EP #180: Affordable Housing with Mike Kaeding
A home costs money and everyone deserves one. There should be affordable housing for all. Sadly, this isn’t the case in certain places. It’s not an issue that will be solved quickly, but there are ways to make an immediate impact.
Mike Kaeding eventually took over the family business but it took some convincing. He always wanted to use what he had to make an impact in the world but wasn’t sure how to do it. It turns out that the construction industry was a great place to do it. Mike is the leader of Norhart a builder that is determined to drive down the costs of construction and offer more affordable housing solutions. Mike talks about how they plan on doing that and what critical events in his life led to his current position.
What You'll Learn In Today's Episode:
About Norhart, Mike’s impactful family business
How Norhart thinks they can reduce housing costs by 50%
What drives Mike to work hard every day
How Mike’s dad was kidnapped in Peru
How Mike’s dad’s passing changed his life
About the time Mike’s plumber had to triple his rates
What bringing construction tasks in-house did for Norhart
About Norhart's relationship with Toyota
What Mike thinks technology will do for the construction industry
How Norhart is allowing investment opportunities
Why did Norhart give up on starting a bank
What is an accredited investor
How Mike and Norhart measure impact
What Norhart’s customers are looking for
How you can learn a lesson in tenacity from Batman
Ideas Worth Sharing:
“I always wanted to make some kind of meaningful positive impact.” - Mike Kaeding
“My parents lost everything.” - Mike Kaeding
“I went to college and wanted nothing to do with the family business.” - Mike Kaeding
“My dad had a very philanthropic time.” - Mike Kaeding
“Once the car got down to 30mph, he jumped out.” - Mike Kaeding
“He ended up working 3 full-time jobs for over a year.” - Mike Kaeding
“We did it and we did it very poorly.” - Mike Kaeding speaking about bringing plumping work in-house
“Why not take the lessons learned from these other industries and apply them to our own?” - Mike Kaeding
“They actually reduce costs despite being more expensive on a per person basis.” - Mike Kaeding speaking about hiring the best talent
“We then use that capital to continue expansion building up more of that infrastructure.” - Mike Kaeding
“After 10 years, somebody finally said yes.” - Mike Kaeding
“Was your dad like a sprinter or something?” - Bob DePasquale asking about Mike’s dad escaping from a kidnapping
“Where does technology really move the needle in the future?” - Bob DePasquale
Resources In Today's Episode:
Bob’s Book - Personal Finance in a Public World
This week’s E-Impact Blog Entry
Episodes Referenced:
