we all wants to be a chef. I mean, there are two type of kitchens, the kitchens that you. That we made for just to show and the kitchens that are functional for the people like me that it wants to be wants to look like like a chef.

So, uh, all those kitchens, the most inspiring that we have now is making sure that we have. All those little gadgets for the customers, all you, what do you like, do you want to do this? And then having a spice pull out nearby, having, you know, all those little details that it makes the guy that he actually doing the cooking or the lady that is doing the cooking, like, Oh my gosh, she’s a profession.

So, but that’s, that’s what is going really right now. I’m saying, you know, when you just sort of spice pull out, when you just throw it out, you know, those corner blank from, uh, you know, uh, magic pull outs. That is crazy. But the pocket doors. It’s changing the cabinet business.

Dennis Oz:

That’s really interesting because, uh, you know, I, uh, I used to be a kitchen designer back in the days, but you know, as right now as a marketer and then also like a podcast, it’s really hard for me to follow these trends.

And thank you so much for sharing this. That’s, uh, that’s inside is a really profound insight. I believe it’s, thank you so much for this and thank you so much for sharing that expertise. I would like to take the conversation to the strategies and you know, business growth strategies right now. Um, I just wanted to share an example if possible of showing an unexpected, you’ll learn from a project and, uh, that influenced your approach going forward.

But something interesting from your experiences.

Oscar Arboleda: 

So when we start when we officially open the doors, uh, and we were more mouth to mouth referral business and, and, and somebody called me that I used to work with, and I have a friend Oscar that I have a huge issue. Can you pass by and see if you can help her?

You know, like, I have no idea. I thought that it was maybe. I don’t know, a wall or something that I wasn’t stuck in the middle of whatever I get there. So then it’s the lady hire a contractor to do the kitchen and the full renovation of the kitchen. When I get in there, I have no idea. I mean, First thing, beautiful house upside, amazing house.

You’re walking in and the lady looks like that. She was camping inside of her house. And I’m walking in and say, what are you cooking? And what’s going on over here? This is a Oscar. I, I, I trust a guy that I, that I

without a kitchen for a year. It’s like, yeah. So, so what happened in that moment? So honestly, then is, so it changed the perspective of the entire business because It is not that we are against working with contractors. It’s just, we are not working with every single contractor in order for us to get involved on a, on a, on a, on a project that he has a contractor in the middle.

Uh, I, we find out 1st, uh, previous projects, uh, reviews and all that type of stuff because. You know, everybody’s pulling their own side and, and, and at the end of the day, nobody will difference, uh, or no Oscar from forest kitchen did this or no, no, no, no, everybody just all these people. This is what they did.

So, so, no, then it’s for me that data and say, you know, you know what we need to put attention to the, to the people that we’re dealing with, because at the end of the day, even that they don’t work for us or that we don’t, you know, everybody will just say. Forest kitchen or this and that. So then his contractors are something that I encourage everybody to make sure that they know with who they are doing business,

Dennis Oz:

that’s a great takeaway.

so much for pointing it out. And, uh, it’s really interesting to hear this kind of stories here. That’s really, uh, kind of creating some fun moments for our broadcast as well, but still would like to exactly, still would like to talk about a little more about like the services and you are. Uh, on the profitability or revenue generating side, which services bring you the most profit to your table?

What do you think?

Oscar Arboleda: 

So everything on our side changed from that, that, you know, from that, you know, conversation that we were just having it is because everything changed because I was able to bring somebody really talented into the team to deal with social media. And that person came and that person say, you know what, uh, we need to show people who we are.

And we need to let people know and open our door. So what, what changed, uh, Dennis, we opened the social media. So if you go to our social media spaces, if you go to our website, you will see as many pictures and as many things about projects as you can see about the shop. And you want to come and see the shop and you want to come and see when we are cutting and where we are doing your kitchen just coming over Alice.

Sorry, Dennis. They, they are crazy about that. Then is they, they, they, I have customers that it comes and they want to see it and they want to look at it and we For, we know we take the proper safety measurements to make sure that everybody’s safe and they walking in and they look at it, everything working and they, and, and, and the feeling that they have when they are actually touching the material.

