Sign up to save your podcasts
Or
Share Ep053: Exploring Texas' Economic Landscape with Dave Quinn
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Or
Ep053: Exploring Texas' Economic Landscape with Dave Quinn
In this episode of Building Texas Business, I had a riveting conversation with Dave Quinn, the mastermind behind Day One Experts. Dave and his well-versed team have dedicated their craft to bridging the divide between public-sector funds and private-sector projects.
Not only does Dave bring to light the nuances of doing business in Texas, he does so with finesse and undeniable expertise.
His reflections on his entrepreneurial journey and personal anecdotes about his first job, favorite food debate, and dream vacation make for a well-rounded conversation. Join us for this episode as we explore the landscape of economic development and the lessons learned along the way.
SHOW HIGHLIGHTS
LINKS
Show Notes
Previous Episodes
About BoyarMiller
GUESTS
Dave Quinn
About Dave
About Dave
TRANSCRIPT
(AI transcript provided as supporting material and may contain errors)
Chris Hanslik
In today's episode you will meet Dave Quinn, founder and managing partner of Day One Experts. You will learn how Dave works with business owners to understand and articulate their value proposition when seeking economic incentives from community development boards. Alright, Dave, i want to welcome you to Building Texas Business. Thank you for coming on the show. I want to start by just having you tell us a little bit about your company, day One Experts, and what it does and what it's known for.
Dave Quinn
Yeah well, thank you, Chris. I appreciate the opportunity to get to listen to your show and happy to be on here now. So Day One Experts is an economic development consulting firm. We're an on-demand consulting firm. We work with communities, we work with business owners who want to engage with communities, and we also work with higher net worth individuals that are looking for projects to invest in, and so we have this little sweet spot where public-private partnerships come together and then we have the financing connections to help make those projects go.
Chris Hanslik
So it is a very specialized service you provide which is, at least in my mind, kind of unique. What inspired you to start this adventure and keep it going?
Dave Quinn
Well, great question. So my partners and I two of us are certified economic developers. We've spent our careers in the economic development public sector And one of my partners, when he retired, actually worked for him as his vice president in Frisco Economic Development Corporation. And when he retired I left also and we decided we kept getting asked how we were so successful in Frisco and what were we doing and how we could do this. And we had a third partner that was involved in a lot of different projects And he kept running into the problem where he knew that we were able to do certain things with the public sector funds, but he kept coming into communities where they weren't sure how to use their tools to really help his private projects. And so after a couple of these we realized we went out from lunch one day at Rudy's barbecue and we were like, hey, we think this could be a thing, like we think we could make this work, and so that's what we did. We drove up the business model and kind of greasy paper there at Rudy's barbecue And we day one experts was born and the idea is that we bring value from day one.
We shorten the time frame from that interaction between a private sector client and the public sector client Knowing from day one what it is the city is looking for and knowing what the private sector needs and how the city can use its tools to bridge that gap. And we can just help bring value from day one. And that was kind of the concept. We keep our foot on the economic development public sector. We offer on demand economic development for cities that might not have the resources for the experience that we bring to the table, but need the experience we bring to the table.
Fast growing communities in sort of the metro areas, where they're getting bombarded by projects and they just can't handle it. They can fractionalize our experience and we're there when we need it And they don't suffer the detriment of not having to be able to afford an experienced person that kind of handle those projects Right. And so that allows us to see opportunities that a lot of private sector developers don't know about. Because, for whatever reason, we get told about things and we're in meetings where things happen and we understand there's opportunity And we know on our development side that we can go get that client. We know what they're looking for, it's the type of project that they're looking for. We reach out to them and say, hey, we think there's an opportunity here And we start crafting that and take it back to the city.
And then, of course, you know, every major project needs money, right, and so having this tied into high net worth individuals that are looking for solid projects to invest in that are maybe not be sort of on the retail market, it gives us that unique opportunity to kind of bring all the players together and push these projects forward. And so really what we're doing is leveraging our expertise over the last. You know, we have 60 years, my partner has 40 years in the business, I've got over 20. So all of this experience and our deep knowledge and relationships that we have in the industry, we're basically now making that available to communities and to developers at a fraction of the cost, because we're, you know, practicing last.
Chris Hanslik
So it sounds like to me kind of classic entrepreneurial story where, based on your experience, you identified a gap and then you created this new venture to go address filling in how to fill in that gap and add value to the market.
Dave Quinn
Yeah, i wish I understood that when I started. I just saw that there was a need and we tried to feel it. I always tell people I'd be a much better economic developer now because I've been on the business side, i thought I understood small business and I thought I understood the pain points of the private sector. But until you've laid it, you know, sleep at night trying to figure out am I going to make payroll or not, or how am I going to do that. You don't really understand the pain, right?
So in the public sector, you push things a month or two. It's not a big deal, right? It'll be there next month. On the private side, a month, my sink, you right, right. And so you know we've been blessed from the beginning and we've got work right away and we've just been blessed. So we started in 2019 and we've never looked back and it's been a very fortunate ride. But I didn't know all the terms and economic development, you know, and entrepreneurship and things. I just didn't know what I didn't know. We just wanted to help people and we saw that we could. You know people willing to pay us to get that help.
Chris Hanslik
So well, that's always nice when you can tie that to right. You people pay you for what you do is as you were learning as an entrepreneur. that's pretty critical. So you mentioned and I think it's a great conversation to have with our listeners who are business owners, entrepreneurs Is what were some of those pain points, the things you made you didn't know going in, that you've learned since, that you know you could kind of share with someone that's maybe about to do the same thing, things to kind of maybe make sure you have your eye on the ball about as you're starting a new company.
Dave Quinn
Yeah, so thank you for that. It's one. Cash flow is king, right, you need cash. It takes longer and costs more than you think it will. It's probably 10 times more. I don't know what that number is.
But even being fortunate in getting projects, it's just a lot of work. And you know, a lot of people will maybe agree with what you're doing or think it's a good idea and say that, but when you ask them to pay for it, it's a completely different conversation, right, so it's one thing to So I think it's a great idea. But then you say, ok, well, it's going to cost X, then it gets sort of, you know, then it might not be as straightforward as people think. So you know, just just know, going in, that there's no day when you just like, ok, i made it and I don't have to worry, right, it's like you know whether the sales say the only easy day was yesterday. And I think that sometimes we glorify, you know, entrepreneurship and business ownership And it all sounds good to be your own boss until you're your own boss, right? And so you know, if you're not out hunting and killing and dragging stuff back to the cave, then you're not eating, and so there is a trade off there.
Now I wouldn't. I don't know that I would go back. I never say never. Well, it is a very tiring and can be exhilarating journey. You know some days that you know, just going to work for someone and having them cut me a check and not having to worry about it at the end of the day sounds kind of nice. There's a lot of positive stuff that comes from on your own business and there's a lot of reward and gratification that comes from it. But I think people need to be ready for just the battle that it can be And, you know, having to get up and do that every day. Just, i think they need to be realistic about what's about to happen and not saying it's not rewarding, not saying it's not worth it. But that's why passion and purpose is so critical is that you know some days you don't really feel like doing it, but you get a gut. You got to get up and do it anyway.
Chris Hanslik
I think you hit the nail on the head there, right there at the end. You said passion and purpose. If you're going to do this and start your own business and you know kind of take the risk that it, that all that involves, If you're not passionate about what it is you're doing and if you don't have a really clearly defined purpose, it's going to be really tough.
