Steve Castellano: ANS Construction (South Jersey/Philly)

Today Ete sits down with Steve Castellano of ANS Construction.

About Steve

• Owner of ANS for 34 years
• Born and raised in South Philly
• Married to Cheryl for 24 years
• Father of 2
• Serial Entrepreneur
• Member of the LDS church

What helped him get to where he is today

• Accepting jobs he didn’t even know how to do...yet. (6:34)
• Partnering with people who could do the job. (7:23)
• Passion for building business. The drive to “conquer the world.” (10:07)
• Focusing on small jobs. (10:20)
• Loving the chance to work on new problems every day. (12:40)
• Building trust in customers. “Most of my customers ask for the price after I'm done the job.” (15:20)
• Believing in himself: “I always knew that I was willing to go out and work for it...I wasn't worried about it.” (17:27)
• Knowing the legacy he wants to leave behind: “He did what he said he was gonna do and most of the time he gave you more than he promised you.” (44:16)
• Thriving on stress: “I love the stress. If you ask my wife, she'll tell you, I'm not happy if I don't have it. I thrive off it, it keeps you sharp.” (46:39)
• Faith: “Have God in your life. Yeah. Rely on God. Rely on Christ.” (53:13)

Memorable learning experiences (mistakes) and hard things along the way

• Learning to bid jobs: “You lost a lot. You learned a lot.” (12:05)
• Dealing with a franchise owner who “would rather see a store close, or the store suffer than to be wrong.”(35:38)
• The client who almost made him walk away: “I told her husband, I cannot deal with your wife anymore. She's, she's brutal.” (45:01)
• Burnout (and the fix). (50:10)
• Learning to reign in his ego: “Yeah, in my younger days, if I got an argument with a customer, they owed me money, you know, I thought it was cool to tell them, you know, keep the money, I don't need it. I got plenty.” (51:49)

 Major Insights 

• “The bigger the job, the bigger the risk, the smaller jobs, the smaller the risk.” (10:07)
• Forget references. The question is, “How long have you had your phone number?” (14:29)
• “...In today’s world...if you cheat somebody, they’re gonna know it.” (15:20)
• Find a “small” but meaningful way to signal to customers you care about the job you’re doing. (16:20)
• Diversify. (18:44)
• Lose the ego: “Whoever knows the most in the room is the smartest guy in the room, and they should take the lead.” (23:10)
• Sometimes you need to fire customers. Maybe a lot of customers. (24:22)
• Develop a gut : ) “I use my gut a lot...I read people.” (26:30)
• Concentrate on making happy customers even happier. (27:02)
• Be the guy in “I got a guy.” (27:35)
• Stop wasting time. Prepare. (28:10)
• Success = “wanting to go to work instead of having to go to work.” (51:08)
• Franchises: make sure you do this. (39:51)

Miscellaneous Good Stuff

• Growing up with 50 houses on his block, knowing all his neighbors, playing on asphalt fields (:54)
• Steve admits to lying. At least twice. (6:54)
• Maybe the best business ever: “I got to sit at the bar and drink a couple of beers for free. And I got to make money while I was hanging out with my friends. Yeah, I got to watch the sports I got to play pool in the back. And I was making money.” (19:54)
• This list of jobs and businesses: dealer in Atlantic City casino, selling sneakers, working in Philly City Hall, working for a contractor, doing kitchens and bathrooms for Sears, his own construction company, opened a kitchen at a bar, ran a lawn company, real estate investment, partner in a soft pretzel store franchise.