We want to introduce the who, why, and how of Kevin Forestell, the host of the Building Builders podcast.

After growing up around heavy machinery it only made sense that Kevin would go on to start two different businesses in construction. The first company he started was Forestell Designed Landscapes where he expanded a solo operation to one of the largest landscaping companies in Ontario, Canada with over 400 employees. The second company is DOZR, an online rental marketplace for heavy machinery.

In this episode, we take you back to the early days of Kevin's life around heavy machinery and landscaping, which included driving tractors around the family Christmas tree farm. Kevin also talks about the challenges of growing and scaling both landscaping and construction tech companies, the differences and similarities between the two niche industries, and why his experiences led him to start the Building Builders podcast.

Key moments:

• Advice on how contractors can grow and scale their business (1:46)
• Lessons learned from fleet management and the cost benefits of renting vs owning equipment (3:10)
• The story behind DOZR and how the sharing economy ignited an idea (4:30)
• The differences between building a construction tech company vs a contracting business (7:10)
• What to look for when hiring people at your company (10:35)
• How eCommerce and mobile ordering is affecting the construction industry (13:30)
• Why being a contractor-founded business is important to the core values of DOZR (15:00)
• Why we started Building Builders and what to expect moving forward (17:50)

Favorite quote: "Don't be intimidated by [your] problems. None of them are all that big. They might feel big in the moment but just pick them off, one by one, and keep moving on and continue growing."

Links

Website: https://www.buildingbuilderspodcast.com/

DOZR Website: https://www.dozr.com/?utm_source=Podcast&utm_medium=BuildingBuilders&utm_campaign=DOZR

Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCy3FNu-uRE6XYaUDHjM5w8A

Follow on Instagram: @dozr.rentals

Facebook: @dozr.rentals

Twitter: @DOZRHUB

The podcast is sponsored by DOZR