Tracy and Anthony Latronica with Ant’s Inspections

Intro: [00:00:07] Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Woodstock, Georgia. It’s time for Cherokee Business Radio. Now, here’s your host.

Sharon Cline: [00:00:24] And welcome to Fearless Formula on Cherokee Radio X, where we talk about the ups and downs of the business world. And I’m your host, Sharon Cline, and our guest in the studio. We actually have two guests in the studio today. It’s a husband and wife team and they are focusing on home inspections as well as mobile crane inspections. And they really think of themselves more of a Jack and Jill of all trades. And they currently serve the community with small construction projects such as fence repair and deck and porch construction. You kind of do it all. This is Tracy and Anthony Latronica. Thank you for coming on the show.

Tracy and Anthony Latronica: [00:00:59] Hi, Sharon. Thank you for doing good.

Sharon Cline: [00:01:01] Welcome. So excited to have two people this the first time I like having to so I’ll have to say like, hey Anthony, let’s answer. Although you probably know it’s Anthony as opposed to Tracy, okay, because you’re a woman and all. But you know, what I think is really great about your story is and it’s kind of different from so many different businesses that are out there right now. And I talk to a lot of different business owners, but you’re in a really unique spot at the moment because you’re just getting started with your company. Can you tell me a little bit about what it’s like to be in the infant stages of creating a whole new business?

Tracy Latronica: [00:01:34] You know, it’s been interesting because we had this instinct to make a change and start doing something for ourselves and open up a small business. And we weren’t really sure what that meant. And with Anthony’s background and his knowledge, it led us into the crane and heavy equipment sector. But as we started to develop that, the home inspections just started to organically become more and more demanded, more and more common, more and more falling into line with what we thought was going to be requested out of our community. So we are still looking to do the mobile crane inspections. He is certified and trained to do so, but the home inspections has kind of had us pivot a little bit and focus more on that as opposed to the equipment.

Sharon Cline: [00:02:20] So with the the industry, the I guess, real estate industry, the way it is right now, has that just been so much on your plate to do inspections? What is that like?

Tracy Latronica: [00:02:31] We’re not sure yet because you’re just getting started. Yeah. So we I make a joke that we’re in the nick you of the of the hospital of the of the, you know, labor and delivery. Division because we are so brand new. We just are. Llc was just established June 30th, so we’re still in the process of establishing and from what we’re hearing from friends and colleagues is there’s a high demand for it, reliable, honest inspectors that have integrity. And the realtors that we’ve spoken to and the people in the real estate community are like, Oh my gosh, if you could just be that person, that go to person. We have so much work for you.

Sharon Cline: [00:03:12] Well, that’s exciting because it feels like you’re going right into a very on demand necessary industry that for like my guest last week is is a real estate agent and we had talked after the show it just about how busy she is. I mean, it’s almost nonstop.

Tracy Latronica: [00:03:27] Yeah. Yeah, exactly. There’s more demand for it than there are people to do it. When you Google home inspections in Atlanta, Georgia. And I was just telling Anthony this today, the whole first page is how to become a home inspector, not how to find one. So the demand for them is clearly present as opposed to the amount that is saturated in the market these days. And if you look around you, I mean, look around you, there’s there’s townhouses and homes and developments and commercial commercial buildings going up everywhere.

Sharon Cline: [00:03:56] Everywhere, even downtown Woodstock. I’m sure when you saw coming in, they’ve got all of this new construction, which it’s exciting and I guess obviously it’s going to be selling if it hasn’t already sold. But it’s it’s must be encouraging to you to see so much, just even right around you.

Tracy Latronica: [00:04:10] Absolutely.

Sharon Cline: [00:04:11] So, Anthony, I wanted to talk to you a little bit about how you got started in in the crane inspection industry. I know that you had mentioned that you answered an ad that said operated operator needed call mic and it could have been anything. What kind of operator you called?

Anthony Latronica: [00:04:26] What happened? So that’s actually where my career changed. I was doing houses in both docks and and all that stuff before that and apartment maintenance, you know, all that kind of stuff. And then one day I found myself in the need of finding another job and I answered, answered that ad. Tracy pushed me to answer the wife. I had some equipment experience, so I, I went in and next thing you know, this guy is telling me, you know, there’s a he’s like, start digging this hole. And I said, How deep? He’s like, just keep digging. I’ll tell you when to stop. Next thing you know, I’m 460 feet down in the ground and going, What are we doing here? But yeah, that’s and then, you know, of course cranes are involved with that and and all that. So that’s pretty much how I ended up in the heavy equipment side of the industry. And it’s a very lucrative business. So I stayed it paid more than houses and now I find myself, you know, I guess the older you get, you don’t want to be in the physical aspect anymore. Inspections is a way to get to retirement without hurting yourself.

