From Apple to Sheds: How April and Gregg Built a Thriving Business

What if you could turn a simple shed into a thriving small business? Join us in this episode of the Shed Geek podcast as we chat with April and Gregg Gayan from Sheds AZ. They share their remarkable journey from stable careers at Apple and Boeing to becoming successful shed dealers across Arizona. Discover how their partnership with Five Star Sheds fueled their growth and led to exciting new ventures like the Glendale Supercenter and their innovative products, including greenhouses and portable decks.

April and Greg open up about the challenges and rewards of expanding their business to new locations. Learn how they’ve navigated unique obstacles and embraced opportunities, such as catering to customers looking to bypass certain county requirements with portable porches. This episode is brimming with valuable insights on the benefits of strong partnerships and the entrepreneurial spirit that has driven their success. If you're curious about the financial and practical advantages of sheds and metal buildings, this conversation is a goldmine.

We also explore the often-overlooked benefits of portable buildings, and the unexpected ways customers use them. From starting small businesses in backyard sheds to converting them into barbershops or Airbnb units, the possibilities are endless. Listen to real-life stories, like a woman who saved money by switching from a storage unit to a shed and understand why the shed industry offers unlimited income opportunities. Whether you’re in the shed business or considering a career shift, this episode provides compelling reasons to think big and embrace the potential of this versatile industry.

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Transcript

Shed Gal: 0:07

Welcome back to this week's episode of the Shed Geek podcast. This is Susan the Shed Gal, and today I have the honor of being out in Wickenburg, Arizona. It's an absolutely beautiful day. I am with April and Greg Gayan and I'm going to have you just jump in and introduce yourselves. Tell us a little bit about you or about your business name, your locations, and then we'll go from there.

April Gayan: 0:34

We have locations in Wickenburg, Morristown and Salome currently. We're excited to be part of the Supercenter. Coming to, what do they call that Glendale?

Shed Gal: 0:46

it is Glendale yeah, Glendale, Glendale, Arizona hopefully sooner rather than later.

April Gayan: 0:52

Yes, and we have been in the shed business about three and a half years now. Our builder is five star sheds out of Dewey.

Shed Gal: 1:03

Yes.

April Gayan: 1:05

And our company is Sheds AZ.

Shed Gal: 1:08

And a little plug there, I'm going to jump in. It's ShedsAZcom and it's Phillip that owns Five Star Sheds, correct, that is correct. And then you're the dealer and you have several lots. How long have you been a dealer for? Three and a half years. Great and Greg, you have a role within the company. What is your specific role?

Gregg Gayan: 1:31

So I'm the sales manager for Five Star Sheds, as well as I assist April with Sheds AZ.

Shed Gal: 1:38

Wonderful. How many lots do they currently have across the state?

Gregg Gayan: 1:42

Five Star Sheds, including April's lots, has nine lots currently.

Shed Gal: 1:46

Wonderful, wonderful. Well, we see your sheds everywhere, so that's a really good thing. Quick side story one of my lots in my previous life used to be right next door. That's how we met. We are full disclosure. We are opening up one of our Shed Gal Super Centers in Glendale, Arizona. It is literally the best place in the entire county Maricopa County. It is directly across the freeway from State Farm Stadium where the Arizona Cardinals.

Gregg Gayan: 2:18

They've changed it so many times. I just call it Cardinal Stadium. There you go, we'll call it Cardinal Stadium.

Shed Gal: 2:23

There you go, we'll call it Cardinal Stadium. And rather than bringing on sheds ourselves, I contacted April and asked her hey, why don't you bring your sheds there? And so that's how this partnership has come about there. But aside from that, we're going to talk about you today. But I'm super excited for that, and literally I never in a million years thought that I would say my new lot in Arizona depends on barley growing, but that's the truth. So here we are, waiting on barley to get done so we can get this lot up and going. It's going to be very exciting.

April Gayan: 2:54

Definitely.

Shed Gal: 2:55

And so we'll have the sheds represented. We'll have steel buildings. I understand that you are now offering greenhouses. Rumors have it.

April Gayan: 3:07

That is correct. Rumor has it. Wonderful, we do have that now and they're beautiful. It's really nice. Yes.

Shed Gal: 3:13

I haven't seen one in person, only in a picture, and I'm super excited. It looked absolutely beautiful.

Gregg Gayan: 3:19

Well, April has not seen one in person yet either. Oh that is true, I just sent her pictures and she sold the, the first prototype one off the build shop okay, the lady was very excited, oh I bet she couldn't find anything in arizona and she was going to go to texas and load them up for her and her friends, so hopefully we'll be selling more to her and her gardening pals. I love.

Shed Gal: 3:41

I have absolutely no doubt that you're going to kill it in the market of greenhouses in Arizona and for many of you you might not realize. Many people think of Arizona as just one big desert. Most of Arizona is above 4,500 feet in elevation. That's true, beautiful ponderosa pines. You're going to sell a lot of greenhouses throughout the whole state the first one was sold up in williams, arizona.

Gregg Gayan: 4:08

Oh, wonderful.

Shed Gal: 4:10

That's also where I used to have one of my lots boy.

Shed Gal: 4:12

That's a beautiful, beautiful area yep one of the last times I was actually up in williams it wasn't this last winter, but the winter before last I went up to work for a few days, checked into my hotel, got up in the morning and there was so much snow I couldn't get out of the parking lot and the 40 was closed, so I was literally stuck up there. But boy, what a beautiful place to be. So you just sold that greenhouse before you even got it on your lot.

April Gayan: 4:39

That's correct.

Shed Gal: 4:40

That's awesome, that's so cool. Yeah, that's awesome, that's so cool. Yeah, Philip, if you're listening which I expect you are get those builders More greenhouses, my friend, more greenhouses, that's wonderful.

April Gayan: 4:52

Definitely.

Shed Gal: 4:53

So you and I had talked about something else that you're offering. I haven't seen one on your lot yet, but that may be because it's still in development, but portable decks, Correct. So when I've asked people what's a portable deck, they have no idea what that is. Can you tell us a little bit about some of your? Some of our listeners might not know what is a portable deck.

Gregg Gayan: 5:15

So our portable porches are basically built the same way as our sheds, so they're built on the 4x6. Pressure-treated runners Very nice and then also pressure-treated lumber for the floor, so they're easily transported by our same shed hauler and some people like to use those to get around some of the county requirements of having more than 10 by 20 square feet. Oh, yes, a lot of 200 square foot is the maximum for buildings without having to have a permit for the building.

Gregg Gayan: 5:58

So some people have the building and then have the portable porch next to it, or just any. Even if you don't have a portable building or a portable shed, you could have that anywhere in your yard yeah, I've seen a lot of them on manufactured homes, um, in different places of the country.

