EP185: Transforming Business and Life: Jacob Lawson's Guide to Being Extraordinary

I've been in my flooring business a little over 20 years now. I started my career working offshore and overseas, and I had a best friend slash big brother of mine that owned his own residential flooring company. And when you work offshore and overseas, you'll work three or four weeks on and then a week or two off. And in that off time is when I would start picking up work with him. And so all my off time, I would work with him. And eventually, you know, I was raised in an oil field family. My dad was in an oil field as well. And while it made for a great living, I knew I didn't want to raise my kids from an oil field. So I knew I needed to make a jump. And at 21,22 years old, I did make that jump and moved in and started my own flooring company.

Well, you know, the flooring business started as Big Jake's Affordable Flooring, which is, you know, you've got a lot of people that have been in business for a while. Their first business name isn't always the best business name. So with a name like that, you can better believe that I wasn't exactly attracting the best clients. And then so, you know, fast forward about a year or so in, and I had an aha moment. And I said, you know, make it extraordinary. It was, it was, it was, it was, it was light bulb, you know, like change the name, make it extraordinary flooring. And actually my big brother at the time is like, Oh, I don't know, man, that's a little much, you know, but I was like, no, this is the name of it. So the business became extraordinary flooring. The model became make it extraordinary for the flooring. And then it also transpired into. you know just my everyday opinion of everything you know my model my credence you know if you're going to make it make it extraordinary why be ordinary when you can be extraordinary you know you can be either a painter or an artist and artists is of everyday ordinary nature i would say backwards a painter is of ordinary nature an artist makes works of art something that is extraordinary it is extraordinary it's different so you know um From there, we've been in business almost 20 years. I am inspired to write other books. The Extraordinary Process is the original title of the first book I wanted to write. I said, you know what? I'm still working out The Extraordinary Process. What am I not working out? What have I learned so far? That's where Make It Extraordinary came about. 27 life-changing lessons that will be ugly beyond the ordinary. is all the biggest lessons that I've learned in my life thus far in personal life and in business. So I wanted to speak on what I know now, what I was willing to speak on, what has changed my life, what has propelled me, and what has done things to get new where I'm at.

Yeah, definitely still running my business. It's definitely still my bread and butter. It is my passion. It is my baby. It's what I've been, you know, in over 20 years for. Right now, we've got about 15 people on the floor. We've got, you know, project manager, estimators and admins getting everything, keeping everything running. And then we've got another handful of subcontractors that run, you know, the outside stuff that the in-house crew doesn't handle. We started off in residential flooring, tile, wood, marble. But then I quickly became aware of and fascinated with decorative concrete, acid staining, concrete overlaying, concrete stamping, things of that nature. And then that led into epoxy coatings, polished concrete. And that's really where we found our niche at. And that's the decorative coatings, the polished concrete, the epoxy coatings. And then we've also kind of steered predominantly more focused into the commercial world. We still do residential, but our primary focus is the big commercial projects.

Originally it was probably 50-50, you know, now it's 90-10, you know, so we're almost predominantly all. The only things that we do traditional hard service floors are go-to clients that are like, hey, we know we got you for this, but can you handle this at the same time? So we'll still handle a handful of that for our kind of select bread and butter clients.

Like I said, very, very little bit. Just like, hey, can you handle this while you're here type things? You know, like we got it's predominantly polished over here, but can we handle this and handle that? Yeah, we'll take care of that for you. You know, so we'll just put another sub on that and take care of that. But predominantly our bread and butter is to polish concrete and resinous coatings.

i did see is that there's definitely there's competition but there's less competition i mean when you talk about your traditional flooring tile we're at hardwood marble It doesn't take much for a business to get started in that, you know, so you have a lot of people that they train their helpers. And the next thing you know, they got a pickup truck and a towel scriber and a hand grinder and they're in their competition. Right. So in the polished concrete and resinous coatings, you know, you have to have a good amount of pretty expensive equipment and it's not going to just be anybody going to be able to jump off and start their own business. So whereas. the towel and hardwoods and laminates. It's a pretty crowded market. Very, very competitive. There's a lot less competition in what we do. So it's made it easier for us to stand apart from the rest. That

