Embark on a captivating journey with Kevin Knight, the mastermind behind Knight Outdoor Products, as we explore the ins and outs of the Texas shed industry. Kevin's leap from a career in cryogenics to becoming a connoisseur of outdoor structures is nothing short of inspiring. He takes us behind the scenes of his shed dealership, revealing how strategic location and product diversity are key to weathering the fickle tides of inventory fluctuations. With his two bustling locations near the interstate, Kevin divulges how eye-catching cabins draw in customers and how proximity to a police station fortifies security. It's a tale of career transformation and savvy business acumen rolled into one.
The conversation takes a deeper turn as we dissect the significant influence of the Texas Triangle on the shed industry's opportunities. Rapid urban expansion raises the demand for innovative housing solutions, and Knight's Outdoor Products is at the forefront, offering large finished cabins and smaller shells that cater to those seeking affordable living spaces or investment properties. Kevin and I chat about how the booming population in cities like Austin and Waco is reshaping the retail landscape.
To wrap up our enlightening discussion, we ponder the profound interplay between faith and entrepreneurship. Kevin and I share how technology, like configurators and CRMs, enhances customer engagement without overwhelming them, and how staying abreast of marketing trends is crucial in an industry as dynamic as the shed business. The episode concludes with a heartfelt prayer, not just for prosperity in commerce, but for the enrichment of life and the communities we serve. Tune in for an episode that bridges the gap between hard work, innovation, and spiritual reflection, all through the lens of the Texas shed industry.
For more information or to know more about the Shed Geek Podcast visit us at our website.
Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, or YouTube at the handle @shedgeekpodcast.
To be a guest on the Shed Geek Podcast visit our website and fill out the "Contact Us" form.
To suggest show topics or ask questions you want answered email us at info@shedgeek.com.
This episodes Sponsors:
Studio Sponsor: Union Grove Lumber
EcoEthic Solar
Shed Pro
RTO Smart
Embark on a captivating journey with Kevin Knight, the mastermind behind Knight Outdoor Products, as we explore the ins and outs of the Texas shed industry. Kevin's leap from a career in cryogenics to becoming a connoisseur of outdoor structures is nothing short of inspiring. He takes us behind the scenes of his shed dealership, revealing how strategic location and product diversity are key to weathering the fickle tides of inventory fluctuations. With his two bustling locations near the interstate, Kevin divulges how eye-catching cabins draw in customers and how proximity to a police station fortifies security. It's a tale of career transformation and savvy business acumen rolled into one.
The conversation takes a deeper turn as we dissect the significant influence of the Texas Triangle on the shed industry's opportunities. Rapid urban expansion raises the demand for innovative housing solutions, and Knight's Outdoor Products is at the forefront, offering large finished cabins and smaller shells that cater to those seeking affordable living spaces or investment properties. Kevin and I chat about how the booming population in cities like Austin and Waco is reshaping the retail landscape.
To wrap up our enlightening discussion, we ponder the profound interplay between faith and entrepreneurship. Kevin and I share how technology, like configurators and CRMs, enhances customer engagement without overwhelming them, and how staying abreast of marketing trends is crucial in an industry as dynamic as the shed business. The episode concludes with a heartfelt prayer, not just for prosperity in commerce, but for the enrichment of life and the communities we serve. Tune in for an episode that bridges the gap between hard work, innovation, and spiritual reflection, all through the lens of the Texas shed industry.
For more information or to know more about the Shed Geek Podcast visit us at our website.
Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, or YouTube at the handle @shedgeekpodcast.
To be a guest on the Shed Geek Podcast visit our website and fill out the "Contact Us" form.
To suggest show topics or ask questions you want answered email us at info@shedgeek.com.
This episodes Sponsors:
Studio Sponsor: Union Grove Lumber
EcoEthic Solar
Shed Pro
RTO Smart
Okay, welcome back to another episode of the Shed Geek podcast. Still making our rounds here in Texas. My Lord, it's a big state, so there's just so many people to visit while I'm down here. We missed San Antonio on this trip. I really wanted to get down. We got to Austin and then cut over here on I-10 headed toward houston. I got a chance to sit down with someone today that I just want to introduce. Really, really cool getting to meet you so far. But I'll tell you what. If you just want to introduce yourself a little bit about who you are, what you do, products you sell that kind of thing to the industry Okay.
