Local Brisbane East builder David Adams has been building dream homes in Brisbane for over 20 years. Already a successful business owner, David brings with him a proven track record of high-quality work with his wife Lisa.
Transcript:
David: I’ve been in the industry for a fairly long time now, since the year 2000. I came outta my time as an apprentice. I became qualified as a carpenter, and I set up my carpentry gang to work for a builder. I moved into the commercial sector for nearly 10 years then moved into a regulatory role as an inspector.
So, my role in the QBCC, that was to investigate defective work complaints by customers. So, I saw the worst of the industry. It showed me what was going wrong in the industry, which was a big eyeopener for me to see what the builders were doing wrong, and also, how to deal with customers and end customer complaints.
Lisa: We haven’t worked together before, but we always spoke about running a construction company. But basically, because of his experience in the construction industry and my experience with management in retail, we really wanted to do something together that played to both of those strengths.
David: A good friend of mine, Jason Till, owns the Brisbane West franchise for Stroud. And I worked in with him in a carpentry aspect in his business as well. I got to know Thom Eldridge at Brisbane South, and also did work for Thom. So, I worked for both the south and the western franchisees.
And I saw that the level of commitment to their customers, the level of quality that Stroud was producing in the market was completely out of the world compared to the other builders. And so, I found the opportunity for the Brisbane East franchise. And I saw the step into the role as the franchisee for Brisbane East as the next step for me and my family.
Lisa: We looked at a lot of other franchises before we decided to go with Stroud. The difference was the quality, the simplicity about how the whole franchise works, about the fact that our clients knew exactly what they were gonna be getting from us, that there was no hidden tricks or, you know, fees that come, you know, later on down the track. And also with Stroud’s record as well, we were able to clearly see that Stroud was a very reputable business, and was definitely the place for us.
David: Lisa came from a management background into the business. And she completely runs the office from the sense of a payroll accounting perspective. So, I manage the production. I manage the sales. However, Lisa is the brains behind the operation, really. We basically, complement each other that well that the business is thriving with both of our strengths working at full capacity.
Lisa: He’s in an office a lot more than what he used to be. He does miss the tools. But in this industry, he’s able to be on-site as well and talk to subbies and organise that as well. So, it gives him the best of both worlds.
David: Our future with Stroud is bright. We’ve just ticked over our first year of our franchise agreement, and things are going really strongly. We’ve got plans for our first display home. So, we are eagerly awaiting the construction of that. We are looking to continue to grow our team.
So, we have already grown into a four-person operation in the office. We are gonna be growing that with an additional two people in the next year. And we keep that tightly knit team together so that the customers still have that small builder feel with the quality and consistency of a large builder.
Lisa: The thing that I love is that we’ve got young kids, and if my daughter’s got something at school, we can go to that, no matter what time it is. If we’re needed for something, then we have that flexibility in our work lives to be able to work around their needs. There’s a lot of flexibility in our work lives now, and freedom, and doing something for us. Yeah.
David: Moving into the QBCC role from the supervisor role was great in the sense that it did give me that freedom, but it was a very negative role. We were always inspecting the worst of the worst. We were looking at customers that were upset with their builder.
And I can tell you from experience the first time I’ve handed over a house with Stroud, and seeing that customer’s face is priceless, it’s great. It’s gonna be a great memory for me, for my family, for him and his family. And it’s a complete opposite of the industry. It shows you what the industry can be. It shows you what Stroud Homes can be.
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