Pitch Please

00:02.27
mike_flywheel
What's up everybody. It's Mike I'm here from the pitch please podcast and today we're talking to Ben from kaboodle I'm pretty sure that's how you say it. But we're gonna let him square us away. They're a solution to simplify home maintenance I'm curious to learn more as you always know. But before we do. We got to learn about Ben Ben welcome to the show start us off with a quick introduction about your role at Caboodle and a little bit about your background Thanks.

00:26.17
Ben Bisset
Thanks Mike yeah, you did get that right? it's it's caboodle. So thanks for having me um, Ben Bisett founder and Ceo at Caboodle and we automate home maintenance. So I'm born and raised from subbury Ontario. A little bit about my background so started up in in the great white north and came down to Hamilton to do some schooling and mcmaster engineering and business. Um that let's say that didn't work out for me so dropped. Drop the engineering side of things and ended up finishing a commerce degree back home at laurentian university up in subbury and and then made my way to toronto with Kpmg so I'm ah I'm an accountant by trade I think I've had this.

01:17.86
mike_flywheel
It's almost as exciting as engineer right? yeah.

01:19.23
Ben Bisset
Entrepreneurship. Yeah I'm really picking very interesting like cool careers to follow. So yeah, yeah, it. It was as exciting as engineering and so I left I left literally the day that I that I qualified for my designation. So. That was ah that was a long 3 years so yeah so from Kpmg I did a one eighty and I managed operations for the flagship canadian store for Louis Vitton so I was I was like.

01:38.76
mike_flywheel
Okay, and then you went where'd you go from there.

01:57.54
Ben Bisset
Running running that business for the the blur street store like the big store on bluer street that was you know, kind of my first foray into the entrepreneurship world I'd always kind of had this idea of. Being in men's clothing or or starting a business like that. So I wanted to get to know what it was like um and you know test it out in a very safe way in a great place to learn and and it's a good thing I did because I I did not like retail at all. So that was ah. Was a fun learning experience. But I left I left that went back into the finance gig bank of Montreal where I was doing some consulting work in their private wealth group eventually running a strategy portfolio for private wealth. You know, handling technology for the business real estate for the business and that's where I founded caboodle and then finally made the leap to full time in 2018? yeah.

02:58.88
mike_flywheel
Okay, lots to unpack here I like I think maybe because it'll it'll kind of get into like the where or why you are where you're at but take me down the path of like what brought you to engineering and business. Why the pivot to accounting.

03:15.20
Ben Bisset
And.

03:18.49
mike_flywheel
In there you said it very briefly but you were talking about this like oh you always had this idea that maybe you would work in the fashion space as an entrepreneur obviously engineering in your accounting had nothing to do with that's so where did that thought come from like just take me through like some of those like what were the pivots and um.

03:20.63
Ben Bisset
That.

03:28.00
Ben Bisset
Um, yeah, so many pivots I Yeah so.

03:37.93
mike_flywheel
And and what kind of led that yeah like it was interesting. So.

03:43.44
Ben Bisset
I think it starts like I I just grew up around entrepreneurs. Um like my my whole childhood I was I was in and around them. So my dad ran a you know a large laundry mat like laundry cleaning service. But that covered you know all of sabury the largest 1 in in the city. Um, his. Father founded that before him his mother was kind of like the brains behind the operation. So you know my dad's side is just full of entrepreneurs. His brother is an entrepreneur my my cousin on that side started her own business and in modular storage. You know when I was young she was running window cleaning businesses. So I was just kind of always seeing that growing up I did the kind of like standard kid entrepreneur stuff I was I was you know on the paper route kind of probably dating myself a little bit there I was you know selling lemonade and chocolate bars and. And you know potato chips and all that kind of stuff. So I you know I remember being very young and wanting to take over my dad's business and wanting to do that and you know, kind of grew out of that specific business. He sold it so that wasn't an option anymore. Um, and so you know getting into engineering. Was was ah you know you'll note that I said engineering and business right? So I went into engineering and business. The business was kind of like easy for me like I knew that that's what I wanted to do the engineering was I just wasn't sure I I was good at math I was good at science you know so I thought engineering would be.

05:02.51
mike_flywheel
Yep, so.

05:16.54
Ben Bisset
Cool I could build something I could build roads I could I could create I've always wanted to create. Um, you know I should have listened to Mrs Dela Penta my guidance counselor who said I was not going to succeed in in engineering but I didn't and um so you know that's yeah, that's how I got into that. That space and then um, when I was you know, politely asked to leave the engineering program because I wasn't really giving it my my full effort. Um I knew business was the thing that I wanted to do and I didn't want to slow down so I went you know instead of waiting to do it at mcmaster I went back home to laurentian. And just like plowed into that and the accounting thing was you know me being willing to take leaps and just a friend saying hey account. It's a great it's a great field the the salaries are great when you start and um and so just kind of like was willing to try it. And it was a good choice for me like the the learnings were great. The career path itself wasn't great for me, but it's hard to beat that like learning about businesses when you're you know a junior accountant talking to cfos and vps of finance. So.

06:27.36
mike_flywheel
Yeah, like and and these are all these are all good skills and good things. It's it's interesting and I wonder if like now I think there's a few um more like entrepreneurship University tracks. But I'm guessing like I've always loved entrepreneurship. But.

06:32.62
Ben Bisset
Yes.

06:46.93
mike_flywheel
I At least when I was going to school I didn't know of any there were there's business and then within business you're like marketing or finance or accounting some places would have sales but like that wasn't really it. It was almost like you had to pick these tracks. So it's interesting that um, you know you've got you.