Shed Gal: 6:17

I it's. We've talked about that, like how do we market a portable deck or a portable porch? It sounds like it's a porch you just pick up and move it's. It's similar to a portable shed which, yes, it is movable, but it's built, delivered intact and it's pretty much meant to stay where it's going, so it doesn't go on a trailer to be moved. One of the other advantages of the portable porches is, from what I've heard, is the cost, the cost savings to the consumer, that, rather than hiring a contractor and going through the whole process, that they're saving what? Maybe 20%, maybe even more.

Gregg Gayan: 6:56

Yes, absolutely.

April Gayan: 6:58

That's huge it can be for sure.

Shed Gal: 7:00

Yeah, and I guess that comes down to you. Know, how do we as dealers, and other dealers out there, how do you market something like that effectively? I mean, I'm not asking for the answer unless you know it, but it's like you know, we're still working on the answer.

Gregg Gayan: 7:14

Okay, good, good, but once we get them on, the lots and people see them and then you know able to say oh, you know, that is a great idea, yes, so yeah, trying to get that marketing out has been a challenge, but it's also a new product, so we're working on that.

Shed Gal: 7:29

Absolutely.

Gregg Gayan: 7:29

Because, like you said, people just don't understand when you say oh, we have a portable deck or a portable porch Like what? No, my deck is built.

Shed Gal: 7:38

Yes, Right, I don't want my deck to move.

Speaker 1: 7:41

I want it in front of my home or my shed.

Shed Gal: 7:45

Yeah, wonderful. So let's go back to the beginning. You said you've been dealers for about three and a half years, correct. Tell me a little bit about what each of you did before you got into the shed and metal building industry.

April Gayan: 7:58

I've done lots of different things. I was actually working for a trucking company, an auto hauler in El Mirage. I did not know that I was looking for something different to do and I spent a lot of time praying about the right opportunity coming along and I saw an advertisement on Indeed from Phillip looking for someone to sell sheds and I've sold a lot of different things in my life, never sheds but I thought I could do that, so I applied and interviewed with him that afternoon.

Shed Gal: 8:42

Wow, wow. He was motivated, and so were you.

April Gayan: 8:46

Yes. And he said go home, talk to your husband. And so by the time I got home, I'd already pretty much made up my mind that that was what I was going to do, but I did talk to Greg about it and we decided.

Gregg Gayan: 8:59

She already made the decision before she talked to me. So basically, it was like hey, honey.

Shed Gal: 9:04

I'm home and I'm gonna be selling sheds yes, okay, that's how it worked.

Gregg Gayan: 9:08

Yeah, I understand that completely, how that works I decided that, that I'm not working at the, at the car hauling place anymore. I am gonna be selling sheds. I said oh, sounds good, I stand behind you so and and that is awesome.

Shed Gal: 9:22

But in your head wasn't there a little like we're going to be selling what, and how are we going to do this, or did you just like? Well, let's do it?

April Gayan: 9:29

We pretty much just said let's do it.

Shed Gal: 9:32

I love that. It's a different kind of process for different people. Mine and this isn't about me, but mine started. I had a horrible experience. I went in to order a shed. I said to the owner of the company you need a really good dealer down in my area. He said yes, we do. He said here's my card, call me. I left, went out to the car, text my husband and said I think we're going to become shed dealers. No-transcript.

Gregg Gayan: 10:09

I've been in sales pretty much all my life, but right before I made the switch to helping April because I was working for Apple on the self-driving car project, oh wow.

Shed Gal: 10:22

That's interesting.

Gregg Gayan: 10:23

She got busy. I designed her website and you know that helped increase sales. And then she said hey, I'm pretty busy and we want to, you know, build another lot and and all that and I need your help and I just I, I would rather work for a small company than a large company. I liked the opportunity that I worked for them but it was very impersonal Right.

Shed Gal: 10:49

You're a number, you're an employee, you get a paycheck and benefits and this is personal. You know Philip, he knows you, you know the people. That's really interesting. I did not know that background. That is quite a jump. How far into this were you before you jumped on board Greg?

Speaker 1: 11:05

full-time Four months, five months, yeah, four or five months.

Shed Gal: 11:09

All right, well, a little bit slow. My husband was on board 60 days in, but no Slacker yeah.

Speaker 1: 11:17

Well, I was double dipping for a while. Yeah, he did.

April Gayan: 11:20

He did, so he did a lot yeah dipping your toes in.

Shed Gal: 11:23

My husband actually worked at Boeing. He was a mechanic. You know it's a very secure job. It's good money, great benefits, and it was 60 days in and we were like you know what we need, both of us on board. I mean what a great place to be. And four or five months in, I mean that's fantastic. That tells me that you were doing what you needed to do to sell sheds and and stuff right off the bat. I think that's great. I want to ask you why? Why did you choose five star sheds? Is it because, I mean, you probably did a little research, or not? Maybe not, but what brought you to? I mean I know you saw the ad on Indeed, but it might have triggered. Well, let's do a little Googling or whatever. Why did you make the decision there?

Gregg Gayan: 12:11

No, it was simply right place, right time, right person, right match. I think is what it was. I love that she said that she was looking for a change. She prayed, she thought she found the right answer. You know that neither one of us knew much about sheds, right, you know, before we I mean neither one of us bought a shed before you know, I mean basically before we started selling sheds, that was, we both thought, oh, that's where you put your lawnmower.

Shed Gal: 12:45

And it is but so much more, so much more.

Gregg Gayan: 12:51

Yeah, I mean once we started selling chas.

Shed Gal: 12:54

You know so many people use it for home offices.

Gregg Gayan: 12:55

Oh my gosh. I mean, yeah, a million different uses. I mean still, three and a half years in once a week we're still finding somebody with a new idea, people using it for all kinds of different businesses and like, oh, I want to start it in my backyard and start it that way before they grow it into a bigger business, so it's definitely a great way for people to start something without a huge investment of oh okay, I've got to go buy this giant storefront somewhere and all that you build a shed and all that goes with that.

Shed Gal: 13:32

Yeah, so that leads me to. I mean, there's some dealers that I didn't look around. So that's interesting. I'm not sure if we're the norm or not the norm. I found that company and the opportunity presented itself and I took it. I was with them for 13 months. We sold 400 buildings in our first year. There was just some great company but some behind-the-scenes things. It was almost like our sales caused problems because it was a smaller company, and so we jumped ship then and switched and it worked out fine.

Shed Gal: 14:07

I think a lot of dealers do do a lot of research where they're looking at some of the smaller companies. I mean, you guys are a big company in Arizona but it's a regional company, but they're looking at maybe some of the bigger name companies too, and then they're making a decision because the fact of the matter is all the companies want great dealers, right? So it's almost like we get to pick and choose. But tell me why that was a good decision. Why was it a good decision to choose, you know, Five Star Sheds? Because you're here three and a half years later. So that tells me that this is a cohesive working relationship. Could you find a less expensive shed? Yeah, maybe today, not six months from now. You know it's cyclical.