Dave Quinn
Well, what Go ahead?
Well, I was just going to say right. So that's one thing that I've learned is that there's lots of different ways to make money. Right, there's no shortage of opportunities. The question is are you willing to go through what it's going to take to mine that? right, it's like finding gold or anything else. Right, there's hard work involved and you got to decide. Is that what I want to do? And I think a lot of times entrepreneurs start off and we jump from thing to thing thinking that this will be a little easier, right, when really you just need to focus, find your passion, that purpose, and focus on that and sort of niche down and go really hard at that, and then other opportunities will come to you. But if you start chasing every little opportunity because you think that one will be just a little bit easier Man, you can get in the trap real quick, right?
Chris Hanslik
Staying focused is so clear, so important. Sounds like you guys at day one have found your purpose and you said it earlier it's in helping people And that's what's driving your business.
Dave Quinn
Yeah. so we love solving interesting problems right, and a lot of people kind of shy away from challenging problems. We love it when somebody says you can't do that or that's going to be really hard. That's where we specialize in, because one we've had lots of experience and we've seen it happen in time again, both in Jim and Ma's time in economic development. We've heard that won't work, can't do that, and we've found ways to make it work. So we know there's a way. It's just a matter of are you willing to commit the resources and the time and energy to sort of figure it out?
Chris Hanslik
Yeah. So let's talk a little bit about just how you go about doing what you do there. You've mentioned kind of working on kind of both sides, one, i guess, with these economic development councils or boards and others with entrepreneurs or businesses looking to come into those communities or maybe not a specific community but one in Texas that you may have a connection with. How do you go about, i guess, on the entrepreneur, private side of the equation, finding those opportunities and being able to engage and develop those relationships?
Dave Quinn
Well, what we've found is that, as much as we spend time in the economic development world marketing and telling people about our services, very few business owners actually know what the economic developer office can do for them and how to engage in those resources. And so when we spend our time networking and going to different watering holes where different entrepreneurs are, we find that they don't even realize that in their backyard they can go to the economic development and there's a wealth of resources that economic development professional can provide to them, and so that gives us the opportunity. One of the things that we started coming out of COVID was the Texas Economic Development Connection, for that exact reason. There are so many opportunities in Texas and so many different economic development offices that can help you, but most business owners don't know that. They see on the news that Texas is good. They want to move to Dallas or they want to move to Austin.
Well, in Dallas alone there's something over 100 different cities, and so Houston Metro. When someone says Houston, they don't really mean Houston. It could be Paraland or Conra. Well, those are, i mean, heck, those in Houston. That's an hour and a half apart from each other, right, right?
Chris Hanslik
yeah.
Dave Quinn
And so how do you sort through all of that if you're from California or you're from Japan or you're from Taiwan and you've never been here?
And so what we realized is that we can help feel that we can be the boots on the ground, the expertise in Texas to help you identify what makes sense for you, and because we're also spending a lot of time at the Texas Economic Development Conferences and we're hearing from all of these different people and we understand what they're looking for. You know they might be saying, hey, I'm. You know, we'd really like a resort hotel with a conference center. Well, we know a developer that specializes in that. So I can start to connect the dots and create value for both sides. Because as an economic developer, you've never done that project, so you don't even know where to get started right And you don't even know how to vet the different people that want to do that. So we can help connect those dots with vetted resources and shorten the time frame that it takes you to get you know into the game. That's man, we just love doing that.
Chris Hanslik
We love connecting people and creating value that way I can see the passion you have for and the excitement. What are some of the attributes that we just educate you know listeners on? What are some of the attributes that are out there that you know certain you know entrepreneur might be able to take advantage of if they get connected with the right economic development council.
Dave Quinn
Well, so the easy one is economic incentives, right? Everybody wants to know about incentives. First and foremost, you need to understand what value you bring to the table When you're an entrepreneur and you come into a city, how cities look at your economic value is your jobs. Are you creating you know jobs and you know work opportunity for their citizens? What's the capital investment for property taxes on the equipment? What kind of value are you bringing in that stance? And then, where's your product being sold? Are you selling to just the local regional area or are you selling product to people all over the US And ideally, that is a really high value opportunity for the city.
They want you selling your product made in one town that's sold to somebody else, because now you're importing dollars. So, understanding the value there, then you can go to the city and say this is the economic value I bring. And then understanding what's your ask? right, because if you just say, hey, i want some money, well, yeah, we all need money, we all need resources. But if you say I need $15,000 to buy a new piece of equipment that's going to allow me to increase production by 20%, which is going to increase my sales and allow me to hire two people. That's a very specific ask that the city can then look at and say, okay, let me figure out how I can get you there, right. And so I think that's one thing business owners need to understand is don't You can go and start to have the conversation, but you really need to understand what you're asking for. It's not just money. We all need money. I need this money for this thing that's going to create this opportunity And that allows the public side to look at that and say, okay, how can we best fill that gap?
There's a lot of different resources out there, and it might not be direct cash incentives. Maybe it's partnering with the workforce board to create specific training that offsets some of the costs you have related to hiring new people, and so you know the money that it would have cost you for that you can then repurpose to buy the equipment that you're needing, right. And so the economic developer knows that and they know what resources are available at the state level and what other sort of opportunity this might be to plug in to help you, and then it might go beyond cash incentives. It's about plugging into the network, right? So the economic developer is out networking and they're seeing other people who have products and challenges and those kind of things, and maybe they know, if they understand what it is you bring to the table.
They are looking for that connection point as well, right, so they're trying to figure out how do I help you connect with this business that is looking for your product, that maybe together you all do a whole new thing and that creates revenue and opportunities for you. So, even if it's not a cash incentive, making sure that you're having and developing a relationship with your local economic developer so that when the that something goes wrong in your business or there's a challenge that comes up, you have a person who is in your backyard that wants to help you succeed. But they need to first understand what it is you're doing, and so there's a value in that. And they're traveling, not just in the state, but they're traveling all over the country, so they might bump into someone who talks about meeting. You know again something that your business can provide, and it's not just about cash incentives, it's about connecting the dots for you as well.
Chris Hanslik
Gotcha. Well so, and I'm sure you know, those types of incentives kind of exist in lots of places. So what are some of the things you tell the private side, these, you know, privately held businesses that would be an advantage of them relocating to Texas and or staying in Texas and growing here? What are some of those attributes you think our state provides for those types of privately held businesses?
Dave Quinn
Yeah, so I think just the general business environment, right. So the tax environment that we operate in and the cost of doing business in Texas, for the most part. It's not perfect in every industry, in every business, but for the most part operating in Texas is going to be less expensive. There's going to be generally, depending on where you're coming from, a workforce and an educated workforce that you're going to be able to tap into, although everywhere you go across the US you know there's workforce challenges. But I think what you find here is a workforce that is less. You know. They just want to, they want a good job, they want to show up and they want to do that job and then be able to go home And there's not a lot of extra drama around that, right. And the state doesn't spend a lot of time and effort, you know, piling on different mandates and things like that.
You know now, if you think you're going to come into Texas and just pay minimum wage and hire the best, you're probably not right. There's a wage rate that is, there's a floor, right. Your competitors are paying, right. So I don't want to be, i don't want to give people the wrong idea that you can come in and pay cheap labor. There's a you know there's a certain level there, but you'll generally find too that people here in Texas want you to succeed, especially at the economic development level, in this community development. We're not in the business of keeping you from doing what you want to do, i mean really we and I get this question from small business owners.
