In this episode, Randy talks with Ken Sommer. Ken has spent the past 20+ years in the new home building industry. He acquired the skills of his trade from a long lineage of family members who have spent the majority of their lives dedicated to handcrafting well-built homes. Ken began his career as a framer, working alongside his father and brother on many different types of residential and commercial projects throughout Southwestern Ontario. At a young age, Ken discovered his passion for homes that illustrated strong building science methods along with innovative designs; which inspired his creation of Shirecrest Homes Inc. in 2004

What you can expect to hear in this episode:

• Ken started out as a framer and learned the skills of the trade from his father and brother.
•  Before founding Shirecrest Homes Ken started a framing company in 2001 because that’s what he knew best.
• Ken was forced off the tools due to an injury, this made him focus more on the business side of things and his business absolutely started to take off once he made the transition.   
• At first, it was a bit challenging to hand over the ring to his employees but he realized that even though they don’t do everything exactly as he would do, they needed to be able to make mistakes and learn from them.
• The fact that Ken started out with a friend that he trusted and was both skilled with the tools and a leader made the transition easier for him. To this day they meet up for breakfast every Monday to plan the next week. 
• When Ken Started Shirecrest Homes he leveraged the relationships that he had created in the framing business to make sure he always had good talent on his sites.
• Ken focuses more on producing leaders then hiring managers because he understands the value of having people in place to train the next generation in the company culture rather than manage the day-to-day.
• When it comes to hiring, Ken likes to hire characters and teach skills because he knows that skills are easy to build but finding people with good character is what’s going to help the business thrive.
• In 2008 Ken started to get into ICF ( Insulated Concrete Forms ) because he saw it as a great product to bring under the Shirecrest roof, he just couldn’t find anyone to do it.  
• Logically if it's a great product and you can’t find anyone to do it, then there’s a niche so they trained their guys and hit the ground running.
• “Do it right, do it honestly and people will come” this is a motto passed down from Ken’s father that really embodies the Shirecrest Homes culture. 
• When you put yourself in the client’s shoes and ask yourself “what would I expect if I was the client?” then going ahead and delivering a little more than that is how Ken creates wow for his clients rather than managing upset.

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