Well, there's a few things to think about on that. I mean, the one catchphrase that I hear most often is the riches are in the niches. And that definitely can be it, you know, so you can be a general practitioner. Yes, we can do that. Or you can be... the man, the specialist, the person to go to, right? So when you are that person, you're separating yourself from the rest of the field. So that gives you that ability to charge what you need to charge, to be profitable. That gives you that ability to get those selective projects, you know? A lot of us, when we're starting out, we're like, including myself, Yeah, we can do that, guys, you know, because you're looking for work. You're trying to just stay busy. And in the beginning, that's what you got to do as an entrepreneur. You got to stay busy. Right. But as you start selecting, you know, and getting into those those those tighter niches and where you become that expert in a particular trade or a particular aspect, that's where you can really start to bring your prices up and become more profitable.

Yeah, I mean, you can, I mean, if you think about it, so, you know, you, you start off, let's say, I'm a pool cleaner. What do you got to have? You got to have a neck? Right. You know, but, oh, can you trim those trees? Yeah, I can trim those trees. Well, now I got to go buy a saw and I got to buy a ladder. Well, can you, can you build this curbing? Sure I can, but now I got to go buy a masonry saw. I got to go buy this. So, you know, you start trying to say, yes, I can do it. And you're buying all of these tools for this and that. And you might only do one tree trimming job a year or this or that. And you think you're doing something, but you're really just stretching yourself apart. You're becoming a jack of all trades instead of a master of one, you know? So it definitely, it can be the gift and the curse.

Yeah, I mean, it goes with a lot of what you say on most of your podcasts. I mean, you got the jack of all trades, the guy that starts the business that's really handy. He can do almost anything. You know, I can do anything, but it doesn't mean I should do anything. And, you know, you're the owner of the business. You're this creative mindset. Yes, you're so talented here now, but, you know, you got to think about, all right, well, I'm hiring people. And I want my people to become proficient in what we do. And if you're always changing it, yeah, they can get it done, but are they getting it done proficiently? And those are big lessons I had to learn in the beginning of my career. You know, we were doing all of that. You know, the motto was if you walked on it, we specialized in it, whether we really did or didn't. And so, you know, I would make money on this job, but then I might be losing money on the next, you know, so. Definitely, you know, having that when somebody gets to do that same thing over and over, then they get to do it like the back of their head. They can do it with their eyes closed. But if they're constantly switching, then they're constantly learning and trying to get better. You know, so it's definitely, definitely a big difference there.

Well, especially when they come into the game very proficient at something also. So that makes it even worse. They came in as this very proficient painter, right? And now you're asking them to do 10 other things. They're out of their comfort zone. People do not like to be out of their comfort zone. They want to be in that zone of comfort. We've brought in plenty of other people from other trades and offered them better opportunities. But they did not feel comfortable not knowing, not being that expert that they were used to being. So many people are afraid to do that. And that's one of the compliments that I've gotten from some of my mentors that I've never been scared to reach out and stretch and try these new things. Because you have to get out of your comfort zone to feel that and learn that. And a lot of people, there's a reason they call it a comfort. comfort zone. It's comfortable and it's uncomfortable to stretch it. And people, especially when they feel really proficient, they feel like I know this, this is my trade. They don't want to go back to feeling like somebody else is teaching them.

Well, I mean, I'll preach this to anybody and everybody who is going to listen. You know, my motto is make it extraordinary. And, you know, the word extraordinary, a lot of people is too much, you know, like they instantly go to thinking about, you know. millionaires and billionaires and all of these luxurious things. Extraordinary is just extra on top of ordinary. It's putting in that extra effort. It is doing those extra things to improve yourself. So, you know, and I don't just preach it in business. I preach it in life. I preach it in spirituality. I preach it in fatherhood and friendship, you know, putting forth that extra to make yourself a little bit better every day, you know, whether it's 0.01% better every day, all of that adds up. And so whether your primary focus is on business or it's in other things in your life, you know, if you're not trying to improve, you're falling behind essentially, you know, cause the other people who are trying to improve, they're going to get after it and they're going to get it. And they're going to get those spots and those things that you're, that you dream about, but they're not goals to you.