Sharon Cline: [00:05:34] Right. Well, you had you had become really specialized kind of in the underground tunnel mining, which I find so fascinating because I don’t know anything about that industry. What was that like?

Anthony Latronica: [00:05:47] Scary, dangerous, but fun. I mean, I learned a lot. It’s a whole different type of construction, very lucrative. And, you know, as I said, you get paid because of how dangerous it can be.

Sharon Cline: [00:06:03] So when you talk about danger, what Steve, I know this is a basic question, but like cave ins, like I’m trying to picture you and all I can picture are like black and white photos and like little kids in, like, scruffy clothes, like, back in the day. That’s what that’s what comes to mind when I think of that. But I know that’s not what it was like for you. But what.

Sharon Cline: [00:06:20] Was what was it.

Sharon Cline: [00:06:23] Like with canaries? You know, like you bring canaries down. Do you know.

Anthony Latronica: [00:06:26] That’s how it was? That’s a real thing. It’s how it was, but not when I entered the industry. Of course they have come a long way as safety wise, although people still do die on a yearly basis in the industry. I’ve been there and witnessed it firsthand with one of my guys passing away and people getting critically injured. So you have things you’re in. You can’t predict what the ground is going to do. How are you going to I can go on up up top here and tell you, hey, the ground’s going to do this if you step on it here. But how do you know what it’s going to do when you’re on the ground?

Sharon Cline: [00:06:59] Do you see that big sinkhole that just opened last week or whatever somewhere? I mean, exactly like in the middle of a road, completely unpredictable. So I can see why maybe you wouldn’t want to stay in that industry for so long. But I guess also I was thinking there are there are things that you’ve worked on here that.

Tracy Latronica: [00:07:14] I’ve it’s Like, is it at the airport? I’m trying to remember I think I heard a story or somewhere along the way that you had worked at something that I was like, Well, I go through there all the time and I never appreciated the work that you did.

Anthony Latronica: [00:07:27] So the airport is the most recent one. We extended the tunnel for the train underground to get to the terminals. Previous to that, I spent four years doing supplying Atlanta with emergency water supply. It was a five mile underground tunnel that was down in a quarry. So we basically dug the tunnel to fill the quarry with water from the Chattahoochee River, which is five miles away. So that was an interesting project as well.

Sharon Cline: [00:08:00] Yeah. And you take all of these different skills that you just learn on all kinds of different jobs wherever they take you. And then now you get to use them in a way where you can say, I really do understand how the earth settles. Right? Is that how you look at it? Kind of like this is this is what I know potentially will happen. From my.

Anthony Latronica: [00:08:17] Experience. It’s all about paying attention to detail and you learn that as you move up in the ranks, right. So if I’m leading a crew underground, I have to be very aware of the ground and what it’s doing. They don’t have to be they have to be focusing on work. It’s my job to be focused on details. And so that’s where inspection comes into play. At the same way, you know, when I go inspect a crane, I have to pay attention to every little detail because the operator, he sees that crane every day. He’s just going to be like, you know, it looks good to me. So and he might overlook something. And that’s where I come in and play. That’s why they require annual inspections on cranes. Some companies require monthly, so as well as homes. I mean, as a housing inspector, you need to have every detail in your mind and be aware of it. So that’s how it kind of plays all together.

Sharon Cline: [00:09:04] What does it feel like to be in this infancy stage? I mean, that’s what Fearless Formula is all about, is like how do you manage the feelings that must be kind of prevalent when you’re starting a business like this?

Tracy Latronica: [00:09:16] I you know, I just feel like there’s no time like the present, right?

Anthony Latronica: [00:09:20] I don’t very well manage the feelings for me.

Tracy Latronica: [00:09:23] I know for Anthony, Anthony’s the day to day. You know, he’s the day to day guy. He’s the one that’s doing the schooling, doing the inspections, putting his boots on the pavement and not more of the bigger picture aspect of the conversation. And, you know, while we’re talking, we were both unhappy with our most recent employment. And instead of looking for another job that would potentially relocate us to another city, state or even country, we’ve moved a lot with Anthony being in the mining industry. You know, a tunnel is over and then they move you to another place. And we just thought, why not? Why not try and do something? And if we were to do it, what would that be? And this was the kind of natural answer to that question. He’s been in various aspects of construction. He he surprises me every day when I witness him on these various job sites. How does somebody know how to build a fence and lay concrete and put a roof on and fix plumbing? And I mean, it’s just he just shocks me with the amount of no. And how accurately and successfully he does the work. And it’s like, how do you bundle all of that knowledge into a business that can carry us further down the road and the stress level of the mining industry is unmatched? You know, the. Danger was absolutely there, which adds to it. But it’s a very intense work environment for him and a very intense spouse environment for me, as well as it was difficult for our children moving and going through this. And how can we de-stress a little bit or focus that stress in a way that’s going to benefit us in the long run instead of having all of the stress benefits somebody else.