When they call from the state and I'm explaining this, they're like I have to first get them past the fact that we actually want to help. They think it's a scam or there's a bait and switch. Or are you serious? This person's going to do this for free? This person is going to help you find resources and we want you to succeed and we're willing to invest time and effort to do that. I mean, and I don't have to pay all these different fees up front and invest first, and no, they are there to be your partner and to help, and so I think that's the thing that Texas offers is just man. We want people to come here and be successful.
Chris Hanslik
Certainly, you know, been a lot of movement, not just I mean obviously recently, but even over the last decade or so of that business migration to Texas for those reasons and others, and so you know, as we all hope it continues, is there anything? I know you said you started in 2019. Is there anything coming out of the pandemic of 2020 and what the economy has been doing in the last couple of years, any changes that you've seen that you think have hindered your ability to attract business of Texas? And then I'll ask the opposite after that.
Dave Quinn
Yeah well, so I'll just say, covid, traditionally economic developers were on the road right. You had to go to trade shows. you were it was this in-person sort of trying to get in front of people. COVID shut that down And so we were all forced to do things like Zoom and figure this out And really we shifted. that's one of the reasons we created the Texas Economic Development Connection was we knew we weren't going to be able to do traditional economic development marketing And that's starting to come back a little bit. you know there's more and more conferences coming online. But we created this infrastructure to do inbound content marketing and really showcasing success stories from our communities. So we're creating a great community partners and getting that in front of these business owners digitally.
And man, getting in front of small business owners is really tough, like it's easy to go find a big guy's, but to find a 15 person manufacturing shop somewhere in California and in LA and figure out where that person hangs out is really tough. But what we found is, because of what's going on in the different states, those business owners are now being more aggressive at looking for options to relocate to And that's the one presence that allows people to engage and start to find that, hey, there's people out there that can help me sort through this. I can't tell you how many times the business owner has connected with us and they said, thank goodness, can you just tell me where I'm supposed to go? You know, they know Texas, but it's overwhelming. if you start doing the search, there's a lot of different information out there, and so you know, as a business owner, you're just like man. could I connect with someone who can help walk me through that? I need a Sherpa And that's what we're looking for, and so that's changed a little bit right.
Chris Hanslik
So let's talk a little bit about that, though. So Texas economic development connection that's something that you created as a kind of a website that aggregates all this for a business owner to go and, i guess, find on the web and access this information and, obviously, a way to reach out to you.
Dave Quinn
That's correct. So you know we don't what I say, what I tell everyone is we don't go market Texas and that people should relocate to Texas. What we do is create content for people who are looking at Texas as an option. And so how do you set up your LLC? Why would I be in South Texas versus East Texas? You know we are putting content together that showcases the different options that are available in Texas, and then we make it very easy for them to find us. Get on a phone call with us and let us walk them through that process. And so it's not about convincing people to move to Texas. If you don't want to be in Texas, i don't want you in Texas because you're not going to be successful. What I want to do is help the person who says I want to be in Texas, i just don't know where to go.
Elon Musk is getting a bunch of money from the state. How do I do that? Well, in Texas, economic development resources are really derived at the local level a lot more than the state level. Especially if you're a small business owner, there are resources available to you that you got to know where to go. I talked to a gentleman, a community in East Texas. They have 77 acres in an industrial park ready to go. Streets, water, sewer, are looking, you know, to put that on the market, but they don't have it on the website. They don't have it anywhere that you can find it. I can give you the name of the town and I would be willing to bet you $100. You wouldn't come up with any idea that they have land available for sale. So what we do is we bury out those nuggets, and we know that, and now we make that available to the business owner And so it's a.
You know, it's just helping people. As a small business owner, now I understand there's only so many hours in the day, and so you're trying to do your job here in business hours, than a night you're on Google trying to figure out where am I supposed to go, and it can be very confusing. And there's HR and there's insurance issues and there's legal issues. If you have two companies in different states and doing different things, it's a lot, and so what we want to do is be that again the Sherpa that allows you to easily transition into that, to give you a place to go and vetted resources that you're not going to get taken advantage of. You don't want to just look down the phone book or Google and call the first person that you come to.
Chris Hanslik
Okay, that's. I mean that came that website came out of, i guess, like you said, the inability to connect personally, and you've found a different way. So kind of what looked like a negative cut in COVID you turned into a very positive thing for your business and for the people you're trying to serve. Anything, i guess on the positive side of it, as things have tried to recover, that has kind of helped your business grow.
Dave Quinn
Well, i think just the fact that there's a lot of negative talk about the economy and a lot of uncertainty across the US, right, what's the market's going to do and everything's it's a very negative. It can feel very negative, but we haven't seen that in Texas. And what I tell people is yes, there's a storm coming, but Texas is that safe harbor that the boats are trying to get into to weather it. Not saying that we won't have some rough water in the harbor, but I'd rather weather that storm in Texas than anywhere else in the country. And we're seeing that.
You know, more and more smaller businesses are saying look, i love this place, whether it's Oregon or New York, new Jersey, California, we love this place. I've been here forever, but it's just gotten to the point where I can't grow my business here And I've got to find somewhere else to go. And again, there's a lot of different places in Texas to go, and it doesn't have to be in Dallas or the central circuit, right, there's places all over Texas that are arms open, welcome you and you can find a good quality of life in these places. You just don't know to ask the question.
Chris Hanslik
That's great. So let's talk a little bit about I guess internally You've got two partners you're driving the business. I mean, what type of I guess qualities from a leadership standpoint do you feel like you bring to the table that helped you kind of grow this business over the last few?
Dave Quinn
years. Well, I'm in this trap of I'm the visionary, i see the big picture of where I'm going. The challenge I have is that day-to-day operations execute right. And I know a lot of entrepreneurs I've talked to. We kind of get into the same battle. At some point you have to bring more people on your team, but you've got to kind of figure out to do that wisely and manage cash and manage it. Every time you add someone, that's a big thing. Right now You're taking their livelihood under. Am I willing to do that? But in order to grow and to scale, that's one of the things that I'm going to have to do.
But my skill set is in seeing opportunity and having the vision and passion to drive that, and so, in recognizing that and recognizing that, for us to continue to move forward, we're getting to that point where we need to start backfilling with expertise in a different realm And that the process driven person right that wants to show up and create these systems and processes. We've sort of done that on our own and it's fine. I can do it. It's just not my greatest skill set, and so I think that's.
You know, every business owner has to realize that they just can't do it all. You have to do it all at first, but if there's some point where you just can't, you can't be everything And so you have to, sort of feels like you're taking a step back, right, you're sort of spending or investing resources And so it feels like you're losing. But what happens is I've seen it happen time and time again with friends in the economic and in the entrepreneur world walking the same journey is, you know, they took the step back, but then they took three steps forward because they took so much pressure off themselves And suddenly they were able to capitalize on other opportunities that they just didn't have time to get to those before.
Chris Hanslik
Yeah, you're. I mean, you're so right. I mean the entrepreneur, that visionary that starts. you can do it all, you just won't grow your business.