06:51.36
Ben Bisset
Yeah, yeah.

07:02.73
Ben Bisset
And.

07:06.84
mike_flywheel
You got this rich background of entrepreneurs around you you sort of before you went to University knew you wanted to be an entrepreneur in some way. Um I guess the fashion piece maybe makes a bit more sense Some what some of those businesses were and then you went and it was fine. These pivots are fine. It's cool because I guess you learned even.

07:16.89
Ben Bisset
Yeah.

07:24.54
mike_flywheel
Even though maybe it wasn't your favorite I'm going to guess that there's some like ways in how you think that have been shaped by that engineering experience and then the business experience and the like now operation of a business. There's definitely things from like the accounting So all these are like material experiences. But.

07:27.67
Ben Bisset
So.

07:43.93
mike_flywheel
Um, yeah.

07:45.27
Ben Bisset
Yeah, yeah, it's interesting that it's ah it's a good point like the you know the things that I learned with engineering while I was there with business. They've they've kind of created this foundation for me to. To build things right? and and that's kind of what I've always like ah realized it as I get older right? like that's what I've always wanted to do is just build something that you know that exists that outlasts me you know I used to build I used to build Kitchens I used to create like physical stuff. That's why I didn't like the. Accounting work. It was me just looking back on on what people were doing but accounting engineering kind of gave me that process and structure to to create like systems that allowed me to be creative around the fun parts of the business right? to like to go. To grow and grow and think about like these new ways to deliver services or experiences or things that weren't kind of like boring. So um, yeah, you know everything kind of leads. You leads you somewhere and I'm very grateful for my accounting Background. Um.

08:55.31
Ben Bisset
It would be. It would be interesting to to you know, do it again and and see if taking that entrepreneur path from the start like how where I would end up like um, it's ah it's it was not open to me. Yeah, yeah.

09:04.69
mike_flywheel
Yeah, you can't you can't you can't repeat that history. But I think it all that shapes us now talk to me about this piece where like you had this sense that you would be or imagine that you'd be some entrepreneur in the the world of retail and fashion. Potentially um. Why did you feel like that and what changed when you were at Louis Vaton that took you back off that path.

09:30.57
Ben Bisset
And yeah I I don't know where specifically like the fashion piece of it came um, you know I loved growing up in sedbury. It's you know it's Northern Ontario your your outdoors were were swimming. We're cross countryry skiing snowmobiling you're outside, you're. You know you're very, you're very outdoorsy. Um, but I I kind of always knew I wanted to come to toronto like to come south to go somewhere bigger to like just live in a bigger city and so I think. Just early on like we would take trips to toronto for shopping and and to get clothes and that's where we would go to get our our school clothes. We go to Toronto and and so you know somewhere along the line just a desire to dress nicely and how it made me feel good started to cultivate and so.

10:05.91
mike_flywheel
And.

10:23.98
Ben Bisset
Um, yeah I just for some reason men's clothing kind of stuck and it was it was something that I was I'd had in my head for a while and I've had a whole bunch of ideas I think most entrepreneurs had that men's clothing idea really stuck with me until I went into retail worked at Louis Vuitton um and you know once I got there. It was um, it just it. It's an not that ah an like a startup right now my business right now is all consuming. But. You know retail especially is. It's not 9 to 5 like your evenings and weekends is is when the business is being driven. it's it's you know very high service or high needs clientele when you're in like an upper end of retail. Um, and so which is kind of where I I pictured myself being like doing high-end men's clothing suit wear that kind of thing. Um and I just I I could easily picture my life being more about you know, solving complaints for high net worth clients buying my suits. Um, and and dealing with a bunch of complaints as opposed to like creating something fun and and you know enjoying myself so it was a yeah I was I was there for a year I was talking about like taking roles to you know to do something bigger with the north american um, component of the business.

11:56.72
Ben Bisset
So move into the us or like New York or San Francisco and it just. Ah yeah, just my heart wasn't there. So yeah.

12:04.78
mike_flywheel
For good realization. Um, and you know it probably saved you the first attempt at a startup that maybe you wouldn't have loved and then you're in it and like ah we'll talk about it right? but you have to really love what you're doing because if you don't you're gonna.

12:16.90
Ben Bisset
Um, yeah.

12:21.46
mike_flywheel
You're gonna get hit by all the downs real fast and and go a different way. So.

12:25.74
Ben Bisset
Totally and I'm I'm such ah a um like entrepreneur book Nerd. So I have read you know so many and the emyth is like obviously one that that a lot of people remember. But. Um, for me, it was like it was the message there that if you're if you're going to start a business like get into that business and learn how it operates before you start and I think they they use like the Pi The pie store story and in that book and so that was like me going to leave it on was you know. Finding that way to kind of de-risk moving into entrepreneurship and and it's great that I did because if I had you know, started down that path and hated it man. My I would.. Ah yeah, who knows where you'd be right? yeah.

13:10.64
mike_flywheel
Yeah, for sure. So maybe without giving us like everything on cabodle because we're going to do the pitch and we'll we'll talk more about it. But I guess where where was that segue for you was it something that inspired it was it something you were doing well at bmo.

13:17.79
Ben Bisset
Sure.

13:28.58
mike_flywheel
Because he did talk a little bit about you were working on some stuff related to real estate there.