Shed Gal: 16:39

Why is it that the grass is good on your side of the fence?

Gregg Gayan: 16:42

Well, I mean, we've been approached by all kinds of other different companies and said hey, would you? You don't want to sell our sheds and we just have a good relationship with Philip. I mean, there's a lot of good communication back and forth. You know, like we decided that you know, together that should start building greenhouses.

Shed Gal: 17:01

Yes.

Gregg Gayan: 17:02

You know. So you know, I think we have that input and it's listened to, as opposed to a large company kind of. Like I said before, I'd much rather work for a smaller company than a large company where, even if you're a dealer, okay, no, this is how everything works. You know. So I think you know there's a lot of communication back and forth and you know we listen. You know there's a lot of communication back back and forth and you know, we listen to what he's saying he's listening to what we're saying.

Gregg Gayan: 17:28

Is everything that he says the right answer? Everything I say there you know, but you know there, you know there's, there's, there are those open lines of communication and, yes, there have been growing pains. So you know what, while we're going, but I mean everything worked out Right and we're loyal- we feel like we're part of the team. Yeah exactly, we feel part of the team.

Shed Gal: 17:50

Oh, I think you just nailed it right there and you know, let me be clear, I'm not slamming any big company. I love every company out there myself and I think what you're saying is the larger the organization it tends to be, the less communication and the less you feel like you really have input.

April Gayan: 18:10

It's very impersonal.

Speaker 1: 18:11

Yes, yeah, when you're with the big yeah.

Shed Gal: 18:14

And I know, working for a big company myself, you know there's good and bad, like any other company.

Gregg Gayan: 18:20

Oh, absolutely.

Shed Gal: 18:21

Yeah, any other company. There's good and bad, like any other company. Oh, absolutely yeah, any other company. But I just don't want any big company out there to think that we're slamming them Absolutely not.

Gregg Gayan: 18:29

Oh, absolutely not. It's just not the right fit for our situation, and we just like how we're able to communicate and work together and, like she said, feel that we're part of the team.

April Gayan: 18:41

And we're able to do some customization and stuff that the bigger companies aren't doing.

Shed Gal: 18:48

That is an advantage, and we do definitely like that.

April Gayan: 18:51

We can build your building on site. We can build it on top of the mountain.

Shed Gal: 18:55

We've done it Well and I want to throw something out there with you, because I wasn't able to offer on-site builds and we still did great. So I mean because I wasn't able to offer on-site builds and we still did great. So I mean, you know, I'm not going to use the excuse, well, I, I didn't do good because I couldn't offer that, but I think it's wonderful that you can. But the thing that shocked me was the, the small additional charge that you guys charge for on-site builds. How, how much do you charge extra for an on-site build?

April Gayan: 19:22

we charge an extra five percent based on the location, okay. Um, if it happens to be a smaller building and say it's down in tucson, there is a 500 minimum. That makes sense right, yeah, that makes sense sending them down there with literally the entire shop so they can build a yes, an eight by eight building yeah, I um, when you told me the amount, I literally was shocked.

Shed Gal: 19:49

Um, because I've heard companies can charge 15, 20, 25. I heard one was even charged charging 30. And hey, it's working for them. They're selling on-site builds. That's fantastic, but five percent, it's it's. And then I I think last month you had a special. There was no additional charge. I'm like that's incredible, what a great way to um. You know, maricopa county is kind of a beast in and of itself. I think the only thing uh, I won't say worse, the only thing I more challenging that I found is cl County, up where Vegas is. But there's a lot of homeowners associations in Arizona, absolutely.

Shed Gal: 20:27

My house has the six-foot brick walls. I'm fortunate to have a RV gate, but most people don't. They need those on-site builds Right.

Gregg Gayan: 20:36

That's the reason why we try to stay very competitive in that area because, of the unique situation that a lot of people don't know across the country. Pretty much in most parts of Arizona, especially in the Phoenix area, they put up the big block walls before they even put in the houses.

Shed Gal: 20:54

Yes, they do. That was weird to me. That was so weird. You build the walls before you build the houses. But hey, here we are. Yeah, so that's huge and it gives you such a broader audience. So if you're a dealer out there and your company offers on-site builds and you're not selling them, reach out to me. I do have some helpful hints for you and you don't pay a dime for me to help you out and give you a little bit of advice, because that's big. That's huge. That's a whole nother market and we talked about that at the new upcoming, you know, glendale Arizona Supercenter. I would guess approximately three out of four people that came into my lot Now I'm not talking about the people that I attracted through social media advertising, but people that drove by and stopped I would guess three out of four were not able to have our product delivered and that on-site build thing is going to be absolutely huge.

April Gayan: 21:56

We're excited for that opportunity.

Shed Gal: 21:58

You also have, as I understand it, an HOA approved. We have, you know. If you're not in an HOA, these things don't mean anything, but we have height limits, and some are eight foot, some are eight and a half foot. I think you showed me last time a model that is underneath that in height.

April Gayan: 22:16

It is. It's under six feet on that back wall.

Shed Gal: 22:19

Okay, and so I think they designed that specifically for the situation in the area, right?

Gregg Gayan: 22:25

because there's a lot of places that can't have the uh, the building above one foot over the yes, block wall, and a lot of places have a six foot wall, yes, so you know that very makes it very limiting on what they can actually have because everybody has too much stuff and not enough space. Uh wait what are you sure why? Otherwise we wouldn't have a business. Have you ever?

Shed Gal: 22:48

heard someone say my wife said I need to get my stuff out of the garage. I think that was the biggest thing I used to hear as a dealer. My wife said I have to get the stuff out of the garage a week well, little miss kayla said to me yesterday you know, once you guys move to South Carolina I bet we can get a car in this garage. And I was like oof duh.

Shed Gal: 23:06

Yeah that's us too. We, you know we have a case of stuffitis, and and so do a lot of people, which is why people need sheds and and we have this great opportunity to service them.

April Gayan: 23:17

Absolutely. So what do?

Shed Gal: 23:18

you think what is your biggest challenge right now? What do you think and it's not to put you on the spot, but we want people listening to hear the story, because there's people going through the same things, the same challenges that may not have someone. What do you think the biggest challenge is right now? Where are we? May 2024?

Gregg Gayan: 23:40

I would say, basically just the economy. Everybody is scared to spend money because inflation, of everything, and people are like, oh okay, I got to choose between this or that. I think this is where a lot of people are at.

Shed Gal: 23:58

I agree with you, and I've heard in the past and because I didn't experience it before, I did mention earlier sales are cyclical. You know that prices come and go and that sort of thing. I did hear in the past when things got tough, that rent-to-own sales tend to increase. I'm not hearing that right now from dealers that I work with, and so I find it interesting. So in my head I'm always wondering well, is it possibly because we're not marketing the rent to own? Maybe we should be marketing it more now. Do you think that could be part of it, or do you think people are just, they're just going to, they're just going to wait if they can?