Dave Quinn
Yeah, and when we're going to a certain level and it is just all you'll ever get. It's like a plant in a potted plant in a you know, in a certain size pot. It will grow to that pot. You have to transplant if you want to grow better.
Chris Hanslik
That's right, and it is as you grow that team find the trust that does you know, open you up for the opportunity to more growth. What do you see, kind of you know, in the near future, as far as you know, innovative things that may be happening in the economic development world, that you may be able to grow your business even further by attracting more of these entrepreneurs and privately held businesses into the state?
Dave Quinn
Yeah, so one of the things that we're looking at is automation and being able to use technology to scale and using a virtual admin team And, instead of each economic developer hiring their own person to do, say, sites and buildings or different things, really building a virtual team and not being limited by someone sitting in your office, right, and you know, you don't need a person to do sites and buildings on your website or certain things all the time, but you need them when you need them. And so we're looking at how do we help the public sector adopt these innovative tools without the risk of being innovative. Everybody loves innovation until they realize innovation means failure And in order to, you know, innovate you've got to fail a few times. Well, in the public sector, we don't like failure, that's you know. We stay away from failure. And so, as the private side, what we like to do is innovate, find the solution and then plug it in. So you've sort of mitigated the risk and fractionalized that over different communities. So we're doing that. We're adding unavailable properties listing on our website And again taking that using automation, so that the economic developer doesn't have to upload their data and their sites into the system.
It's done for them, and one of the reasons that hasn't been done in the past is it always comes to the bottleneck of the economic developer having to have time to input that and then keep it relevant and up to date. And we're going to take that off their shoulders and do it for them so that, you know, a business owner in Irvine, California, can look on our website And if they're looking for, you know, 25,000 square feet in North Texas, they'll be able to find that building and have a place to go. Do that. And then we're pushing resources to maintain that database and make sure it's up, updated and accurate.
Chris Hanslik
That's great. It's kind of like a much needed service that is obviously underserved at this point.
Dave Quinn
It is. It's a heavy lift. I will tell you I can say it a lot easier than I can that we've been able to figure it out, but we're going to make it happen And that's why we exist. Right, we're again fractionalizing that effort across a lot of different cities for the benefit of the business owner. I always tell people that come into the partnership you know, it's not about talking about ourselves, it's about creating value to the business owner. And if we can become value to the business owner, they'll tell their friends and they'll tell others and they'll find us. And because they're out there looking, they're not looking for a sales pitch on a community. What they're looking for is a solution to a problem they have, and that's what we do.
Chris Hanslik
That's great. Let's turn a little bit to the lighter side, normal, personal. What was your first job, Dave Man?
Dave Quinn
my first job, not working for my dad was milking cows. I was a relief milker, So I would go and milk cows in the weekend And I thought that was the perfect job, right? Because you milk cows at four in the morning and four the afternoon. I thought, man, that's only two times a day And I'll have all this free time. Well, I realized, when you get up at four in the morning, or when you start milking at four, you have to get up to like three And then you're so tired and so you know done that you sleep till four o'clock and have to do it all over again. So that whole summer I didn't do, I didn't have any fun because I don't milk cows And I thought this is a dumb job.
Like there's no days off, you have to milk twice a day. The cows don't like you, you don't like them. You know it's not dirty, you stink And I'm like it really allowed me to like I need to go get a college education because I don't love you know people that do that. God bless them. They love it And that is their thing. It was not my thing.
Chris Hanslik
I'll say it brings you. I bet you appreciated the next class of milk you had.
Dave Quinn
Oh, gosh, yes, I'm telling you, I don't know, man, that was not a lot of fun.
Chris Hanslik
Well, I'll tell you this, Dave we've done over 50 episodes on this podcast and your first job just went to the top of the list.
Dave Quinn
I want if I could remember. I wish I could remember the guy that hired me, because I would go and tell him I'm sorry, i don't think I was a very good worker. I mean I got the job done but you know, i don't know, i don't. I feel like I owe him an apology.
Chris Hanslik
Yeah, that's great. I love it All right. So now, now the food choice you Tex-Max or barbecue guy?
Dave Quinn
Oh man, that's a tough one. I love Tex-Max. That's probably the more I ate it, more. Barbecue is more of a nice meal out right, like it's a, especially now, and I've gotten sort of picky with my barbecue too, right. So, growing, having been in Bastrop and worked in, you know, central Texas, having a friend that owns a barbecue restaurant, I'm kind of a, I'm kind of snobbish about that, and so it has to be really good barbecue, which means it's, you know, fairly expensive, and so that's not something we have all the time. And if you're not going to appreciate it, i know my kids, i don't take them, they don't appreciate it enough. So Tex-Max is the easy one. We do that. In fact, we had Tex-Max last night.
Chris Hanslik
That's lovely. Well, i can understand that. But I guess from a guy that said he started his this entrepreneurial business at a Rudy's barbecue, i kind of thought you might go barbecue.
Dave Quinn
Well, yeah, well, rudy's. So the you know, my partner was the guy that helped Rudy's get to Frisco And there was the whole story behind it. There's a really cool backstory, and so for me, when they said, where do you want to meet And I knew we were going to meet about this I'm like, if this turns into something, this will be a cool story, right? So I was like, well, let's start at Rudy's right. And you know, whatever, I'm a sucker for a story, right.
And I love that connection Southwest Airlines back at Napkin thing.
Chris Hanslik
Yeah.
Dave Quinn
Something about we started Rudy's on. you know, greasy sausage paper, like butcher paper, like that. Anyway, I did it for the story. I love it. I didn't know if it was going to happen, But I thought, if it does, this is going to be a cool story.
Chris Hanslik
Yeah, for sure It is. It did happen And it is a great story. Yeah, all right. Last question So if you could take a 30-day sabbatical, where would you go And what would you do?
Dave Quinn
I'd go to Australia for 30 days. I'd be in Australia. I've just a fascinating place And yeah. So there you go. I would love to do that. I've never been. That's one of the places I've never been, And it feels like a place that you need more than a week to really explore.
Chris Hanslik
Yeah. I think, it would be great down there And I think your ride's going to go. You want to go and stay for a little bit. Well, Dave, this has been great. I've loved getting to know you, loved hearing your story and what you and your partners are doing to drive business into Texas. You know, not surprised. you're successful and hope for all of us. You continue to be more than successful than you ever planned to be.
Dave Quinn
Well, Chris, thank you, appreciate you giving me the opportunity to share my story and then also sharing other people's story. I think you know letting others hear our stories and inspiring them to do it in spite of all of the reasons not to. And, like I said, it would be easier if you don't start a business, i guarantee you. But we need more people doing what they're passionate and purpose driven. If we can get more people doing what their purpose is and bringing their value to the world, i think the world would be a better place.
Chris Hanslik
Man, I couldn't agree more. You can't say any better than what you said. It right then. So thanks again, Dave, and best of luck to you.
Dave Quinn
All right, thanks, Chris. Thanks, man, i really appreciate it. Bye.
Chris Hanslik
Bye. Thanks for tuning in to Building Texas Business For more information, episodes and summaries. head over to boyermillercom forward slash podcast. If you enjoyed this episode and found it informative. Please take a moment to rate, review and share it with friends and colleagues. It really helps others find our podcast. As always, we appreciate the support and feedback of our podcast community. More episodes are coming soon, so be sure to check back.
Special Guest: Dave Quinn.
