373 Nick Lopez

Jeffrey Feldberg: [00:00:00] At the age of 19, Nick launched his first painting company and for every summer afterwards, he painted homes to help pay for tuition, books, and the cost of living. Nick began to develop a passion and love for the craft, and in his third year as the owner of a painting company, the light bulb went off, and Nick realized that the past three years of painting didn't have to be his last, and that a future in the industry made sense.

From that point forward, Nick focused on owning a company in the painting industry that raised the status quo. And before we start the episode, a quick word from our sponsor, Deep Wealth and the Deep Wealth Mastery Program. Here's Sanjay, a graduate of Deep Wealth Mastery, and he says, the investment I made in the Deep Wealth Mastery Program, it's a rounding error compared to the value created today and the future value I'll receive.

Or how about William, who says, and I love this, A company that's attractive to sell is also a great one to own. The Deep Wealth Mastery Program gives me the best of both worlds. 

Now speaking of growth and adding value, check out what Leon says. He says that the Deep Wealth Mastery [00:01:00] Program changed how and who we hire. We've now begun to hire talent today that we never would have hired if it weren't for the program. The talent we're hiring today is helping both increase our growth and profits and our future enterprise value. 

Man, I love that kind of feedback because it's that kind of feedback that's what gets me out of bed every day.

Deep Wealth Mastery System, it's the only system based on a nine figure deal. That was my deal. And as you know, I said, no to a seven figure offer, created a system that we now call Deep Wealth Mastery, and that's what helped myself and my business partners all welcome from a different buyer, a different offer, a nine figure deal.

So if you're interested in growing your profits, preparing for a future liquidity event, whether that's two years away or 22 years away, and if you want to optimize your post exit life, Deep Wealth Mastery is for you. Please email success at deepwealth. com. Again, that's success, S U C C E S S at deepwealth. com. We'll send you all the information about Deep Wealth Mastery, otherwise known as the Scale for Ultimate Sales System. 

That's where you [00:02:00] want to be. You want to be with other successful business owners, entrepreneurs, and founders, just like you, who are looking to create market disruptions. Whether you're a startup, whether you've been in business for three or four decades, whether you're manufacturing, whether you're high tech, SaaS, low tech, whatever the case may Come in and network with other business owners, with other businesses, just like you, because they all want to lock in their financial freedom and enjoy both success and fulfillment.

Again, that's the 90 day Deep Wealth Mastery program. It has your name on it. All you need to do is take the next step. Please send an email to success at deepwealth. com

Welcome to the Deep Wealth Podcast. Well, you heard it in the official introduction. We have a fellow entrepreneur, founder, business owner with us today. And today we're going right back to the trenches of what has worked for our guest, Nick, to get unbelievable success. You know, There's a saying that success leaves clues if you know where to look and what to ask.

So with that said, Nick, welcome to the Deep Wealth Podcast. An absolute pleasure to have you with us. And Nick, [00:03:00] I'm really curious because there's always a story behind the story. What's your story? What got you from where you were to where you are today?

Nick Lopez: You bet. Well, excited to be on today. My story starts back in college. I'm actually an out of state student and from Denver.

I was 18 and had zero years of painting experience. bUt had seen other college companies on campus doing it and so started Spartan College Painters. I looked at the bigger the house, the more tuition it would help me pay. That was my logic. Little did I know I was stumbling on our niche. We're actually a luxury painting company. We are, the nation's first national luxury paint company and seeing that opportunity in college while working on my business degree and you know, was going through marketing classes [00:04:00] as a marketing major and had learned about positioning, right?

If you're high price high quality, that's your lane, that's where you stay, that's where you're positioned in the market. But firsthand, had seen the just lack of, consistent quality service there options at least for those customers in the market. They own a custom home and they want to pay more to get more, much like they did their home, their cars, the restaurant they went to the past weekend with friends.

So now here they are in the contracting space. And, they really struggle to find that sort of option and that was glaring. I was 18, 19, winning accounts from national paint companies and local companies and hearing the same feedback and fears from [00:05:00] customers around their experience working With paint companies. So, in, my business classes, I learned about competitive advantage. And that was a new business term for me at the time. And that's when the, light bulb really started going off, that what I was doing was different. And again, going to the marketing class. The largest painting franchise, which we don't look at us being a direct competitor we're luxury, they're general market. A lot of things from a business infrastructure are similar, but they are the 800 pound gorilla in the space.