Sharon Cline: [00:11:13] I know I love that you guys will be working together. It’s not just your worrying or something. You actually have an active role in in this company together, both of you.

Tracy Latronica: [00:11:21] Right. And we are I mean, you’ve known us for a few years now, and we are very yin yang kind of people. And I think that that’s important in any partnership is what he’s good at. I’m not so much what I’m good at. He’s not so much. And then there’s some things that we both are good at. We both may think we know better, but for the most.

Anthony Latronica: [00:11:41] Part, create an argument.

Tracy Latronica: [00:11:43] Everyone. So a discussion. A discussion.

Sharon Cline: [00:11:45] Nice, nice way to frame it.

Tracy Latronica: [00:11:47] There’s a there’s a clear division of labor that is natural that we didn’t have to talk about. It’s like, okay, this has to happen. That’s clearly going to fall on you and this needs to happen. That’s clearly going to fall on him.

Sharon Cline: [00:11:58] So when you’re looking to start a new in a new business and an LLC, what is the first step that you take? I know there are people out here in the world listening who don’t even know where to start.

Tracy Latronica: [00:12:10] So we had some some insight from a couple of friends that had started their own business. And I’m forever grateful for that personal insight. But honestly, the Internet provides so much information and you don’t have to start an LLC. You can start a business without having that. But what we learned is the LLC allows you to differentiate between your personal life expenses, finances and the business, and that was hugely important to us. So it really was not that difficult. You Google how to start an LLC.

Anthony Latronica: [00:12:44] Maybe for you, we didn’t start out where we were going to plan that. You were going to be doing this with me. It was like, Hey, we’re going to I’m going to start doing this and you’re going to do this. And then all of a sudden you started taking up all this, all my my likings.

Sharon Cline: [00:12:56] And it’s nice.

Sharon Cline: [00:12:58] You all complement each other. Yeah. It’s a perfect partnership that way. Yeah.

Tracy Latronica: [00:13:02] And it’s crazy when you can Google the longest sentence in the world. I’m interested in starting a business in Georgia, and honestly, the wealth of knowledge that is presented to you is is overwhelming. And then you just have to hope that you’re following the right the right guidance. We’ve been given conflicting advice by some people, especially when it comes into the insurance landscape, part of the landscape of having your own business. I feel that we’re getting conflicting advice from a few people that we trust. And then you almost are like flipping a coin. You know, I I’m hoping that this is the right choice. I’m going to go with this kind of policy.

Sharon Cline: [00:13:40] I love that because that’s really what fearless formula is all about, is I have analysis, paralysis and think too hard and too long and don’t do anything and know a lot. Like, I’m not proud of it. I’m I’m trying to work through it, but I really appreciate that you don’t let the not having certitude, I guess, stop you from pursuing a dream. I mean, it’s very easy for me and I’m sure other people out there to just have have that insecurity.

Tracy Latronica: [00:14:08] And you know what I’ve learned and he can be that way a bit, too. He’ll he’ll he won’t want to make that decision until he knows for sure. And what I’ve learned is if you make a mistake 99.9% of the time, you can fix it. It may take a little bit of work, maybe a little bit of money, but if you make an error, it’s going to present itself as a as a poor choice. And then you just take the steps to fix it, and then now you’ll never make that error again.

Anthony Latronica: [00:14:31] Sometimes, if you think it over, it’s common sense. Just plays a huge role in it. Right? Right. If you go to make the just quick judgment, rather than thinking it over a little bit, you’ll end up finding out you think about it and go, Oh, you know what? This is the right way to go.

Tracy and Anthony Latronica: [00:14:45] Instinct comes into play. Yeah, yeah.

Sharon Cline: [00:14:47] What do you think’s been one of the biggest challenges for you getting started?

Tracy Latronica: [00:14:52] I mean money, right? I mean, let’s let’s let’s let’s just put it out there, make.

Tracy Latronica: [00:14:57] The world go.

Tracy Latronica: [00:14:57] Round. So what’s crazy is how much time and energy is it takes putting out at this beginning phase. But you’re obviously not bringing in the revenue yet because you’re still establishing. So you have bills to pay. You still have a refrigerator to fill with very expensive groceries.