View all episodes
By BoyarMiller
5
3131 ratings
In this episode of Building Texas Business, I had a riveting conversation with Dave Quinn, the mastermind behind Day One Experts. Dave and his well-versed team have dedicated their craft to bridging the divide between public-sector funds and private-sector projects.
Not only does Dave bring to light the nuances of doing business in Texas, he does so with finesse and undeniable expertise.
His reflections on his entrepreneurial journey and personal anecdotes about his first job, favorite food debate, and dream vacation make for a well-rounded conversation. Join us for this episode as we explore the landscape of economic development and the lessons learned along the way.
SHOW HIGHLIGHTS
LINKS
Show Notes
Previous Episodes
About BoyarMiller
GUESTS
Dave Quinn
About Dave
About Dave
TRANSCRIPT
(AI transcript provided as supporting material and may contain errors)
Chris Hanslik
In today's episode you will meet Dave Quinn, founder and managing partner of Day One Experts. You will learn how Dave works with business owners to understand and articulate their value proposition when seeking economic incentives from community development boards. Alright, Dave, i want to welcome you to Building Texas Business. Thank you for coming on the show. I want to start by just having you tell us a little bit about your company, day One Experts, and what it does and what it's known for.
Dave Quinn
Yeah well, thank you, Chris. I appreciate the opportunity to get to listen to your show and happy to be on here now. So Day One Experts is an economic development consulting firm. We're an on-demand consulting firm. We work with communities, we work with business owners who want to engage with communities, and we also work with higher net worth individuals that are looking for projects to invest in, and so we have this little sweet spot where public-private partnerships come together and then we have the financing connections to help make those projects go.
Chris Hanslik
So it is a very specialized service you provide which is, at least in my mind, kind of unique. What inspired you to start this adventure and keep it going?
Dave Quinn
Well, great question. So my partners and I two of us are certified economic developers. We've spent our careers in the economic development public sector And one of my partners, when he retired, actually worked for him as his vice president in Frisco Economic Development Corporation. And when he retired I left also and we decided we kept getting asked how we were so successful in Frisco and what were we doing and how we could do this. And we had a third partner that was involved in a lot of different projects And he kept running into the problem where he knew that we were able to do certain things with the public sector funds, but he kept coming into communities where they weren't sure how to use their tools to really help his private projects. And so after a couple of these we realized we went out from lunch one day at Rudy's barbecue and we were like, hey, we think this could be a thing, like we think we could make this work, and so that's what we did. We drove up the business model and kind of greasy paper there at Rudy's barbecue And we day one experts was born and the idea is that we bring value from day one.
We shorten the time frame from that interaction between a private sector client and the public sector client Knowing from day one what it is the city is looking for and knowing what the private sector needs and how the city can use its tools to bridge that gap. And we can just help bring value from day one. And that was kind of the concept. We keep our foot on the economic development public sector. We offer on demand economic development for cities that might not have the resources for the experience that we bring to the table, but need the experience we bring to the table.
Fast growing communities in sort of the metro areas, where they're getting bombarded by projects and they just can't handle it. They can fractionalize our experience and we're there when we need it And they don't suffer the detriment of not having to be able to afford an experienced person that kind of handle those projects Right. And so that allows us to see opportunities that a lot of private sector developers don't know about. Because, for whatever reason, we get told about things and we're in meetings where things happen and we understand there's opportunity And we know on our development side that we can go get that client. We know what they're looking for, it's the type of project that they're looking for. We reach out to them and say, hey, we think there's an opportunity here And we start crafting that and take it back to the city.
And then, of course, you know, every major project needs money, right, and so having this tied into high net worth individuals that are looking for solid projects to invest in that are maybe not be sort of on the retail market, it gives us that unique opportunity to kind of bring all the players together and push these projects forward. And so really what we're doing is leveraging our expertise over the last. You know, we have 60 years, my partner has 40 years in the business, I've got over 20. So all of this experience and our deep knowledge and relationships that we have in the industry, we're basically now making that available to communities and to developers at a fraction of the cost, because we're, you know, practicing last.
Chris Hanslik
So it sounds like to me kind of classic entrepreneurial story where, based on your experience, you identified a gap and then you created this new venture to go address filling in how to fill in that gap and add value to the market.
Dave Quinn
Yeah, i wish I understood that when I started. I just saw that there was a need and we tried to feel it. I always tell people I'd be a much better economic developer now because I've been on the business side, i thought I understood small business and I thought I understood the pain points of the private sector. But until you've laid it, you know, sleep at night trying to figure out am I going to make payroll or not, or how am I going to do that. You don't really understand the pain, right?
So in the public sector, you push things a month or two. It's not a big deal, right? It'll be there next month. On the private side, a month, my sink, you right, right. And so you know we've been blessed from the beginning and we've got work right away and we've just been blessed. So we started in 2019 and we've never looked back and it's been a very fortunate ride. But I didn't know all the terms and economic development, you know, and entrepreneurship and things. I just didn't know what I didn't know. We just wanted to help people and we saw that we could. You know people willing to pay us to get that help.
Chris Hanslik
So well, that's always nice when you can tie that to right. You people pay you for what you do is as you were learning as an entrepreneur. that's pretty critical. So you mentioned and I think it's a great conversation to have with our listeners who are business owners, entrepreneurs Is what were some of those pain points, the things you made you didn't know going in, that you've learned since, that you know you could kind of share with someone that's maybe about to do the same thing, things to kind of maybe make sure you have your eye on the ball about as you're starting a new company.
Dave Quinn
Yeah, so thank you for that. It's one. Cash flow is king, right, you need cash. It takes longer and costs more than you think it will. It's probably 10 times more. I don't know what that number is.
But even being fortunate in getting projects, it's just a lot of work. And you know, a lot of people will maybe agree with what you're doing or think it's a good idea and say that, but when you ask them to pay for it, it's a completely different conversation, right, so it's one thing to So I think it's a great idea. But then you say, ok, well, it's going to cost X, then it gets sort of, you know, then it might not be as straightforward as people think. So you know, just just know, going in, that there's no day when you just like, ok, i made it and I don't have to worry, right, it's like you know whether the sales say the only easy day was yesterday. And I think that sometimes we glorify, you know, entrepreneurship and business ownership And it all sounds good to be your own boss until you're your own boss, right? And so you know, if you're not out hunting and killing and dragging stuff back to the cave, then you're not eating, and so there is a trade off there.
Now I wouldn't. I don't know that I would go back. I never say never. Well, it is a very tiring and can be exhilarating journey. You know some days that you know, just going to work for someone and having them cut me a check and not having to worry about it at the end of the day sounds kind of nice. There's a lot of positive stuff that comes from on your own business and there's a lot of reward and gratification that comes from it. But I think people need to be ready for just the battle that it can be And, you know, having to get up and do that every day. Just, i think they need to be realistic about what's about to happen and not saying it's not rewarding, not saying it's not worth it. But that's why passion and purpose is so critical is that you know some days you don't really feel like doing it, but you get a gut. You got to get up and do it anyway.
Chris Hanslik
I think you hit the nail on the head there, right there at the end. You said passion and purpose. If you're going to do this and start your own business and you know kind of take the risk that it, that all that involves, If you're not passionate about what it is you're doing and if you don't have a really clearly defined purpose, it's going to be really tough.
Dave Quinn
Well, what Go ahead?