Gregg Gayan: 24:36

A lot of people have been just saying we're going to wait. You know, hopefully this situation gets a little better and then we'll decide. But I mean, everybody has a problem, Otherwise they wouldn't be looking for a shed. Yeah, the way I see it is that we're problem solvers, because I don't think anybody just goes out on a shed lot to say, oh you know what, I want to go? Look at the new shed models. It's not like you're buying a new corvette and that's true.

Shed Gal: 25:04

You want to see you want to see.

Gregg Gayan: 25:05

You see the pretty yeah, sometimes, oh, I want to see that pretty shed that you know I've driven by not the normal person, right? But I mean it's like but it's to solve a problem absolutely.

Shed Gal: 25:17

So that leads to I wonder if we we talked about that before we we came on here. You know, I think there's so many people that don't know portable buildings are a thing. It's the challenge of how do we get that out there, how do we be unique? But I'll tell you what storage units are full. Absolutely no, listen.

Gregg Gayan: 25:36

And the prices keep going up. We hear that so much from so many people, or that they've had a storage unit for 10 years. It's like you could have had your shed paid off and not be having any more payments anymore.

April Gayan: 25:51

Multiple times Exactly.

Gregg Gayan: 25:53

So we try to market that to the people that the rent-to-own and we have a good rent-to-own company that we work with Carefree Rentals. Oh, wonderful, you know it was a great company to work with and you know they have a good rent-to-own company that we work with, carefree Rentals oh wonderful.

Shed Gal: 26:05

It was a great company to work with and they have some good programs. What term did they offer? Oh, I love that.

Gregg Gayan: 26:08

So 90 days, same as cash, and then Carefree Rentals offers 24, 36, 48 months and 60 months if it's more than $6,000. Okay, so a little bit bigger building.

Shed Gal: 26:23

Yeah that. Going back to the storage units, um, they keep increasing, they're almost always full and yeah, if someone lives in an apartment, we're not going to put a shed right in their parking lot, but there's so many people that I I think it's just our challenge in this industry is getting the information out there that this is an option. When I went to that first shed lot, I didn't realize I knew they were on the lot I didn't realize they put it on a truck and trailer and brought it to my house. We definitely get that a lot.

Gregg Gayan: 26:55

Oh, these could be delivered. Yes, absolutely. Even though I've heard that question so many times, it still kind of shocks me that there's so big of a problem. Yeah, so many people that just don't know that that's how we do it, and you know, so I'll have to show them some videos. And then, you know, or when people get their shed delivered, you know, we'll get calls back and say, oh, that was such an awesome process. I mean it is and it's like oh, that was such an awesome process.

Speaker 1: 27:21

It is so cool.

Gregg Gayan: 27:21

I mean there's a lot of work and design that went into the shed trailers and the mules and all that to make it a lot easier, because I've definitely heard stories from back in the 70s, how difficult it was to actually haul a shed and do it.

Shed Gal: 27:39

I can't even imagine.

Gregg Gayan: 27:41

So I mean that part of the shed business has grown immensely because there's the need for that to make everything easier.

Shed Gal: 27:49

I think it goes back to the marketing and what do we do? How do we get the, not the name, out there? Necessarily, you guys do an absolutely fantastic. I see your marketing all over. I love it. I absolutely love it.

Gregg Gayan: 28:03

But it's, that's all great. We tried, but Shedgal I don't know, that's a hard one to beat there.

Shed Gal: 28:08

Well, guess what, since we're partnering up, it isn't twice as good together, it's tenfold good together, and that's why I picked up the phone and called you.

April Gayan: 28:20

We're glad you did. We're excited.

Shed Gal: 28:22

I'm very excited, um, it's good. I think the biggest challenge right now, aside from everything you said yes, the economy is a big one right now. Hang in there. Folks dig deeper, do things differently but I still think one of the largest things, especially out here in the west um, people do not realize portable buildings are available. They don't realize that they're quite economical. They don't know that they can get them on rent to own. They don't know that they could possibly go to their bank and get personal financing if they chose to. I just don't think they, I don't think most people even know we exist yet.

Gregg Gayan: 28:59

I agree with you yeah, I mean it's not like back back in pennsylvania, ohio, north carolina, all that back there where everybody know you go and buy a shed and yes, yeah, out here in the west it is emerging and you know a lot of people don't really understand that.

Gregg Gayan: 29:14

and then in this area we get well, I mean, you know, in washington, I mean I'm sure you know, a lot of people come down from here in california and it's just like you said people, oh, I get a storage unit, is where you put your stuff Right, and then you kind of got to get that word out. Or we even have people that, oh, I've driven by here for a year and today I'm finally coming to look and see exactly what this is about, because they don't even understand the process besides like, oh, like. And then we tell them and it's like oh, wow, this is so easy. And then some people think it's such a difficult process, like buying a car, and they're going to be in here for four hours filling out paperwork.

Shed Gal: 29:56

15 minutes yeah, 15 minutes and talking to the man behind the curtain about the actual price. We don't do that in this industry.

Gregg Gayan: 30:03

No, I mean all our prices are in the buildings, everything you know, very transparent and, like April said, I mean 15 minutes is a slow one, that's if we're talking to you and stopping while we're typing in the order.

Shed Gal: 30:17

Yes, and you know all dealers have a different process. I know, and we didn't talk about that more, but I caught on to it when we had lunch one day. You're like, you know it's very quick. It can be a very quick process and I think for me I probably drug it out more than I needed to, I probably developed more rapport than I needed to, and that's what I love about talking to dealers. Like I'm going to try it this way. There's a dealer back in, actually Jeremy Martin, Cabin Connections. He's back in Kentucky man, he went through his you know how he talks to a customer and stuff. I have never seen such a well-polished way to present it to a customer and get their signature and money. And that is a complete compliment, Jeremy. It is incredible. It was completely opposite of what I did and it always shows me there's way more way than one to get things done. Why do you choose to do it the way you do it?

Gregg Gayan: 31:19

Well, that's just the entering the order part of it. I mean, sometimes it takes two years to sell somebody a shed. Well, that's just the entering the order part of it. I mean, sometimes it takes two years to sell somebody a shed.

Shed Gal: 31:27

Well, that is very true, you know what I mean.

Gregg Gayan: 31:28

I mean there's a lot of you know it's a big decision for a lot of people. And then, like we said, not everybody even fully understands the product. So you know it's like, oh, is this really the right choice for me or not the right choice for me, you know. But then you know it's like, oh, is this really the right choice for me or not the right choice for me? But then once somebody buys one, then it's like real easy, the next one, because then they understand the product. Or okay, hey, my neighbor got one that really solved their problem. I need that.