And I think they have something like 2 percent of the market, so an absolutely massive market, and something that I think also plays a part of that, but you're right, there is something going on there, and to value, you know that more than most, [00:06:00] Business is all about providing value.

And for us, we're in the people business, and that value is absolutely culture, right? Creating an atmosphere where culture is intentional, it's prioritized, it's protected, but it's really the foundation of our competitive advantage. It's what makes us special in the marketplace a whole. So it's, just a, an ebb and flow, if you will, that benefits really just the whole process.

And that's just the focus on people in contracting. That's rare. I seen that in, college. It was a competitive advantage. I had them just showing up, answering my phone and doing a good job. I was asked by clients a lot of times, Hey, are you going to run off with my check? Are you going to charge me more when you start the job?

Are you going to job hop? Meaning, start my job, leave for X period of time, and then come back. [00:07:00] There is a lot of lack of trust within the space, and that's just due to it being a very fragmented industry, and there's not a lot of barriers to entry, right? If you have a paintbrush... In a truck, you're a painter.

So, all facets from the artisans that we work with to the clients we serve to our franchise partners, our home office, all of those people that interact with Lime,

At our core, it is the way in which we choose to do business. And that is infectious, and it's organic. So, folks that look into joining Lime have already made the decision, hey, is this something I want to be a part of or not?

we don't talk to a lot of folks that we otherwise could, because they already made the choice that no. But the folks that we do talk to, it's something that they really [00:08:00] commit to, and guess what? The peers within the organization have as well, so that just makes for easy conversation and, again, the foundation of everything, but is infectious in that it's alive.

And yeah, just that, very much alive and organic within the folks that make up Lime, because it's like minded individuals.

Jeffrey Feldberg: And so what, Nick, specifically are you doing with you and your team that you have this consistency that regardless of what location it's in, when a customer is calling or someone who's looking to become a customer, they're speaking to the team. How are you ensuring that consistency?

Nick Lopez: Yeah, it goes, back to really good training, right? And certifications and renewing those certifications and, having a culture of excellence, right? One of our values. [00:09:00] And that means doing things the Lime way. There are certain ways of doing things and, remaining disciplined and committed to, the Lime way. that's what makes franchising successful is doubling down on. The model and the lime way, that's franchising at its core, right? Trust in the process, trust in the formula and we're talking about momentum in culture, right? When a franchise organization makes that leap from figuring it out and breaking into the market to totally believing in a formula, knowing that it wins and it works, To doubling down on and protecting that process, that's where consistency happens.

And the more consistent a brand or a customer experience can be, the stronger the brand is. [00:10:00] anD so providing that vision to an organization is paramount and, you know, our field coaches, that's their wheelhouse. That's really where they focus and, echo these messages to our owners.

They're in the trenches, really as their business coaches, helping them to be great franchise owners, which is taking that complete ownership. And as a franchise owner, that means that you bought a process, you're invested in a process, and you're a part of the process for improving it, but nonetheless, a process.

And the more consistent we are as an organization with that process, the stronger our brand is the more enterprise value we have, and that's ultimately why we're in business.

Jeffrey Feldberg: And so with a process, Nick, with the standards that you're putting across there, how are you doing that in your training and making sure whether someone's been with you? For [00:11:00] 10 years or 10 months, how do you get that consistency? 

Nick Lopez: system trails for learning other than that it's, role playing. And practicing as a team. And closing gaps on any nuances that are, not meeting benchmarks for that process.

But, the team role playing openly and as a team and evaluating and helping one another get better, that's where so much progress and momentum is made within a service company like Line Painting.

Jeffrey Feldberg: so when you're doing that, what do you think differentiates Nick, what you're doing from your competitors? What's really been, I'll call it your secret sauce that year in year out has you coming back, you're growing the market, growing your business, having customers come back, word of mouth, all those good things that so many business owners.

So really strive to have, but a [00:12:00] lot of them aren't making the mark. So what's making the difference for you?