Well, I was just going to say right. So that's one thing that I've learned is that there's lots of different ways to make money. Right, there's no shortage of opportunities. The question is are you willing to go through what it's going to take to mine that? right, it's like finding gold or anything else. Right, there's hard work involved and you got to decide. Is that what I want to do? And I think a lot of times entrepreneurs start off and we jump from thing to thing thinking that this will be a little easier, right, when really you just need to focus, find your passion, that purpose, and focus on that and sort of niche down and go really hard at that, and then other opportunities will come to you. But if you start chasing every little opportunity because you think that one will be just a little bit easier Man, you can get in the trap real quick, right?
Chris Hanslik
Staying focused is so clear, so important. Sounds like you guys at day one have found your purpose and you said it earlier it's in helping people And that's what's driving your business.
Dave Quinn
Yeah. so we love solving interesting problems right, and a lot of people kind of shy away from challenging problems. We love it when somebody says you can't do that or that's going to be really hard. That's where we specialize in, because one we've had lots of experience and we've seen it happen in time again, both in Jim and Ma's time in economic development. We've heard that won't work, can't do that, and we've found ways to make it work. So we know there's a way. It's just a matter of are you willing to commit the resources and the time and energy to sort of figure it out?
Chris Hanslik
Yeah. So let's talk a little bit about just how you go about doing what you do there. You've mentioned kind of working on kind of both sides, one, i guess, with these economic development councils or boards and others with entrepreneurs or businesses looking to come into those communities or maybe not a specific community but one in Texas that you may have a connection with. How do you go about, i guess, on the entrepreneur, private side of the equation, finding those opportunities and being able to engage and develop those relationships?
Dave Quinn
Well, what we've found is that, as much as we spend time in the economic development world marketing and telling people about our services, very few business owners actually know what the economic developer office can do for them and how to engage in those resources. And so when we spend our time networking and going to different watering holes where different entrepreneurs are, we find that they don't even realize that in their backyard they can go to the economic development and there's a wealth of resources that economic development professional can provide to them, and so that gives us the opportunity. One of the things that we started coming out of COVID was the Texas Economic Development Connection, for that exact reason. There are so many opportunities in Texas and so many different economic development offices that can help you, but most business owners don't know that. They see on the news that Texas is good. They want to move to Dallas or they want to move to Austin.
Well, in Dallas alone there's something over 100 different cities, and so Houston Metro. When someone says Houston, they don't really mean Houston. It could be Paraland or Conra. Well, those are, i mean, heck, those in Houston. That's an hour and a half apart from each other, right, right?
Chris Hanslik
yeah.
Dave Quinn
And so how do you sort through all of that if you're from California or you're from Japan or you're from Taiwan and you've never been here?
And so what we realized is that we can help feel that we can be the boots on the ground, the expertise in Texas to help you identify what makes sense for you, and because we're also spending a lot of time at the Texas Economic Development Conferences and we're hearing from all of these different people and we understand what they're looking for. You know they might be saying, hey, I'm. You know, we'd really like a resort hotel with a conference center. Well, we know a developer that specializes in that. So I can start to connect the dots and create value for both sides. Because as an economic developer, you've never done that project, so you don't even know where to get started right And you don't even know how to vet the different people that want to do that. So we can help connect those dots with vetted resources and shorten the time frame that it takes you to get you know into the game. That's man, we just love doing that.
Chris Hanslik
We love connecting people and creating value that way I can see the passion you have for and the excitement. What are some of the attributes that we just educate you know listeners on? What are some of the attributes that are out there that you know certain you know entrepreneur might be able to take advantage of if they get connected with the right economic development council.
Dave Quinn
Well, so the easy one is economic incentives, right? Everybody wants to know about incentives. First and foremost, you need to understand what value you bring to the table When you're an entrepreneur and you come into a city, how cities look at your economic value is your jobs. Are you creating you know jobs and you know work opportunity for their citizens? What's the capital investment for property taxes on the equipment? What kind of value are you bringing in that stance? And then, where's your product being sold? Are you selling to just the local regional area or are you selling product to people all over the US And ideally, that is a really high value opportunity for the city.
They want you selling your product made in one town that's sold to somebody else, because now you're importing dollars. So, understanding the value there, then you can go to the city and say this is the economic value I bring. And then understanding what's your ask? right, because if you just say, hey, i want some money, well, yeah, we all need money, we all need resources. But if you say I need $15,000 to buy a new piece of equipment that's going to allow me to increase production by 20%, which is going to increase my sales and allow me to hire two people. That's a very specific ask that the city can then look at and say, okay, let me figure out how I can get you there, right. And so I think that's one thing business owners need to understand is don't You can go and start to have the conversation, but you really need to understand what you're asking for. It's not just money. We all need money. I need this money for this thing that's going to create this opportunity And that allows the public side to look at that and say, okay, how can we best fill that gap?
There's a lot of different resources out there, and it might not be direct cash incentives. Maybe it's partnering with the workforce board to create specific training that offsets some of the costs you have related to hiring new people, and so you know the money that it would have cost you for that you can then repurpose to buy the equipment that you're needing, right. And so the economic developer knows that and they know what resources are available at the state level and what other sort of opportunity this might be to plug in to help you, and then it might go beyond cash incentives. It's about plugging into the network, right? So the economic developer is out networking and they're seeing other people who have products and challenges and those kind of things, and maybe they know, if they understand what it is you bring to the table.
They are looking for that connection point as well, right, so they're trying to figure out how do I help you connect with this business that is looking for your product, that maybe together you all do a whole new thing and that creates revenue and opportunities for you. So, even if it's not a cash incentive, making sure that you're having and developing a relationship with your local economic developer so that when the that something goes wrong in your business or there's a challenge that comes up, you have a person who is in your backyard that wants to help you succeed. But they need to first understand what it is you're doing, and so there's a value in that. And they're traveling, not just in the state, but they're traveling all over the country, so they might bump into someone who talks about meeting. You know again something that your business can provide, and it's not just about cash incentives, it's about connecting the dots for you as well.
Chris Hanslik
Gotcha. Well so, and I'm sure you know, those types of incentives kind of exist in lots of places. So what are some of the things you tell the private side, these, you know, privately held businesses that would be an advantage of them relocating to Texas and or staying in Texas and growing here? What are some of those attributes you think our state provides for those types of privately held businesses?
Dave Quinn
Yeah, so I think just the general business environment, right. So the tax environment that we operate in and the cost of doing business in Texas, for the most part. It's not perfect in every industry, in every business, but for the most part operating in Texas is going to be less expensive. There's going to be generally, depending on where you're coming from, a workforce and an educated workforce that you're going to be able to tap into, although everywhere you go across the US you know there's workforce challenges. But I think what you find here is a workforce that is less. You know. They just want to, they want a good job, they want to show up and they want to do that job and then be able to go home And there's not a lot of extra drama around that, right. And the state doesn't spend a lot of time and effort, you know, piling on different mandates and things like that.
You know now, if you think you're going to come into Texas and just pay minimum wage and hire the best, you're probably not right. There's a wage rate that is, there's a floor, right. Your competitors are paying, right. So I don't want to be, i don't want to give people the wrong idea that you can come in and pay cheap labor. There's a you know there's a certain level there, but you'll generally find too that people here in Texas want you to succeed, especially at the economic development level, in this community development. We're not in the business of keeping you from doing what you want to do, i mean really we and I get this question from small business owners.