KEVIN KNIGHT:It's Kevin Knight. I'm with the owner of Knight Outdoor Products. We have two locations one in Seeley, Texas, one in Weimer, Texas. We've been at it since late 2017. We started out with we've been through a couple of different manufacturers, started out with General Shelters and Graceland CNH Carports, and through the years we've had to make a few changes. We still have General Shelters. We've gone through from Graceland, we went to Woodtec United and now we're with Stormwater.
KEVIN KNIGHT:We've been with them for a couple years now, very pleased with them, and basically started out with just a small lot there in Seeley, right off of I-10, and took some time to get it built up properly where we could get enough buildings in there. And then, of course, we had to go through construction on I-10. So when I first started out there, we had a two-way feeder road, real easy to get to us. Then they shut that down and we went through construction for almost two years and we survived that. We had people coming in saying, well, I missed your exit and had to go four miles out of the way to get to you and stuff like that. So we survived that and then ended up opening up the location here in Weimer a couple years ago a little little bit easier. Better site for us I mean, it was pretty much made for us when we moved here and uh able to get a lot of buildings in here you're right on itn yes traffic is obviously at a maximum.
SHED GEEK:I wonder, does that interstate traffic sort of generate to leads for you, or do you feel like it's? I don't know, I'm almost curious. Uh, because you got the frontage road here too right.
KEVIN KNIGHT:So, uh, obviously you get the, the people that come in, uh, and they say, well, I've been passing you for months and I've been wanting to stop in and look at this and that, um, it's, it's good, I know they're recognizing us, but it's funny, it's not like the biggest uh thing that brings them into us. I mean, it's, it's good to be noticed, um, but they're traveling 75 80 miles an hour and they say, oh, I missed my exit well, you do have the, the big billboard.
KEVIN KNIGHT:yeah, yeah, I have the billboard right here in front. It's on both sides. I think the biggest thing, though, is that 18 by 62 cabin out there that people see and they want to come look at, so that definitely attracts a lot of attention for us.
SHED GEEK:No doubt the first thing you see when you pull in an ice glass door with a Texas star on the front. I mean just the quality is really beautiful and you have quite a bit of property here.
KEVIN KNIGHT:Yeah, we're right at four acres it's all fenced in. The good thing is a majority of it is hard ground. Uh, the good thing is is a majority of it is hard ground. They use this as a lay down area for the big concrete barriers and stuff for a long time, and it's fully fenced. Uh, we do keep the gate open. I let people come and go all the time. We are right next door to the police station, so that helps.
KEVIN KNIGHT:So yeah, probably keeps uh people out of your building yeah, we don't have the vagrants like some people do so uh yeah and uh, I'm also fortunate with there in sealy we're not right next to the police station, but they do go through our lot quite a bit several times a night so?
SHED GEEK:so what did you do, kevin, before finding the shed industry? Surely, in 2017, you didn't just say, out of the blue, I want to start selling sheds. There's a story that got you there somehow, I'm assuming yeah absolutely so.
KEVIN KNIGHT:Um, my last job prior to starting this, I was actually a sales manager for tr Cryogenic, so we sold cryogenic trailers and tanks and my territory was the United States and Canada. So I did a lot of traveling Left on Monday and came back Friday and, of course, when I was younger that was fun, but when you've got a family it's not so much fun anymore. When I was younger that was fun, yeah, but when you got a family it's not so much fun anymore. And so at the very end I actually had something you don't normally get. My boss came to me a year ahead of time and told me that you got a one one year runway. You need to figure out what you're going to do, because we're selling this division, and so I had a lot of time to think on the plane trips and stuff.
KEVIN KNIGHT:And something brought me back to this industry, because I sat down with a gentleman in Livingston I'd bought a building from him and sit there and talk to him and kind of picked his brain about the business as much as I could, and he was willing to listen. So you know it kind of. I think that was a seed that started the whole process. And once I got to that point of deciding that. You know, at that time I was when I was about to lose my job, I mean I was turning 50. I said you don't go find another job at 50. So I figured out what was about to lose my job, I mean I was turning 50.
Speaker 3:I said you don't go find another job at 50 so I figured out what I wanted to do.
KEVIN KNIGHT:I sold the lake house, sold the boat, uh cashed in the 401k and I just started this business, you know, and uh been very blessed. Um, we, we made it through a lot of you. That first year obviously was pretty tough. Second year a little bit tougher. Then we had the construction on I-10. I couldn't ask for a better industry. I mean met a lot of good people, get to meet different clients every day. I mean it's really good have them coming back to us to get their second and third building.