13:34.10
Ben Bisset
Yeah, yeah, that was that was more around like the the bank commercial footprint. Um, the other thing that has stuck with me is early on like the lesson I learned early on and always had in my mind was that they're not making more real estate so buying homes. Being a landlord that is ah that is a fantastic way to build wealth to build an income stream so you know from a really young age I had been looking at getting into being a landlord to to could I buy properties could I could I rent them out could I make that a way to. To build passive income now being a landlord is not passive income. So everybody should kind of like dispel themselves of of that myth. But um, you know when I when I when my wife and I moved together I was lucky enough to be able to to start? um. Start being a landlord to I had a property that we started renting out so I started getting into that and um I just I love the real estate space I love the idea of like giving people homes. So I've always been thinking about that and you know being at the bank I i. Been a landlord at that point in time for 5 years We started to grow our portfolio was getting bigger and I was just running into all of these issues with home maintenance and and how to deal with them and it was a pain and so initially we kind of thought you know.

15:01.35
Ben Bisset
Um, we were more thinking about the buying and selling side of real estate and how can we change that and disrupt that and like make something cool and digital. But we were lucky. We had really great advisors as we were going through it and we just kind of realized that the maintenance space was like that key spot to to start. It was this big pain point. Nobody was trying to operate in there and it was a quicker path to revenue which was really important to me as ah as an accountant and as someone that that watched my wife build a startup that that had to follow that Vc path. So um. So yeah, that's that's sort of a roundabbo way but like I've always been thinking about real estate and yeah at the bank. It was just a great opportunity to start working on it when I was in a secure position. Yeah.

15:50.34
mike_flywheel
Ah, for sure. So you're like a dual so dual founder household is are is your wife a business partner in cabodle.

16:00.39
Ben Bisset
We're a dual founder household She has sold her her um her startup. Um, and so she's not involved I mean she's very involved in Caboodle. She's I have been. I have benefited tremendously from everything that she learned going through her. You know her startup. Um, so she's certainly like advisor number one and and like the top advisor but she's not in the day to day and she's.

16:24.12
mike_flywheel
Oh but it naw she's she she's exited. She's on the beach with the dackerys well one night and now it's your turn. She's done her part for.

16:31.69
Ben Bisset
Yeah, without her. Yeah yeah, if if if only that were so but um, yeah, yeah, yeah, that's what we're all. That's what we're all moving towards so but yeah.

16:36.72
mike_flywheel
Oh as a how works. That's what I'm sold. You just get on exit like all exits are equal you just you're done. You're retired daque iss at 22 right

16:51.71
Ben Bisset
Yep, yeah, that's ah she she calls from the beach every once in a while. So.

16:56.53
mike_flywheel
Nice, nice. Well I think it's it's cool that she's gone through some of these things now to to kind of share some of the the thoughts and advice or at least um, empathize some of the things that you're probably feeling and experiencing as you go through this. So Let's learn About. Um, Caboodle I'm going to want to hear your pitch but before we do like what's what's the name. How did it? How did it come up.

17:20.81
Ben Bisset
Yeah, so we're our our incorporated name is actually our house incorporated and we were pretty excited about that when when we started and and we named the company. Um, there's like a bunch of fun songs that that have our house. And them and so we thought that was going to be a great way to go ah and then the lawyers told us that it was too generic to to put a put a pat or a trademark on so we kind of we got into this frantic search for something else and it was it. It was literally like me and and my co-founder writing words on pages till we had you know like 30400 words on a page that tried to say something about what we were trying to do and um. The whole kitten caboodle was was one of the things that got onto the page and so we really liked that idea of like building everything something that's everything for your home the whole Kitten Caboodle is a little too long so we just went with caboodle and did the cool like startup thing and dropped the e on it. And which causes all sorts of problems when you're when you're trying to talk to people about it. But that's that's how we got there. So it's caboodle is is the the whole kit and caboodle for your homebook.

18:36.40
mike_flywheel
I love it Walt you're on the show called pitch please Ben so now it's time to dive into caboodle the whole kitten caboodle we're gonna discuss today. So let's hear your best pitch please.

18:48.79
Ben Bisset
So your home is the largest investment you're ever going to make in your lifetime and it's also incredibly time consuming and complicated to take care of but proper care and maintenance reduces the ownership costs and increases the value of your home when you sell it. So caboodle simplifies managing your home by automating all the critical maintenance that that you need throughout the year and then helping homeowners navigate every single decision they face throughout the life of their home all with one single company to to help guide you through it.

19:25.65
mike_flywheel
That's super interesting. So I want to I want to talk about this is it a tech forward type solution. Um, and and if so maybe you can educate us on on this space a little bit like it sounds to me on on jump like you're helping with what some people might.

19:26.89
Ben Bisset
So.

19:43.38
mike_flywheel
Be thinking as you know a handy man or handy woman service. Um, and you know oh I've got ah a cleaner or lawn maintenance or I can find them on Kajiji so unpack that a bit for us and that way we'll talk a little bit about why cabole is unique in this scenario.

19:45.70
Ben Bisset
Yeah, yep, yeah.

19:58.95
Ben Bisset
So yeah, so so we say we're we're a very tech enabled home service business and we love that like the the fact that your home needs someone there to do stuff is is great for us. We're not going to be disrupted by. Ai no one's you know robots aren't coming to take take ah that work away in our lifetime at least um and the home services industry is just like this this mess of siloed small businesses all operating in their own little. Niche whether it's plumbing roofing electrical handy person and and as a homeowner you need you know 12 to 15 relationships to manage everything that's going on in your home. So it's it's really difficult and time consuming and the reality is like our homes are getting more complicated. People don't have the time required to take care of it and homeowners are just like really ill-equipped to know what they're supposed to do and when they're supposed to do it. So there's this big big problem just in like understanding how you're supposed to care for your home. So caboodle is. Is is tech enabled in that the way that we deliver. Our service is our team goes into your home and we start by creating this digital profile of your house so we are capturing everything that's in your home your systems appliances structures.

