How Two Contractors Turned a Crazy Idea Into Big-Box Success

0:00You guys are obviously doing a lot of great things. You're innovating. You've got this new exciting product coming out. When we started doing it, no one really heard of that idea and thought it was kind of crazy. But we kept pushing it, kept doing it, showing the results. People started seeing the benefits of it. And it's just kind of exploded since then. Keith Duke and Mike Patrick are lifelong entrepreneurs, business partners, and the co-owners of vital coach sealers and coatings. Drawing from decades of hard work, resilience, and shared values, they have built a business rooted in lasting relationships, determination, and a commitment to excellence. How's the leadership dynamics with two of you? Well, people say that the only ship that doesn't sail is a partnership, right? But I think when you have a good buddy, you've been doing it with forever, and you have an understanding. So I'll have a rough day and not get any sleep one day. He's able to kind of pick up the slacks. Someone's starting out, what tips would you give them? You know, the crazy thing is we probably mentioned it's... My name's Rudy Moore, host of Living the Red Life podcast.

1:02I'm here to change the way you see your life. In your air piece every single week, if you're ready to start living the red life, ditch the blue pill, take the red pill, join me in Wonderland, and change your life. What's up guys? Welcome back to another episode of Living the Red Life. Joining me today is Mike and Keith. We're going to chat about how they've taken their product, nationwide. They're in big box stores. I'm deeper brands that you probably shop at, and they're always innovating. And I love this story, how they're constantly innovated. They've got this new product that... It's probably in a district, the industry. So yeah, and we're going to talk a lot about the entrepreneur, journey, too. Guys, welcome to the show. All right, thank you. Thank you. Appreciate it. So let's talk about it. You guys are obviously doing a lot of great things. You're innovating. You've got this new exciting product coming out. Do you want to just tell everyone a bit about how you got here and what you're up to? Sure. Obviously, we started, like we said, with a different technology. And I wouldn't say that it failed, but it kind of led us

2:04to where we're at now. Yeah. You know, there was a ton of hurdles to jump. And everything works out for a reason, right? So we stumbled across a different type of coding. Yeah. And we eventually started putting it on shingles. Well, let's just go a big picture of someone's listening, because you know, you're not the typical maybe supplement business that we might interview, right? So do you want to explain big picture what your company does and the products do? Well, big picture is that once we organize to do this, we started making a coding's in general for concrete for most anything that you will have at your home for home maintenance products. Yeah. The idea was to produce a product that was environmentally friendly, easy to use, but performed at the highest level possible for the least amount of money without having to hire a professional.

3:04Yeah. The typical DIY, which is what I've always been on tire life. So that falls right into our niche right there. So we created a very unique product that we fill performs close to the solvent epoxies without going into the solvent issues that you bring along with that. And so the homeowner, especially people in areas that are at the deal with the air quality standards, this is a perfect, perfect solution. And so you took that product. Obviously, you know, the latest one is, you know, really something you're kind of gun-hull on and you think it's going to change the industry. Yeah, well, it actually started on it in 2010. So it's a process to get to there. We noticed that we could use this to preserve shingles. Yeah. And started it and got it in onto market in 2013.

4:05And it's a massive industry, right? Yeah. It's about six billion a year. It's new tech. So it's Billy. Well, it's catching on. A lot of people are joining in on this on this. And it's good for everybody, actually. But so this is going to extend roof life for how many years? Well, it depends on the shape you were to begin with. But you could count on a good five-year extension for people that need it or just don't have the money to replace a roof. They can come in and extend it. Do maintenance on it helps protect it along the way so it keeps your roof looking prettier. And tell us a little about the entrepreneur journey to get there, right? Because I had the start in 2010. We'll start it in that now. We started along before that. As partners or best friends, we've been scrambling since. He was 15 and I was 19.

