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JobTread CEO Eric Fortenberry recently stopped by the Between Two Stops podcast to share his tips for business owners with host Niki Acosta.
When Eric Fortenberry offers his tips for growing a business, you listen. Since founding JobTread in 2019, he’s grown the business from 200 to 4,000 active customers. And as the creator and CEO, he helps those thousands of customers skyrocket growth in their own construction businesses every day.
When he visited the Between Two Stops podcast, he brought his top tips on how to grow a business the right way. Here’s a recap of what he shared with host Niki Acosta.
Eric Fortenberry’s tips for building a great business
1. Accept that you can’t do it all
It’s normal for entrepreneurs to want to have a hand in every project and process, but as Eric reminds us, this isn’t a sustainable approach—and you can’t be great at everything.
The key, he says, is building a great team that shares that same passion, drive, and motivation as you. When you have the right people with the right passions on your side, they’ll keep momentum going so that when you take a step back, things keep running well.
2. Hire people at the right time
How do you know when it’s the right time to hire? Eric’s answer is simple: when you can financially afford it. He suggests making an annual budget to know which targets you need to hit each month. Then, be realistic: can you hit those sales goals on your own? If not, it’s time to find more people.
When you have a financial plan to refer back to, you can make the right calls at the right time. But each hiring decision must be backed by numbers, otherwise you’re taking a risk.
3. Hire for the strengths you don’t have
Eric has spoken to many entrepreneurs who, once they’ve decided it’s time to hire, get stuck on the same roadblock: they don’t know whether they should hire a salesperson or a project manager first.
“I always put it back to them and ask what they’re most passionate about,” he says. Most of the time, says Eric, an entrepreneur’s strengths sit firmly in one of two camps: the sales side or the operations side. Hiring to complete the other side of that equation makes the most sense. “Figure out where there’s a gap and hire for that, so you can keep doing the thing you do well,” says Eric.
4. Focus on culture
It’s great to attract the right talent, but keeping those people is another challenge. As Eric tells it, you have to commit to creating a great place to work. “Money isn’t everything,” he says. “You should pay people great, but there’s a lot more you can do to create a thriving place to work.”
One culture perk JobTread offers is a weekly catered lunch for all employees. During this lunch, each team goes through their wins, challenges, and what they’re working on. Not only is this initiative a nice thing that everyone looks forward to, it also creates a sense of camaraderie and ownership.
5. Take time to celebrate wins
At JobTread, no accomplishment is too small to celebrate. “We do happy hours and breakfast tacos when we hit our goals, and we have bigger celebrations when we hit larger milestones,” says Eric. Creating a culture of recognition makes people want to win, and finding unexpected places to inject recognition makes even the tiniest wins feel motivating.
6. Have the right processes in place
Simply put, “people need to know what they have to do every day,” says Eric. This starts with great training. JobTread provides each new hire with a playbook that covers everything they need to know about how the company operates. He also makes sure new hires have the tools they need to be productive.
Eric’s advice is to take the time to find out what your people need, and figure out how to get it to them from day one. The more structure and processes you can put in place, the more confident you can be that everyone’s working with the same set of rules and expectations.
7. Know your KPIs
You can’t achieve goals you didn’t set in the first place. Understanding and setting expectations around your company’s key performance indicators (KPIs) is a critical piece of continued success.
If you’re not sure which KPIs to set, think about which levers can influence growth. This could be the number of calls you’re making, the number of projects being completed, or the amount of profit dollars captured. Whatever you choose needs to be quantifiable, says Eric. When every success driver has a number attached to it, it’s much easier to troubleshoot when problems arise.
At JobTread, KPIs are front and center. “We have dashboards everywhere,” says Eric. Making them visible holds each team accountable and prompts people to flag when they’re having trouble meeting their goals.
8. Set a tone of transparency
Eric strongly believes that a culture of transparency has made each of his companies succeed. One way he embodies this value is by leading by example. “I set the tone by being a hard worker,” he says, and “There’s nothing I would ask someone to do that I wouldn’t do myself.”
He also makes sure his companies are as flat as possible, so that information is out in the open, never hidden in siloes. “It’s important that people understand we’re all striving for the mission of the company,” he says, and when everyone feels like they’re accountable, it’s easier to work towards a common goal.
Building a successful business takes time
Eric’s final piece of wisdom for entrepreneurs? “If this was easy, everyone would do it.” Building a business is hard work, but if you’re willing to put in the effort where it counts, you’ll enjoy the rewards. “You can eventually take a step back and enjoy it,” says Eric, “But it does take time.”
Learn more about JobTread here, and don't forget to catch our full conversation with Eric below.
