Today we’d like to introduce you to Todd Prosan.
Hi Todd, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I am currently the president and co-owner of ’58 Foundations, a basement, crawlspace and foundation repair company. I have been in the home repair and home improvement industry for more than 30 years. Prior to ’58 Foundations, I was the director of contractor and business development for Grate Products LLC. Grate Products is a manufacturer of basement and crawlspace waterproofing products. In this role, I expanded and supported the existing contractor network across the United States and Canada. In just over three years, Grate Products doubled the size of their contractor base. To attract and retain contractors, I focused on offering sales training and marketing support to help the contractors in the network grow their businesses and run them more efficiently. These same contractors still call me today to help them with unique situations or to overcome problems they don’t have solutions for. Before Grate Products, I was the president & COO for the residential and commercial basement waterproofing system B-Dry, LLC and as the president and VP of operations for BDS Management Group following a merger of the two brands. Together these companies ran the BDry Waterproofing network of basement waterproofers. During my tenure, annual revenue increased, operating efficiency improved, and operational and growth strategies were implemented for 11 company-owned markets and 33 franchised locations across the U.S. My activities revolved around the team development, coaching, and training of ten regional managers and more than 150 employees.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
In hindsight, the road always looks smoother than it was. As a business, especially in the in-home service industry, is generally a bumpy day-to-day ride that hopefully smooths out over time. In broad terms, the struggles generally revolve around getting the right people into the right seats, training those people to understand the business as a whole and their roles, and then holding everyone – including myself – accountable to agreed goals. Easier said than done. I’m a big believer in the lessons learned in the book “Good to Great.” As I said above, get the right people in the right seats is one of those lessons that takes time.
Another example from the book is the hedgehog concept of sticking to the thing you do the best and not pursuing the other shiny things around you. This is another one of those lessons that is easier said than done. A good example in the basement waterproofing industry is wanting to add every other service that touches the basement. Basement finishing would seem like a simple add-on. We waterproof the basement and then finish it… simple. But I looked deeply into this and it requires a different set of products, different tools, and different skill sets such as carpentry. The only thing similar is that both services take place in the basement.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
As I said, I’m the president and co-owner of ’58 Foundations. My partners and I bought this company in 2019when it was called BDry Waterproofing. BDry’s history is such that the founder was the inventor of the interior basement waterproofing system and built a franchise around this. We now provide basement waterproofing, crawlspace encapsulation, foundation repair and mold removal. Our money-back guarantee and life-of-the-structure warranty – unique in the industry – offer the ultimate protection to homeowners. Our award-winning company, including the winner of the USA Today network’s Top Workplaces award and the BBB’s Torch Award for Ethics, has helped hundreds of thousands of customers repair their basement and crawlspace. Our quality products make homes healthier and more energy efficient… our honest methods delight our customers! I’m also very proud that we’ve been able to offer a long-time service to the greater Atlanta community. Although we’ve re-branded ourselves, ’58 Foundations has been serving the Greater Atlanta market since the 1980s. We’ve had and have great people on our team from the community.
What does success mean to you?
I define success through the value my company brings to the greater Atlanta community.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://58foundations.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/58-foundations/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/58foundations/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/58foundations/ 770-874-0689