Nick Lopez: Oh great question there. What's making the difference for us, with, creating success with happy customers is you know, providing them an option in the marketplace that is glaringly obvious needs a standardized process for. So, we're able to come in with solutions that match the type of customer that we service, which is, hey, I want premium, I want quality, I want to pay more to get more, I don't want to overpay, but I want to have a quality experience.

We're providing a standardized solution for that customer for that segment in the marketplace, we've standardized those solutions. Going back to the LimeWay, we know that what we're doing [00:13:00] in our space It's never been done before. We're pioneering the industry and that's a part of our culture.

We're making history, right? We've made history, we're making history, and we'll continue to make history we are pioneering a segment. We're standardizing experience for a niche in the home improvement space. And that's never been done before. So, that's just value standardized for the consumer. And we've all experienced that change in the market, it may be. iF it's from, going into stores and buying to, just clicking some buttons on an app. And now it's showing up on your doorstep. Markets get standardized, and they get better over time. Of course, there's competition and everything else, but markets get [00:14:00] standardized by private entities, and that's what we're doing in the paint space, that's what we're doing in the home improvement space.

Jeffrey Feldberg: And so, Nick, as you go through this, because you were new to the industry, it's not like you had grown up in the industry. You're learning on your own as you continue to innovate. So each year you set a new benchmark and you want to do better than you did the last year and the year before that and so on.

Where are you getting some of those ideas some of that innovation? What's really propelling you forward? How are you finding the ability to keep on improving year over year?

Nick Lopez: I think it's just You know, no sacred cows, right? It doesn't matter what got us here. It's where's the marketplace? What does the customer want? And adjusting to the marketplace, which could be changes in technology, changes in products, changes in suppliers, changes in the economy customer expectations, you name it.

So, I think it's just being aware of the fact that the market's changing, customer demands are changing, [00:15:00] and in meeting the market and customers, where the industry's going, we remain relevant. And this is the other side of culture, right? We talked about culture, well, now we're talking about strategy, and you probably heard the old cliche, culture kicks strategy's butt all day but when you combine culture and strategy that's a life changing force.

anD so, yeah, these are the two areas where I live as our visionary, day in, day out, is... Improving our, the people that line their experience from a culture standpoint providing vision around culture based on our strategy, based on customer demands, based on the marketplace. We just had our conference and we talked about just this, right?

What does it look like going into 2024? What does the marketplace look like? And as a result, how does [00:16:00] that? Impact, our strategy then we can just focus on executing from there.

Jeffrey Feldberg: And so talk to us about that. So talk to us about executing because the best strategy in the world, no matter how great it is, if it isn't executed properly, it is really all for Naugh. It's a waste of time and effort. What are you and the team doing on the execution side that's worked really well for you, that you can share with our community?

Nick Lopez: My goodness, this was shared with me and I implemented it as fast as I could, as fast as it made sense for our business. And Anyways it's an operating system called EOS, Entrepreneur Operating System, and you can check out the book, Traction, written by Gino Wichman, but again, pointing back to the International Franchise Association, the IFA, one of the best things about the IFA is that, you have fellow franchisors and other folks in the franchise space. pRoviding guidance, direction [00:17:00] around, best practices, and so a franchisor doing just that gave out this book, Traction, and a couple other books for free. Just gave it to all the attendees at the conference. And that franchisor personally gifted it to everybody in that conference.

So, EOS, it's very appropriate for an organization that is scaling, that's growing. us at Lime, it's been wonderful. You talk about executing. EOS has been wonderful for... getting the business boiled down to objective data and the data that matters and really drives the business, those leading indicators then just put you in a position to focus on how can we maximize.

Our effort in us executing, and what are the best times for us to execute these items. So, kind of just, prioritizing those majors and minors, standardizing what those [00:18:00] majors and minors are and what those time frames for minors and majors are. Within the organization and turning that into scorecards that give you a beat on how you're trending for your annual projections and breaking that down quarterly, but keeping your thumb on it, right, month over month within those quarters.

Down to the weekly and daily so, we've standardized meeting agendas daily. They're quick, they're just fast team huddles. And then we have our weekly meetings much more robust agenda, but it's, ran off of the L10 structure that EOS, lays out. And so it keeps you on track, keeps you organized.

