A Contractor of 33 Years Shares His Recipe for Growth | The Dirt #57

In this episode of The Dirt, we speak with John Fechko, president of Fechko Excavating of Medina, Ohio, about his 33 years of growing a successful construction company.
Fechko began with a small excavator performing small residential jobs. Over time, he expanded into larger bonded and commercial jobs and today has more than 150 employees. Over the years, he has learned what contractors should and shouldn’t do if they want to grow.
One of the biggest challenges of growth is bringing in new staff to help with estimating as you become more established and seek to expand. That was difficult for Fechko who worried about releasing some of his duties to someone else and potentially upsetting the customer. He explains how he solved that problem and how it has helped his company.
Another area of concern has been the labor shortage. He tells how he finds the best employees and how he keeps them. As you get larger, it’s also important to maintain that personal touch, which can become more of a challenge as you add more personnel. He relays a suggestion that seems to be working.
He also discusses an important yet often overlooked aspect of running a construction business: operating costs. Another challenge: how to anticipate your needs ahead of the job rather than finding out the hard way you need more equipment or staff.
In this short video, you will gain some valuable insight from this 33-year construction veteran, insight that could help take your construction business to the next level.
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[@avidschool]

Please get him back on the show, great interview wish it would’ve gone longer!

[@davidjackson4112]

Please produce more interviews with large dirt contractors. Thanks,

[@subprimebradandsteve]

Dang this was just getting really good when you cut it off

[@travissmith1221]

John is a humble class act.

[@zaccheus]

Super cool video. I'm located not to far from Medina and I often see Fetchko trucks on the road. Super cool to see a local man having that level of success.

[@bgmdisposalmeireis3496]

very glad i came across this video, watched it from start to end and truly learned alot from Mr John Fetchko.

[@alexrueda469]

Great video, this gave me ideas to implement into my company as we grow

[@kevinthomes1046]

Enjoyed it. Great interview.

[@Farmer4Truth]

Great message brother! (Cool truck too 😅)

[@rossh1152]

Really good interview

[@mrandrewdennis1]

That man is Amazing

[@jacoblarsen6974]

Basically: the higher the volume the lower the prices per unit are. That was the most crucial point of the whole video. Further, YOU MUST know your numbers. Not knowing your dollars per square foot, per cubic foot, per gallon per hour etc. is a good way to get into financial trouble...great video. Lots of usable knowledge...😎😎

[@T_157-40]

I would love to work with a leader like him.

[@fuqutube]

Every answer was "This is the most important" lol

[@fnkdrmr86]

Great leader

[@murgao6725]

How popular is backhoe loader in US, in construction videos I dont see them so often like here in Europe, do americans like more specialized equipment than "multirole" or something else ?

[@JamesColeman1]

Wow there is a lot more info there. Too bad you had to cut it short. You didn’t even scrape the surface on the numbers.

[@campstrat]

Gold... I assume. (New Guy)

[@StinkyTeal]

Is that oil even available???