5:07So the partnership is always run smooth, as you could probably imagine. That's when it started. And we've worked in the construction industries. He worked in wood preservation. I worked in a heavy civil and work with coatings and concrete while a whole 30-year career just about. We just we kind of just bonded our experience, you know? I mean, not only being best friends, but then business partners. Yeah, yeah. We just started to pivot and become our own company. And what was the moment you had this big idea? Like was there one moment you were about? For the sealer. When the other failed and we had to clean up and what we produced was an incredibly beautiful coating on our floor that would not come up. It was a lot of things. You know, the solution that we put into our other product leaked on the floor. OK. And the car was pulled into the garage. Oil leaked on the concrete.

6:07The next day went and wiped the concrete clean. The oil did not even penetrate. So we were like, oh, well, we have a concrete sealer now. There you go. That started from there. And then we went straight to some manufacturers and told manufacturers and worked out the chemistry. And they were impressed. So he would call me and say, I have this wild idea. And I guess some kind of the loose wheel between the two of us. And I would just put it on anything and everything just to see if it would stick. OK. So no chemistry background for me. But I was just kind of a trial and error guy. Yeah, yeah. And I put it on a, I had an old 40-year-old chingle outside of my barn. And I coated half of it. And I just left it there for like two months. And I didn't even tell him. And I came back to it and I just scratched on it with a knife. You know, you touch one side, the granules would come off. And when those come off, that's when your roof starts failing and when the side that I sealed, I couldn't get the, that was ripping my fingernail off,

7:09trying to get them off. This is on a 40-year-old chingle. Wow. So here we go. So it's like the accidental. Yeah, it's a nice success. So we started working to perfect that and make it a viable product. And we didn't sell one in one then. Yeah, yeah. Well, and let's talk about that journey, because I mean entrepreneurship, you know, it's sometimes you fall into the next big idea, right? And then there's a big gap to making it reality and selling it. Right. How's that journey been? It was tough to begin with. When we started doing it, no one really heard of that idea and thought it was kind of crazy. But we kept pushing it, kept doing it, showing the results. People started seeing the benefits of it. It started picking up and we eventually showcased it in Vegas in 2019. I believe at the International Builder Show. We created a lot of buzz. And subsequently, we'd already been able to ship through big box stores

8:15prior to that, but then introduce that into the big box stores and it's just kind of exploded since then. And how was it getting going with the big box stores? Like, was that when you finally got on there? Were you like, this is a big moment for us? So and yeah, that was a big moment for us because it's a lot of exposure and a lot of people would love to have that. And it's a great tool. So if someone's listening, they have a product and they've they're selling online direct consumer and that's most of the audience, most of the entrepreneurs, they're just best they may be getting on Amazon. Right. They sell on the website, get on Amazon, right? They're products. How did you go about even just the mindset of looking differently, looking like, hey, I can do wholesale, I can do big box stores, right? What would you advise someone looking at that expansion? Well, I mean, just try to for us, that was the really the only place that we thought a concrete sealer should be. Yeah. Or a roof sealer as a hardware stores.

9:16And that's where we targeted. At the time, Amazon really wasn't. They weren't a construction. Yeah, it was a lot different. Yeah, yeah. A lot different back then. And so we just persisted on it and eventually met all the requirements for that they needed. So we were able to get in. So great. And what's next for you guys? Long term, next few years, five years, 10 years, what's the vision? Well, we're instead of being a provider for home, for the big box suppliers. We've expanded the product line, trying to work with individual contractors, to develop opportunities for other roofers, contractors to bring on this product. And add it to their portfolio. It's a great way for them to add money to their body. Yeah, yeah. So you can actually help people with this product. It saves people a lot of money. Well, roofs aren't cheap. Roofs are not cheap.

10:17Bungles are not cheap. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But the crazy thing is, we probably didn't mention it. You can put this down, get your five years, depending on what shape of your roof is. And then you can do it again. So you just kind of keep going. Yeah, yeah. Love it. Absolutely time to replace it. Yeah, yeah. Oh, you sell the house. Yeah. Love it. So let's talk about the entrepreneur journey outside of that. I always like to ask people on this podcast, it's not all sunshine and rainbows. So is there a time where you had a big failure or you doubted yourselves or you struggled that you remember and now you look back on? I think it happens every day. I'm sure. If you're not getting it done, then you just have to work harder. Yeah. So you have to be able to balance the highs and the lows. Yeah. You know, for me, that's kind of the way I see it. You know, we screened each other twice a week. But, you know, we always get it done. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But, yeah, it's been rough.

