Laid-off ironworker finds his niche in demolition
Hitting the reset button and starting from scratch to open your own business can be a risky proposition.
That’s what Adam Davis, owner of Davis Demolition & Excavating in Prospect, learned when he was let go from his job as an ironworker.
Davis said he always knew he wanted to run his own small business and that opportunity was given to him when he was laid off. He had been an ironworker for 10 years.
“The biggest challenge is the fear of going all in,” Davis said. “Being an ironworker is a pretty good job. Then to give that up and pursue something that’s not guaranteed, it can be hard.”
As an ironworker, Davis became familiar with the demolition side of the business, doing more jobs on the industrial side compared to now where he does more residential and commercial projects.
Davis and his crew of six usually start their day around 6 a.m. at their headquarters at 826 Unionville Road in Franklin Township.
They will have a team meeting to discuss the day’s projects, prepare the trucks and go their separate ways.
“We could be doing one thing on Monday and something different each day after,” Davis said. “We are always all over the place. I have eight jobs going on right now. We are always bouncing around.”
Davis said their workday will typically end between 4 and 5 p.m. and with the long workday hours, their workweek will usually run four days each week.
As owner, Davis spends most of his time pursuing and bidding on future projects for the business.
“I get notifications from people asking me if I want to bid on a project,” Davis said.
There is more to a demolition project than simply taking a wrecking ball to a structure, according to Davis.
Safety is a priority when taking on all projects, but with demolition there are other factors that come into play.
“There is asbestos and lead paint sometimes,” Davis said. “There are different techniques for that as well ... If you’re going to do a demolition these days. it’s a lot more than tearing something down.”
When it comes to site development and excavating, those can either be short projects that take a couple of days, or they can take up to a year depending on what is being built, Davis said.
“The site work for a house takes a couple months from start to finish,” Davis said. “Right now we are pretty busy. I’m constantly trying to grow. I sometimes take on more than I currently can handle, and the hope is I can find the employees to keep in the uphill trajectory.”
Davis said he would like to hire two more employees by the end of the year, specifically people who can drive trucks, but that has proven difficult recently.
“It’s really hard finding truck drivers right now,” Davis said. “COVID threw a wrench in everything. It’s definitely gotten harder to get your CDL (commercial driver’s license). When I got mine I was able to buy a truck and practice in it with my dad because he has his. I was able to take my truck to PennDOT and test, but you can’t do that now. It has to be through an accredited institution like a school.
“It was the same as getting your car license, just a lot harder. There’s just more to it.”
Private residential housing projects have taken a nose-dive Davis said, as the business has not taken on a project like that yet this year. But that hasn’t stopped the business from being successful.
“It’s not a big portion of what we do anymore and I’ve been busy enough without (getting land ready for a house to be built), so it hasn’t affected me yet,” Davis said. “There are a lot less houses being built right now. It’s all from the high interest rates I think.”
Inflation has had a serious effect on project bidding, Davis said.
“The cost of everything is going up so fast, it’s hard to keep up,” Davis said. “The cost of goods and services are going up so fast sometimes contractors like me can’t build our prices up fast enough. All of our bidding is competitive bidding, so everyone is basing their prices off of previous projects, and it’s hard because you have to bid low if you want the job and it’s a snowball effect.”
Davis said anyone trying to start a small business should not be afraid of failure.
They must be prepared for the many expenses that come with it, such as payroll, which can prove to be one of the biggest expenses, he said.
He said he was lucky to have his wife to support him financially in the beginning, while also being one of his biggest supporters.
“You need to have money in the bank and have a good plan in place,” Davis said. “Have somebody support you, whether it’s a significant other or a business partner because it’s competitive out there, and there’s not a lot of room for error. Things are expensive and sometimes it’s long hard days and weeks with little to show for it, but in the end it’s well worth it.”
— This article originally published in Butler County Business Matters
