Run Your Skilled Trade Business From The Beach? Shattering Industry Norms With Brandon Nicastro of GCS Glass and Mirror

I recently interviewed Brandon Nicastro of GCS Glass and Mirror on The Systems Culture Growth Podcast.

Brandon and I have known each other for several years. I have been watching him grow his business from a distance through social media, since 2013. It's been a fascinating journey to watch as an onlooker.?

GCS Glass and Mirror sells and installs frameless shower doors and mirrors.

Brandon says that he is busier than ever with no off-season since the market is currently wide open for construction.?

STARTING GCS GLASS AND MIRROR:

GCS is customer-focused and works hard to provide the best experience possible.

Brandon and GCS have been busy since day one. In the first year, Brandon was the owner-operator, doing the sales, ordering, scheduling, project management, and all the installs.

He says now where the business is at, if he wanted to, he could retire and not have to do anything in the company. He says, “I've built it in a way to sell it or walk away if need be.”

In his role now, he gets to sit back and focus on the business. Looking at it from an outsider's viewpoint to see anything that’s going wrong, focusing on continuous process improvement.

Brandon now spends his time on business development, instead of working in the business.

HOW THE SYSTEMS HAVE EVOLVED AT GCS:

In the early days, when Brandon got an order, he’d call his glass supplier and drive down to the manufacturer every morning to pick up glass for the install for that day.

But he’d get down there and the glass would be wrong. Scratched, or the wrong size. Which created a problem of needing to cancel jobs last minute.?

As he grew, he got a shop just so he didn't have to drive down to the manufacturer every day.

As glass came in, he’d check the glass himself, and wait to schedule the install until the glass had been checked and received.?

He says, “I think a lot of people just don't realize how much time is wasted on little things.”

To solve these types of issues, GCS created their own ERP system (Enterprise resource planning (ERP) software that organizes day-to-day business activities.?

The ERP system helped eliminate the need for employees in the office and allowed them to track jobs. All of their installers have iPads in the field. Everything is done digitally.

When someone measures a shower, it is automatically in the software and they can order it or quote or whatever needs to get done.?

Brandon shared, “you can save so much time in so many different areas, by being more internally reliant on your systems. We just put the pressure on ourselves. Everything that we can take away from somebody else messing up, we try to do it in-house.”

"We just put the pressure on ourselves. Everything that we can take away from somebody else messing up, we try to do it in-house."

Examples of being internally reliant, "we just order glass from our vendor because we stock all of our hardware. So now we can control if a piece of hardware comes in missing, we have extra. If it comes in the wrong color, we have that extra, we have that other color. We can switch it."

Brandon went on to say, "little things like that add up and cost a lot of money. So with COVID and the supply chain and everything happening right now, we have bought so much hardware and we have hardware shortages. So we're not impacted too much with the increases in price, because we already have a ton of hardware and we're able to kind of keep purchasing it."

"We track, everything. There's an incident report if anything goes wrong they can evaluate immediately and constantly improve. We keep those as records and then we'll go over them with everyone every three months, every quarter. The reason we do it is- that's all your bottom line money right there. That's all your profits going right out the door. Every time you go back, it's expensive to send two guys in a truck to go back. For a 10-minute repair, it's an hour to drive and do all this stuff. It's labor and it's the time you're not installing another shower. We're making profits on that end over there. So it definitely hurts a company."

"We track, everything. That's all your bottom line money right there."

GCS TEAM AND CULTURE:

Brandon admits, "my guys look at it a little bit differently than I do, but I concentrate on the small things because it's the small things that we mess up repeatedly."

"I concentrate on the small things because it's the small things that we, we mess up repeatedly."

In regards to how they resolve issues, Brandon said, "we talk about it. And when it happens, it's done with, we talked about it. I'm really big on constructive criticism and just getting people better." He said they also celebrate all the good things and there are a lot of good things happening at GCS. ?We are GCS and we're a team and that's how we operate."

Brandon has been fortunate enough to meet great business partners, that work really well together. GCS has also been able to attract great employees, as he says, "from the culture that we've built, and our branding on Instagram." He credits their social media presence and being active in group forums as part of their success.

GCS GROWTH:

In 2013, GCS was a locally based company, out of Phoenix and has now expanded to Denver, Austin, New York, and coming soon, Vegas. They've been able to have this growth and bring on partners in those areas because of their repeatable systems.

On one of Brandon's recent social posts, I saw he was on the beach, and I asked if he was on vacation. He said, "I was on the beach and I can work, I can talk to customers and they don't know where I am. I have four locations and another consulting company."

"I was on the beach and I can work, I can talk to customers and they don't know where I am. I have four locations and another consulting company."

Even with tremendous growth, Brandon manages to maintain a healthy balance. "I set expectations. I don't work weekends. I work Monday through Friday. Even starting up the business I didn't work any weekends unless I wanted to."

Brandon shared some exciting growth plans. "In 2022 the goal is to open up a location every month for the next year. ?I'm not sure if we'll hit it, but we're, we're going to try."

GCS IS HIRING:

Partners:

For new locations, Brandon is looking for people that have the same vision and want to become their own business owners. People that want to partner with someone that's experienced in opening companies, and that's already doing it and making it easier for them.

GCS handles all of the backend, all the processes, and procedures, support, and marketing. These new locations have all been successful right off the bat. Brandon says, "we haven't lost any money in them."

Other Positions:

GCS is also hiring people that want to get into the trade to learn, as well as lead installers, inside sales reps, and other office staff.

Locations:

Phoenix, Denver, Austin, Noth Bellmore, NY, Vegas, and coming soon, Houston, San Antonio, and Dallas!

Watch the full interview with Brandon on The Systems Culture Growth Podcast.

If you'd like to learn more about Brandon Nicastro or GCS Glass and Mirror get in touch!

• Connect with Brandon on Linkedin Here.
• Follow GCS Glass and Mirror on Linkedin
• Visit their website

If you'd like to get in touch with me you can contact me here or at systemsculturegrowth.com.