[00:00:00] Welcome to the Contractor Freedom Podcast. I'm your host, Jason Phillips. This show exists to help small business owners like you escape the tyranny of Contractor Freedom and enter the bliss of Contractor Freedom so you can have the Time, Money, and Freedom to Live Your Life With Purpose Beyond Your Business.

As a certified human behavior consultant in DISC personality styles and motivators, I'll be sharing with you skills for life, love, leadership, and business. I'll also be connecting you with experts that can help you scale your business and your life. So if you want to build the business and life of your dreams, then you are in the right place.

Let's go. 

Jason Phillips: Hey friends jason phillips here i'm excited to be with you today live For our contractor freedom podcast. I have a special treat for you today. I have my friend Mark DeFrancisco, all the way from Connecticut, down here in Texas, in Allen, Texas with us here live today, [00:01:00] and we spent the whole day yesterday together, and I want you to get to know him, and think he's got some great things you're gonna love, you're gonna love hearing from Mark.

So Mark, I just want to say, welcome. Thank you very much. I'm glad you're here. We got to send, spend the whole day today, excuse me, the whole day yesterday and and today together. Man, tell us where where are you from? Tell us your name, your business 

Mark DeFrancesco: and such. So I'm from Connecticut.

Name of my business is MDF Painting and Power Washing. So we've been at it up there for a while. We do primarily high end residential painting and we do some commercial repaint painting as well. 

Jason Phillips: When did you start? How long have you been in business? 

Mark DeFrancesco: I've been in business since 95 but really in business since 03, so I had been painting when I was younger and even through college and all that and and then launched out for real in 03. 

Jason Phillips: Your clients are residential builders or homeowners? 

Mark DeFrancesco: Primarily homeowners. 

Jason Phillips: Primarily homeowners. 

Mark DeFrancesco: Most of our work is direct to owners and even in commercial, we prefer to be direct to owners where we're doing work for the [00:02:00] university or the assisted living complex or whatever building we're painting.

Jason Phillips: I see. Got it. Tell us tell us a little bit, Mark, about just the basic structure of your company. Who does? Who does the painting? Who does the sales? Who does the marketing and such? 

Mark DeFrancesco: Yeah, 

so good question. Start with the direct labor of our painters. This has changed over the years.

We've talked about it. I went from being a completely employee based company to a completely subcontractor based company back to a completely employee based company. And so it's been a bit of a Germany, a journey for us. And but now we're all employees and that's the way I prefer it. Is 

that typical for your state?

It's a mix. It's a big mix. I would say it's probably very similar to 50 50. There's a lot of, a lot more subcontractors in the last 15 years are being used by more and more companies.

Jason Phillips: And the employee model, I love hearing from that. Because us, my company, we're 100%, or I'm going to say 99%.

Subcontractor model and you're the employee model and [00:03:00] it's they're both great. They both have challenges at the same time There's a little bit different. What 

Mark DeFrancesco: so

There's certainly pros and cons of both I think what's been beneficial to me is being able to live and see and work in...