21:31.20
Ben Bisset
We're getting the make the model the serial number on all of that stuff and then we're using our platform to pull from our library of maintenance routines recommendations to build you a customized user manual for your home. So we go into your house. And then when we come out of it now you get this user manual for your home which doesn't exist right? like you buy a home and it's you know once you're handed the keys you're off on your own to go search Google and find checklists and and figure out how to do it? Um, so.

21:59.17
mike_flywheel
Yeah, or or at best if you bought it off someone. They've got like some hand scribbled notes or stack is it just me or does everyone have like that stack of user manuals that are like actually I don't know where they are but I know they're somewhere and they have instructions for that one damn part that breaks on the fridge and then you're like.

22:10.37
Ben Bisset
Yeah, they're in your air.

22:18.50
mike_flywheel
I Don't even know the cereal number of the fridge. So you're telling me people don't need that stack as much anymore because you know sounds like you bring it all together. Nobody I don't know where it is.

22:21.87
Ben Bisset
So yeah, well and and and who's ever looked at that stack right? like it's it's probably a dish dishwasher that actually got replaced when they were sell in the home and none of it really tells you when anything needs to be maintained and every single thing in your home has this maintenance routine. About it. So you know your your Tv comes with a user manual your iphone does like why doesn't your biggest investment and and your home is this is this amalgamation of all these complicated systems that all have their own maintenance routines right? So so that's you know the first. Thing that we're doing and and that's we're used. We've built this digital platform to enable that to enable our team to go and build that profile of your home and then you get this dashboard and now you're able to manage your home. The maintenance all of it through this dashboard you know engage with our team. Um, but. We wrap in the actual service side of this. So once we've done that we build your routine and then you choose you know all the key maintenance that you want taken care of regularly and we put it on a single subscription for you so you're paying a set fee for the month and now your furnace maintenance your Ac your.

23:29.23
mike_flywheel
And.

23:37.68
Ben Bisset
Eavestroff cleaning window cleaning dryer vent maintenance like all of this stuff is taken care of regularly. So You know your home is in good shape and you've got like an expert to come to no matter what issue happens so and and because we've got this catalog on your home when you have issues we can. We're so much better prepared to help a homeowner fix. It. We can diagnose remotely. We can help you troubleshoot without step and foot in your home. So you you know you can fix things without incurring Costs. You're just you're getting this really high end property management service at very reasonable Fees. So.

24:13.50
mike_flywheel
Its interesting I Think what's most interesting about it is and I imagine this is something you hear all the time. So maybe you know what? I'm just going to throw it out there and don't most people just call people when shit breaks you're talking about proactive and so.

24:28.44
Ben Bisset
Yeah, yeah.

24:31.56
mike_flywheel
I Think that's like this mental change for people is that like a barrier is that ah hey, listen you're in the driver's seat so you can just wait till things break. Ah, but we're gonna make you aware of the things that could break. It's sort of like the car right? and I think about what you're talking about and it reminds me so much of like.

24:46.64
Ben Bisset
Yeah, yeah.

24:51.33
mike_flywheel
When you buy a car and now when people follow a little bit more religiously right? or like they'll at least call you and let you know like hey ten thousand kilometers like your oil needs changing and we recommend spark plugs and like I don't need spark plugs until like 1 blows through the hood of the car and you're like okay, well like we made you aware.

25:00.39
Ben Bisset
Right? so.

25:08.21
mike_flywheel
Next time you show up hey by the way you're double over your spark plugs like we may not be able to get them out at this point like do you want to do them so it sounds a lot like car maintenance in that you've brought together all of the things that people should be doing and you make them aware. You can help you.

25:25.20
Ben Bisset
Yep.

25:25.55
mike_flywheel
Dispatch those services I guess through Network and we'll talk about it but do they have to do these things like how does that component work because I imagine people are waiting till the bitter end of when they need to do them and.

25:36.95
Ben Bisset
Absolutely like the car is a great analogy and and your home is like forty fifty one hundred times more valuable than your car. But there's no set maintenance routine for it which is which is crazy. Um, now we are fighting against like human nature. Essentially in in trying to get people to do preventive maintenance like we all know that we should put down the beer. The extra beer the fourth beer we should go to the gym like we we know that there are these things that we should do for better outcomes in our life. But we're like creatures of. Immediate gratification or or like deferral of pain. So yeah, a lot of people do weight eat and that's how we get a lot of clients right? is that they've waited something bad has happened. We come in and we fix it and then we say well hey like. Weren't you doing this clearly you weren't what about all the other stuff in your home that has a schedule just like this that you know wouldn't you feel more comfortable wouldn't you be less stressed out if you knew that that was all being taken care of and if you knew that you know the next time your furnace breaks in February and it's minus thirty. You know exactly who to call. Because that person knows everything about your home and is like ready to solve it right away so we are fighting an uphill battle sort of on that we you know that's where we partner with people that that bring us into homes. Especially when.

27:07.90
Ben Bisset
Ah, new homeowners are moving in like that's a great time to get people understanding what's involved in their home and and taking care of something that they've just paid for and.

