Most people talk about starting a business like it begins with a polished plan.

A lot of times, it does not.

It starts with a problem.
A market gap.
A few people willing to bet on an idea.
And a founder figuring it out in real time.

That is what makes this conversation with Dalton Daeges so relevant.

Dalton did not come from the concrete world with some perfect roadmap.

He was looking at business acquisition opportunities, trying to understand where the real opportunity was, and ended up building Concrete Delivered from the ground up after recognizing a gap in the Omaha market.

What followed was everything most people never see from the outside:

The financing conversations.
The rough business plan.
The barrier to entry.
The people challenges.
The scheduling chaos.
The reinvestment decisions.
And the pressure of building something real while still working a day job.

Andy and Elliot sit down with Dalton to talk through what it actually looks like to build a trades business when the timing is not perfect, the resources are limited, and the risk is real.

They unpack the role of partnerships, why more capital matters, how leadership changes when you are not physically there every day, and why some of the smartest growth decisions are the ones that make a business more resilient, not just bigger.

They also get into one of the biggest realities owners run into once a business starts moving:

Starting the business is one challenge.
Keeping people aligned is another.
Building something that can operate and grow without breaking every week is something else entirely.

If you are trying to build a trades business, buy one, scale one, or just make better decisions with less guesswork, this episode will hit home.

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Andy Bassett
CEO, Ellerbrock-Norris
https://www.linkedin.com/in/andy-bassett-cpcu-cic-7711853/

Elliot Bassett
President and Partner, Ellerbrock-Norris
https://www.linkedin.com/in/elliot-bassett-aip-cpcu-84499515/

🌐 https://www.ellerbrock-norris.com/

Chapters:

00:00 – Welcome to Builders, Makers, Doers
03:35 – The idea that led to Concrete Delivered
07:00 – Building the business plan from scratch
11:05 – Running the company with a day job
15:15 – Why none of the owners took a salary
17:10 – Buying a second business to stabilize growth
21:30 – The hardest part: people and operations
27:40 – The woodburn boiler story
31:30 – The bigger vision beyond one company
37:15 – The buy-or-build threat from a larger company
41:20 – Dalton’s best advice for future owners
44:15 – Final thoughts