I've heard similar phrases, but I can't tell you what that book is.

You know, I mean, that right there is a huge business lesson that anybody starting out could learn. That right there, they could have hired you to do a complete kitchen remodel and you could have done everything beyond their expectations. But the only thing they may talk about. is Brad, before he left the house, he noticed our front door wasn't closing right. And before he left, he took the time to adjust it and put it in. And that right there could land you 10 more clients or their best friend or your next best client. You could have did a perfect job on the rest and they don't even mention that, but that little thing right there, that little extra could be the thing that just, they don't, they don't forget. And they may talk about that for 20 years, man. I remember that guy, Brad, he fixed my door after, as he, as he was leaving. Yeah. And also that little extra is, is huge to go that extra mile and your clients will know and your clients will remember that.

which is the most thing that, you know, they do that however many times a day for the rest of their life. And they noticing that they got a pull on that door and the extra time to close it. And now they don't. I mean, that's huge.

there's opportunity Yeah, no, that's putting the extra, that's putting a little bit extra on there. And, you know, sometimes it gets noticed and sometimes it isn't. But sometimes that could be the game changer, the big difference that differentiated you from everybody else.

mean, we try, we have biweekly meetings, all team meetings. We're talking about, you know, obviously what's going on in the business, but different things that they can do to better themselves or possibly better their financial opportunities. We try to do group activities, you know, at least bi-yearly. One of the cool ones we did, we took everybody to the race car track a couple months ago. That was very cool, you know, and just some team building exercises. You know, I think the most important thing is leading by example because not everybody's ready to follow what you say. You know, there's a lot of in one ear and out the others. And you're going to have that, especially the more people you have. You're definitely going to have that. But when you lead by example, not just I say this, but do this. It backs up what you're trying to say. It backs up what you're doing. And you're not just talking the talk, but you're walking the walk. So, yes, you want to do different things to build team unity and camaraderie. But leading by example is huge. Don't say this and then do that. I think that's the number one. You know, besides the extra perks that you can do to just, you know, create a good camaraderie and team spirit, you know.

Exactly. Exactly. You know, be courteous and then be an a-hole, you know. Be nice, be nice, be nice, and then sit there and talk about them, you know. So, being by example, being that example. Because not everybody's going to follow. You got some people that are always going to stand out and they want to do more and they want to achieve more. And some people just want to be there for a paycheck, which is fine as well, as long as they're doing what they're supposed to do. But leading by example gives that inspiration for the people that want to do better and want to strive to achieve more. It gives them that inspiration. It gives them that model. It gives them that blueprint.

I mean, it would be a long podcast if we went through all of them, but, you know, it started off with just some very, very, I kind of did it in a chronological order, you know, so it started off with some very simple life lessons that I learned early. You know, number one is setting the example. You know, my dad set the example for me about what it means to go to work, what it means to sacrifice for your family. Like I said earlier, he worked offshore and overseas, so he was gone a lot, you know, but it's what it took to put the food on the table for our family. And so he set that example of, and to me, the fact that he was almost always working offshore and overseas meant that he was always working, which I think is, what drove me to feel like I was always working. And as a young entrepreneur and as an early entrepreneur, you're going to be almost always working if you're really trying to get after it, right? It takes a while to get that nice little work-life balance or whatever sort of that balance is, right? It takes a while. It's going to be unbalanced at first, especially if you're really getting after it. So, you know, setting that example is definitely one of the biggest, biggest lessons. One of the other ones, you know, in business definitely became about sometimes in order to grow, sometimes you got to trim the tree. So, you know, just as we talked about earlier, when I first got started, can you do this? Yeah, we can do it. If it has anything to do with flooring, we can do it. Right. So. Whatever it was, we said we can do it and we'd figure it out whether we were proficient in it or we weren't. We did it, right? And that got me to where I had enough business in certain aspects to then trim those branches. So I trimmed the tree, trimmed some of those branches, those things that we weren't the most proficient at. or didn't make the most money, didn't make the most sense, took more time and effort, didn't have the reward that it took for the time that we did it, right? So I was able to trim those branches of those trees and then really focused on those niches, really focused on the commercial polished concrete and resinous coatings. And, you know, at the time, it was a big decision when I decided to trim back that residential. wide net that we thrown, we were doing about 800 grand a year in that residential setting. And I basically put about 85% of that on the back burner. I only kept my closest, easiest to deal with clients and all the rest of them I let go of. And in that same year, we were doing about 1.5 in the commercial division and we doubled that in one year. By trimming those branches of dealing with the pesky, some of the pesky, time-consuming, needy homeowners, I was able to then focus on the commercial work, which is typically broader spectrum, bigger jobs, less babysitting, less hand-holding with the clients. You know, they've got architects, they've got designers, they've got different things already laid out. They're not needing me for all of those different aspects. They're giving me the scope. We know what we're doing. There's a little bit less super, super pickiness in there that can be involved in residential market. So it gave me that ability to then expand and grow that division.