It allows you to prioritize and better project manage to get things over the finish line, keep them organized, appropriately assign them, and that's essentially what creates What the book is titled, Traction. If you talk about [00:19:00] execution, it's all about annual planning, quarterly pulses, and, those, that day in, day out, week in, week out, blocking and tackling in the weeds, but being consistent and disciplined about the process. But, that all comes from a good strategy, a good playbook that then allows you to just put your head down and execute.

Jeffrey Feldberg: And Nick, I'm curious, you know, as you're growing the business, you're out there, you're doing your thing. What are you doing to relax and recharge, take some time off, or is it something that's just 24 seven for you? What does it look like for you?

Nick Lopez: Well, I'm a father of four, so I have designed my life to be pretty remote. I work from home and I have an au pair who's lived with us for a few years. She's been wonderful. She's like a member of the family. But that, that allows me to have a business that is a lifestyle. We did, my wife and I just [00:20:00] went to Cancun, Mexico this past weekend.

With two of our kiddos, the older ones, the two younger ones, we like to travel with, but this was an annual conference and our oldest of our two youngest is four, so, a three and four year old, we left with our, our au pair back home, but brought the eight year old, it actually was his birthday over the trip.

And then his little brother is six. So, brought the eight and six year old and for me, business is, it's a legacy thing for me. I would hope that one day my kids would have interest to work in the business. And so, just bringing them up in the business. I always try to include them and keep them around as much as possible.

Hopefully they'll pick up some of the entrepreneurial habits. But, hey, if they have other interests in life, I'll support that, of course. But family love to golf, love to fish. [00:21:00] I actually haven't fished this year. We're in, like, the 11th month. Pretty bummed about that. But I have done a lot of golf and made up for it.

And I travel, like to travel for play. So. Yes, I'm always on. I love that I can run my business from my phone. That's just good process, good team, teams, everyone knowing their lanes and I love what I do, I guess is what I'm trying to say, and I love who I do it with. I love what we stand for, and I love the mark that we are making in the history books within our space.

So, I'm just enjoying the process, I'm loving everything about it. It's crazy to think that I'm going into my 16th year next year but somehow at a, crisp 33, this paint game now for a little while. But just trying to make as many customers happy as possible and trying to make as many franchise owners happy as possible.

So, [00:22:00] yeah, work life balance, love to work hard, but love to play hard and had the chance to play hard and work hard in Cancun with the LimeFam and my family this past weekend. So speaking of kind of recharging. Being on the beaches of Cancun with some of the brothers and sisters at Lime, that was incredible.

That was definitely a great way to recharge and get jacked up for a new year

Jeffrey Feldberg: And Nick, as you look forward, let's also look back for just a moment, because I'm wondering in your success, in the growth, and I would suspect that it hasn't been always a bed of roses. As the saying goes, you've had some challenges, some things likely work, some things didn't work.

What did work though for you? What that you could really recommend? What strategies as you look back? Really move the dial for you on quality, on growth, on profits, zeroing in on that hundredth location [00:23:00] now, anything that you can share with us of some things that really stand out for you.

Nick Lopez: It's all been adversity, it's all been challenges. But I think over time, I've gotten a better understanding that it's not that, it's opportunities, and it's strategy, and it's execution and it's fun, and it's a process, and... Entrepreneurship is a personal development course, it's constantly showing you, where you need to get better and how you need to better operate.

It's constantly humbling you.

But yeah, those first doors I would hit there, I would love coming up on homes that had different plaques or stones that had the words. There's the letters engraved in them, making up the word believe. And I don't know what it was about East Lansing, that area, but I, there was enough of them for it to stand out to me.

And, it's just these little mantras, right, you're breaking through. So, there has to be optimism. [00:24:00] To create something that doesn't exist quite yet, that's entrepreneurship. You're constantly creating something that doesn't exist yet, and you're stepping into an unknown area that you haven't executed in. Obviously, clearly with time, those things become a little bit more Routine and but yeah I, I would say that state of mind and mentality there through it all I would just tell myself to keep the faith and it's all been prayer for me. All the adversity, all the challenge, all the unknown this call it success, whatever I call it results that is from behavior.