27:17.62
mike_flywheel
Yeah, and it sounds like you possibly can start this journey with the one-time service need and then convert that to a broader guide of what might be needed so is that sort of um how you started was it. Hey when you have a service need. We've kind of got like a rolodex of all of the right people period what the hells are Rolodex shit I mean ah a list of all the people you can call whenever there's challenges across your home and and you've built up that roster and then you go from there or is that sort of like.

27:39.40
Ben Bisset
I.

27:54.40
mike_flywheel
By exception you would call kabodle for like a 1 ne-time service request so

27:58.94
Ben Bisset
Um, no, That's I mean that is that's kind of how we started the business like we've we've come to this place where we're an integrated subscription service and and most of the services like we're vertically integrating the services we deliver to so Hvac is our team handy person is our team. Um. And and so like we want you to think about doing all of this stuff. But if somebody comes to us with a problem. We're happy to help solve that because it's it's an opportunity to demonstrate the benefits of of getting ahead of that stuff so people start with us all the time. Ah. You know, fixing a broken furnace or or preparing a leak in their home. Um, and then you know they may or may not move right away to a full subscription. Um, but we're very happy to start them off and in that way and um, you know realtors are is the other way that. People start engaging with us So we're into their homes as as part of that closing process and they're seeing the benefit of our digital plans your user manual and once we've got people in our ecosystem they they tend to not Leave. So Once you see how home maintenance can and should be um, they're They're very slow to to walk away from what's a much better experience.

29:24.48
mike_flywheel
Let's talk about that piece a bit So who who is this ultimately for who is the the buyer is it always the homeowner. Maybe there's channels you were talking about realtors. So I imagine realtors like.

29:36.21
Ben Bisset
And.

29:40.70
mike_flywheel
Maybe this is like ah a gift for their clients or or developers. Maybe this is like included 1 year or maybe those are just channels. But ultimately it's the homeowner. But who who ultimately is this for.

29:50.80
Ben Bisset
Yeah I mean you're right? Ultimately, the services for the homeowner. The occupants of the home whoever is going to live there. That's who benefits from it most we we do have a few different partner channels that bring us into. Into homes and that's how we meet people so realtors are are a big one for us. Um, you know as part of their a typical purchase transaction realtors are are usually buying a closing gift for their clients. Usually that's something kind of like. Cookie cutter and and maybe not all that personal will maybe not all that valuable to to the homeowner. Um, you know bottle of wine or a gift card that that they use and forget about um realtors will use us to build that digital profile and then it's something that's like valuable to everybody and it stays with them. As long as they're in that home builders are another like another interesting avenue for us. They they will use incentives to get people to buy new developments. So not something we're we're doing at the moment but like conversations we're having and we have a great partnership with ah. And I'll plug them because they're fantastic. They're helping homeowners with a company called Arboro. So. It's a co-investment platform. You know, living in Toronto like buying real estate here is really expensive and a lot of people can afford it? Um, but but can't afford the down payment. So Arboro our partner.

31:22.17
Ben Bisset
Will will help them with that and then they bring us in to help those homeowners um manage their home and and that investment So a few key channels for us to to bring in new clients and and serve that eventual homework. So.

31:36.51
mike_flywheel
That's cool. Well, let's talk about how it works a little bit so you talked about this like I don't know if it's an audit process or review process you come in, you get that? Um, then I get a a dashboard you were saying I don't know if that's ah is a web dashboard or like this is on my phone. Um, talk to talk to us about that and then everything after that right because it sounds like that that sounds by the way. Super interesting like that audit right? It's like getting someone ah your energy efficiency in your home. But you're like hey all the manuals that don't exist like what do you need to know about this place that could possibly go wrong or you should be doing.

31:53.82
Ben Bisset
Ah, what? yeah, it's a web dashboard right now.

32:03.16
Ben Bisset
So total.

32:10.11
mike_flywheel
That's valuable but talk to us about everything around that.

32:11.22
Ben Bisset
Um, yeah, yeah, it's so ah, it's like a home inspection right? That's essentially what we're doing. We're not, we're not home inspectors at the moment you know as as defined by the act but we go into the house and we go through every single thing a home inspector does and then some. To create this digital profile for your home. So so once we've built that that educates the maintenance routine keeps the homeowner informed about what's going on and they they add whatever they want to include in their regular maintenance subscription. So. That's the prevention routine maintenance side of things you set that and then you kind of forget about it right? Our our team manages all the maintenance as as you go through the year we book it. You know we show up. We do the work. Your dashboard gets updated and and everything's kind of working. Well. But homes tend to throw problems at people. So um, we are also there to help our homeowners with repairs and so you know when ah when something goes wrong in your house you can use whoever you want to take care of your home. It's your home. We're a service provider but. We always want our clients to call us first because so many problems in your home have these really simple solutions that don't require ah an expert to come in and fix it and so furnaces are a fantastic example like 9 out of 10 service calls for for.

33:40.26
Ben Bisset
Issues with a furnace relate to airflow and the solutions to airflow problems are typically change your furnace filter and and make sure that your air intake is cleared up and so before you know we charge somebody $150 to come out and do a diagnostic on their furnace. We we run through the issues that are specific to their furnace because we look up the model serial number and we try to solve it for them. That's free. That's all part of their subscription that's included in the service. Um, so you know just try and absolutely.

34:13.72
mike_flywheel
That's like super handy actually though because you're like before calling and spending money. It's sort of like googling or youtubing the answer but you know their specific home so you can at least provide a little bit of a double click on like you know why is my ice machine not working.