Sharon Cline: [00:15:17] I know.

Tracy Latronica: [00:15:18] And so we have those those small jobs that you were talking about earlier. You have to kind of suck it up a little bit and make money where you can and to your roots. Yeah. Don’t turn down any offer and put yourself out there and spend wisely and cut corners because you know, it does. It’s it’s time is money and it takes time to to get going. So there’s some savings depletion that’s a bit painful to watch.

Sharon Cline: [00:15:45] But but that’s that gives me a panic feeling when you say that. Yeah. Oh, no, no, no, no. Like, that’s very important to me. So that’s another thing that I’d be like, Nope, can’t do it because I can’t watch that savings.

Tracy and Anthony Latronica: [00:15:58] We just have to. That’s me too. She’s like, Calm down. We got this.

Tracy Latronica: [00:16:01] We, you know, we set a boundary, right? You know, we allow this to to go into a negative space up to a certain amount. And if we haven’t started to see the come around, which we already have, but then, then that’s when you say we tried and it didn’t work out, we drew a hard line in the sand financially and said we’re we’re willing to spend this much money to get this going. And if we’re not at least angling towards a successful business at this time, then we need to re-investigate. But luckily, so far it doesn’t seem like that’s going to be the case. Luckily, so far it seems to be. Knock on wood.

Anthony Latronica: [00:16:40] Trying not to go back to dig holes.

Tracy Latronica: [00:16:44] But you know what? If you had to.

Tracy and Anthony Latronica: [00:16:45] You would at least I have something to fall back on. It’s not just sitting there waiting to fail and have nowhere to go.

Sharon Cline: [00:16:53] So. Well, I like to that you have a lot of support. You have your your son drew your logo, which is the cutest. Yeah. And I love that you say you’ve got some really good brothers from another mother or whatever you called it. I don’t know. You said you had some fam family, but like people you’ve made your family that are sort of all rallying around and giving you emotional support and website help. And so you’re creating your website now, is that right?

Tracy Latronica: [00:17:18] We are. We just had a meeting with him today and he’s a friend of mine who I’ve known four of hours, who I’ve known for years.

Anthony Latronica: [00:17:25] That’s part of the reason we chose to do it, to stay here, because in Atlanta, we’ve made so many connections and friends we are like, if anywhere is a place to do it, let’s try here. Because all the other places we’ve been, it would have been a total leap without the help that we’ve had.

Sharon Cline: [00:17:40] Yeah. Yeah.

Sharon Cline: [00:17:41] I think that what’s so important too is, is surrounding yourself with good people. Do you find that to be the case as well when you’re starting your business? Because to me, that’s kind of that’s kind of everything.

Tracy Latronica: [00:17:49] It’s integral, it’s, you know, who you can trust. And instead of having to figure it out, we already knew when this person presents something to us. Okay, this is somebody I can trust. Let’s go as opposing to have, have having to navigate. Oh, I don’t know this person. I’m having an awkward first conversation with an insurance broker who I don’t know know. This insurance broker has been recommended to me by a friend and colleague who I’ve known for years and vouches for her. So you can make those leaps of faith. You can take back that fear a little bit because you are trusting that network. The networking is so important in ways people that have helped us are not in any way near the business that we’re in either. You know, some of the support and assistance that we’re getting from friends have nothing to do with construction or inspections or anything. And it’s kind of been interesting to see how far apart we can be in in in our in our goals and in our businesses. But how intermingled in one way or another, we really are.

Sharon Cline: [00:18:52] Well, if you’re just joining us, my guest in the studio, my guests with an S is Traci and Anthony La monica with Antz Inspections. But I think what you were saying is really important in that if someone is out there who sort of doesn’t really have a huge group of people to draw from, what would you recommend for them? Because that’s I know people have started businesses and been had maybe made a choice in a person to go into it with financial backing and it didn’t work.

Tracy Latronica: [00:19:21] And that we definitely leaned on the wrong people before. But, you know, I don’t know I don’t know what this would be like if we didn’t have the people around us that we have that we can call and say, Hey, what did you do in this scenario? Hey, when this government agency gave you a roadblock, how did you overcome it? And we have a multitude of friends that have those answers for us and are eager and willing to help. To have to navigate that alone is a would be a scary thing. Not not to say that it’s impossible, but I guess you would just have to lean on your gut and your own intuition. The advice of others is is invaluable to us. I think right now I don’t know if we would be going as quickly and as positively as we are right now without some of these core people surrounding us, for sure.

Sharon Cline: [00:20:13] So who are some of your mentors? Do you have some mentors that are in in similar industry or. I know. I kind of threw that question out out of the blue, but I didn’t know if you had someone that you’re sort of like, I see how they made this work. I can do it like them.