One of my favorite ones is in God's divine time. So whether you're super religious, whether you're not. Whether you believe in this God, that God, the earth, the energy, whatever you believe in, let's just say I call him God. I think God's divine time. Everybody has dreams. Everybody has wishes. Everybody has aspirations. Everybody has plans. We'd like them to happen right now or next year or whenever it would be perfect and ideal for us. It's not always going to happen when it's ideal for us. So everything happens in different reasons, in different aspects, in different ways. segments, right? So I just have this feeling and this credence that you may have plans of how you would like it to be done, but it's all going to happen in God's divine time as long as you're putting forth all your effort, going towards it, focus on it, you have those goals, and you're moving everything you can in the right direction, it'll happen in God's divine time. So that's one of my life lessons of so many people, especially in this world of Instagram, where everybody shows where they've made it. And it's this overnight success, right? Because we just saw them, but it's not an overnight success. You don't know what that person has been doing for the first 20,40,60 years of their life to get there. It's not an overnight success. You're just seeing it and it looks like one, but it's not. It happened in a sequence of things and you don't know the sacrifices or the stages that they had to climb through. there would be adversity of, you know, to get to those places. So that's definitely one of them.

Like this person has to get to those doors.

Yeah, you weren't ready for it. It might also ruin that opportunity that you didn't even know was waiting for you. You know, you think this, this, and this. If I get this, I'm there. If I get that, I'm there. you don't know the reason why you haven't got there. And then sometimes you don't even know what the reward is going to be on the other side of it. So I am definitely a proponent of never be satisfied. Always, always be trying to push for that next level of what your best self is. Always trying to get the most optimal version of yourself is, but enjoying every second of the ride. You have to, you know, it is okay that I know I have so many goals and aspirations that I want to achieve, but I really, really enjoy every moment of the ride in the present. You know, you have to enjoy that ride in the present. If you can't be grateful for what you have in the present, you're not going to be grateful when and if you get that reward you're looking for in the future.

Comparison is definitely a, they say, the thief of joy, right? I know that I've come very far from where I was. I know that compared to a lot of people, I have done a lot of things, but also knowing that same grasp, I have done nothing. If you compare me to so many other people, right? So don't, it's a thief of joy. Don't, you know, I seen a gym mean the other day, a guy bench press, maybe 150 pounds. And he's like, yeah, but that one, that guy's doing 250. And it's like, dude, you just did your best effort. It's the most you've ever lifted in your life. This is the most work you've ever achieved in your life. It's the most money you've ever achieved in your life. You might still be broke. You might not be nowhere close to where you want, but it's the most money you ever made or the most business you've ever done, right? So don't compare yourself to other people that may be five,10 years beyond what you've done. Or maybe they even started behind you, but they just caught that lucky early break. Right. You know, you don't know where they started. You don't know. They might have landed the dream client, their first client. Right. There's stuff on a different rocket path than yours, but that's their trajectory, not yours. So don't rob yourself of your own joy and gratitude because you think somebody else is doing better. Somebody else is doing this or somebody else is doing that. You know?

