Entrepreneurs launch Builder Nuggets platform to elevate leaders in the custom home-building and remodeling space.

Entrepreneurs Duane Johns and Dave Young want to inspire change in the home-building and remodeling industry.

Through their Builder Nuggets podcast, coaching program, and special events, the co-hosts are creating a community of builders and remodelers who want to collaborate and grow together.  This duo is shifting the siloed, beat-the-competition mindset they say has dominated the industry for several decades.

“The industry hasn’t gone through anything transformational in hundreds of years,” Johns said. “Building, at its center, is a noble profession and used to be held in high esteem. But along the way, it became commoditized and fragmented."

Johns and Young are both recognized business coaches in the industry.  Johns is based in Charlotte, North Carolina; Young in Ontario, Canada. Having helped grow hundreds of custom construction companies together, the pair launched the podcast in 2021.

“The big change that’s coming to the industry is massive collaboration,” Young said. “Widespread consolidation has happened in every single industry except custom construction. We’re driving a shift in mindset, led by an emerging group of owners, who share services and business models to create more opportunity and deliver a better experience. Right now, companies are all over the map. It’s a real struggle for organized industry leadership, too. How the heck do you deliver high level services when you have so many different businesses, models, processes, and tenure? Through Builder Nuggets we’re attracting leaders who are not afraid to share what they know.”

Johns' and Young’s platform is creating a community they believe will turn the tide on an industry that is aging out. A lack of succession planning, combined with a younger workforce that no longer considers a career in building attractive, is something these leaders feel can be overcome. 

Millennials aren’t entering the construction or building trades for a variety of reasons, including perception, negative advertising (think overweight plumber in commercials) and the 2008 housing crash, when 2 million construction workers lost their jobs. A survey from the Bureau of Labor Statistics found only 9 percent of the workers in the construction industry were younger than 25 years old.  And, according to ProBuilder, “succession planning of any sort remains an afterthought for too many private home builders.” MarketWatch in January noted that factors including “high inflation” and “persistent shortages of key supplies” weakened faith in the industry at the start of 2022, despite huge demand for new housing.

“The reason very few people are coming into the industry is because no one is creating real opportunity for them. Sure there are jobs, but what motivated people want is an exciting opportunity to grow. The odds of that today are slim,” Young said. “We’re using Builder Nuggets to attract forward-thinking leaders who understand how to elevate their team. They need systems, processes, training, and an amazing culture in order to make that happen. Most owners are trying to figure all that out on their own. It’s just not scalable - or attractive.”

Johns has been in the industry for over 25 years, while Young is a lifelong entrepreneur. Young said Builder Nuggets is already helping business owners think more entrepreneurially and create collaborations. “We started this so we could influence more builders and help them to build freedom through their business.” Young said.

Johns stressed too many leaders have been stuck in the weeds for too long. “We want to make this rewarding for people, move them out of a stressful job and towards building a valuable business that creates opportunities for themselves and others,” Johns said. “For decades people in the construction industry have been portrayed as slabs of meat. It is not perceived as a viable career path. If we can help building and remodeling professionals eliminate the industry noise and focus on the right things, they can create great businesses and live the lives they want to live. Like a great home, they can build a business that will last for generations.”

For more information on Builder Nuggets, visit https://www.buildernuggets.com/