When they call from the state and I'm explaining this, they're like I have to first get them past the fact that we actually want to help. They think it's a scam or there's a bait and switch. Or are you serious? This person's going to do this for free? This person is going to help you find resources and we want you to succeed and we're willing to invest time and effort to do that. I mean, and I don't have to pay all these different fees up front and invest first, and no, they are there to be your partner and to help, and so I think that's the thing that Texas offers is just man. We want people to come here and be successful.
Chris Hanslik
Certainly, you know, been a lot of movement, not just I mean obviously recently, but even over the last decade or so of that business migration to Texas for those reasons and others, and so you know, as we all hope it continues, is there anything? I know you said you started in 2019. Is there anything coming out of the pandemic of 2020 and what the economy has been doing in the last couple of years, any changes that you've seen that you think have hindered your ability to attract business of Texas? And then I'll ask the opposite after that.
Dave Quinn
Yeah well, so I'll just say, covid, traditionally economic developers were on the road right. You had to go to trade shows. you were it was this in-person sort of trying to get in front of people. COVID shut that down And so we were all forced to do things like Zoom and figure this out And really we shifted. that's one of the reasons we created the Texas Economic Development Connection was we knew we weren't going to be able to do traditional economic development marketing And that's starting to come back a little bit. you know there's more and more conferences coming online. But we created this infrastructure to do inbound content marketing and really showcasing success stories from our communities. So we're creating a great community partners and getting that in front of these business owners digitally.
And man, getting in front of small business owners is really tough, like it's easy to go find a big guy's, but to find a 15 person manufacturing shop somewhere in California and in LA and figure out where that person hangs out is really tough. But what we found is, because of what's going on in the different states, those business owners are now being more aggressive at looking for options to relocate to And that's the one presence that allows people to engage and start to find that, hey, there's people out there that can help me sort through this. I can't tell you how many times the business owner has connected with us and they said, thank goodness, can you just tell me where I'm supposed to go? You know, they know Texas, but it's overwhelming. if you start doing the search, there's a lot of different information out there, and so you know, as a business owner, you're just like man. could I connect with someone who can help walk me through that? I need a Sherpa And that's what we're looking for, and so that's changed a little bit right.
Chris Hanslik
So let's talk a little bit about that, though. So Texas economic development connection that's something that you created as a kind of a website that aggregates all this for a business owner to go and, i guess, find on the web and access this information and, obviously, a way to reach out to you.
Dave Quinn
That's correct. So you know we don't what I say, what I tell everyone is we don't go market Texas and that people should relocate to Texas. What we do is create content for people who are looking at Texas as an option. And so how do you set up your LLC? Why would I be in South Texas versus East Texas? You know we are putting content together that showcases the different options that are available in Texas, and then we make it very easy for them to find us. Get on a phone call with us and let us walk them through that process. And so it's not about convincing people to move to Texas. If you don't want to be in Texas, i don't want you in Texas because you're not going to be successful. What I want to do is help the person who says I want to be in Texas, i just don't know where to go.
Elon Musk is getting a bunch of money from the state. How do I do that? Well, in Texas, economic development resources are really derived at the local level a lot more than the state level. Especially if you're a small business owner, there are resources available to you that you got to know where to go. I talked to a gentleman, a community in East Texas. They have 77 acres in an industrial park ready to go. Streets, water, sewer, are looking, you know, to put that on the market, but they don't have it on the website. They don't have it anywhere that you can find it. I can give you the name of the town and I would be willing to bet you $100. You wouldn't come up with any idea that they have land available for sale. So what we do is we bury out those nuggets, and we know that, and now we make that available to the business owner And so it's a.
You know, it's just helping people. As a small business owner, now I understand there's only so many hours in the day, and so you're trying to do your job here in business hours, than a night you're on Google trying to figure out where am I supposed to go, and it can be very confusing. And there's HR and there's insurance issues and there's legal issues. If you have two companies in different states and doing different things, it's a lot, and so what we want to do is be that again the Sherpa that allows you to easily transition into that, to give you a place to go and vetted resources that you're not going to get taken advantage of. You don't want to just look down the phone book or Google and call the first person that you come to.
Chris Hanslik
Okay, that's. I mean that came that website came out of, i guess, like you said, the inability to connect personally, and you've found a different way. So kind of what looked like a negative cut in COVID you turned into a very positive thing for your business and for the people you're trying to serve. Anything, i guess on the positive side of it, as things have tried to recover, that has kind of helped your business grow.
Dave Quinn
Well, i think just the fact that there's a lot of negative talk about the economy and a lot of uncertainty across the US, right, what's the market's going to do and everything's it's a very negative. It can feel very negative, but we haven't seen that in Texas. And what I tell people is yes, there's a storm coming, but Texas is that safe harbor that the boats are trying to get into to weather it. Not saying that we won't have some rough water in the harbor, but I'd rather weather that storm in Texas than anywhere else in the country. And we're seeing that.
You know, more and more smaller businesses are saying look, i love this place, whether it's Oregon or New York, new Jersey, California, we love this place. I've been here forever, but it's just gotten to the point where I can't grow my business here And I've got to find somewhere else to go. And again, there's a lot of different places in Texas to go, and it doesn't have to be in Dallas or the central circuit, right, there's places all over Texas that are arms open, welcome you and you can find a good quality of life in these places. You just don't know to ask the question.
Chris Hanslik
That's great. So let's talk a little bit about I guess internally You've got two partners you're driving the business. I mean, what type of I guess qualities from a leadership standpoint do you feel like you bring to the table that helped you kind of grow this business over the last few?
Dave Quinn
years. Well, I'm in this trap of I'm the visionary, i see the big picture of where I'm going. The challenge I have is that day-to-day operations execute right. And I know a lot of entrepreneurs I've talked to. We kind of get into the same battle. At some point you have to bring more people on your team, but you've got to kind of figure out to do that wisely and manage cash and manage it. Every time you add someone, that's a big thing. Right now You're taking their livelihood under. Am I willing to do that? But in order to grow and to scale, that's one of the things that I'm going to have to do.
But my skill set is in seeing opportunity and having the vision and passion to drive that, and so, in recognizing that and recognizing that, for us to continue to move forward, we're getting to that point where we need to start backfilling with expertise in a different realm And that the process driven person right that wants to show up and create these systems and processes. We've sort of done that on our own and it's fine. I can do it. It's just not my greatest skill set, and so I think that's.
You know, every business owner has to realize that they just can't do it all. You have to do it all at first, but if there's some point where you just can't, you can't be everything And so you have to, sort of feels like you're taking a step back, right, you're sort of spending or investing resources And so it feels like you're losing. But what happens is I've seen it happen time and time again with friends in the economic and in the entrepreneur world walking the same journey is, you know, they took the step back, but then they took three steps forward because they took so much pressure off themselves And suddenly they were able to capitalize on other opportunities that they just didn't have time to get to those before.
Chris Hanslik
Yeah, you're. I mean, you're so right. I mean the entrepreneur, that visionary that starts. you can do it all, you just won't grow your business.
Dave Quinn
Yeah, and when we're going to a certain level and it is just all you'll ever get. It's like a plant in a potted plant in a you know, in a certain size pot. It will grow to that pot. You have to transplant if you want to grow better.
