Power surge: F&H on the importance of saying ‘No’

Key Takeaways:

• Fettback & Heesterman focuses on measured, intentional growth, choosing quality over quantity by taking on projects they can excel at and saying “no” to work that could compromise their reputation or culture.
• Leveraging decades of experience, they have avoided common pitfalls by implementing enterprise software from the start, maintaining sound financial practices, and prioritizing workplace culture and employee satisfaction.
• The duo emphasizes creating a positive work environment, investing in tools and support for their team, and staying true to their values, which they credit as critical to their success and industry recognition.

The Whole Story:

After two decades building high-level careers at one of Canada’s largest and most sophisticated electrical contractors, Andrew Fettback and Chris Heesterman quit their jobs. 

Fettback had risen to vice president and Heesterman was operations manager. But the pair longed for a smaller, family-style business with less of a traditional corporate structure. 

“That was the spark,” said Fettback. “We knew that if we took my experience and relationships and Andrew’s experience and relationships, we could do something on our own that would be amazing.”

Fettback & Heesterman, their own electrical contracting business, was born.

Powering up

The pair had to hit the ground running. Right after finishing work on his last day at his old company, Fettback got his first call.

“The bank account wasn’t open yet. We weren’t incorporated. We didn’t even have a name. They asked if we could bid a job. I said ‘yes’, went home, worked on it and sent it in the morning. My phone rang eight minutes later and we had the job.” 

They scrambled to rent trucks, buy hardhats, call in favours and use their personal credit cards as the business immediately took off. While they their knowledge of construction was deep, they were still learning eachother. 

“We have always been friends, but we didn’t know what the other was capable of, what the other’s strengths were. We started this company and I just knew he was good at what he did.”

20 months later the projects are stacking up and their work is winning awards. Each of them has gravitated towards their area of expertise and learned to trust the other. 

Saying ‘no’

The company’s growth has been massive with Fettback and Heesterman employing around 100 people. But as you read this article, that could change. The pair stressed that there is no set growth plan. They have enough experience to know that too much growth or the wrong kind of growth can crush a business. 

“People ask us about our growth plan,” said Fettback. “We don’t have a growth plan. We could do the same business as our first year and be happy. We want to be the best and only take on work we can deliver on. We say ‘no’ to more work than we say ‘yes’ to.”

He explained that too much overhead, like a massive office or a large workforce, can eat into revenue. It can also be tempting to take bad jobs when the market slows. 

“Well that bad job takes two to three years, and during that time you are fighting with the general contractor,” said Fettback. “That trickles down. The foreman feels it. The project manager feels it. You’ve created negativity out of desperation.”

Taking on work that you can’t execute also creates risk. The pair stated that they only want to agree to jobs that they can knock out of the park.

“We would rather sit back for three months and just pay the bills than take a job that is going to tarnish our reputation,” said Heesterman. “We take pride in knowing when to say ‘no’. Whether it’s a big infrastructure job or a small tenant improvement, we do a deep dive to make sure it’s not going to impact our people.”

Starting right

The benefit of starting a business after decades of experience is solving problems before they exist. When it comes to financials and profitability reporting, Fettback explained that many first-time business owners get it wrong. 

“We have had the experience that bonding companies know that you recognize profit based on a percentage of work earned and how that percentage of work earned is calculated and many other things,” he said. “The legal stuff, the bonding, the insurance, I lived in that world so it wasn’t new to us.”

They also started with enterprise software from day one, a large expense, but well worth it as they scale. 

“We have been through the experience of changing software, it’s a pain, so let’s just start where we know we need to be,” said Heesterman. “We have already reaped the benefits of that.”

What’s next

Fettback’s arms are now covered in tattoos: one of his wife, some for his three sons, a quote from “Dune” and, of course, his company logo. 

“Being in that corporate culture, I’d have to fly to Denver and report to the board, I was always cognizant of how I looked. But this company is about us, and im going to be myself.”

Right now, the company is focused on working with the right trade partners, the right clients and building the right team. 

“If we expand too quickly and just try to get bodies in chairs, we will lose our culture,” said Fettback. 

They also go the extra mile to make sure workers have the best tools, good food, warm heaters, clean environments and more. 

“Happy people are hard-working people,” said Fettback. 

The approach appears to be working. They have opportunities on the horizon in Eastern Canada and the Caribbean. The company was recently presented with a Gold Award from the Vancouver Regional Construction Association for the “Electrical Contractor – Up to $2 million” category. It was honouring their work on the SAAM Towage project at the Port of Vancouver. They were also presented with a Safety Award for having a Zero-Frequency Injury Rate.