34:17.67
Ben Bisset
Okay.

34:23.76
Ben Bisset
Um, yeah.

34:28.15
Ben Bisset
Yeah, right? yeah and it's it's like calling tech support right? Like what's that like every time you call tech support like question number 1 is yeah exactly right? and your home has.

34:31.27
mike_flywheel
For the fourth time this year

34:39.20
mike_flywheel
Did you unplug it and plug it back in.

34:46.89
Ben Bisset
Very similar things like that and we will walk you through that with your furnace sometimes like there are simple solutions to a lot of the problems in our home and we don't want people like that's not how we want to make money we're with our clients for long periods of time so we want them to solve the things they can on their own. And we want to be there with them for the big things right? and that's like that's the other part of how we're helping homeowners is the improvement and renovation space. So if you if if a caboodle client has a furnace breakdown one we know the age of it so we can tell you right away? Well it's. 20 years old so like we shouldn't even really bother at this point trying to repair it. It's just time for you to replace. It's it's way beyond its useful life. You're throwing good money at bad but we can quote that over the phone we can have ah like a fixed price for somebody on a replacement and a multiple multitude of options. In 3 minutes because we've got everything and you contrast that to any other hvac company. They're sending out a technician they need to look at it. You know if you're following the best practices you're you're getting 3 quotes on that right? Um, which most people don't do by the way. But. It's just it's a slower experience right? So we know everything about your home. So when we're when we're helping with renovations and.

36:04.72
mike_flywheel
The the worst part is the worst part is as just saying this I'm like yeah I know I got changed my furnace at some point. But then you're like I was twenty years old it's useful life I'm like shit I don't know how old my furnace is but if I could open up caboodle right now I know exactly.

36:19.73
Ben Bisset
There you go and then you yeah and then we'd be telling you right now like hey it's okay so yeah, you need to replace your furnace but have you ever considered a heat pump because we can get you seventy five hundred bucks back from the government right now to go to a more energy efficient.

36:22.00
mike_flywheel
How old I furnace is.

36:38.13
Ben Bisset
Ah, green solution for your home right? So We we have this ability to deliver better experiences on improvement Projects Hvac is one of them like that's an easy one but we we deliver that through renovations through roof replacements like we are full service and and you want. Someone who knows your whole home dealing with that kind of stuff right? because if we're coming in to do a toilet replacement. Well Caboodle Also knows you know there were a couple of other recommendations. We made that you that weren't urgent but like you should do them when a plumber's in the house right? and and we know the whole home. So it's.

37:11.32
mike_flywheel
So.

37:16.73
Ben Bisset
It's ah it's a much better experience. We think it's it becomes a more costef efficient experience as well.

37:20.81
mike_flywheel
Yeah, that's interesting. Um I like the concept of while we're there we know proactively a couple of the other things that are related and the efficiency that brings what are the things that Caboodle covers like ah, are we talking you talked about a plumber I heard like furnace um like.

37:29.87
Ben Bisset
Yeah.

37:39.10
Ben Bisset
And.

37:39.17
mike_flywheel
Lawn maintenance or is that like out of spectrum talk to us like what is in scope what is in scope today or maybe you can even share roadmap of like what you'd love to include at some point first.

37:50.61
Ben Bisset
Yeah, so so there there's there's no request. We've received yet that we haven't we haven't been able to deliver some answers to clients on um now what we do, you know what? you can include in your subscription is a bit paired. Down, but it's all the recurring things that happen in your home. We don't include at the moment ah lawn care snow shoveling or like house cleaning services. Those would be like 3 things that a lot of homeowners use just logistically. It's a it's a complicated one to get involved in. It's. You know it's somewhere where we will be like we see caboodle as being that central place to manage everything in your home. Um, but on the subscription side anything that you do regularly you can include and on the repair and improvement side. We. We haven't really run in yet to the thing that we were just. Weren't willing to help a homeowner out with solar panel installations roof replacements pool maintenance like you know that's that's the value that we're bringing to people is that you know you might come across something that you don't know how to deal with. We might come across something we don't know how to deal with you might as well let us and our expertise go and figure out what the best solution is for you? Um, because we'll do that and then we'll we'll be able to help other homeowners more effectively in the future. So.

39:13.88
mike_flywheel
I like it well talk to us maybe about um how you make money sounds like there's a subscription but you're bringing a whole bunch of these like integrations under 1 roof so it sounds like you can extend your capability but is everyone. Ah. An employee at Caboodle or you've just built partnerships because that way you've got like ah a wider spread of these things but you vet everyone and then where do you make kind of money in the process of all this. Yeah.

39:43.19
Ben Bisset
Yeah, so we make it in ah in a couple of ways the the first is our subscription platform. So that's bundling all the services into your home how we deliver that is is a mix of cabodle employees and and subtrades. That we use. So right now you know Kaboodle will cover like all the major things inside your home. We'll partner with people to deliver. You know, really transactional jobs that are lower in cost so window cleaning eavestrough cleaning that kind of thing so we are building this this. Group of vetted tradespeople that work with us. That's the only way you can really service everything right? like you can't you can't build an integrated service business with every single trade under the sun you want to focus on the core ones hpac plumbing electrical renovations. So so that's how we're doing it. We negotiate discounted rates because of volumes on our on our sub-trades and our our clients pay the market rate on it and and we earn on that spread on the things we deliver ourself. We earn margin you know based off based off our our team and our our labored costs. Um, and with repairs and improvements. It's it's very much the same story but they're 1 time items. So we quote somebody on a repair. It's a fixed cost depending on what the job is. It might be our team delivering it or it might be a trade but it's or a sub trade.