SHED GEEK:It's really good yeah you can definitely build a lot of relationships inside the industry, but even with the amount of clientele that you see, I mean I always say that's an opportunity for ministry. You know, for me, ministry has always been close to my heart, so like having a chance to see people sometimes it's more than sales and things, so it's kind of nice Right. Did you say you sold tanks?
KEVIN KNIGHT:just to be clear, so a cryogenic vessel tank could be anywhere from 500 gallons up to 10,000 gallons of liquid cryogenic. So it's basically a big thermos bottle. It's got an inner vessel and outer vessel and insulation and vacuum pool. So there's like at hospitals you have oxygen tanks that they deliver it in liquid and obviously turn it to a gas. There's trailers going up and down this interstate that are 18 wheelers that have that same product and nitrogen, argon, oxygen. So yeah, I sold quite a few throughout the country and Canada and you know the trailers were a quarter million dollars a piece, so a little bit different. Yeah, you know selling anywhere from well.
SHED GEEK:When I heard tanks, I thought I thought armored tanks, and I was like I need to. I need to go back and revisit this, because I was about to say you just earned a spot as the coolest guy on the podcast if you sold tanks, yeah, no, as an armored vehicles.
SHED GEEK:Uh, so this would be like um, yeah, I worked for dippin dots for a small time uh dip and dots would have had, like they had brought in raw you know uh milk to, to turn the process in you know with uh co2, freeze it to freeze it. Yeah, so like you would have sold those tanks right. Yeah, those as far as, like those semi trailers going up and down the road, that's interesting, yeah, um. Yeah, it's funny how the it's such a small world sometimes in the yeah, yeah, I mean it's.
KEVIN KNIGHT:It literally was um. The first building I ever bought was from the dealer there in livingston to house my boat and because I got tired of carrying it back and forth and um, so really he. I can't even remember how long I sat there and picked his brain about it, and, um, it was obviously a couple years later whenever I started this, but I just picked up the phone and started calling the manufacturers, and that's how we got started that's good.
SHED GEEK:So what is your? What is your experience? Been over seven years now roughly. It's going on seven.
KEVIN KNIGHT:Yeah, we're in our sixth year now. It was late. I really don't count starting until January of 18. Gotcha, yeah, it took us a while to get the lot up and going. I think I may have sold one or two buildings that December, but it really didn't kick off until that January.
SHED GEEK:How's the difference been from that sales position you had before to selling a product?
KEVIN KNIGHT:Well, it's obviously you're meeting more people. I dealt with a certain amount of clientele. Each one of the uh, I dealt with a certain amount of clientele at each. You know each, each one of the companies I dealt with had somebody that was their purchaser or whatever, and it was more of going to meet with them, find out if they had any issues, maybe take them to dinner or something you know like that. But here you're, you're, you're here all day long and you're either answering an email, answering the phone or waiting for somebody to come on. The lot and obviously working on your marketing is a big part of it as well. So it's amazing how much my wife asks well, how do you do that? I say, well, we stay busy. I mean, there's always something to do, uh and um. If, if I get to the point where I'm not answering the phone or something like that, I'll just start doing more, more ads excuse me.
SHED GEEK:Yeah, I matter of fact, we stay so busy sometimes I say I don't know when my job's done. The problem is it's not like, uh, traditional work painting a shed, building a shed, roofing a shed, hauling a shed, whatever it looks like you don't really know when you're done sometimes, because there's always more to do.
SHED GEEK:There's always some, some area that you feel like is lacking, and the minute you improve one, it seems like the area over here now needs a little bit of attention um you have beautiful buildings here, a lot of uh different manufacturers, and you sort of saw that as a strength as an individual uh independent dealer to sort of be able to offer a multiplex, if you will, of of sheds but then also uh steel buildings you've seen, you know?
SHED GEEK:uh, I think you told me you said one of your first reps said you know, maybe you should get some steel buildings and sell some of those that might help pay for your rent or a utility bill or something right, and that's proven to be a very large part of your business exactly.
KEVIN KNIGHT:I thought it was funny whenever I, you know he told me, said, yeah, you, you might want to find a carport company to to represent you know, at least maybe pay for your electric bill or something, and um, turns out that it's the biggest thing we can do. You know, we sell a lot of metal buildings. It's a high, high part of our revenue and um, so, yeah, I just, I get a kick out of that every time I think of that it's done more than than my electric bill right yeah uh, and you offer a couple different yeah.
