“They were a very nice retired couple,” Andrei recalls. “We did their bathroom; everything was good, they were happy. Then three months later, he calls me and he says, ‘Andrei, my kitchen sink fell off, and I have a family reunion tomorrow. My wife is going to kill me if something goes wrong.’ I said ‘John, we didn’t do your kitchen, you renovated your kitchen with someone else’, remember?’ and he goes ‘I know, I know, I just don’t want to invite those clowns back!’ So I had my plumber there within an hour.” “Once again, because we employ people, not subcontract, we don’t have to wait for them. I call my plumber and he’s there. He fixed the sink. Then on Monday, the client sends me an email. He said ‘Andrei, you saved my life. How much do I owe you?’ I picked up the phone and called him and said ‘That’s okay. I’m so happy that you had a nice family reunion and your wife is happy. No worries, it’s on the house.’ A week later, his neighbour sends me an email saying how John is raving about us and that he wants to renovate his home. So we got a $385,000 project out of that.” “That’s how I look at the warranty,” Andrei says. “When clients get back to us with warranty items, I go - ‘Awesome!’ I see it as an opportunity and as an investment. Most other contractors I know try to get a subcontractor back for a repair, so the client ends up waiting for half a year. It’s not like that with us.” Moving forward, Andrei intends to maintain that unique outlook and approach, and he hopes the people coming up behind him will maintain that outlook when they are in charge. Although Andrei has no immediate plans to hand off the reins, he does hope to do that eventually, and he hopes SOSNA will continue long after he’s gone. “It’s such a good company, it has such good strong values, and it’s done so much good for our clients – it would be a shame if this company dies when I retire,” Andrei says. “I have maybe 10 more years in me, maybe 15-max, but I want the business to continue after I step back or step away. That’s my vision. I want to elevate my leadership team within the company to the point where they could run it themselves so the company can continue and live on, even when I can no longer run it.” DECEMBER 2024
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTYzNTg=