John Evans

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[00:00] SPEAKER_01: It's Calgary's podcast on the Canada's podcast network.
[00:04] SPEAKER_01: Hello, this is Mario Taniguchi coming to you today with Calgary's podcast.
[00:09] SPEAKER_01: A member of Canada's podcast network, where we talk to the entrepreneurs who are making
[00:14] SPEAKER_01: it happen in Calgary, Alberta, so you can listen, discover and engage.
[00:20] SPEAKER_01: Today's guest is John Evans, who is president of Everline Coatings and Services.
[00:27] SPEAKER_01: Thanks for joining us today, John.
[00:30] SPEAKER_01: Hey, no problem. Thanks very much for having me. This is exciting.
[00:33] SPEAKER_01: Okay, tell me a little bit about what Everline is and what you guys do.
[00:37] SPEAKER_00: Certainly. So Everline Coatings and Services is a parking lot, line painting,
[00:42] SPEAKER_00: and asphalt maintenance companies. So there's virtually been a need in the market,
[00:46] SPEAKER_00: all across Canada for a particular contractor that focuses on all the services required in a parking lot.
[00:55] SPEAKER_00: So that includes not just line painting, but the asphalt maintenance,
[00:59] SPEAKER_00: so still coding crack filling, and on who repair that sort of stuff.
[01:04] SPEAKER_00: And we service commercial clients through that sort of thing, and we franchise it across Canada.
[01:09] SPEAKER_00: Do you put in those speed bumps too? We do. We do.
[01:13] SPEAKER_01: We won't go there. Here's a question while I have you.
[01:19] SPEAKER_01: What determines the size of those things? Because some of them are little tiny things,
[01:24] SPEAKER_01: and then some are like monstrosities that you wonder, like, what the heck happened to my car after I
[01:29] SPEAKER_00: went through them? Yeah, it depends on the clients really. If they think speed is a problem,
[01:36] SPEAKER_01: they make them hurt. So you guys never get any backlash from that, dude?
[01:41] SPEAKER_00: No, we just do whatever signs, whatever the whoever signs the checks tell us.
[01:47] SPEAKER_00: Okay, great. How did you get started in this?
[01:50] SPEAKER_00: So when I was in university, I ran a student painting franchise through college pro painters,
[01:56] SPEAKER_00: and so I was able to get contracting experience while going to school and that sort of thing.
[02:01] SPEAKER_00: Then when school was finished, I was kind of outgrew that program a little bit.
[02:06] SPEAKER_00: So no kind of decided, okay, what am I going to do? And my first thought was having been a franchise
[02:12] SPEAKER_00: easy through that program is to, okay, well, I'm not, I don't have a brand new idea of what to do
[02:20] SPEAKER_00: or anything or something to invent or anything like that. I went to a franchise show, not to buy
[02:25] SPEAKER_00: here in Calgary, not to buy anything, but just to get the juices from what's out there, that sort of
[02:31] SPEAKER_00: thing. And they ran into a company that was licensing. They weren't selling a franchise,
[02:36] SPEAKER_00: but they were licensing a more durable traffic paint for the ground. And so we got to talking,
[02:43] SPEAKER_00: given that I came from a painting background, someone familiar, instead of putting it on walls
[02:49] SPEAKER_00: and windows, it was spraying it on the ground, that sort of thing. So that just kind of got the
[02:55] SPEAKER_00: juices flown as to how that could be a key competitive advantage for a company to have a product
[03:01] SPEAKER_00: that would be exclusive to us and that sort of thing, and kind of went from there. Then we kind of
[03:08] SPEAKER_00: root over the years, you know, as they say in scientific, yadda yadda yadda, and sort of
[03:13] SPEAKER_01: franchising it across Canada and they were wet. Okay, super. Now I hear that you had some
[03:20] SPEAKER_01: interesting and exciting times recently appearing on Dragon's Den. Tell me what you can tell me
[03:26] SPEAKER_00: about that appearance. Now that the episode is aired, I can kind of dive into virtually anything,
[03:35] SPEAKER_00: but it was Dragon's Den that really, back 2007, I think it was season two, that I first saw
[03:45] SPEAKER_00: that show, and it was kind of set me on the course for what I wanted to do, it was going into
[03:51] SPEAKER_00: entrepreneurship and that sort of thing, not only to become a dragon, but to be in the position of
[03:58] SPEAKER_00: those entrepreneurs laying it all out there, and really just having a great,
[04:03] SPEAKER_00: you know, just putting that risk out, it's like, listen, I'm going to go out at absolute risk of
[04:08] SPEAKER_00: being humiliated on national TV and for that shot of getting to my company to the next level.
[04:15] SPEAKER_00: So, you know, it was incredible, it was an intensive auditioning process, you know, I remember
[04:21] SPEAKER_00: it was Sunday morning eating breakfast, watching reruns of Dragon's Den, and it's a tourist term does,
[04:27] SPEAKER_00: I'm going to do that. I think my company is in a position where I can do that, because we're,
[04:31] SPEAKER_00: you see a lot of companies go, as they go on too earlier, too late, whether or not, investable
[04:38] SPEAKER_00: at that point. So, I was like, I mean, that's sweet spot, I'm going to give it a try, and so we
[04:42] SPEAKER_00: went and did an audition downtown Calgary, there was thousands of people there, and what I did is,
[04:48] SPEAKER_00: I, like, you could have the best business in the world, but if it's not exciting, then the producers
[04:54] SPEAKER_00: won't pick you. So, it was kind of a not-experience, you know, when I went to go pitch, you pitch the
[05:00] SPEAKER_00: producers first in the audition. So, they act as dragons, kind of thing, just to see how you,
[05:05] SPEAKER_00: and I, so I went and put it in there, and they had two of us in the same room, pitching at the same
[05:12] SPEAKER_00: time, and like, you know, my undying nose day, DM was like listening to the other guy, well,
[05:17] SPEAKER_00: doing that. And, and anyways, we, I pitched him on the experience, I said, this would be really
[05:23] SPEAKER_00: cool, because we could have the dragons painting lines in the, in the, on the area there, and the
[05:31] SPEAKER_00: producer wanted to see videos of what it would look like, and they saw it would be a great segment,
[05:35] SPEAKER_00: so they want stuff that's entertaining. So, I, yeah, so then we got the call that we're going to go
[05:41] SPEAKER_00: film, and then it was months of preparation. You know, I just knew that this was a do-or-die moment,
[05:47] SPEAKER_00: and then when you get there, I didn't know this, but there's actually a small chance of even airing,
[05:52] SPEAKER_00: even after filming. So, they filmed way more than that. So, that was just like, this has got to be good.
[05:59] SPEAKER_00: So, we went, uh, what went in there, walked down the stairs, saw the dragons all before me, and it was,
[06:05] SPEAKER_00: what you saw on TV there through our segment, they really, uh, really treated us well on the editing
[06:12] SPEAKER_00: phase process. They tore me apart, and, you know, they poke as many holes as possible. They,
[06:21] SPEAKER_00: it is a TV show, so they're trying to frustrate you, they're trying to get stuff out of you,
[06:25] SPEAKER_00: and they just hold strong and face the fire. So, what was the outcome of this?
[06:32] SPEAKER_00: So, we ended up doing a deal on the show with, with Manjeet, so we, uh, yeah, so I went in there
[06:38] SPEAKER_00: asking for $250,000 for 10% of the company, and we had two different deals offered to us, one between
[06:47] SPEAKER_00: Manjeet, just Manjeet herself, as well as Benchenzo and Michelle were working together,
[06:53] SPEAKER_00: as well. There were two very different deals, Manjeet offered a 3% royalty with a 5% equity stake,
[07:00] SPEAKER_00: and Benchenzo and Michelle offered, uh, a, the money asked for for 20%, and while some people say,
[07:08] SPEAKER_00: well, the royalty is kind of like, uh, you know, it's just kind of like a blank check right into somebody,
[07:12] SPEAKER_00: and some capital coming out, the margins of the company were strong enough to afford that,
[07:16] SPEAKER_00: and I felt that the value that Manjeet would bring to the company, uh, would, uh, would actually exceed
[07:22] SPEAKER_00: 3%. Okay, so she got free beer too, don't you? Yeah, yeah, absolutely. As soon as that episode was
[07:29] SPEAKER_00: done, I went right over to a brewery and then had some beers. Okay, for our listeners out there who
[07:33] SPEAKER_01: don't know, Manjeet minhas is the owner of minhas brewing in in Calgary and elsewhere. What's your
[07:40] SPEAKER_00: vision for the company as you go forward? So, uh, we are, um, what I would call the second stage
[07:47] SPEAKER_00: of a three-stage rocket. So, uh, the three, so as I mentioned before, we are franchising the
[07:53] SPEAKER_00: company across Canada. We've been successful here in Calgary, producing multi-million dollar
[07:58] SPEAKER_00: revenues, all that sort of stuff, and now we started franchising this business about three years ago.
[08:04] SPEAKER_00: We're now, our first franchisee is getting up to the million dollar market revenue and all that
[08:08] SPEAKER_00: kind of stuff. So, uh, and then also we have, uh, uh, uh, uh, seven other locations all across Canada
[08:15] SPEAKER_00: right now with four, four to six right now in the offer, um, to, uh, nearly double the size of
[08:20] SPEAKER_00: our company, uh, with this year, which would be really great. So, um, what I see is that we start
[08:26] SPEAKER_00: filling out, uh, we have an amazing business model, uh, that is millennial friendly and, uh, very
[08:33] SPEAKER_00: much a, a niche that is totally needed where if you apply advanced business development processes,
[08:39] SPEAKER_00: that, uh, it is successful. And I've seen it over and over again. This is not just Calgary
[08:44] SPEAKER_00: thing or just a me running a thing. And so, I'm excited about providing that opportunity to
[08:49] SPEAKER_00: other entrepreneurial people. So, there are people out there that are a lot like me. When I first,
[08:54] SPEAKER_00: you know, when I left school or I was thinking about my next business and so I went to a franchise
[08:59] SPEAKER_00: show just to get the juices flowing, uh, for the right, uh, you know, for the right mindset of
[09:03] SPEAKER_00: Hunter mentality, that sort of thing. Uh, this is something that has been, uh, been great to not
[09:09] SPEAKER_00: just myself but to work for NCHI's ease and, uh, looking to, uh, to do that. So, then once we
[09:14] SPEAKER_00: fill out Canada with more franchises, like, uh, uh, the little pockets that we're not in,
[09:20] SPEAKER_00: just quite yet, we're, we have more leverage to go to national, our national contracts and say,
[09:24] SPEAKER_00: hey, we can service all of your properties, uh, with one company, you have one NECD
[09:28] SPEAKER_01: Distangle, all that sort of stuff. What's, uh, uh, the biggest challenge you've faced as, uh,
[09:34] SPEAKER_00: an entrepreneur? Oh, man. Uh, it's always a rotating, uh, thing. Um, I, there was advice that I
[09:44] SPEAKER_00: received years ago. Uh, was that entrepreneurship, uh, is really managing shortage. There is always
[09:51] SPEAKER_00: some sort of shortage, always. Uh, if you have, uh, if you don't have that, then you're not pushing
[09:57] SPEAKER_00: yourself at all. So it's either people cash or, uh, or work is essentially the, uh, it's kind of
[10:03] SPEAKER_00: the trifecta of shortage. It's just the constant dance of, uh, of that, um, you know, like, you know,
[10:11] SPEAKER_00: when you finally get up on people, then you have less work because you're blown through work faster.
[10:15] SPEAKER_00: And then, you know, then you have more work, you have more cash, but then you don't have enough
[10:19] SPEAKER_00: people to do it than you add more people than you have less cash. It just goes on forever.
[10:23] SPEAKER_00: So I think that's kind of the greatest, uh, ongoing challenge, uh, as it goes. And that's, I think that's,
[10:29] SPEAKER_01: yeah, that's kind of part of it. What about doing business in Calgary itself? Uh, what are the
[10:36] SPEAKER_01: benefits of, uh, being a business owner here in this city? What's, what I love about Calgary and
[10:43] SPEAKER_00: the kind of, you know, as fortune brought me to Calgary, I came here for school and stayed here
[10:49] SPEAKER_00: and married myself and a Burton Farn girl and, uh, you know, all that kind of stuff started
[10:54] SPEAKER_00: a business here. Uh, it is absolutely the pick yourself up by the boot straps mentality. It is,
[11:00] SPEAKER_00: you know, there is still the prairie farmer DNA, you know, all throughout the, uh, all,
[11:08] SPEAKER_00: through everybody. And I connected with that, uh, uh, quite quite well. So, um, you know,
[11:14] SPEAKER_00: it's at the roots and not only do you, you, you get resourceful people out of that. So not only
[11:19] SPEAKER_00: with other business owners throughout there, but that DNA is sprinkled through your workers as well
[11:25] SPEAKER_00: through employees. And so that, uh, that actually gives you an advantage, uh, if you tap into that and
[11:30] SPEAKER_01: capture that as much as possible. Okay. The biggest challenge you see, uh, today in Calgary,
[11:38] SPEAKER_00: for being a business owner. So I would have to say by far the biggest challenge is how emotional
[11:44] SPEAKER_00: people get with the swing of the economy. Yeah. Now, Alberta absolutely is, and no one will ever
[11:53] SPEAKER_00: argue this, a, an up and down province, uh, primarily due to its, uh, over dependence on, uh,
[11:59] SPEAKER_00: on oil resources. Um, and it is quite interesting that even, you know, uh, even though the economy,
[12:06] SPEAKER_00: statistically is okay, if people are not feeling okay, then like it totally, they stop spending money,
[12:15] SPEAKER_00: they, you know, cut off projects, all that kind of stuff. And it, it's just like it over, uh,
[12:20] SPEAKER_00: totally, uh, in overreaction. That's kind of the biggest challenge is when you're trying to run a
[12:25] SPEAKER_00: business in Calgary and in Alberta, uh, is managing that and just trying to have your stay calm.
[12:31] SPEAKER_00: Everything's gonna be okay. We're plough it forward. I know. Yeah. My GDP is a province. We're okay.
[12:38] SPEAKER_01: Like let's go. So yeah, yeah. As a business owner, you know, outside, put yourself outside the
[12:46] SPEAKER_01: environment of your office and your work environment. Where do you get ideas for the business?
[12:52] SPEAKER_01: Is there anything you do in terms of your passions, your pursuits and interests that, uh, get the
[12:58] SPEAKER_00: creative juices blowing? Oh, yeah. Certainly a couple of things. Um, you know, being an entrepreneur
[13:04] SPEAKER_00: business owner, it is absolutely way too easy just to get completely lost within your own
[13:11] SPEAKER_00: organization and not be able to, uh, import knowledge, uh, or even just take a break outside of
[13:18] SPEAKER_00: that side of things. So if I were to say, you know, I'm kind of the, uh, the short term small,
[13:23] SPEAKER_00: uh, I guess like those short little breaks that you need to take. You know, I, I get inspired,
[13:27] SPEAKER_00: you know, walking downtown, uh, you know, grabbing, going to a coffee shop downtown, Kenzie 10,
[13:32] SPEAKER_00: all that sort of stuff. Uh, just to get away, get a different scenery, um, our shop areas,
[13:38] SPEAKER_00: those healthiest and, you know, just kind of getting new environments and that sort of thing.
[13:43] SPEAKER_00: Also what I do is, um, I go to, uh, trade related conventions quite a bit. That would have to be,
[13:51] SPEAKER_00: uh, you know, in, uh, in franchising, for instance, there's the Canadian Franchise Association,
[13:56] SPEAKER_00: which, uh, has a tremendous, uh, convention and resources for franchises and to go out of,
[14:02] SPEAKER_00: out of your home base and go with me with them and start hearing perspectives from all the,
[14:08] SPEAKER_00: all over the rest of Canada and even some from the US, uh, that you actually do get, uh, you know,
[14:14] SPEAKER_00: a total fresh new look and you're actually importing a fresh perspective into your business,
[14:20] SPEAKER_01: which has worked well for us. Okay, super, then. Can I switch gears a little bit, ask you
[14:25] SPEAKER_01: some personal questions? Everybody, uh, these days has, uh, kind of like a bucket list. Do you
[14:32] SPEAKER_00: have one and if so, what's on top of it? Who? So, um, on the bucket list, uh, it's absolutely a, um,
[14:42] SPEAKER_00: I'm, I'm pretty simple. Like I'm, I'm, I'm kind of like a homeboy. I don't really like going
[14:47] SPEAKER_00: anywhere or doing anything. I look, you know, like, you know, my ideal weekend is literally doing
[14:52] SPEAKER_00: nothing at all. I would have to say, uh, my, my now being an entrepreneur, my bucket list is
[15:00] SPEAKER_00: totally related to the successes of the business itself. Uh, it's gotta be, um, you know,
[15:06] SPEAKER_00: with Dragon's Den was one of them. Uh, so now it's like, okay, how do you leverage that into,
[15:12] SPEAKER_00: uh, into the next bucket list and it's absolutely kind of expanding the United States and starting
[15:22] SPEAKER_00: that happened for me would be an absolute incredible experience. Okay. If you weren't doing what
[15:28] SPEAKER_01: you're doing now, uh, any thoughts of what kind of job or career you would be in. Oh boy, uh, I
[15:36] SPEAKER_00: would probably go be, uh, headfirst in the politics. Actually, yeah. Yeah. I've always been a
[15:44] SPEAKER_00: political junkie actually. And my first year university was, uh, actually at the University of
[15:48] SPEAKER_00: Ottawa, they'd be kind of close to the mecca of it all, the work at Parliament and all that sort of
[15:53] SPEAKER_00: stuff. Uh, but it, it wasn't for me at that time. So maybe in a couple decades, I'll get into it.
[15:59] SPEAKER_01: We'll see in this, uh, fast-paced technological age that we live in. Uh, a lot of people don't
[16:06] SPEAKER_01: read anymore. I'm wondering, do you read any books? I, I, I listen to audiobooks. Uh, so I'm, uh,
[16:13] SPEAKER_00: so right now I just finished, um, uh, out, outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. Uh, that was, uh,
[16:20] SPEAKER_00: actually quite incredible book. It was about, uh, you know, there are certain, um, elements of
[16:27] SPEAKER_00: extreme success throughout history. Why? Right? And it's kind of, uh, down to even learning
[16:35] SPEAKER_00: why there was such a divide between people in our democracy. Like it goes down to like our
[16:41] SPEAKER_00: ancestry of some people were farmers and some people were animal herders and like you
[16:47] SPEAKER_00: have gained different skill sets, you trust and work with people a little more as farmers and
[16:53] SPEAKER_00: you trust to work with people a lot less as animal herders and like they all kind of
[16:57] SPEAKER_00: expanded into different areas of North America and the world and that actually changed everything.
[17:03] SPEAKER_01: So quite interesting. Oh, interesting. Yeah. Uh, if you had one word to describe, uh, yourself,
[17:09] SPEAKER_00: what would it be and why? I would say driven. Uh, so, uh, and naturally that's, uh, uh, uh,
[17:17] SPEAKER_00: what we turned our actual core, corporate values here at Everline, uh, is that, you know, we are driven
[17:23] SPEAKER_00: people and it's net, I would have to say it's, uh, for me, you know, it, it's, it's, never enough.