KEVIN KNIGHT:So manufacturers, you know, when I came in the industry, you know, everybody told me you know you got to find a manufacturer, stick with with them. I looked at it differently At one point in my career. Before selling cryogenic tanks and stuff, I also ran a trucking company. So there I found out that you do not want to keep all your eggs in one basket. They were trying to say, well, we want all your drivers here. Well then you lose that contract. Then you've got to find another place for them to go.
KEVIN KNIGHT:So with this I used that same mentality and I decided I wanted to get multiple manufacturers to represent and I think it helped us quite a bit during the time when everybody was having trouble getting inventory, you know.
KEVIN KNIGHT:I didn't have to rely on just one manufacturer. Quite a bit during the time when everybody was having trouble getting inventory, you know I didn't have to rely on just one manufacturer. I had multiple manufacturers that I dealt with. I do the same thing. I think many people in this industry now probably do the same thing. With the metal buildings they use more than one manufacturer because, you know, sometimes there's certain areas that one company can do and the other one can't.
SHED GEEK:it's it's really just makes sense. Yeah, just makes sense. Um, you mentioned a large building here by general shelter. Uh, that's out front. Is that the biggest? You guys go? 18 by 62. That's a pretty big building.
KEVIN KNIGHT:That's something they don't see on the the east coast yeah, the biggest they go is 18 by 66 okay yeah, so that was just slightly smaller than that one's 1862, 1116 square feet, two bedroom, two bath, fully finished cabin ready to go. Plug and go. Um, we sell you know, a few of those.
KEVIN KNIGHT:It's not one of your uh, hottest sellers, but it does draw attention and get people in here. What I find happens a lot and that's why you'll see a lot of our cabin shells out here is people like to do it their self, so they that they go in there and that inspires them to what they can do with one of our shells. So we do sell. I don't have any of the bigger ones right now, but we use these 16x52, 16x60. We sell quite a few of those shells.
SHED GEEK:Yeah. Do you think that's just? I don't think that's just a Texas thing. I think it seems to be everywhere. What do you think lends that opportunity to us to sell those? Do you think folks are just looking to downsize? Why would someone be shopping for that size building?
KEVIN KNIGHT:So experience it two different ways. We have younger couples that are just starting out or whatever. Believe it or not, the rent to own helps them a lot to get into something like that. It at least gives them some type of place to start, yeah. But we also get the folks that are moving out of Houston no-transcript, you know to stay in while they're building their other house. This will turn into a guest house later, that type of thing.
KEVIN KNIGHT:So it runs the whole gamut. I mean, you're going to see, you know, different types of people. You have the RV park down the road. They bought several of them from us and they'll turn those into cabins and rent them out. There's good industry right now for that and that's why I feel we're very in a great spot being just outside of houston, there in sealy, because that's where everybody's coming. They're all heading west, um, and even further out here to weimer they're. They're getting to the point where they can't get the property because the property is so expensive in and around that area that they're moving out further now. So I think we're in a good spot.
SHED GEEK:Well, there's just. I read a post just recently. There's a dealer friend of mine in Anna Illinois, don Skelton. He posted something about Texas and I was like man, that's so interesting, we're in Texas. And it was talking about the, the, the texas triangle or whatever, between dallas, fort worth, down to san antonio and over to houston, but then all that's in between like austin. I mean austin's a very big city now, like people don't realize how much it's maybe grown in 20 years right waco, you know is is getting larger and uh, and then everything in between you know um and and uh.
SHED GEEK:There was an interesting fact. I guess fact I should. I should check that as a fact. It was a facebook post, right, um, but there was an interesting comment on there. It said 25 percent of all retail in the united states happens in that triangle. It's like I don't remember how many millions of people it was 11 million people or or whatever it was. Um, and when you think about you know chicago, new york, la, all the rest of the large places, but houston's like the fourth largest city population wise, and dfw is just huge spread out. And then you've got austin down to to san antonio, and you don't really know where one stops and one starts.
SHED GEEK:It seems like and there's just so much opportunity. It feels like down here in texas. It seems that you're out in the middle of nowhere here on i-10 and weimer, but man, there's.
KEVIN KNIGHT:There's such a population density high population density pool in your area yeah, like I said, I mean you're. We're basically on interstate 10, halfway, almost halfway between houston and san antonio and uh, those people go back and forth all the time. I remember as a kid growing up I kept thinking it's going to be funny. One day San Antonio and Houston are going to merge and it seems like that's coming to fruition. They brought the interstate out. They're bringing it all the way to Columbus four lanes both ways.