Anthony Latronica: [00:20:27] I know. A huge one for her is her. Her her old boss.

Tracy Latronica: [00:20:31] Yeah, my old boss, Frank Smith. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Anthony Latronica: [00:20:34] He taught her a lot about business. He even somehow taught me some stuff about business, and I didn’t even work for the man.

Tracy Latronica: [00:20:41] So and this is a restaurant owner, so that kind of hits the nail on the head about how you don’t have to be. Do we have a home inspector mentor? No, we don’t. Do we have met business mentors? Absolutely.

Sharon Cline: [00:20:53] I think that’s really important for anyone listening that you don’t have to have an inn somewhere. Right. You know, you can kind of dream big and and go back to what somebody else has told you in the past. Right. Which which I think is really important. Like one of your phrases that you talked about is a rising tide weight. Is that.

Tracy Latronica: [00:21:10] Right? When the tide rises, all boats float. Yes, I was going to say it.

Sharon Cline: [00:21:14] There’s a great way.

Tracy Latronica: [00:21:17] Well, there’s a variety of ways of saying it. But, yeah, the premise is, if, if, if and Frank used to say this to me all the time, he would talk about competing restaurants in the neighborhood. And I would be like, Oh, there’s a new restaurant opening up. And I would get all kind of pouty about it, and he’d be like, What great news? And I would say, How could you say, That’s great news, that’s competition? And he would say, When the tide rises, all boats float. And I didn’t understand what that meant. And he would say, listen, the more activity and and foot traffic and thriving your neighborhood is, the better every business in that neighborhood is going to do. So don’t look at somebody else as competition. If they’re doing well, then that means that there’s a potential for you to do well to.

Sharon Cline: [00:22:00] Isn’t that a great way to look at it as opposed to competing? You’re actually just watching someone else succeed, which puts a different energy around all of it, I guess.

Tracy Latronica: [00:22:09] Right. And it keeps you allows you to be positive and cheer for each other instead of trying to bring each other down. And that’s really what we want to do. I mean, if there are.

Anthony Latronica: [00:22:17] I think that goes for life in general.

Tracy Latronica: [00:22:19] Though. I agree.

Anthony Latronica: [00:22:20] Being instead of being jealous because your friend is doing well, you’re be like, hey, man, that’s really great. I’m proud of you.

Tracy Latronica: [00:22:25] And maybe you get inspiration from that. How can I? Maybe I want to be doing something that cool too. But if there’s 20 home inspectors in Hiram, Georgia, that means that there’s a lot of construction going and there’s a lot of building and there’s a lot of progress to require that. So that’s all a good thing. So every carpenter that’s doing well, every electrician, every realtor, every roofer, every road worker is all a part of the same rise of the economy in general that I think we’re all going to benefit from.

Sharon Cline: [00:22:55] I think the same about my voice over industry is that there’s room for everyone. Like if someone got a job that I’m like, Dang, I really wanted that job. Like, I’m not unhappy for them. I’m more like, Wow, you know, good for them. Well, there’ll be another job that someone will think I sound just right for. Like, there’s just there’s a voice for everything. There’s room for everyone. There’s a style, right?

Anthony Latronica: [00:23:15] I think if you’re that person, you might get some of their overflow work if they like you that much because you’ve been supporting them, even though they’re in the same industry as you they might like. Hey, listen, I’m. My hands are full. I’m all tied up. I have this going on. Will you please take this for me? And then you might take that and run with it in a whole nother direction. That might be your opening to whatever.

Sharon Cline: [00:23:35] Do you think faith is? Is how does faith play into this? Because I kind of lean on faith a lot.

Tracy Latronica: [00:23:42] Faith is in as in taking a chance and just just hoping that that it works out. It’s I mean, it’s huge. I mean, it’s it’s really everything, you know, because.

Sharon Cline: [00:23:51] I can’t control I think about this a lot. I have control issues.

Tracy Latronica: [00:23:54] Yeah. So say, did you raise your hand? Oh, I run a company.

Anthony Latronica: [00:24:01] I am so OCD. That’s why I’m going to make good inspector one day. Yeah.

Tracy Latronica: [00:24:06] Yeah.

Sharon Cline: [00:24:06] You can use it to your advantage. It’s a strength in your case. In my case, I’m like, Oh, well, I mean, it’s kind of nice to know I’m in good company because we’re all trying to control this interview. By that.