41:16.58
Ben Bisset
But it's the it's the same thing we're either making ah you know a small spread from a subtrade because of a negotiated volume pricing or we're making margin off of having employees and and delivering that service at a market rate. So.

41:32.80
mike_flywheel
Super cool. It sounds like every single ah mortgage loaner or lender should be including this to protect their ultimately their investment if it ever ends up being theirs on a default but at the end of the day they they're.

41:37.46
Ben Bisset
And.

41:42.81
Ben Bisset
Yeah, yeah.

41:47.79
mike_flywheel
They're all in on this too. So it's kind of cool that you're like protecting that. So maybe maybe you got to go back to knocking on Rbc's door at some point if you're not already there.

41:54.92
Ben Bisset
And it's it's funny that you say it I mean insurance is the is the was the most obvious thing for us because there's huge claims mitigation component to our business and and our ability to reduce risk so you know 90% of of.

41:59.21
mike_flywheel
Yeah, yeah.

42:13.64
Ben Bisset
Flood damage in a home is Preventable. You know we're in looking at your fixtures we're looking at the connections to to your house So we're helping you reduce that risk of of water damage right? So insurance companies and and insurance brokerages were like the initial. Partners that that we started speaking with but but yeah mortgage lenders like but monoline lenders they make a lot of sense and and they will they will purchase you know incentives for their clients as Well. So sense.

42:45.55
mike_flywheel
Yeah, it's cool. Um, so where where are you guys at like how what regions can I get cabodle in where are you on on this journey and and talk to us a bit about that.

42:59.68
Ben Bisset
So we're we're operating in the gta. So yeah, we we cover you know all the way out to Bowmanville Aurora and and Burlington um, our our partnership has has brought us our partnership. With arborough has has tiptoed us into Hamilton and kitchen or Waterloo. So so we're we're starting to operate in in those markets in ah in a slightly different way. Um, but that's where we are right now we're we're we're you know we're past the product market fit. Phase of our our journey like our clients. Love it and we're really moving into this this fun growth phase of it. So you know we're going to be growing a lot here in Toronto um, in in the next year and the next two years but we we really do see this as a business that has value across. North America um whether it's you know this full service business that we're offering right now or it's our technology platform that's helping to deliver something modified. That's that's where we're headed.

44:06.92
mike_flywheel
What are those plans sort of for the next year two years you said you know you've got some ambitious goals. Um, you've you've passed product market fit what was sort of that year to 2 years out sort of looking like so.

44:17.51
Ben Bisset
Yeah, so so we are focused and like laser focused on on partnerships in this coming year. So we mentioned it like realtors. Love us we work really well with them. So our. Our main priority right now in 2024 is building out those relationships getting into ah a lot more home so we want to add you know over 1000 new home profiles onto our platform in in this year more than double. Our our business in terms of our top line revenue. Um, that's that's where we're going this year and it's it's a similar story for for 2025 so we're we're probably not expanding you know beyond toronto until. Late twenty twenty five. But um, it's a big you know our unit economics make a lot of sense. Our business is still relatively small. We're you know we're a team of 4 um, we'll we'll cross that you know into that 7 figure category this year but um yeah we got we got a lot of fun. Growth coming in in the in the next year

45:33.73
mike_flywheel
Good for you. That's ah it's an impressive milestone I think it's important to equally have the unit economics as you talked about um now more than ever. It's important to build sustainably no was so critical right? like now more than ever. Um, the whole concept of fundraising a if you can bootstrap.

45:42.79
Ben Bisset
Um, that's the accountant in me right? yeah.

45:51.65
mike_flywheel
Which are you guys bootstrappingtrapping? Yeah so I mean if you can bootstrapping even if you can't if you go around knocking for money right now people are going to ask is this business profitable not is it a good idea and is there a bunch of users that might use it one day like you actually need to demonstrate.

45:53.00
Ben Bisset
So we are yeah that.

46:03.48
Ben Bisset
Yeah.

46:10.88
mike_flywheel
You can make money here and it sounds like you're you're doing that. Well sure.

46:11.63
Ben Bisset
Um, yeah, and and yeah and we talked about it like that's the benefit of of me, you know, being ah in the passenger seat while my wife Natalie built her business like I saw her go to to venture cap firms like to angel investors they were. Pitching you know they were pitching. Ah ah, a female centric of preg pregnancy health um business that like is still needed in the market. But you know pitching to men eight years ago and it just like falling on deaf ears and and um, you know I just saw the position that put you in as a founder in. Having to make decisions to keep your business going and so we you know not that we're there yet, right? but take choosing this path bootstrapping. Um, it's allowed us to make some kind of crazy decisions and keep growing and and keep control of the business like we had and we had an acquisition offer like really early. On and it it made a ton of sense. Um, but it it just wasn't you know it. It didn't make financial sense to me given that we'd like invested in bootstrapping this business and we had that flexibility to kind of make different decisions because we didn't need to hit somebody's targets around. You know what our top line revenue is going to be so it's.

47:30.95
mike_flywheel
That's good. That's cool I like hearing some good good bootstrapping stories of people being successful. Um Ben you know we've kind of covered a lot here. But 1 thing we haven't really talked about and it sounds like you've got experience both from your own journey and and from your wife's.

47:37.15
Ben Bisset
Yeah, yeah.

47:47.34
Ben Bisset
Um, yeah.

