Jeff Jiang (蒋浩) | Ep. 2: Lost $600K, Still Paid His Crew
https://youtu.be/ROyzbhCKoRk
(Transcript from the episode's English subtitles; speakers not labelled. Host: Sarah Yu.)

[0:00] Lost $600K in one year
I wrote each of them a cheque, paying in full for the work they'd done. One year, I lost about $600,000 on two jobs. On one of them, the owner passed away. People in the industry probably all know about it. She passed away, and still owed me some money, but we'd already done all our work. At the time I said, "It's okay. Your mother always treated me as a good friend. I'd never turn around and fight with her, or with you. Never." I set the matter aside. Then everyone who'd worked for me: plumbers, electricians, drywallers, and sprinkler guys. I called them all in. I wrote each of them a cheque, paying in full for the work they'd done. None of the others said anything, just the Indian guy who did my drywall. He said this: Jeff, you're different from most people.

[0:45] Loyal, and by the rules
So, to sum up, you're someone who really values loyalty. I'm more about rules. Right, loyalty and rules. After building long-term working relationships with your staff, you really try to keep them here. As long as you can keep the company going, you want everyone to stay with you.

[1:04] Howard's leaking house
Like a few days ago, I posted on WeChat Moments that I'm running for city council. A friend of mine in Burnaby told me, "Jeff, I support you. I don't have a vote, but I'll get my friends in Richmond to vote for you. I'd definitely vote for you." I asked why. He said, "The way you treat clients, you'll make a good councillor." He lives in Burnaby and has a house he rents out. It had a leak. The basement wasn't draining. And from the basement ceiling, water was dripping down. I found two problems: one was a leak in the chimney, the other was poor drainage in the basement. So I fixed those. But after that, in a heavy rain, the ceiling was still leaking. Still leaking, in that same spot. So I sent my workers to fix it. They tried once, twice, and couldn't fix it. They couldn't find the cause. The third time, I spotted it, and on the fourth visit, my workers fixed it. Once it was fixed, he said to me, "The first time, I didn't haggle with you at all. It cost more than I expected. Second, please don't make it any more expensive. Charge me a bit less." I told him, "Howard, I'm not charging you." "Why? You came four times and won't charge me?" I said, "I came to fix your leak — that's the whole point."

[2:08] Running a company vs. running a city
But he said, "You "You're so dedicated and trustworthy with clients, you'll definitely do well in city government." I said, not necessarily. Because in business, for the company's reputation, I can give ground, I can take a hit, even lose some money, for the reputation. I can make my own calls. But at city hall, as a councillor, if I get elected, I can't do that. It has its own standards. It's not responsible for just one thing, but for the whole community. You're also very humble.

[2:36] The renovation association
Your renovation association gave them emotional support. You're right about that. Back in 2014, when we founded the renovation association, everyone had been scattered. after we'd all been scattered, now it's become an association, and everyone feels like they have a home.

[2:51] A boss who does everything
And what a boss has to shoulder goes beyond what we imagine. A boss here actually does everything, what he should and shouldn't have to. I even do the cleaning at the company. Cleaning is what I enjoy most. I mop the floors. But what can you do? In winter, if there's a leak somewhere, I have to rush over. If anything happens on site, I'm first to run over. Even if I have staff who'll head out, I'm probably the first one on site. The craziest was one day, my wife said to me... On Saturday I wasn't feeling well. I needed to sleep. On Sunday afternoon, I was still in bed, groggy, half-asleep, just lying there on my phone. Then around 9:30 or 10 at night, someone suddenly messaged me, "A friend's house has a leak. Go take a look." I said, "Forget it, I'll go Monday." Because you weren't feeling well. Right, I was unwell. But then that person added me as a contact. I accepted, and then photos came through. I saw it was serious. I got to his place around 11. You just couldn't let it go. I called my workers to get equipment from the shop. They got there at 1. We worked until after 10 the next morning and finished. Things like this... my wife asked me, "This morning you still looked so sickly. How are you suddenly fine?" Like a shot of adrenaline. Or maybe a real one!