Tracy Latronica: [00:24:15] You don’t want to jump off a cliff and hope that there’s a soft landing underneath you. You want to look into it and make sure that there’s that soft structure to land on. So faith is I don’t want to say it’s everything because it’s not intellect and and investigation and research and plays a huge part. Yeah. But at the end of the day, this is not a sure thing for anyone. And so you have to take a leap of faith and just say, you know what, let’s just try this and let’s hope for the best. Let’s do our best. And if if we are doing everything we can and putting all of our effort. Into making this work and it doesn’t work, then it wasn’t meant to be. And our life will take a different path.

Anthony Latronica: [00:24:57] Some some comfort for me is to have a fallback plan, have that plan, you know, even if it’s okay, I’m not going to make as much money as I did before or not as much money as if I got this business going. Just have that in the back of your head and that helps me at the end of the day, rest a little like, okay, if this doesn’t work out, this is what I plan to do. And maybe reach out to those people and say, Hey, I’m trying to do this right now, but if it doesn’t, you think you’ve got a spot for me and then, you know, you have something there and that kind of helps you.

Sharon Cline: [00:25:28] It changes the energy, doesn’t it?

Anthony Latronica: [00:25:29] Right. Yeah. Not just faith that you know, that you aren’t going to just go broke and homeless on the side of the road because you’re, you know.

Sharon Cline: [00:25:35] Well, I mean, is that not the ultimate fear? I mean, that’s kind of what I’m talking about. It’s cool to have you on here is because this is really the ultimate scary leap of faith that you’re doing that is it’s admirable.

Tracy Latronica: [00:25:47] But you wouldn’t let it get that far. You know, you would you would you would recognize when you’ve given it your all and it’s just not working out. And then it would be an emotionally difficult process to revert back to what you were doing before. But I mean, there’s there’s jobs out there for everybody.

Anthony Latronica: [00:26:05] I don’t think it’s time to give up on your dream exactly. But maybe fall back to another plan until you can get in the right spot to follow your dream again.

Tracy Latronica: [00:26:14] I love.

Anthony Latronica: [00:26:14] That. Never give up.

Sharon Cline: [00:26:16] I think that’s a really huge theme that I’ve heard in just different interviews that I’ve done, not just recently about how giving up is like. It’s like the Achilles heel. It’s like, Oh, I’m just going to never consider giving up.

Anthony Latronica: [00:26:30] Just say, Hey, I have to have to take another little shortcut to get to where I want to be eventually.

Sharon Cline: [00:26:36] But I think that’s.

Tracy Latronica: [00:26:37] That’s a.

Anthony Latronica: [00:26:37] Long cut, not short.

Anthony Latronica: [00:26:38] Cut.

Sharon Cline: [00:26:40] Long or short, as long as it’s not the end, like a complete no. But that’s huge because that’s kind of what this show is all about, is talking about people who are continuing to navigate ups and downs and backs and forths and setbacks and how do you get yourself out of it. And I also wanted to ask you to what what’s been the most surprising that you’ve kind of figured out in the last six weeks or so? What’s surprised you the most about switching? Switching gears?

Tracy Latronica: [00:27:05] You know, for me, I think what’s been so surprising is the small, detailed aspects of organization that you have to have in order to be successful. You have to track all of your spending, all of your where every penny goes. You know, Anthony is so great about he spent $3 on a new drill bit, let’s say, and he’ll turn in that receipt. And I remember it like kind of rolling my eyes out at first. But it’s so true because $3 a day over the course of 365 days a year, you know, $1,000.

Sharon Cline: [00:27:39] Yeah.

Tracy Latronica: [00:27:40] And so for me, trying to, you know, navigate how to keep that organized has been surprising. I think another thing that has been surprising is how easy it is to be self motivated. I was worried that without having a quote unquote supervisor that, you know, you want to lay in bed till noon and flip through the channels. But the drive of wanting to get your business going is what wakes you up before your alarm goes off. And it is what keeps you going past when you would normally quit. And so it doesn’t feel like work.

Sharon Cline: [00:28:15] It feels like 9 to 5 clock in crank out. It feels like your life. Right, right, right.

Tracy Latronica: [00:28:21] Exactly.

Sharon Cline: [00:28:22] But I feel like that’s kind of the goal is something that kind of marries your your spirit as well as your want to have a financial security. You know, you’re integrating both, I guess. Yeah.

Tracy Latronica: [00:28:34] Yeah.

Sharon Cline: [00:28:34] Well, if you could give advice to someone out there that’s listening right now who would be interested in trying to start their own business, could you give me, like, two or three things that we could tell them?