47:47.53
mike_flywheel
What's like some advice from this this journey that you think is like useful for others I think there's the general ones of like it's never too. It's already too late to start start Now. Don't wait but you've got like so many of these rich experiences and like bootstrapping the a versus B the pivots. Um. Unit economics like these terms of things that may be haven't come up in some previous podcasts I'd love to hear like anything that you're like listen if I'm starting a business this is this is critical to think about and don't overlook it.

48:18.31
Ben Bisset
Yeah, so I don't remember where I heard this so I can't credit them but like it has stuck with me my whole career and it's it's like the cornerstone of how I make decisions and so there are only 2 reasons that you're crazy enough to go out and start your own business and it's. It's power or it's money. There's the only 2 reasons to start a business. Both of them are fine if if you are doing this for power. That's fine if you are doing it to make gobs of money that is totally fine. You just need to know which one of them you're in it for because that is going to inform all the decisions you make. Going forward I got into entrepreneurship for power. It's now power is kind of like ah a dirty word but it it was it really means control like the ability to control my destiny to control and build something that that would deliver value to a bunch of people to all the stakeholdholders so you. That was what was it most important to me I believe that doing that will bring me lots of money that's great, but like the the real driver was power and if you don't know why you're doing it if you're not clear on that you're going to make the wrong decisions and and you're going to find yourself in a. Ah, in uncomfortable spots and.

49:37.47
mike_flywheel
That's fair, it's it's super important to know why you're doing it and it's funny because as you're saying it like the double click on it makes sense because it was like powers like that's like what oh I want this to be global but it sounds like Also it's like you want to be in control of the solution as well and I imagine so many people who.

49:40.30
Ben Bisset
Yeah.

49:55.10
mike_flywheel
You know, start something because the problem was so great and they didn't see a solution and they were impacted maybe money was the motivation. But in those times it's power. It's power to have an impact and a change on that thing and to your point in the other scenario. Some people were like I need the bees. Yeah, it'll be great if it impacts people. But.

49:58.45
Ben Bisset
And.

50:07.70
Ben Bisset
Yeah, yeah.

50:14.97
mike_flywheel
Like they've had like 7 different companies. They've built so you know the reality is they're probably in different industries so they're probably on the money side and that's okay too but having clarity on that to your point will inform your decision. So I really like that that's a fresh perspective I love it.

50:24.71
Ben Bisset
Yeah.

50:33.14
Ben Bisset
Yeah, well thanks and and ah I mean I think I see it a lot like people you know you don't want to get into a position where you start a business for power and then you're you're fundraising and now now you know you've got somebody else around who's in it for money. And that's okay, it's fine to be in it for the money. But once you've got you know Angel Dollars venture cap dollars. Um, you know you're you've got ah you've got a different thing to to answer to right? and and they're not in it for your power. They're they're in it to make money. So um, yeah, you're you're going to find yourself being. Pretty upset with where you are I think so.

51:10.29
mike_flywheel
definitely definitely well Ben thank you for joining us today. It has been super interesting and cool to learn about I think the concepts of like maintenance and proactive maintenance around your home but also reactive solutions. All 1 platform I love this like. Audit package and the the platform capability. Um, if people want to find out more where where can they go to to find out more about Caboodle or or sign up.

51:39.25
Ben Bisset
So yeah, so they can they can find us at Cabodledot ca a so c a b o o d l dot ca they can also reach out to me on Linkedin so Ben Ben bisit b isset um, and those are the 2 best places to find us.

51:58.98
mike_flywheel
Cool and I always ask because you never know who's listening but and I didn't know your answer but I'm gonna ask it anyway in the year ahead um if if the perfect person's listening what are like the 1 or 2 areas that you and the caboodle team would love.

52:04.69
Ben Bisset
And.

52:15.41
mike_flywheel
Ah, helping hand an introduction or something that's going to help you move faster on your startup journey. There's helping people with money you know money and power. But there's helping people with money but you know the the best way oftentimes to support startups is with your time introductions or some other advice. So.

52:22.60
Ben Bisset
Yeah.

52:32.66
mike_flywheel
What what is that for you guys right now.

52:35.81
Ben Bisset
Yeah, so well. First if if you're a homeowner like check us out. There's there's a better way to take care of your home and a simpler way. So so do that for yourself and for us. Um, but if you you know if you're a realtor if you know a realtor. If you're looking for a better way to service your clients at the end of the transaction to give them something that's valuable reach out to us our you know our service has ah a ton of value. Especially for new homeowners realtors. We save them a ton of time too because they they end up being these de facto free property managers when they sell a home so you know caboodle can get you out of that and and make it look good all at the same time so introduce us to to your realtors or or reach out to us directly if if you are 1.

53:24.34
mike_flywheel
Yeah, or if you're a brokerage because then you can help all the realtors under your banner I love it Ben thanks for joining us on the show today. A super cool product that you guys are building amazing progress.

53:32.10
Ben Bisset
Um, absolutely yeah.

53:40.13
mike_flywheel
Ah, excited to see you guys continue to grow and impact this space any closing thoughts or words on on your side before we wrap up tonight.

53:48.20
Ben Bisset
No, just thanks for having me Mike I had a lot of fun and it was it was a great time. Thanks.

53:52.80
mike_flywheel
Thanks Sweet Kitten Caboodle all right? Well thanks, everybody that joined in hope you had a blast listening to pitch please again and make sure to join us on the next episode have a great night Ben. Thanks.

54:03.99
Ben Bisset
Yeah, you too.