Shed Gal: 31:55

So once people understand it, I love those neighbors. I love the neighbors seeing the deliveries.

Shed Gal: 31:59

They're awesome for sure, yeah,

Shed Gal: 33:31

What is your favorite thing? And you have a little bit different role and I know you still help out at the dealerships, but you have outside responsibilities too for five-star sheds. Greg, what's your favorite thing about the shed industry? Because I'm going to be real honest. Sheds aren't very exciting. They don't talk, they don't cook, they don't clean, they don't drive down the road. It's a shed.

Gregg Gayan: 33:58

But why do you love this industry? Well, I, I definitely agree. You know it shows trying to market something that is just a very static object is difficult sometimes to make it a little more lively, but once people really understand what you can do with them, I really like helping solve the problem that people have. And you know like I definitely like when people are, you know, wanting to start some kind of small business and okay, I need a workshop to do this. Or we sold something during COVID when people couldn't go get haircuts.

April Gayan: 34:26

Oh yes.

Gregg Gayan: 34:27

So the guy bought a shed for his sister so that she could start a little barbershop in the backyard. How cool is that.

Gregg Gayan: 34:35

Yeah, so she didn't have to have hair all over the house and it was all contained in the shed, or people in her house and people in her, exactly. So you know, I mean just kind of solving the problems and then helping somebody. You know a small business grow, you know. I mean I think you know we're a small business Trying to help other small businesses. I think you know we're a small business Trying to help other small businesses I think is a great thing. That's the thing that I like the most.

April Gayan: 35:01

One of my favorites is this little Airbnb right down the road in Morristown it's called B&B Bunkhouse.

Shed Gal: 35:10

Do you have an extra card?

April Gayan: 35:12

I can get more.

Shed Gal: 35:15

Okay, because I'd like to take this with me. I'd like to include this in the video.

April Gayan: 35:18

Part of the podcast so diane's an awesome lady. She's bought multiple sheds from us now, but that's the only one that's an airbnb and it's just adorable number one.

Shed Gal: 35:30

I love this business card. One side's got the shed outside of the shed. The other side has the inside and I hope we can get this on the podcast because and if you're listening you're missing out. Uh, if you're not seeing the the video on this, but it's really cool. So this is a repeat customer. She's using them for a specific purpose. There's some brand loyalty there absolutely but that brand is you right. I mean she's buying from you because she knows.

Shed Gal: 35:58

Right, I was looking at Greg. I meant to look at April, but she comes back to you. Why do you think that is?

April Gayan: 36:05

Because we solved her problem.

Shed Gal: 36:07

Yep and she likes you.

April Gayan: 36:09

When she comes. You know she came back with a new problem Some people have lots of problems.

April Gayan: 36:18

We've got to admit that this is what we got lots of solutions and then she came back again and she actually bought one of our new hybrid sheds that has the wood framing, the wood floor and everything still can be delivered, but it's all metal sided and those are very nice she just needed something quick and small to throw tables and chairs and things like that in, and she was in the budget and that building fit the budget, so she went ahead and ordered one up and that that's really cool.

Shed Gal: 36:50

I, I love, I love stories like that and I love the fact that you also offer the more economical line, that is, you know, the stick framed but with the metal sided it. I you know, I looked at the prices when I was out with you a month or two ago and I'm like thinking, for the square footage I would have been paying way more for a storage unit than that building.

Shed Gal: 37:14

And you said something a little bit ago. You said some people have had them 10 years, more for a storage unit than that building. And you said something a little bit ago you said some people have had them 10 years. I had someone um, one of the first sheds I sold, so almost seven years ago, and they I said, well, how long have you had your storage unit? 13 years. I said, well, I, I'm nosy. What, what have you got in it? Well, we have a couple of car seats and we have an old crib, and an old crib she's like you know what. We have stuff in it that we could, literally could, have thrown away years ago. Number one those car seats, you know, I mean, they're not, you know, safety way, but anyway, we ended up getting them into a building and I think it only ended up being half full, which was kind of funny, but it ended up being $5 less per month than their storage unit.

Shed Gal: 37:58

Now, of course, the cost of that storage unit had gone up over 13 years, but for some reason I find that customers have no problem paying for a storage unit that they'll never own, but they don't. Some of them don't want to do the rent-to-own, even though it's their only option, because I'm not going to try to talk someone into rent-to-own. That's comfortable purchasing it outright I mean, that's just me but they're uncomfortable paying the fees in a rent-to-own even though the monthly amount it often with one of your sheds is less. Why do you think that is? Because, if I can figure this out, it's going to help dealers across the country. Why do you think that is that it's acceptable to pay the same or more to rent something that when you walk away they say thanks for your business, get out, make sure you swap it out or they're going to own the building. Why? Why is there that?

Gregg Gayan: 38:58

I don't have an answer for that, darn it yeah, if anybody knows, please put it in the comments and let us let us know, because yeah, it's just that mindset.

Gregg Gayan: 39:06

Uh, like you said, you're just basically throwing money away forever, as opposed to having something that you know because there's not a price. You know they don't put a price like, oh, this storage unit is $8,000. But if you do rent to own, you're going to pay more, you know. And then people will do that oh well, I'm paying more. Why am I paying more? Well, I mean, nobody gives away free money.

Gregg Gayan: 39:31

Oh man, wouldn't that be great, Everybody wishes that you know somebody's going to loan them money for free, but you pay way more for your house. You pay way more for your car if you're financing it and people I don't know.

April Gayan: 39:44

Just don't understand that, when it comes to sheds.

Gregg Gayan: 39:46

What's that?

April Gayan: 39:47

A mental block.

Gregg Gayan: 39:49

Yeah, it's a mental block because it's like, oh well, it's just that per month, I don't know, just to get that across, because I mean they'll throw away money forever.

Shed Gal: 39:59

Yeah. So I'm going to throw this out to you as a challenge. I think we should kind of put together a plan of trying something out that we're literally and maybe there's some of you out there that would like to try this. I am so curious about this because that I read something recently that said 74 of all americans have at one point or another had a storage unit. Now that could be a husband and wife and they have a storage. 74. I mean, that is just billions of dollars a year. I would love to do some target marketing directed at people in storage units, and I'm not seeing a whole lot of that out there listeners. I would love to see if that might not attract some business, because I'm not seeing a whole lot of that out there listeners. I would love to see if that might not attract some business, because I think that's a huge part of the folks that we could be marketing to absolutely.

Gregg Gayan: 40:46

I think a lot of it is just, you know, somebody moves and then they say, well, we're gonna put some of the stuff into the storage unit, and then they're just too lazy to get it back out and they just don't have time to get it back out and pay in, and pay in you know, and it's like, oh well, you know, or just procrastinating, you know it's like oh, I'm gonna do it next month, I'm gonna do it next month and then then, like you said, then you're like I don't even know what I have in there anymore, because everything just got stashed in there.