KEVIN KNIGHT:I mean it's ridiculous how big these interstates are now and everything's moving. San Antonio's coming this way, houston's going that way. But everybody wants to be out here. They want to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city and they want to move out to the country and make their lives more simple. And they are downsizing and that's, like I said, not just normal shed anymore.
SHED GEEK:Well, and with the population growth that you're also seeing from other states coming into Texas, that means the housing market's behind and that means there's opportunity for shed guys yeah, to sell a shed to a new family absolutely.
KEVIN KNIGHT:You know, and, um, I hear it every day. It's like you know whether it's a shell cabin or one of these carport garages. They need something to store their stuff in while they're getting everything else ready. You know, so it it makes perfect sense.
SHED GEEK:I mean so. So what's your approach, kevin? Um, somebody comes onto the lot. Uh, let's say there's a guy listening in washington state, or uh, pennsylvania today, or down in florida, what? What's your approach? These are guys you don't compete with. What advice do you give? What is sort of? The customer comes on and they want to start looking around? Or you came out the door right away when we pulled up. So I feel like you go and meet and greet your potential customers right off the bat.
KEVIN KNIGHT:You probably found it strange an RV was pulling in to buy a shed but you never know, I actually thought I was going to be selling an rv structure today. I had forgotten all about our meeting.
SHED GEEK:So I love honesty at its core. Yeah,
SHED GEEK:so I I guess the biggest thing that I've seen in this industry which bothers me, um, and I think it bothers our customers is there's places like this that are show to be open but there's nobody ever there.
KEVIN KNIGHT:And, um, you know, I don't know how many times I get a phone call from people and they're like are you open today, or you know something like that, cause they, um, they're so used to go into a place like this that nobody's there to man it for. Yeah, and what I try to do each and every time, as soon as somebody pulls up on the lot, I mean I don't go open the door for them, but I'll at least stand outside the door and let them know I'm here. And, uh, there's people that want you to help. There's people that just want to look around and you know, I I try to read them and figure out what works best, because you can't just automatically assume that they just want to look yeah, they need somebody there with them to explain the building how it's built.
KEVIN KNIGHT:You know the, the warranties, everything and uh, so you can feel yeah, whenever, whenever you're upsetting somebody or you're pushing a little too hard or trying.
SHED GEEK:Yeah, oh, overselling, almost exactly, probably anxious. I think you think that. I think this I don't know if you do or not but when you're a new salesperson like, um, if you believe in your product and you believe in yourself, you just want to show that. I think that's whenever it happens. The most is because sometimes people do just want to look and maybe they're two months out, three months out from making a decision. But if you push really hard and you're trying to capture that sale today, that maybe you can push them almost away.
KEVIN KNIGHT:That's true. Yeah, absolutely, I've got a young man a salesman in Sealy.
KEVIN KNIGHT:That's what I love about him is he's really good with people and he doesn't push people. I've known him, I've watched him and in some cases I'm like you know, want to say, hey, you want to at least ask for the sale? Yeah, you know, it's like sometimes I think he's just he's getting better at it. Sure, he's been with me a little over a year and it's that's the biggest thing I tell him. I said you can't just sit in your office and wait for them to knock on the door when they pull. I've got gate alarms everywhere. I said you know when somebody pulls up on the lot, yeah, and at least go out, recognize that they're here and offer them some assistance.
KEVIN KNIGHT:And he knows, if they say no or not interested, we just want to look around, he'll back off. But, if they want help, he'll stay with them. And there's times that I'll have customers leave there and come down here and they say, oh, tell me how that our salesperson was. You know he's knowledgeable, he was friendly, you know.
SHED GEEK:Yeah, I love to hear that yeah, well, when you're, when you're either young in general, but even young in sales, it's you believe in the product. You, you know uh. So sales can become a very emotional uh process for you, because you wonder what I do wrong to let that one get away. I feel like I showed value. I had my script down good, I asked all the right questions, I listened to what they had to say. You know, tried to just offer value whenever they asked for had questions that they would ask.
SHED GEEK:I can't help but think if I was here the first place, I would almost want to start. You know most, but most places, like car dealerships, and that they will. They will start at a base model and upsell, if possible a lot of times. Yeah, man, with that 18 by 62 sitting here, I can't help but think that you know you could just walk someone right in there and uh, whether it's for storage or whether they're, you know, wanting to turn this thing into a home, and I haven't looked in it yet, so I was just admiring the outside of it. But you know, I don't know if it's modular certified, we haven't talked about all these different things or whatever, but surely people just see those and they see the possibility.
