Dean Buescher

Stay ahead of the game and watch the market trends closely as well as new products within your industry.

 

Many people struggle to embark on a career path to journey through life. Unlike the path taken by Dean Buescher, Division President of Vintage Estate Homes. His journey began as a teen when he worked as an apprentice for each different area of the building industry. Each summer was spent framing houses, plumbing, an electrician, and a bricklayer. He was well prepared for college when he attended Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida, and earned his degree in business management. He was hired directly out of college for a homebuilder as a salesperson. In 1999 he opened his own homebuilding business for ten years before joining Vintage Estate Homes.

As a Sales Manager for the company, Dean Buescher was always aware of market trends and industry developments. With brilliant insight, he recognized an opportunity in the growing market of New Braunfels, Texas. He approached the corporate owners at Vintage Estate Homes and presented them with an opportunity for expansion.

In 2014 Dean Buescher became Division President of Vintage Estate Homes as he brought the expansion of the New Braunfels, Texas division to fruition. He managed all operations of the expansion from conception through completion. Under his guidance and leadership, this division has become a thriving business and a jewel for the company.

Where did the idea for your company come from?

The owners of Vintage Estate Homes contacted me. They wanted me to work for them as a Sales Manager in Austin Texas. I recognized the opportunities for new business in New Braunfels, Texas. I proposed opening an office here and we have been thriving here for the past four years.

What does your typical day look like and how do you make it productive?

I am up at six to take my dogs for a walk. I am at the office to check emails and make phone calls. When my office work is complete, I go to our building locations to inspect the progress on each site. We really want to stay on schedule and on budget. I will also stop at one or two of our sales offices to check our progress. We do all our designing in house. I spend the afternoons back at the office with our architects and designers. I must approve customers plans. I want to make sure that we will be building the way they want it to look and make it cost effective.

How do you bring ideas to life?

At Vintage Estate Homes we like to be innovative and be the first to bring new products to the area. We do a lot of research. We went to the National Home Builders show last month. No matter where I travel, even if I am on vacation, I always go into new model homes to see what we might be able to incorporate into our homes. We went to the Home Show in Las Vegas and we got some cool ideas. We are incorporating them into our next model home as we speak. The whole idea is to stay ahead of the game and watch the market trends closely as well as new products.

What’s one trend that excites you?

One of the trends that excites me is the new smart houses. They really try to make the houses user-friendly without the expense. Smart houses have been out for several years now, but they have been expensive and complicated. There are new products that have come out that are very simple. We build smart homes where users can give voice commands throughout the house. It makes is very user-friendly.

What is one habit of yours that makes you more productive as an entrepreneur?

The thing that keeps me on task daily is my list. The first thing I do every morning is to make a list of everything that has to be accomplished by the end of the day. I determine priorities and go about completing each task.

What advice would you give your younger self?

I would tell myself to be more conservative when buying land. When I started my own business, we grew too fast. We purchased too much land. I was not as cautious as I should have been. I would tell my younger self to be more conservative and cautious in business.

Tell us something that’s true that almost nobody agrees with you on.

I would say that you can deliver the best value by being creative and watching costs. There are many expenses that are packed into the design of the house. That is the reason why I get involved with the designers. I try to eliminate any dead space in the house. My superintendents and builders don’t agree that you can save money in the design phase of the house. I believe it is possible.

As an entrepreneur, what is the one thing you do over and over and recommend everyone else do?

The most important thing to do is to determine what has to be accomplished right from the beginning of the day. You have to set your goals for the day. Everything should be able to be accomplished before you go home for the night. If you don’t have a plan, then it seems that not much will get done.

What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business?

I believe the best strategy is that the customer is number one. We always want to make sure our customers are happy. We take our time with them. We walk them through their house. We may have fifty homes being built in the process, but we want to make sure our customers know that they are our priority.

What is one failure you had as an entrepreneur, and how did you overcome it?

Our biggest failure was having to file bankruptcy on our business that failed. It was devastating. We were in a funk for a little while. At one point I had convinced myself that it was too risky to be in the building industry. I was going to get out of the business altogether. It was not until I got a call from a company in Austin who asked me to join them as a sales manager that I had to reconsider my position. I thought long and hard before I decided to join them. But it was that failure that brought me to the success that I enjoy today.

What is one business idea that you’re willing to give away to our readers?

When people are envisioning their dream home, it would be interesting to see someone create a holographic layout of people’s custom homes before building. Making changes or alternations easier to do so and allows you to keep the client happy as well.

What is the best $100 you recently spent? What and why?

We had our annual company awards day. One of my builder/superintendents won a plaque from the company. It was for Builder of The Year, for all locations in Texas and in Florida. I didn’t think that the plaque was enough. I contributed to his finances. It was more than a hundred, but it was the best money I could have spent. It made him feel important and very proud.

What is one piece of software or a web service that helps you be productive?

We use Google Office Services for a lot of our business. We use it to place ads for our site. We use it in sales, automated scheduling, bill paying, as well as being able to create our own programs within google drive.

What is the one book that you recommend our community should read and why?

The Art of the Deal by Donald Trump. It taught me that, it is better to walk away from a deal than do a bad deal.

What is your favorite quote?

“Courage is grace under pressure.”
–Ernest Hemingway

Key Learnings:

• Stay ahead of the game and watch the market trends closely as well as new products within your industry
• It is better to walk away from a deal than make a bad deal.
• You must have failure to enjoy your success.

Connect:

www.deanbuescher.com