Gregg Gayan: 41:17

Right, it's in boxes, and you go to find something. It takes forever where a shed. You could actually just go right in your backyard, you don't have to drive, drive across town.

Shed Gal: 41:27

So the convenience factor and and that goes into you know, they just push it off because it's not convenient to go. Take care of it because now they have to move it from the storage unit to wherever else it's so convenient with these buildings I'm going to throw that. We're going to talk more about that after we get done here. We're going off on our own marketing tangents but I am going to challenge some of you dealers. Gosh, reach out to me. I'd love to work with you to see if we can do some targeted marketing on that. Let's talk about metal buildings. You did sheds for quite a while before you brought metal buildings on. Tell me, what was your deciding factor on bringing on metal buildings and how is that market for you different than the sheds?

April Gayan: 42:13

I would say that we brought on the metal because we were getting asked, probably at least two or three times a week, for a carport or an RV cover. In case you didn't know it, there's lots of snowbirds in Arizona and they want to protect their RV, especially if they're going to leave it here when they go home for the summer. They want it to have shade, and so when we were approached about that, we said, all right, let's give it a try. It's definitely been a good addition, I think, to our offerings. The more people see them again. That's another thing. You sell one to the neighbor. Then the other neighbor's like oh, they got a carport, we need a carport, and so we appreciate the word of mouth, for sure, and but that's why we started was we were getting, and that would be a pretty impossible thing to do in a portable aspect yes yes, we could build it on site, but um it's a cost effective way.

Shed Gal: 43:21

It's another solution for a problem, absolutely, and especially around maricopa county. Driving around, I mean they're holy cow there's some storage unit places that are just for our, these huge rvs. Now I don't know if either of you have ever checked in the price, and I haven't, but I'll bet you they are several hundred dollars a month to rent.

April Gayan: 43:41

Our friends have one in an RV storage facility because they can't have it at their house because of the HOA and I want to say they're paying $150 to $200 a month just to have the RV parked in there.

Shed Gal: 43:56

And that's not even covered, oh parked in there and that's not even covered. Oh my goodness, oh, that's not even covered.

April Gayan: 44:00

It's not even covered.

Shed Gal: 44:00

Yeah, I bet these ones. There's some new ones out down Happy Valley Road, I'll bet you there's several hundred dollars a month. So that leads to even if a person someone who has a $250,000 RV probably isn't a normal rent-to-own customer, but let's just say they ran out of money because they spent it all on their RV, they could get a RV carport for less money per month and have it conveniently at their location versus renting it. So we go back to that same thing. Now. A lot of the snowbirds well, a lot of them do have second houses and they have the HOA, so they can't have it there. But there is still a big market, no matter where we are in the country, for folks that have a use for a metal building, whether it be a carport or that sort of thing.

Gregg Gayan: 44:51

Yeah, the Arizona sun beats up everything out here. So you need to have it covered with a metal shade, a metal building, a wood shed Everything gets beat up out here real quick. Exactly All across the country it does, but especially in Arizona the sun is pretty brutal out here.

Shed Gal: 45:10

It's very brutal and I'm glad you mentioned that because they're also needed in northern Arizona because of the snow. Many areas we know get horrific wind. Washington State or western Washington was the rain. I can't really think of a good reason why someone wouldn't want to call you in by a carport, wherever they were really. I mean, it's, it's the ben.

Shed Gal: 45:34

There's always a benefit to, um, especially when you're you're spending that much money. But even to protect cars from sun fading and or possibly hail damage, uh, back east, that sort of a thing, at least let your. Let your metal building roof take the, take the heat, uh, so to speak, or the opposite from hail, rather than it be the your RV, because that would be a lot spendier to fix and insurance claims, that sort of thing. So you have how many buildings do you normally average on? A lot, because I know you, you have a lot more than the average bear. Normally, I say me, I was the average bear. I never complained about the inventory I had. I got what I got and that's the way it was. With that being said, you always have a wonderful, wonderful assortment of buildings.

April Gayan: 46:26

We have about 30 on each lot.

Shed Gal: 46:29

That is great. That's fantastic. I mean it really is and it's all perception. You know, just spent time out in Kentucky and then drove down to South Carolina and you know I see these lots with 60 or 70 buildings and someone said to me, yeah, we're really lacking on inventory and my mouth is just like hanging open. I'm like lacking, but you know, they have that opportunity to have more. I was lucky if I had 10, 12 on a lot at a time.

Gregg Gayan: 47:02

I think 30 is a pretty good number for us. Sometimes I feel like we've had other times where we've had more, and I think it just confuses some people.

Speaker 1: 47:07

Sometimes I start showing them. It's like, oh, I like this, oh, I like this, I like this, oh, I like this, and then they're just confused.

Shed Gal: 47:12

How many roof color options do you have? And then they're just confused.

April Gayan: 47:16

How many roof color options do you have? We have six metal colors and six shingle colors currently. We're hoping to add the copper.

Shed Gal: 47:26

Oh, that copper is not only very popular but right now very, very popular. It's gorgeous, it's very pretty, it's gorgeous. The reason I asked that I did not know the answer and I'm actually glad you didn't say like 32 different colors. I think sometimes, because you brought it, it's almost like if you have too much inventory, they have too many choices and some people get stuck in that, not being able to make a decision. I think it comes down to that with roof colors too. I heard a dealer recently say they, you know, down to that with roof colors too. I heard a dealer recently say they, you know, we went from seven to 20 some roof colors and that might work great for some. But this dealer said to me all it does is it's taken way longer for the customer to side. You know there's four colors of gray. Why do we need four colors? So it's interesting that that also can possibly be applied to inventory. What's your most popular size that you sell for a shed?

April Gayan: 48:22

I would say a 10 by 20. Okay great.

Gregg Gayan: 48:25

Because, 200 square feet is the magic number. If you go bigger than that in Maricopa County out here and several other counties, then you need a permit. So people the 12 by 16 or the 10 by 20, like very popular what's the biggest I could get without having to deal with the county?

Shed Gal: 48:42

yes, yeah, because you step over that and then you know a lot of people just don't want. I wish permitting could be easier for what we do, especially in the areas that are more rural. There's one county in Arizona, navajo County. It'll remain unnamed, I threw it in there but they will not permit portable buildings for any reason other than a shed. No, they will not unless they've changed something real recently. And then we have a neighboring county, coconino County, that there's a couple of hoops to jump through and, having engineered drawings but it's not a big deal, they'll even permit them for the same buildings, for tiny homes. I think a lot of times people do and they'll tell us as dealers you know I'm going to live in this but I'm not going to tell anybody. You tell anybody. You know I'm not gonna get a permit and it's not our job to babysit, but I wish the counties all over the country would would. Maybe, you know, look at it a little bit different with these companies. These are very, very well built buildings yeah, very well built.