KEVIN KNIGHT:Yeah, that's exactly right and they'll walk through that and it may be a little bit out of their price range, but then they start getting ideas of what they can do for themselves. That's what's great about that, and it definitely helps. You know, we've had several different models come through here and that's one of the most intriguing ones we've had. It's just that that design with those windows and that monoslope and everything really draws attention to people we'll have to put some pictures of it on uh for those who watch on youtube.
SHED GEEK:If you're not watching on youtube, just go check out the shed geek uh podcast youtube channel. Subscribe while you're there. If you're going to take a look at a couple of videos, might as well help me out, if you don't mind, and subscribe. But we'll try to throw some pictures and maybe take a little video or something, I don't know we'll. We'll include it in the in the episode here for those who want to go see it, but it's tall as well.
KEVIN KNIGHT:Yeah, it is. You said your RV is like 12'6". It's still towers over there.
SHED GEEK:It's a big building. It really is a big building. Yeah, the RV looks small compared to it.
KEVIN KNIGHT:So one other thing I like to tell people about, and I tell my new sales people when they come on board um, don't ever answer a question that you don't know.
KEVIN KNIGHT:The answer to oh, you know, don't try to make it up, you know, just say I'm sorry, I don't. I don't know the answer to that, but I'll find out for you. Yeah, and so that's one of the biggest downfalls I see with salespeople is they try to just, they think they can fake their way through it. Well, the customer's going to pick up on that immediately. Yeah, and so that's one of the big things I try to tell folks as well. Especially when you're first starting out, there's a lot to learn. You think a shed is simple, but there's a lot of detail to it and you need to know that detail. And it helps when you can feel comfortable about what you're telling them.
SHED GEEK:I would say, even more so on the carport side, the metal structures. There's a ton of learning curve there.
KEVIN KNIGHT:Yeah, you can make some mistakes real quick and they get costly if you don't catch it. So, yeah, it's an industry. When I first started out I mean, I was actually working on one here earlier we didn't have configurators. Yeah, we worked out of a book and you had to, line for line. I had to add each thing up. I was working on an adder for a customer that I sold back in 2018 and I pulled the order up and I said, oh my god, this is one of those, and we actually had to hand sketch the drawing for the, the building and uh, but yeah, back then you could miss something real easy and that's really.
SHED GEEK:It's really impressive to when you, to hear you talk about that, because that's in five or six years, what kind of change we've seen exactly. Um, like, yeah, I definitely like. I would always say my crm was my, my notepad, you know, my configurator was my little piece of paper that I'd draw out a square on. At one point I think we had printed something that we found online of just a little square box kind of mimicked what we were going for, right, uh, and, and a lot of people still do that. There's nothing wrong with that. Just to be clear.
SHED GEEK:I'm not criticizing that no, it's really just uh, I think I do think that those who are embracing some of the different technologies and things can see value and probably can can see probably a more efficient way of doing things. Oh, absolutely it's.
KEVIN KNIGHT:It just makes, uh, the whole sales process so much easier when you can sit down and pull up that 3d model and sit, sit here and start talking to the customer and say, well, no, I want this over there. You know, this door on this side, the window here, and you know, and, and they're getting a mental picture of this building and they're taking ownership.
SHED GEEK:That way used to used to just hand about a sheet of paper and say, here you go, looks something like this, something like this what do you, what advice do you give to those who are, who struggle though, through technology, whether it's not just embracing it from a cultural perspective, but even just a uh didn't grow up. You know we we talked about my son's with me. He's 19, you know, he grew up with a, with a phone in his hand or technology readily available. Uh, that we didn't have, maybe when we were growing up as much. We had some, maybe more than our parents, but less than our own kids, right? So we're in that strange time of like. What advice do you give to, to those who are like?
KEVIN KNIGHT:well, I don't really understand it well enough and in some cases I don't even know questions to ask about it yeah, well, I mean, I know there's still things, uh out there that I don't feel comfortable with and I try to learn them. Uh, I do know that if I didn't take the time to learn that configurator, I've been left a long time ago. Yeah it, it may be difficult, it may be uncomfortable, but I think you'll find it makes your life a lot easier once you figure it out. I was telling you earlier I mean used to, we were able to, you know, create our own websites and do our own keywords. Now you need people that that's what they do on a daily basis to help you, because you can't keep up with technology right now. It's just you need to, you need to learn it, but you can't keep up with what's going on behind the scenes.