And this is gonna be your kitchen. And,

Dennis Oz:

uh, uh, uh, it

just said a little bit of connection. So just go ahead, please. We’re going to edit it on the post production. Don’t go ahead. Uh, you were just saying, uh, just, you can start re answering the question. We’re going to cut it. So let me ask you the question one more time and you can, we can restart. Don’t worry.

There’s that happens, you know, uh, we just said another hiccup in the previous question, but I think one of our connections is just shaking. That’s pretty normal. So, uh, you know, let me ask you this way again. So I’m going to ask you the question one more time. Um, Oscar, which services bring you the most profit to your table right now?

Oscar Arboleda:

No. So then it’s the service that it brings them more to the table right now for us is everything is when we were doing this project that we were talking about when we decided to go online. And, and have everything online. So I was able to, I, I, let me put it the other way. I was really lucky to have somebody with me that it is, that is an expert on social media and, and she decided to jump, uh, with us.

Uh, my, uh, my, my wife and she decided to, because she has her own business online, so she decided to jump into this business with us on the taking care of the online. And the first thing that she say, no. We’re not going to be a kitchen business. You know, we’re going to open the doors for everybody. Anybody that wants to come to the shop, they were going to be able to go to the shop.

I want we want to let everybody know when we’re doing installations. We’re going to let everybody know when we’re cutting their own material. So every single time that we are doing on a project. And we let everybody know, okay, we’re doing this project and this is the material for that project. And this is that, that is, that is being crazy for us because the people feels really.

Confident when they are actually putting the amount of money that they are putting and they are able to go and if they want to walk in, they can walk in. If they want to go and see it, Tasha, you’re welcome to do whatever you want to do. We are an open door company policy, and we put that online that Dennis.

It creates, I mean, it’s, it’s, it’s been a boom for, for our business is it’s been really well, that just that service of opening up for everybody to see

Dennis Oz:

very different and interesting approach. And, uh, I hadn’t thought of it that way. So it’s really interesting to hear. And thank you for that perspective.

Since we are talking about like the social media and also some of the marketing, I would say you just touch on that one. Just want to ask a little, go a little more deeper about like your marketing strategies. What type of marketing strategies you use? Believe it’s working and promoting your business in the best way or any tips for others in the industry to just to be more visible or like get more kind of qualified leads on their shops and get more food traffics.

What’s your golden nuggets for this?

Oscar Arboleda: 

And then it’s the most important thing you have to identify yourself. Oscar, sorry to

Dennis Oz:

cut you off again, just by us, the question, and we just cut off you, I’m just going to give us a moment of silence and you just start. Answering the question, we’re going to assume that I assume that I asked the question right now and you start answering that one.

Let’s go ahead. I just, you know, assume that I asked this question.

Oscar Arboleda:

Absolutely. Right now, my, my advice to anybody that has a kitchen renovation company, you have to understand the, to what type of market do you want to go? What is your target market? The problem that I believe in, I mean, it’s really respectful on the way that everybody approaches that.

Uh, in order to have a kitchen cabinet, then I can do it any deep, any type of cabinet and I can do whatever it comes to my say yes and no. I mean, if you want to be really profitable, you have to, you have to segment the market and just target on a specific market. You cannot. Just be so wide open because it comes double tip type and you don’t become an expert on something.

So my advice is, you know, target your market, find out exactly what are those niches that you want to explode and attack those. Put the advertisement, just go on social media. And, and, and, and tack those places, uh, we, we know exactly as we were talking before exactly what we want. And, and, and I know that I’m attacking the red clients and I know that I’m talking designers period.

So, uh, I’m going for it and I made sure that I. That I’m going online and I filter, you know, my, my, my, my, uh, advertisement and I just go after those customers. People has to learn how to segment in the market and see what they want to do. That’s that, that, that is, that’s what is working for us so far, Denny.

So, uh, I hope that the people understand that is, I know that it’s difficult as a business to, to keep the doors open, but. You have to, you have to understand that, Parmen.