Gregg Gayan: 49:50

Kind of going back to what we said earlier, that you know I think some other uh you know states and they've had the, the sheds in the, you know, for a long time and the states and counties understand that, uh, you know that they are well built. And then out here it's kind of a newer industry and we don't have a you know a lot of pull, you know, in the counties and they just don't understand it Exactly.

Gregg Gayan: 50:15

They're like oh no, it has to go to this standard and otherwise it's a no-go, because the people who are in the county, they don't really understand the business Exactly. They probably don't even know they're available really Right.

Shed Gal: 50:32

I mean, like the general population, that's very interesting. Yeah, I would like to see that more. What do you think about? Do you advise customers ever that they should think about anchoring their building, or do you suggest certain things like a radiant barrier? Do you have you know what kind of things do you offer that maybe someone else might not?

Gregg Gayan: 50:57

All of our buildings come standard with a radiant barrier on the siding and also on the roof sheathing, which definitely helps in Arizona, keeping it 10 to 15 degrees cooler Helps reflect that heat out, or if you are cooling it or heating it, it does kind of help keep that heat inside as well.

Shed Gal: 51:16

I like that. So as far as anchoring goes, I know customers can go buy their own anchoring systems. I always liked and this is just my personal opinion. It isn't that I would go out and anchor a building, but just saying you know it's my, you know something that they might want to consider, you know, doesn't mean you have to get underneath the building, greg, and actually do the anchoring yourself. There was actually a rather large company. There was a sales manager in another state that would frequently post pictures of him anchoring a building, and so I don't know if Philip has talked to you about if that's part of your job description as a sales manager, but I I thought it was kind of weird that there might be more important things to do, not saying that anchoring a building isn't important, but I certainly wouldn't.

Shed Gal: 52:06

I'm not going to call on you to anchor my shed, that I'm going to get from you. All right, so. But yeah, there's all sorts of little things. I like the fact that that radiant barrier you know on the walls and the roof, I like I didn't I see. Did I see a shed that had a little shelving in it, or a workbench?

April Gayan: 52:22

we offer shelving, we offer workbenches, we offer the single pane windows, we offer the vinyl pre-hung windows those are really nice you porches on the building, as well as the portable option. We do have a lot of upgrades and, again, like I said, we do stuff that maybe some of the bigger companies won't do, or don't do because they have their system.

Shed Gal: 52:50

Yes, absolutely, and it works. And even like me I say my hands were tied, and I don't mean that in a negative way I was very, very successful selling what I could sell. I would have, you know, and again, grass being greener. You know, we're not even going to go there, but it's like I think, oh my goodness, like having the opportunity that you have, I just I think it's wonderful. It's certainly not. We're not trying to suggest anybody from any company go to another company. You can make it work where you are right, no matter where you are. I made it work. I sold a ton of buildings. It would have been nice. I guess it's always the coulda, wouldaa, woulda, shoulda. Well, it'd be nice if we can do this. And we, oh, we can't do everything. You know, we. There's never a time that we can do everything, darn it. But that's not. That's just not reality. We're not. We're not a yes, they're licensed contractors who build these, but we're not a licensed contractor that's going to do a, you know? Uh, there's just some things we can't do, right.

Gregg Gayan: 53:56

Absolutely, and I mean you just got to find the right choice for you and, like you said, you know every business. There's no reason to change. You put in the hard work and you could get the results.

Shed Gal: 54:10

Absolutely. What would you give? I know well, let's put it this way I don't know of a company out there right now that is not looking for a good dealer, and I know that this is more of a business to business podcast, but everybody listening probably has someone that might be a really good dealer. What advice would you give to someone? Or, or?

Gregg Gayan: 54:34

well, five star Sheds is looking for dealers.

Shed Gal: 54:35

Wonderful that would be in the state of Arizona. Have your people call our people. Full disclosure I don't work for Five Star Sheds. I just happen to be sitting here with April and Greg.

Shed Gal: 54:47

But seriously, I think if you find someone who's a good person personality and is able to wants to provide a solution to people, companies will be begging them to come work for them, like they'll get to pick and choose. But how do we go from someone being an employee who's hourly or salary and then how do we talk to them that this is a great opportunity, albeit commission only because that's a huge jump. I've been on commission only almost my whole life. It is no big deal to me. It's a very big deal to a lot of people and I think the industry you know we're missing out on a lot of good people we're not going to the industry isn't going to change the way they pay people and I'm not suggesting that. But how can we talk to people and perhaps get them interested in the opportunity?

April Gayan: 55:40

It's an unlimited income opportunity. The only limitation is the one that you have in your own mind.

Shed Gal: 55:48

Oh, there it is.

April Gayan: 55:50

If you're willing to, we work, we work. We people laugh at us, but we've sold buildings. Sitting on a houseboat in Fort Lauderdale.

Shed Gal: 56:00

Yeah.

April Gayan: 56:01

I've sold buildings sitting in an airport on a flight back home from somewhere. We're not afraid to work and we play just as hard. Don't get me wrong. We love to travel, me too, but you have to be willing to put the time in, and then those residual things will keep coming back to you when you can then be sitting on a houseboat in Fort Lauderdale or in your condo in Cabo and you can sell a building. Why? Because, you're not afraid to answer the phone.

Shed Gal: 56:38

I think that's a big deal. It's being at your lot being available when you're not at your lot Right now. I've designed it where I can work from anywhere, even though we're going to have our super centers. Because of the way I have designed it, starting August 1st of 2017 to today, I had to put in the work six days a week at my lot Until my husband came on. I was the only one there. I needed to be there. It has definitely progressed. I just feel like in this industry, I guess it could be any commission-based job. It would just be nice if we had a way of explaining to people that the opportunity is huge To walk away from the security of a paycheck. The other side is way better than that secure paycheck.

Gregg Gayan: 57:30

I agree. I mean a lot of salespeople understand that.

Shed Gal: 57:33

Yes.

Gregg Gayan: 57:33

But a lot of salespeople also don't really understand oh, the shed business is a good opportunity to switch to. Until they actually do it, it's like, oh well, am I going to make money, you know.

Shed Gal: 57:46

I mean, I know selling cars and selling houses and all that.

Gregg Gayan: 57:50

I mean you can make just as much money selling sheds. You know, if you put in the work you'll get the return on it.

Shed Gal: 57:58

I agree, and I think that comes back to the. You don't know what you don't know. So I don't know how the expectations were set with you. When I got into it, I was so far in debt I was thinking in my head if I could just make an extra thousand dollars a month, how cool would that be? I mean, that's what I thought. And my first month I made $10,000. I sold 10 sheds. I didn't even have a display lot. I'm not kidding you guys. I look back. I don't even know how I did it, other than I was posting, posting, posting, posting. You know it's. We don't know the opportunity.