SHED GEEK:Move so fast. A new phone is owed really quick because of the speed that technology does work at, and that is a difficult thing because you can spin, spin, spin if you're not careful.
SHED GEEK:So yeah, I agree with you. You talked about creating a GoDaddy site early on and kind of punching in your own keywords and just different things like that. That was with the trucking company too, right?
KEVIN KNIGHT:No, that was the golf tour.
SHED GEEK:That's it.
KEVIN KNIGHT:I ran an amateur golf tour on the side. That was my side job, man like Dylan, my marketing partner.
SHED GEEK:He's hooked up with a guy he's doing like a golf simulator oh yeah yeah, like that's how much things have changed, just like that's sort of a a job for him that he's doing on the side too, that that, yeah, I mean his regular marketing company that he works with uh, pretty, pretty crazy, like what you're seeing from the training modules, uh, for just trying to get people's get the, get the uh slice out of their yeah swing and things like that.
KEVIN KNIGHT:So a lot more technology in that than there used to be as well.
SHED GEEK:Well, boating I think he's involved with some different guys and then power sports. I mean just seeing the different things that you're able to do with that. You know, with sheds, you know we we talk about like staging things, uh, digitally, so being able to show the space, so like if you've got a four wheeler or a lawnmower or what you're putting in there. It's like trying to understand the space, uh, cause how many times has somebody come back and said I need a bigger shed? Uh, because how many times has somebody come back and said I need a bigger shed? You know it's? I always say I didn't, I didn't figure for that, because you know they're probably budget conscious and that's done. That's understandable, uh, but better sometimes to go ahead and buy what you need yeah, yeah, yeah.
KEVIN KNIGHT:It's like uh, you always get these people coming here. I just need an eight by eight. I said, no, you don't yeah it's not gonna work.
Speaker 3:It's not gonna work, yeah it's not gonna work.
SHED GEEK:Let's take you and show you. And I felt like I think I think that's the the journey of a sales guy. The job of a sales guy is to do that. Uh, I think about purchasing cars and I can think back about the professional sales people that I bet in my lifetime, who I had my eyes on this and they were, they were already seeing I was young and I needed something more practical. They would downsell and then I would go back to them and eventually buy, and we bought from a couple different companies several times. Because of that, because of the trust that we saw that they put into us, that it took us a little bit of time to mature into realizing that it's just what you do. You know an eight by eight for what you're discussing doesn't make sense. You're going to need at least this size, or let's go take a look at it and right you know, with technology you can stage those things nowadays and it just makes things simpler.
SHED GEEK:And I don't know, I don't know if that's the point that it gets the sale done, kevin, but it certainly doesn't hurt.
KEVIN KNIGHT:Right, well, I mean, there's so many times you know you have people come step on the lot, you know, and they walk around and we find a building, or we think we find a building, and then, unfortunately, they came in here thinking of something smaller, and then next thing you know, they're like well, I've got to go back and measure my yard and make sure it's going to fit. So we still were not pushing them at that point.
KEVIN KNIGHT:So yeah, I agree, make sure it's going to fit, make sure it gets to your gate, that type of thing. But sometimes that kind of comes back to bite you. But you have to let them know that maybe you do need a little bit more, based on what you're telling me. And even these configurators now they have where you can put in a car or you can put in a you know, it's amazing what you can do with this.
SHED GEEK:So I've had a few people reach out to me over the last couple years, and even seems like some more recently, that are just getting into the industry. Maybe they find the podcast or something like that and and they say, hey, we've listened to quite a few of them, we just want to. We're trying to take it all in. We're trying to learn what's the best advice you could offer. Kevin knight, um, six years into this now, what's the best advice? What's a what's a top one, two or three things that you would suggest to somebody getting into the shed industry as a shed dealer or even carport dealer well, the main thing is is to you know, like you said earlier, you have to believe in your product.
KEVIN KNIGHT:Make sure you find a product that you feel comfortable representing. You know you don't want to have to. That should not be the thing that you focus on and worry about. You should be proud when you walk in there and you tell somebody about your product. Research, you know. Find out how many of them are out there. Find out where your nearest competition is. That would help as well.
KEVIN KNIGHT:I knew going in that I was right down the street from a competitor, but I also knew that. You know that there's room for me. It's just like I've told people before. I said it's just like car dealerships. They all hang out together. You know they're they're competitors, but they're close by and I think it helped both of us with me being there and uh, because it draws people and say, hey, we could go out to sealy and we could see two different.