Dennis Oz:

You see this, folks, I’m sure that you are learning from the people. That’s the main goal of this, uh, like all these conversations here for you guys.

Like business owners like Oscar made a lot of mistakes in the past, and you are just learning from these mistakes, you know, because the best thing that you can do for yourself is not to like repeat somebody else’s mistakes. And you can learn, and then you can just, Take that golden nuggets and apply to your business for a better one Of course, there will be your your you will create your own mistake You will be making some mistakes because you’ll be learning but at least not these mistakes So there’s also some of the things that we are talking here is really common Look at our the scars on our faces, right?

There are really common things that most of the business owner makes it right right in the get go So this is why it’s so important I believe the conversation we are having here is very important for you to just analyze and then And learn from it. So, um, since we have a great conversation about like the ideal customers and trends, and thank you so much, Oscar.

Thank you so much for this one. There are also a lot of different like business owners here. They are, they don’t have the team yet. They don’t have, uh, the, even like a physical location or, you know, they’re just starting and they would like to, uh, pursue a career and maybe. create their own business in our industry in the kitchen and bathroom modeling industry.

What advice would you give to a fellow that from that industry or a business owner who is trying to take their business to the next level?

Oscar Arboleda:

That is my only advice as somebody that it was undecided about what to do. On the kitchen business, everything is start going the right way and the way that I want when I decided to go to 120 percent committed to the kitchen business.

It is not an easy decision. It is not. It is not something that it will come easy. But if you have the skills, and if you have the right customer service, if you are honest, and the customers love what you do, and just just let the time put you on the right track, 120%

Otherwise, it’s not going to work. You have to sleep, wake up, always thinking about a kitchen, always thinking about a cabinet, always thinking about different ideas and and how they can just persuade that if you’re not committed, then it’s not going to work. It’s not going to work. So my, my, my advice is, man, just, just be consistent.

Just, just, just, just don’t stop. Don’t stop. Just keep pushing. And like you’re saying, yeah, we all make mistakes. We are just all we all lose money here and there. But, uh, As long as you don’t lose your purpose, man, just keep pushing that. There is a beautiful business. It’s a beautiful business and, and it’s room for everybody that it wants to do it a nice and a spectacular job, man.

Dennis Oz:

Perfect. Well, Oscar, thank you so much for joining me today. That was a real fun conversation. And it’s a really. uh, valuable insights from you from a competent, you know, expert in the field. So spend so many years doing this business. And, uh, I would like to say, thank you. One more thing. If there’s any kind of follow up questions in the future that people like, maybe have, you know, could be someone from your town or really close to you, right?

Uh, you know, if they have any questions about like the things that you shared today, What would be the best way to get back to you? Is that your website? You know, I don’t recommend you to share your personal phone numbers since this is going to be distributed to 10, 000 people. So what’s

Oscar Arboleda:

the best way?

Know that anybody that wants

Dennis Oz:

to have a, and I

Oscar Arboleda:

would be more than happy to answer any questions that we have. Oscar, I

Dennis Oz:

lost you one more time. Can you start answering one more time? Sorry about that. We’re going to cut that off. No, no, sure. It’s just that I asked you the question and go. Okay.

Oscar Arboleda:

No, no, no. I think, you know, then is that anybody can send me any type of questions or whatever they want to ask me to info at forest kitchen that C.

1. And I would be more than happy to assist in anybody that he has a questions or it wants to have a comment. And we are happy and, you know. We are ready to, to help

Dennis Oz:

everybody folks. Thank you so much for joining us today. It was Oscar from forest kitchens way up from Canada. I hope you get your valuable time with us, Oscar.

Thank you so much for joining me today. And that was the, another episode of remodeler success podcast. We’re going to see you next time. Goodbye.

If you would like to generate more leads, please visit rtamarketing. com to get a copy of the book Remodel Your Digital Marketing, an integrated online marketing guide for kitchen and bath remodelers. This has been another episode of the Remodeler Success Podcast. Thanks for listening.