Chris Hanslik
That's right, and it is as you grow that team find the trust that does you know, open you up for the opportunity to more growth. What do you see, kind of you know, in the near future, as far as you know, innovative things that may be happening in the economic development world, that you may be able to grow your business even further by attracting more of these entrepreneurs and privately held businesses into the state?
Dave Quinn
Yeah, so one of the things that we're looking at is automation and being able to use technology to scale and using a virtual admin team And, instead of each economic developer hiring their own person to do, say, sites and buildings or different things, really building a virtual team and not being limited by someone sitting in your office, right, and you know, you don't need a person to do sites and buildings on your website or certain things all the time, but you need them when you need them. And so we're looking at how do we help the public sector adopt these innovative tools without the risk of being innovative. Everybody loves innovation until they realize innovation means failure And in order to, you know, innovate you've got to fail a few times. Well, in the public sector, we don't like failure, that's you know. We stay away from failure. And so, as the private side, what we like to do is innovate, find the solution and then plug it in. So you've sort of mitigated the risk and fractionalized that over different communities. So we're doing that. We're adding unavailable properties listing on our website And again taking that using automation, so that the economic developer doesn't have to upload their data and their sites into the system.
It's done for them, and one of the reasons that hasn't been done in the past is it always comes to the bottleneck of the economic developer having to have time to input that and then keep it relevant and up to date. And we're going to take that off their shoulders and do it for them so that, you know, a business owner in Irvine, California, can look on our website And if they're looking for, you know, 25,000 square feet in North Texas, they'll be able to find that building and have a place to go. Do that. And then we're pushing resources to maintain that database and make sure it's up, updated and accurate.
Chris Hanslik
That's great. It's kind of like a much needed service that is obviously underserved at this point.
Dave Quinn
It is. It's a heavy lift. I will tell you I can say it a lot easier than I can that we've been able to figure it out, but we're going to make it happen And that's why we exist. Right, we're again fractionalizing that effort across a lot of different cities for the benefit of the business owner. I always tell people that come into the partnership you know, it's not about talking about ourselves, it's about creating value to the business owner. And if we can become value to the business owner, they'll tell their friends and they'll tell others and they'll find us. And because they're out there looking, they're not looking for a sales pitch on a community. What they're looking for is a solution to a problem they have, and that's what we do.
Chris Hanslik
That's great. Let's turn a little bit to the lighter side, normal, personal. What was your first job, Dave Man?
Dave Quinn
my first job, not working for my dad was milking cows. I was a relief milker, So I would go and milk cows in the weekend And I thought that was the perfect job, right? Because you milk cows at four in the morning and four the afternoon. I thought, man, that's only two times a day And I'll have all this free time. Well, I realized, when you get up at four in the morning, or when you start milking at four, you have to get up to like three And then you're so tired and so you know done that you sleep till four o'clock and have to do it all over again. So that whole summer I didn't do, I didn't have any fun because I don't milk cows And I thought this is a dumb job.
Like there's no days off, you have to milk twice a day. The cows don't like you, you don't like them. You know it's not dirty, you stink And I'm like it really allowed me to like I need to go get a college education because I don't love you know people that do that. God bless them. They love it And that is their thing. It was not my thing.
Chris Hanslik
I'll say it brings you. I bet you appreciated the next class of milk you had.
Dave Quinn
Oh, gosh, yes, I'm telling you, I don't know, man, that was not a lot of fun.
Chris Hanslik
Well, I'll tell you this, Dave we've done over 50 episodes on this podcast and your first job just went to the top of the list.
Dave Quinn
I want if I could remember. I wish I could remember the guy that hired me, because I would go and tell him I'm sorry, i don't think I was a very good worker. I mean I got the job done but you know, i don't know, i don't. I feel like I owe him an apology.
Chris Hanslik
Yeah, that's great. I love it All right. So now, now the food choice you Tex-Max or barbecue guy?
Dave Quinn
Oh man, that's a tough one. I love Tex-Max. That's probably the more I ate it, more. Barbecue is more of a nice meal out right, like it's a, especially now, and I've gotten sort of picky with my barbecue too, right. So, growing, having been in Bastrop and worked in, you know, central Texas, having a friend that owns a barbecue restaurant, I'm kind of a, I'm kind of snobbish about that, and so it has to be really good barbecue, which means it's, you know, fairly expensive, and so that's not something we have all the time. And if you're not going to appreciate it, i know my kids, i don't take them, they don't appreciate it enough. So Tex-Max is the easy one. We do that. In fact, we had Tex-Max last night.
Chris Hanslik
That's lovely. Well, i can understand that. But I guess from a guy that said he started his this entrepreneurial business at a Rudy's barbecue, i kind of thought you might go barbecue.
Dave Quinn
Well, yeah, well, rudy's. So the you know, my partner was the guy that helped Rudy's get to Frisco And there was the whole story behind it. There's a really cool backstory, and so for me, when they said, where do you want to meet And I knew we were going to meet about this I'm like, if this turns into something, this will be a cool story, right? So I was like, well, let's start at Rudy's right. And you know, whatever, I'm a sucker for a story, right.
And I love that connection Southwest Airlines back at Napkin thing.
Chris Hanslik
Yeah.
Dave Quinn
Something about we started Rudy's on. you know, greasy sausage paper, like butcher paper, like that. Anyway, I did it for the story. I love it. I didn't know if it was going to happen, But I thought, if it does, this is going to be a cool story.
Chris Hanslik
Yeah, for sure It is. It did happen And it is a great story. Yeah, all right. Last question So if you could take a 30-day sabbatical, where would you go And what would you do?
Dave Quinn
I'd go to Australia for 30 days. I'd be in Australia. I've just a fascinating place And yeah. So there you go. I would love to do that. I've never been. That's one of the places I've never been, And it feels like a place that you need more than a week to really explore.
Chris Hanslik
Yeah. I think, it would be great down there And I think your ride's going to go. You want to go and stay for a little bit. Well, Dave, this has been great. I've loved getting to know you, loved hearing your story and what you and your partners are doing to drive business into Texas. You know, not surprised. you're successful and hope for all of us. You continue to be more than successful than you ever planned to be.
Dave Quinn
Well, Chris, thank you, appreciate you giving me the opportunity to share my story and then also sharing other people's story. I think you know letting others hear our stories and inspiring them to do it in spite of all of the reasons not to. And, like I said, it would be easier if you don't start a business, i guarantee you. But we need more people doing what they're passionate and purpose driven. If we can get more people doing what their purpose is and bringing their value to the world, i think the world would be a better place.
Chris Hanslik
Man, I couldn't agree more. You can't say any better than what you said. It right then. So thanks again, Dave, and best of luck to you.
Dave Quinn
All right, thanks, Chris. Thanks, man, i really appreciate it. Bye.
Chris Hanslik
Bye. Thanks for tuning in to Building Texas Business For more information, episodes and summaries. head over to boyermillercom forward slash podcast. If you enjoyed this episode and found it informative. Please take a moment to rate, review and share it with friends and colleagues. It really helps others find our podcast. As always, we appreciate the support and feedback of our podcast community. More episodes are coming soon, so be sure to check back.
Special Guest: Dave Quinn.
More shows like Building Texas Business
View all
Founders
1,877 Listeners
THE ED MYLETT SHOW
14,052 Listeners
Texas Business Minds
19 Listeners