[17:30] SPEAKER_00: As much as we were celebrating and excited about being on Dragon's Den and having the tremendous
[17:35] SPEAKER_00: segments, uh, being put out there about us, it was, uh, okay, what's next? What's could, how do we
[17:41] SPEAKER_00: use this? There's not a lot of time just to sit back, but this is great. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
[17:47] SPEAKER_01: Question, I don't know if you travel much, but is there a place that you, you'd like to go to,
[17:53] SPEAKER_00: and spend time? Um, I, I do very much like, uh, the Bahamas actually, there's, uh,
[18:01] SPEAKER_00: uh, an island I've gone to multiple times now on Eluthra. It's kind of like a, a side island
[18:07] SPEAKER_00: there. There's some beautiful spots. It's quiet and very safe and, uh, you know, you get
[18:12] SPEAKER_00: miles of beaches to yourself entirely. So it's, uh, it's really nice. Okay. Since we're on to the
[18:18] SPEAKER_01: travel topic, let me ask you, uh, we'll put a forward a scenario for you. We're going to drop you
[18:24] SPEAKER_01: off on a small tropical island somewhere in the middle of the ocean. Beautiful place. Got no
[18:29] SPEAKER_01: technology, but it has one phone booth. Now we're going to leave you there, uh, and at any time
[18:35] SPEAKER_01: you could pick up the phone and call us and we'll come pick you up. Two questions. One is, how long
[18:41] SPEAKER_01: would you last, do you think before making that phone call? And what do you think you'd be doing
[18:47] SPEAKER_01: while you were there? Um, that's a, I've never been asked anything
[18:51] SPEAKER_00: or really close to that question. About that. Uh, uh, no, I would have to say is that, uh, it
[18:58] SPEAKER_00: probably be just like a couple of days of just chilling and, uh, you know, not, not do very much,
[19:05] SPEAKER_00: but it won't take very long for me to start wanting to get busy. Uh, you know, uh, and, you know,
[19:12] SPEAKER_00: there's certain itches that I need to get scratched here on how we're going to, um, uh, uh,
[19:17] SPEAKER_00: on how I need to operate. So I would have to say like a week at most, I'd probably be like,
[19:24] SPEAKER_00: all right, I'm done with this. Let's, let's get back to work. Okay. Speaking of getting back to
[19:28] SPEAKER_01: work, let me ask you about routines. Uh, a lot of people have kind of daily rituals, daily
[19:33] SPEAKER_00: routines that they follow almost every day. Uh, do you? Uh, I do yet. So, uh, do as much as I can
[19:40] SPEAKER_00: uh, wake up, uh, uh, uh, pretty early. We, my, uh, we just had a, uh, uh, uh, uh, new daughter here.
[19:48] SPEAKER_00: She's, uh, nine months now and, uh, her and I, uh, we, you know, sitting bed, I have a cup of coffee
[19:53] SPEAKER_00: and playing the morning, which is really, really nice. Uh, then it's, uh, getting to work. It's, uh,
[19:59] SPEAKER_00: you know, uh, listening to audiobooks and things like that as we go into work, uh, sitting down,
[20:04] SPEAKER_00: plugging through, uh, planning out the day on, uh, you know, five, uh, five things that I need,
[20:09] SPEAKER_00: need to get done that day and then just get to work at it and then whatever comes, uh, through
[20:13] SPEAKER_00: the rest of the day, uh, kind of works out. Uh, before you leave us today, John, is there anything
[20:19] SPEAKER_00: you'd like to add? Uh, no, I, I don't think so. I would have to say, uh, you know, thank you very,
[20:24] SPEAKER_00: very much for having me and, uh, you know, really, uh, it's, it's a very, very proud to be a
[20:30] SPEAKER_00: cowgurian entrepreneur. Uh, I would have to say that, uh, uh, diversification and, uh, uh, of the
[20:37] SPEAKER_00: colony and, uh, you know, pulling us all up by our bootstraps to really do a great, uh, uh,
[20:44] SPEAKER_00: great service to the economy as a whole by getting involved and something that, uh, you know,
[20:49] SPEAKER_00: will work for you and that sort of thing. So that is, that's kind of the idea, uh, that I wanted to,
[20:55] SPEAKER_00: uh, let's wrap up with is, uh, that here in Everline and Calgary, we've been able to create jobs and
[21:01] SPEAKER_00: create life, livelihoods, uh, you know, a real positive work environment. That sort of thing, uh,
[21:07] SPEAKER_00: that we are, uh, able to provide a lot of good and we're not connected at all the oil gas. So
[21:13] SPEAKER_00: that's, uh, that's how you gotta, how you gotta do it. We've gotta, gotta get over it, guys.
[21:18] SPEAKER_01: Let's just keep going. Great. Thanks for being our guest today, uh, John on Calgary's podcast.
[21:24] SPEAKER_01: All right. Thank you. Hey there. Thanks for taking the time today to listen to Calgary's podcast.
[21:31] SPEAKER_01: On Canada's podcast network. We hope you enjoyed the show today. Make sure you sign up for our
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