Tracy Latronica: [00:28:44] I would say research and ask around. You know, one of my buddies, Brian Wojnarowski, is his name and he’s Anthony’s friend as well. And he owns a small business and he’s been a real asset as far as getting business off the ground. He told me for the first nine months he was working 16 hours a day, just all day. Half of his day would be actually doing the business that he’s involved in. And then the other half of the day would be doing the the promotion and the building of the business. And so having a partner like Anthony or Anthony, having a partner like myself allows us to divide that a little bit to where it’s not so cumbersome with time. So, you know, maybe, maybe have that network of people that that network of support so you don’t overdo it. You know, that would be some advice. And then YouTube tutorials, the most basic Internet searches, how to start a small business. It’s crazy what you would see and the stuff on there that you wouldn’t even know to think about. I mean, I didn’t know what an iron number was. I didn’t know what I’d done this number was or how to register with the government as a female owned business. And the way that I found out is by typing on that keyboard. So, you know, just take the time to do some some research and have some savings.

Anthony Latronica: [00:30:09] And a fallback.

Anthony Latronica: [00:30:10] Plan.

Sharon Cline: [00:30:10] Yeah, fallback plan. So if if can you give me a quick rundown of some of the things that if someone were listening right now and they have this house, they’re like, I’d really like to improve something here. What could you say? Here’s what I can do.

Anthony Latronica: [00:30:26] As far as house and home improvement.

Sharon Cline: [00:30:28] Because we talked a little bit about construction. I know when I was reading the intro, I was thinking, man, I could use someone to do a fence for me. We’re going to talk afterwards. But you you don’t just do inspections. You do other other home improvement.

Tracy and Anthony Latronica: [00:30:43] As a project. Oh, yeah. That’s what’s keeping us floating right now is the doing some of the home improvement tasks that I that I know how to do from my past experience.

Tracy Latronica: [00:30:51] What could build the value of somebody’s home? What kind of projects would increase the.

Tracy and Anthony Latronica: [00:30:54] Value of that? Definitely concrete and decking. I mean, a lot of houses adding a deck or some sort of exterior foundations such as concrete slab or whatever, can add value to your home upgrading inside, you know, as far as light fixtures and stuff like that, things that make the house look nicer. You know, there’s there’s lots of things, the open concept, you know, maybe.

Sharon Cline: [00:31:22] If I wanted to change like a wall, I could be like, Anthony, come into my house, fix this, fix that. I’m serious. Like, if you to have someone who’s able to do so many different things, it’s not like you’re just a plumber or you don’t only do fencing, it’s nice that you have skills.

Tracy Latronica: [00:31:37] So yesterday he installed an American flag on the top of a 30 foot commercial building, and today he fixed the toilet. Right. So this is all wall. He’s getting educated and certified in the inspection home inspection sector. That’s going to include mold testing, radon testing, termite inspections. And obviously there’s certifications and licenses that go into that. We’re also delving into drone roof inspections where we can fly a drone over a home that you wouldn’t normally be able to walk on to get a thorough inspection. We will be able to offer that with the use of that technology. So while he’s doing all of this learning and we’re developing the business, we are also doing these renovations or these these jobs, like you just mentioned, if you needed a wall taken out or floors redone or your deck is a little rotted and needs some boards replaced, those are all things that are sustaining us financially as we get to the point where we hope the home inspections will take up our full time.

Sharon Cline: [00:32:40] That’s the dream. That’s the goal. So five years from now, what would you like it to be.

Tracy Latronica: [00:32:45] Five years from now? I’m not I’m sorry.

Sharon Cline: [00:32:47] I know both of you.

Tracy Latronica: [00:32:49] Whichever five years from now, I would like to have employees. Five years from now, I would like to see us where we are running other inspectors who maybe don’t have the wherewithal or the means to do the business part, but they still want to see a lucrative, in-demand job. That is, it’s never going away, no matter what happens in the world with politics or with the economy, when houses are sold, they need to be inspected, period. And so the goal is to have one or two men or women beneath, for lack of a better term. Anthony That would be doing the inspections for ants inspections. And that way we would be able to develop our business that way.

Sharon Cline: [00:33:35] What I like to given that you would know how to fix all of these things, what better person to come in and say, I see that this is wrong, right? You know, I love that not I’m sure not every inspector knows how to fix decks and change walls. And do you know what I’m saying at all?

Tracy Latronica: [00:33:50] His instructor mentioned. He said, You can take this course and have never touched a hammer and you can become a certified home inspector, which is kind of scary to think that you have people coming to your home to do inspections that don’t really know what’s going on. They just memorize some stuff for a test. And with Anthony, like he actually knows he’s seen that failure of that structure, he’s seen that electrical problem, or he’s seen that flooring issue and repaired it in his past. So I do think it gives him a more in-depth ability to give a thorough and honest and genuine inspection when he comes out.