11:18You know, yeah. We started early as friends right out of high school. We had no idea what we're going to do. We're like, well, well, now what? And we just started scrambling for anything. That's what we did. We did whatever we did. We did wallpaper for years. Lots of things. I mean, just did anything to make money. Yeah. Yeah. That's kind of how it's always been. It's that. I guess it's probably struggling along the way, but it was just life really. And so we didn't let it trouble us. All people say that the only ship that doesn't sail is a partnership, right? But I think when you have a good buddy that you're doing, you've been doing it with forever and you have an understanding like, you know, I'll have a bat have kids. So I'll have a rough day and not get any sleep one day. Yeah. He's able to kind of pick up the slack. So, you know, if you have a partner, it's good to have somebody in business that can, you know, pick you up when you're, you're, you're, you're, you're, well, I was going to ask that. And also the leadership dynamics with two of you.

12:18Both have to be leaders. Yeah. So he kind of handles the, the inside stuff and I handle the operations and manufacture inside of everything. I handle everything else and we don't cross the line. So you guys divide it in contact? Yeah. I mean, he does his thing. I do my thing. We, you know, sometimes that switches, you know, if he's on vacation or something, but, you know, when you're just getting going in the beginning, there, there were no vacations. Yeah. Yeah. So your vacation was making product, you know, we don't outsource a lot of stuff. Like we still put the stickers on all the bottles, package everything. We do everything ourselves. It's, it's, it's completely made in the USA, in-house business. And that's kind of what we wanted to do. Yeah. And that's where are these days, right? So, so last couple of questions, I always like to ask people, you know, you've been doing business a long time, right? You've had ups and downs, you've got this product, someone starting out, what tips would you give them? You just have to believe in what you're doing.

13:19Believe in yourself. Believe in yourself and believe in what you're doing. And, and you're going to make mistakes along the way. Just learn for that mistake, keep going. I know it sounds so typical, but it's the truth. It's, keep it simple and keep always, always have a goal to reach at the end of the day, every day. Try to come up with something that you can complete. So, make breaking it down, daily goals, yeah, that's that. Yeah, daily goals. The daily goals are, are important if you try to set a goal too far ahead with not having the steps in between it, you get lost. So, just a realistic goal. Yeah, realistic goal. Yeah, daily realistic achievable goals. Yeah, I mean, the goals people get so focused on the big ones and they don't do the small ones. And I'm always teaching, it's the small, every day things that equal the big ones. Yeah, well, they get in their head, they're like, I'm going to be a millionaire. Well, there's a little bit you got to do. You got to lose some sleep before you get to that point. Yeah, love that. My whole life would have ever done anything, always tackle the smaller things first to get a few wins.

14:20Yeah, it makes you get the momentum goal. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Small things add up all the time, whether it's athletes, they train three, four hours a day, right? Just train, train, train for one moment in a match or a hundred meters sprint in a Olympics every four years. Yeah. So, I'm going to ask a question, people, maybe they have a roof and they know how much roof costs and they don't want to replace it anytime soon. How do they find the product and learn more about the company? You look us up on our website or our Facebook or Instagram account. You see the different product lines, you can find the product that fits what you need. And we have a good portfolio there to handle many different things that you have at your house for protection, for beautification, for all the way from the roof to your sidewalk and driveway. Love it. Love it. You can go to vitalcoat.com. Vitalcoat.com. Guys, that's a wrap. Awesome duo story here. Great partnership.

15:20Obviously, getting amazing products going in big box retail. Hopefully, took a few lessons, not only on the business side, but also the entrepreneurial journey side. That's what this podcast is all about. As always, keep working hard and living the red life. I'll see you guys soon.