One of the earlier ones was make it extraordinary. I changed my whole life and my trajectory of my business when I made it extraordinary. I had that aha moment. I was still very early in my career. Like I said, Big Jake's Affordable Flooring, I was doing Section 8 apartments, you know, doing tile work for people that were trying to get the absolute cheapest price and then beat you up to get it even cheaper. When I changed the name to Extraordinary Flooring, it can only be one big coincidence, but within months, I was doing multi-million dollar homes. I was dealing with very affluential clientele, you know, and Once again, it got us to buy time. It all happened for me and it happened, but it changed my whole trajectory. Had I been, like you said, sometimes people are scared to make that change or make that, that, that shift, you know. maybe I still would have been fighting for $2 for a towel in apartments, right? But when I had that feeling in my heart and I trusted it in my gut, and no matter what, it was my biggest mentor at the time told me, I don't know, I think that name is too much. It didn't matter to me. What I felt, that's what I had, and that's what I did. And it changed everything. It changed my whole perspective. And then, like, now it's my life's credence. Now it's my... Now it's my motto. Now it's way more than just extraordinary flooring. It's not just Jake the floor guy that owns extraordinary flooring. It's Jake the make it extraordinary guy that's trying to make this movement and try to inspire millions over my lifetime to do things extraordinary and not settle for the ordinary, but try to make their lives and everybody else's lives around them better. When you pick yourself up, you pick up those around you. You know, you said, oh, the must be nice. You don't want those must be nice people in your circle, you know, and if they are in your circle and you're rising and you're not getting them out of that must be nice. And, you know, they can't be part of your circle no more because those must be nice people are acting like they can't be there. And you don't want that. You want to get your dreams and your aspirations. fulfilled and it takes work and it takes getting around other people that are trying to do the same thing. If you're hanging around, if your whole crew is, must be nice guys. If that's what you hear too many times a week, you're in the wrong circles. You've got to change your circles and get around some people that are like, that is nice. How can I get some of that? You know? Yes. How did you do that? Not, Oh, that must be nice. You know? You know what? Those must be nice guys in your circle.

If you're the biggest fish in the pond, you in the wrong damn pond.

You know, since a lot of this podcast is about, you know, getting these service-based entrepreneurs to that next level, I would say one of the biggest lessons, I mean, what got me through my first 15 years of business was sheer work ethic and determination. I wasn't the smartest business person. I fucking worked my ass off. I was determined I would never let a project go by the wayside without me doing everything and my abilities didn't matter. If we screwed it up, we're going to fix it. We never let anything go without doing our absolute best to leave a satisfied client. And in business, sometimes you cannot have a fully satisfied client. Some clients just won't be. But if you know you put forward every single effort to get that, then nobody can ever take that away from you. Because even if that person tries to make an example, you can say, well, I know she was unhappy about this, but I did this, this, this, and this to try to make her happy. She still wasn't unhappy. We parted ways in the best ways we can do it. So, you know, work ethic and determination got me through my first 15 years. But then I got smart about business. Okay, so constantly being around these smart business people who have been there and done that, being in the right rooms around these people, surrounding yourself with them. You know, in today's, with exactly what we're doing now, with all of these business podcasts and Instagrams and this and that, you have so many lessons you can learn. And if there's one number one lesson that I would say is the most important from the beginning, is know your numbers. Know your numbers, not only in business, but in your personal life as well. Because if you know all your numbers in business but don't have an idea of what your personal life is, then you don't know how much money you need to make in your business to survive. And if your business is surviving okay, but you're spending more on your personal life, well, guess what? It's going to make both of them struggle. So you need to know both. You need to know exactly what your numbers are in business. That means not just labor and materials. That's gross. What is your overhead? What does it cost you? What is your truck? What is your insurance? What's your tools? How many tools are you buying? All of those things, every single piece of your number. And then what are your personal expenses? Realistically, not this fictional, oh, I'm on a $3,000 budget, but I'm spending five, you know, or 4,500 every month. So knowing your numbers both personally and business-wise is the most important thing. Because I know you get it all the time as well. Well, how much does this cost? Or how much should I charge for this? There is no one. set number for anything that you do because every single job is different and every single person and company is different just because this guy charges two dollars a foot does not mean you can do it for two dollars a foot you know you need to know what it costs you and what it costs you to live every single day of your business so that you can be profitable. So just because this person charges this doesn't mean you can't. So you need to know your numbers and what it takes for you to live, to keep your business healthy and to grow. So knowing your numbers is on top of what you need to do for your business. Knowing your numbers is number one.