Anthony Latronica: [00:34:24] There and there’s other need for inspectors as far as annual house inspections, if you don’t know much about fixing your house and and you want to have someone come out yearly to point out things that you may or may not know to fix, you know, that there’s a there’s a reason for inspections there. And then there’s for banks, there’s bank door inspections where the bank loans out a certain amount of money at a time per phase of of of a job that’s being built. And you’re supposed to go out and approve. Yes, this part’s done. Now, give them the next drawer. So there’s there’s those there’s need for inspection as well as that. So if you get a good customer base and you did the inspection when they bought their house, you can get get the business from them to come back here and and help them keep up with their house upkeep, inspections.

Tracy Latronica: [00:35:11] And the and the relationship that we plan to develop with the realtors.

Sharon Cline: [00:35:16] Yeah, the relationships to me, I know this business, but business is relationships too. So it’s.

Tracy Latronica: [00:35:20] Really important. I say that all the time. Everything is a relationship. Any interaction you have with somebody else is a is a relationship and there’s trust there and and honesty that’s expected. And we we always want to be the people that can never be accused of letting someone down or do what we say kind of people.

Sharon Cline: [00:35:40] Well, if someone were listening right now and wanted to get more information about you, what would be the best way? Where could they go? I know you’re building your website right now.

Tracy Latronica: [00:35:47] We are. We are. So the website is antz inspections dot com ants like the bug plural inspections dot com. It is in construction right now. So probably more so on social media. We’re on LinkedIn, we’re on Facebook, Instagram, we have we’re on nextdoor. But that’s that’s definitely one of the areas that we need to spend more time on and focus and develop is how to get our name out there. So the first half of our day was spent doing that before we came here to you, and hopefully that website will be up and running in the next two weeks.

Sharon Cline: [00:36:24] Well, I hope this also helps and lands wherever it needs to land, because it’s very exciting to see the very infant stages of a of a business come to fruition and know it’s important. And I think to just supporting each other. I’m happy to be able to support your business in your endeavors. And I’ve really appreciated how honest you are about how vulnerable you kind of need to be a little bit in having faith to build a brand new business in an industry that’s like, to me, I don’t know anything about. So you’ve really helped me to kind of understand a little bit of the backstory of how you get started. Because doing voiceovers, I was just like, Google, I got it. But like this is totally different, a much bigger endeavor. So I appreciate you giving me some time today and thank you. I know it’s been here.

Tracy Latronica: [00:37:11] Hopefully a year from now you’ll have us back. Yeah. And we can be talking about how amazing our first year is and we’ll have some more specific advice.

Sharon Cline: [00:37:20] I know your advice is perfect because really there are a lot of people that have gone through the same thing that you are now, or people that are unsure of how to go through.

Tracy Latronica: [00:37:27] What my advice is. Just do it. Just do it. I mean, just go for it. What is the worst that happens? You give it a go and it doesn’t work out and you go back to doing what you were doing before, but at least you can say you tried, right? Well, everybody has a backup plan. Everybody has a current job.

Anthony Latronica: [00:37:42] Not everybody has that. You got to think you’ve got to think about it.

Sharon Cline: [00:37:46] He’s right, though. There is something to be said about not having a desperate feeling of this has to work or I won’t be, you know, like that desperate energy is a terrible space to be in. So the fact that you’re thinking contingency.

Anthony Latronica: [00:37:58] I mean, it.

Sharon Cline: [00:37:59] Releases the pressure.

Anthony Latronica: [00:38:00] It’s scary. I mean, yes, we’re going to burn a lot of our savings and stuff trying to do this, but it’s not going to leave us in a terrible spot.

Anthony Latronica: [00:38:07] Well, we will.

Anthony Latronica: [00:38:08] We’ll be able to get back to where we were.

Tracy Latronica: [00:38:11] We did work for 25 years to get here. We are not super young people. We’ve worked and saved and put in, you know, four one k’s and percentages into savings and made some wise investments and things in order to get here. So maybe that’s the core advice is before you start thinking about starting a business, start putting a chunk of your money away to.

Sharon Cline: [00:38:33] Go to probably the best advice for any anybody, anybody, any time, any business. Put some money away.

Tracy Latronica: [00:38:38] Put some money on like 10%, 10% makes all the difference in the world.

Sharon Cline: [00:38:43] Well, on that note, thank you. Thanks, Tracy, Veronica, for coming. Thanks for joining us to you on Fearless Formula. And this is Sharon Klein reminding you that with wisdom and understanding and 10% of your savings, we can all we could all have a fearless formula. Have a great.

Sharon Cline: [00:38:58] Day. Thank you.