KEVIN KNIGHT:Yeah, you know dealerships and what I would tell somebody new getting in the industry is I honestly myself I don't mind talking to people, even if they were saying they're going to open up a dealership 30 miles from me. I'd still talk to them. Yeah, and I'd I'd let them know what I know. I've talked to people before, just like I told you how I got into industry. I talked to the gentleman for hours and just picked his brain and I think that's what you need to do. You could save yourself a lot of heartache, a lot of mistakes if you just listen to what somebody else is doing, just like what you're providing with your podcast. You're allowing people to you know, hear other people's ideas.
SHED GEEK:Yeah, and it, it, uh, it kind of takes down the gates of like, oh no, I may let something out of the bag that some? I mean there's not a whole lot of what we do. That's secrecy, right. I don't think, um, there's some level of why is this guy selling a million and this guy selling 50 million dollars to sheds? What changed, what's different? And and you have to talk about different business, uh practices, scalability, uh different, um, just different ways that you do business. But, generally speaking, as a shed dealer, shed manufacturer, shed holder, what sets you apart, more times than not, I think, is the customer service that you provide. That's the one thing that's within your control, whereas everything else is outside of your control. You can't stop a competitor from making sheds, building sheds, even making a similar product, marketing well, spending, spending more money on it, whatever it looks like, but you can control your customer service. That's 100% within your ability.
KEVIN KNIGHT:I agree with that, definitely. And you know, easiest thing that I could tell anybody, and this is my motto just treat people the way you want to be treated it makes life easy.
KEVIN KNIGHT:Yeah, and I find it, even with our best manufacturers. They have hiccups, you know, and you know something may happen with the building and you need to get it fixed and they're not getting the right answer from the manufacturer. So I tell folks that's why you have me. Yeah, I'm the person that's going to take care of you and be your liaison for between the manufacturer and you. That's right, and just take care of your customers and they'll they'll be repeats, they'll send people to you and you couldn't ask for a better. You know customer coming through the door, somebody that was referred to you yeah where do you think it's going?
SHED GEEK:where do you think the shed industry is headed over the next five years? And we talk about the change that we've seen over the last five. What do you think we'll see over the next five? Design differences, color differences, different. Well, it's.
KEVIN KNIGHT:It's funny you say that. I mean, you know, one of my manufacturers just came out with a new design building. I think it's going to do really well. It's something that we've all asked for and I do see some of those changes coming. We definitely look forward to seeing some of the changes. I mean, as far as I think everybody's on the right track, every one of them are. You know, they have these great CRMs and they have these great configurators. They have these great CRMs and they have these great configurators, and the biggest thing you have to do with that is utilize it and follow up with your customers. You can lose people real quick.
KEVIN KNIGHT:I'm not saying hound people, but you do need to follow up with them and remind them hey, the sale may be ending and give you this opportunity.
SHED GEEK:Yeah, well, I just wanted to say I think what you're doing is awesome. Definitely love what you've got going here. I feel like I love the four acres of buildings. We're going to go take a look around and get a few pictures of some of the sheds you got out here. Did you have any questions that you wanted to ask um, shed related, podcast related, anything that comes to mind, just nothing right off the top of your head I?
KEVIN KNIGHT:can't think of anything.
SHED GEEK:I'm sorry I just love what you're doing. I think it's good, I think your buildings are beautiful, I think it's really fun to sit down with folks like yourself, who've been in the industry for a few years now and you're starting to gain traction, and just love your sheds and your style and your whole everything that you're doing and you've got some of the coolest hats in the industry too.
KEVIN KNIGHT:That's right.
SHED GEEK:But I appreciate you sitting down with me today. It's always appreciative when we're out here and we get to be around people that become acquaintances and friends through the industry, so it means a lot. I'm a big fan of prayer. I love to pray over the industry. So, if you don't care, I'm going to pray and then we're going to let you go sell a shed. How about that? Sounds good, all right, lord, thank you for this day, the opportunity to be at sales and to be just visiting with those that are out shopping and ask that we can somehow show your love through all of that. I ask that you'd bless Kevin's business and all that he's doing, and all those in and around the shed industries. We continue to move forward to promote your kingdom and all that we do. I ask that you'd just bless each and every one of these listeners today that's listening to make their day special. We thank you in Jesus' name, amen. Amen.