For me, personally, I'm a Christian, kind of my core, and that's been no different. For me, in business.

 So, I would just say, keep the faith.

Jeffrey Feldberg: I love that. Keep the faith. Well, let's keep that in mind now as we begin to go into wrap up mode. And Nick, I [00:25:00] have the honor and the privilege for every guest, it's a ritual here on the Deep Wealth Podcast where I get to ask the same question. And it's a fun one. So let me put the question out there for you.

I'll give you the context. We'll see where it comes out for you. When you think of the movie Back to the Future, you have that magical DeLorean car that can take you to any point in time. So Nick, the fun part is it's tomorrow morning and you look outside the window. Not only is the DeLorean car there, but the door is open and is waiting for you to hop on in what you do, and you can go back to any point in your life.

Nick, as a young child, as a teenager, whatever point in time that would be. What are you telling your younger self in terms of life lessons or life wisdom, or hey, Nick, do this, but don't do that? What would that sound like?

Nick Lopez: I would go back to the 18 year old in the same space that I just mentioned, right, launching into the paint space. At that time, never thought I [00:26:00] was going to be a painter, but I would tell. That former self to think bigger.

Jeffrey Feldberg: Think even bigger. Okay. Terrific advice for our listeners out there. And Nick, let me ask you this. If a listener, they have a question and they want to ask you, business owner to business owner, or who knows, maybe they even want to have your company come out. They love the story that they heard. And Hey, Nick, make my place look like it's new all over again.

Where's the best place someone can reach you online?

Nick Lopez: Oh, you bet. You can reach us on our website. It's a line painting. com. That'd be the best spot to then be able to check out our social media. We also have. A show called The Level Up Show you can find that on the website and all the ways to get in contact with our team or myself are also on the website.

Jeffrey Feldberg: Terrific. So for our listeners, it'll be a point and click. It doesn't really get any easier than that. Doesn't get any better. Well, Nick, it's official. [00:27:00] It's a wrap. Congratulations. And as we absolutely love to say here on the Deep Wealth Podcast, may you continue to thrive and prosper while you remain healthy and safe.

Thank you so much.

Nick Lopez: Thank you, appreciate it. 

Jeffrey Feldberg: So there you have it, Deep Wealth Nation. What did you think? So with all that said and as we wrap it up, I have another question for you.

Actually, it's more of a personal favor. Did you find this episode helpful? Have you found other episodes of the Deep Wealth Podcast empowering and a game changer for your journey? And if you said yes, and I really hope you did, I have a small but really meaningful way that you can actually help us out and keep these episodes coming to you.

Are you ready for it? The dramatic pause. I'll just wait a moment. Drumroll, please. Subscribe. Please subscribe to the Deep Wealth Podcast on your favorite podcast channel. When you subscribe to the Deep Wealth Podcast, you're saving yourself time. Every episode automatically comes to you, and I want you to know that we meticulously craft Every one of our episodes to have impactful strategies, stories, expert insights that are designed to [00:28:00] help you grow your profits, increase the value of your business, and yes, even optimize your post exit life and your life right now, whatever you want that to look like.

And every time you subscribe and a fellow entrepreneur subscribe, it's a testament to how together, Yes, we are. We are changing the social fabric of society. One business owner at a time, one liquidity event at a time. So don't let the momentum stop here. Subscribe now on your favorite podcast channel.

You'll never miss an episode. You'll be the first to hear from the top industry leaders, the innovators, the disruptors that are really changing and shaping the business world, and maybe you're commuting, maybe you're at the gym, maybe you're taking a well deserved break that we spoke all about on this episode.

The Deep Wealth Podcast, it's your reliable source for the next big idea that could literally revolutionize your business. So once again, please hit that subscribe button, stay connected, inspired, and ahead of the curve. And again, your next big breakthrough moment, it might just be one episode away. Maybe it was even this episode.

So all that said. Thank you so much for [00:29:00] listening. And remember your wealth isn't just about the money in the bank. It's about the depth of your journey and the impact that you're creating. So let's continue this journey together. And from the bottom of my heart, thank you so much for listening to this episode.

And as we love to say here at Deep Wealth, may you continue to thrive and prosper while you remain healthy and safe. Thank you so much. God