Posted: June 18, 2010

Jesse Waltz PE

President and owner | JES and KBH Business Management Systems | Virginia Beach

JES is a foundation repair company specializing in structural repair, waterproofing and crawl space moisture control. KBH Business Management Systems develops software to help contractors better manage/operate their business.

When did you start the businesses and what gave you the idea for them?

JES was established in 1993. As a professional engineer, I would often see that waterproofing and structural repairs were needed together at commercial and residential structures. I wanted to provide the long-term, cost-effective solutions that homeowners and property owners were desperately seeking. I like people more than engineering, and I consider myself to be in the people business, working on foundations. While JES was growing, I nationally consulted on foundation repair and business management. Often away from JES, I wouldn't know what was happening with the business. In 2004, KBH Business Management Systems was established to help me determine - at the touch of a button, from anywhere in the world - exactly what was going on with JES: The BizWizâ„¢ program was born.

What was the hardest part of launching your companies?

Lack of financial and staff resources. The market was there, but brand awareness was at ground zero. I wore the hats of sales, accounting, marketing and customer service. I often had to advise in the field. I didn't make time to train others. With KBH, I had to convince other business owners that change is often a necessary component of business improvement. With both businesses, the challenge was to communicate my vision to others.

What lesson did you learn that you wish you'd known back before you started?

The only way to grow is to recruit and hire good people. You can't do it all yourself. I have to work on my company, not in my company. My sweat, fatigue and frustration had me thinking I was maximizing my daily 24 hours. Instead, I had created a bottleneck at the top of my company, and for a while it inhibited the growth of JES.

What risks did you take?

I could have made a comfortable living employed by someone else. Instead, my wife and I took a large chunk of savings to start JES. With KBH, I risked hundreds of thousands of dollars in programming costs, and countless hours for planning and structuring, with no guarantee of a market, to develop BizWizâ„¢.

What was the biggest obstacle you overcame?

As JES grew and other offices opened, it was difficult to track personnel, sales, marketing, accounting, installations and inventory. As soon as one report was written, it was outdated moments later. There was no management tool that would provide literal up-to-the-minute information about JES-until BizWizâ„¢.

What or who has helped you the most in establishing your business?

I saw my father run a successful business with less than a high school education. My parents lived by a strong work ethic. I watched them do it, not preach it. My wife Stella - you can't hire someone to keep home fires burning. Her work with her job and our family enabled me to focus heavily on the business. She spoke positive words to our kids about why I was away, and she made them feel that they were more important than the business. Two mentors then and now for me are Greg Thrasher, founder of Foundation Supportworks™ network, and Larry Janesky, founder of Basement Systems® network.

What do you consider your greatest innovation?

By far, BizWizâ„¢. For the 40 companies across the U.S. and Canada already using this system, I have zero hesitation in saying that it is revolutionizing the way their companies are being operated and managed.

How has the company grown, both in terms of employees and revenue?

One professional engineer with a jackhammer has grown into a company with three locations and over 100 employees - from zero revenue at the start to more than $15 million in 2009. The company has also evolved into more of a holding company that contains several businesses, including JES Construction Inc., KBH Business Management Systems and National Foundation Repair Specialists.

Has the company earned a profit? If so, how long did it take to get there?

Yes. It took three years.

Discuss future plans for the company.

Currently JES has offices in Virginia Beach, Chester and Manassas, serving Virginia, Maryland, D.C. and North Carolina. In the future, we plan to open offices in Maryland and North Carolina. We plan to become the dominant name in our industry. We plan to expand our services to include energy audit services, expand the BizWizâ„¢ describer base throughout the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, and expand our training facilities for continuing education opportunities.

What is your biggest challenge for the future? How do you plan to handle it?

The biggest challenge is managing growth. JES has grown an average of 20 percent each year, and it is paramount to hire talented people to operate each location. It's key to systematize all business operations so they are reproducible and can be cohesively implemented between all locations. That challenge is passed onto BizWizâ„¢ to continually strive for maximum efficiency in its calculations and reporting systems.