Shed Gal: 58:31

And after that first month I'm like I think we're onto something here. I think we're onto something here, and you know folks out there that are listening. If you know of someone who might be a good dealer, please reach out to them. Step outside that box, ask them to step outside their box. There are tons of companies that are looking for great dealers. There are some dealers, unfortunately, that you know that won't stick around, and I think it comes down to they don't know what they don't know. They might feel like they're not getting the information that they need. I'm all about training, and so those dealers may not make it. But I think it takes a special type. You do what you have to do, you work hard, you play hard. I love that, I absolutely love it. And where did you say you were in? Not the Everglades, you were somewhere and you sold a building Fort.

April Gayan: 59:22

Lauderdale oh.

Shed Gal: 59:23

Fort Lauderdale See, I had Florida.

April Gayan: 59:25

Oh, florida, we've been all over and sold buildings. We sold one this weekend. Wait, on our way to Las Vegas.

Shed Gal: 59:31

Okay, I was going to say I saw a post that you were in Vegas See.

Gregg Gayan: 59:45

And that's the phone Same here, we need that break from the office. But I mean we've definitely sold several buildings on a Sunday just by picking up the phone or saying, hey, I'll answer your questions. Give me a call Monday morning.

Shed Gal: 1:00:00

That's fantastic. Happy to reach you out. Yeah, no, that's fantastic. Yeah, no, that's fantastic. I think it's being and I'll tell you, I mean I literally know hundreds and hundreds of dealers from all different companies nationwide and the ones I hear that are struggling the most. I think everybody's having a challenge right now, but the ones that are struggling the most see it more as a job or I don't have to be there, or I don't have to be there, or they don't return a call, or they don't answer their phone and, um, I love that you do it differently. I love because it works. It works and you'll get. You'll get through the challenges of 2024 and be stronger for it.

Shed Gal: 1:00:39

I just had a call this morning with a dealer out in Virginia and you know things are going okay, but not as good as they had hoped. They just got into this a few months ago, taking over a lot, and that was full transparency. And I said you know, I'm really thankful just my opinion that you're getting into it now, when it's more challenging than in getting into it in the middle of COVID and thinking that was normal, because, boy, I mean, it was incredible. Come on, all of us in the industry that were there were like this is amazing. We can't not sell a shed. But it's not reality for those of us that want to be in this industry, maybe 10, 15, 20 years from now. It's not going away, and out West it is, um, it is truly in its infancy compared to to in the East. So, before we wrap this up, um, I'm going to give you an opportunity to ask me a question. You can, I mean, what's my favorite color or whatever? You know, what kind of truck would I do? I drive Whatever you want.

April Gayan: 1:01:42

We know your favorite color is red ma'am knows it's red, it is red um. So we know why you got into this. Why are you working so hard on these super centers around the country?

Shed Gal: 1:01:57

yeah, my passion and is training and helping. I mean my love language is helping. The super centers I see as something that and I'm not even we've referred to it as a super center and then we were going to call it a mega mart, and here's what it is. It's Shedgal. It is above and beyond what else is out there. It is above and beyond what else is out there. Now there's some really cool what we'll refer to as super centers, mostly back east, I guess a couple in New Jersey that have a ton of things on their lots. We're going even above and beyond that. It isn't to outdo anyone, I want to make it so. And these first two, which are Glendale, arizona, and then outside of Greenville, south Carolina, these aren't the ShedGal lots. These are the first two of many ShedGal lots. We're doing it because we know we are not going in to try to annihilate anybody else that's in the area. What we hope is it's going to bring more awareness to what we as a group of dealers offer. I hope that I sell a lot and I hope the person 10 miles down the road sells a lot. I think it'll bring awareness to that because the amount of advertising we're going to be doing and the things that we're going to be offering.

Shed Gal: 1:03:16

I truly believe that even a lot of the big companies may be entertaining allowing you, allowing dealers. There's some companies that may only want you to sell their product. Five Star Sheds is not like that. They let you bring on metal and that sort of thing that they don't sell. I think it's the way of the future and I think a lot of companies out there believe it's the way of the future too, believe it's the way of the future too. I think the companies are getting away from hey, mom and pop, they're a realtor and let's just throw a couple sheds in their parking lot. And if they sell one or two a month, I mean, come on, if you're doing that, that's fine, but that's not dedicated to the profession of selling sheds.

Gregg Gayan: 1:04:02

Right, you're limiting yourself.

Shed Gal: 1:04:03

You're limiting yourself, and I think even 10, 15 years ago that's what a lot of companies did is you know, we'll just get a ton of dealers, and if they sell one or two a month each, we're going to be good. It's just not going to work long term, especially in an economy like this. So my goal is to up the ante in the whole industry, anything I can do to make it better. Our lots are not going to have a person working at them. It's going to be multiple people from day one. Once the darn barley is done growing it just kills me.

Shed Gal: 1:04:40

And so we want the Shedgal name to be a nationwide brand and we want it to be a resource for not only customers but for dealers. So let's say, for example, I have a customer that contacts me or a friend that contacts me in Washington State. I happen to be aware of a gentleman named Chad who owns Genesis Buildings up in I believe he's in Winlock, washington. We're going to be that resource for dealers too. You need a hauler in Alabama. Give us a call or check out our website. The information's going to be on there. That's our goal, and I hope a ton of people follow. I hope a ton of people follow and are able to offer more things too. So that was a very long answer, but I really appreciate it. Did I actually answer your question? I think so. Okay, why?

Gregg Gayan: 1:05:33

are we doing? Yeah, that definitely answered the question a lot of information. I think that's great that you are willing to help other companies and not just all about myself. I mean, are we're in a very small industry but a very big industry? Yes, and I mean everybody needs to work together in order to help each other and help the, the industry as it in itself grow absolutely, and and I spend a tremendous amount of time my time talking with other dealers.

Shed Gal: 1:06:01

Here's the thing. They reach out to me for help and I learn so much. It it's just amazing. So I've really had a wonderful time, uh, here with april and greg. I appreciate you letting me come out. Um, I love your story. I can't wait to partner with you.

Shed Gal: 1:06:20

Um, we're excited and that too, and that partnership we're not business partners. They're going to have their sheds on a lot that we're going to have our other stuff on, and I believe that together we are stronger Absolutely, and that's literally how I live my life. I don't know any other way. So I'd like to thank you all for tuning in to this week's episode of the Shed Geek podcast on Magnificent Monday. Stay tuned for next week's episode and from Susan the Shed Gal, have a great week.

Gregg Gayan: 1:06:53

Hey this is Mo Lunsford in sunny Union Grove, North Carolina, and we want to say thank you to all the guests and listeners.