If you're just getting started, it doesn't need to be overly complicated. Everybody has a phone. Everybody has a notes app. Start writing down every expense that you do, every piece of spending you do. Within one to two months, you'll know everything, what it is, you know, and you can always need to be working on it, refining it. And, you know, just like you said. Typically, as your money grows, so you're expenses in both business and personal life. You start making some more money, you get a nicer truck. You start making some more money, you finally make new money, and it's time to buy a new house. Just because you're making more business or doing more revenue, if your personal finances are growing at the same pace or more, you can make $500,000 a year and still be broke. Know your numbers. Don't live beyond your means. Invest. more than you spend, not just save, but invest. You know, you should be saving to invest is also the other one, right? So if you're just saving the money, it's going to get burned up inflation. But if you're saving it to invest it into something, and I guess the last tip is, you know, get out of that rat race. So in order to get out of that rat race, once your ass sets, paying for your liabilities plus some, then you're really out of that rat race. So when you save enough to start investing in those assets and those assets can start paying for your liabilities, now you're really winning.

I read a lot. I've got a plethora of them. If there's one, that changed my life. And it's funny because the first time I read it, it was just, uh, just another book and I read it and it was fun and I learned, oh, that's nice. Second time I read it, it kind of clicked and it was aha. And, and I've even heard other people on your show mention it. And so it's been mentioned before and it's probably been mentioned millions and millions of times, but think and grow rich. You think about it and you put it in your mind and you start putting forth those efforts and you're constantly going at it. To me, Like I said earlier, in God's divine time, you will achieve it. But if you don't think it, and if you're one of these must-be-nice guys that we just talked about, and all you're thinking about is the negative things in your life, that's what you're going to attract. You're going to attract more negative things. I'm a very, very promoter person of... Thinking positive, focusing on positive things in your life, and not worrying about things that you cannot change, right? So a lot, there's so much negativity in this world and you can fill yourself to your crazy with the negativity. But if you can't change any of it, then why are you focusing on it? Focus on the things that you have control over. Focus on making yourself better every single day. Focus on your dreams, goals, and aspirations that you're going after. Let the rest of the stuff, Go by it. Be prepared as much as you can be. Don't focus on the things that you can't change. Focus on the things you have control over. Think about what you really want and go after it and achieve it. Think and Grow Rich was a game-changing thing the second time I read it. You know, a lot of times that'll happen. You'll read a book and you might pick up one or two things. You read it again at a different point in your life and you got to pick up different perspectives. And that second time I read it, it really changed my life.

The world is very weird. And, you know, not everybody believes everything, but I am a firm believer in... If you're constantly focused on different negative things, you're going to have more negative things in your life. If you're constantly focused on positive things, you're going to have more positive things in your life. If you're constantly focused on all your bills, you're just going to have more bills. If you're constantly focused on your profits, if you're focused on your jobs, if you're focused on abundance, if you're focused on success, those are the things that you're going to attract. And it ain't overnight. think about it and you grow rich. No, you have to think about it and then you have to put these plans into place and work towards them. Like it didn't just... You know, the secret, I thought about it and it happened and the tricks just started coming. No, it's not the case. You have to think about it. You have to believe it. You have to work for it. You have to grind for it. You have to have that work ethic and determination to say, you know what, I'm going to achieve this, whether it's in one year, five years or 50 years, this is where I'm going to be. And God is the blind time. You will achieve it if you constantly work for it.

You know, right now, Make It Extraordinary. Make underscore extraordinary is my Make It Extraordinary page. It is my lifestyle page. It is when I put out a message six days a week where I have a positive motivational message, put behind some positive motivational music. That's my daily progression for the Make It Extraordinary. If you are in the New Orleans, Louisiana area and you want some extraordinary flooring, it is extraordinaryflooring. com. That is still my primary business and my baby. But the Make It Extraordinary movement is something that I think will be my legacy play for my life.

I can't help it now.

That would be extraordinary, bud.