From Germany to Gulf Coast: How Ben & Connie Bring Precision to Florida Remodels

Quinton Comino: Today, I’m joined by a wonderful couple, Ben and Connie. They’re with SunConsult, and they’re based out of South Florida. They actually originate from Germany, and they bring some fantastic accuracy and exactness to everything that has to do with remodeling homes, doing interior design, architecture, all those sorts of things with housing and building. They bring a fantastic exactness that you really only can get from Germany. I like the idea of German engineering being so excellent.

Quinton Comino: Well, they have that same mindset and that same approach. So it’s really great to sit with them and hear how their perspective on remodeling is different from the way that we might think of things and the benefit that brings to customers where they know the job they’re gonna do. They know how they’re gonna do it. They’re gonna do it exact. They know the time frame that they’re gonna do it.

Quinton Comino: They’ll go in and out on remodeling an entire condo, for example, in under a month. And that’s a whole remodel. They’re getting in there doing the whole thing. So, it’s really fantastic to hear the perspective they have. There’s a lot to learn from them.

Quinton Comino: So listen in, and let’s see how SunConsult is providing fantastic services to the South Florida area. SunConsult, your home service company. You’re here in Florida. Right? Ben and Connie — seems like it’s a duo team here.

Quinton Comino: Can you just let our audience know what it is that you both do and how it is working together as a couple? I’d love to hear everything from the company to the couple side. I’d love to hear all of it.

Connie: Buonastars.

Ben: Yeah. Can you imagine working with your wife? No. I couldn’t imagine that before, to be honest. So it’s a little of a story.

Ben: No. No. Going all the way back and let’s say and what we’re doing today, what we did before, I’d give you, let’s say, a little perspective on that. So our journey began in Germany. So we’re Germans.

Ben: So I was always in construction. I started architecture. I was an architect. I worked as an architect. And then at a certain moment of time, you have everything. You have your job there. We had really good jobs. We have a daughter. We had a good life in Germany. But at a certain moment of time, you think about what’s next.

Ben: We were around the forties. So the question is what do you want to do? What do you want to achieve with the rest of your life? You know?

Ben: So we were both in separate jobs. Everyone had his own, let’s say, task and things to do. We said, why not try it out? We are now in the forties, and forties is maybe a perfect age of thinking about restructuring your life and doing something else.

Ben: We built a business plan on SunConsult because during that time, we didn’t know and we didn’t really understand what it is. We have been asked from people in Florida already the last years because we have family here. We have friends here. “Hey. You’re an architect. You should do something here in Florida. Why not? The big market is big and so on.” But it was not in our picture before that.

Ben: But then the pandemic came, and the pandemic I think has changed a lot of things in our minds. And also, let’s say, maybe think about new sources and new ideas about what you could do. And SunConsult was to make it blunt our access point to doing something new.

Quinton Comino: Okay.

Ben: We knew during the time that architecture construction remodeling will be that thing, but how to do it? You did it already? Yeah. Go ahead.

Connie: I would say we knew it. That’s not correct because we started SunConsult without knowing what would pop. So that’s why we have all those chapters in companies. So it was like, okay. Let’s maybe try to find German clients who need property management, or let’s just find somebody who wants to invest in South Florida, which is very common.

Connie: Let’s help them because we went through the process ourselves before we even decided to build a business here. We bought apartments to invest and everything. You know, that was the intention was, okay. Let’s just open a business that has a lot of options, and then let’s see what pops. And at the end, it was well, in the beginning, it was not that easy.

Connie: But at the end, we decided, okay. Remodeling and interior design is where our heart is. And that’s what we do mostly. But doesn’t mean we don’t do the other things.

Connie: We have a couple of German clients really. We do property management for them, take care of the houses and everything. Mostly, they remodel with us before, and they just kept being our customers because they were like, okay. Now I remodel. What am I doing? I’m only here for four weeks. So okay. Let’s just help you.

Ben: Let

Connie: us help you with that. So

Quinton Comino: That’s good. So when you came here after the pandemic. Is that right?

Ben: We have been here before, but not for doing business.

Quinton Comino: Okay. Just maybe visiting. Maybe visiting before. And then you when did you officially move here?

Connie: In October 22.

Quinton Comino: Okay. Great. So just yeah. So now coming up on three years here, this coming October. And you started — that’s a big jump. That’s a huge jump. Why not do this in Germany?

Connie: Oh, that’s an easy answer. So let me say this. Nobody would pay you in Germany to furnish their homes. Everybody — we are very do-it-yourself. Like, everybody in Germany is doing everything on their own as long as they can do it.

Connie: If they need a professional, they’re gonna hire. But that — I couldn’t earn a living for it.

Quinton Comino: No way. So no.

Connie: But different story. Like, his part, okay, they earn — that’s good money. But, like, for my interior design, forget it.

Quinton Comino: Really? Wow. But Germany has, I mean, such beautiful design, such beautiful architecture, such — it’s just very beautiful, but it’s a really do-it-yourself culture.

Connie: Yeah. I would say, if it comes to the residential, you’re right with the hotels and all the commercials, they, of course, you can make big deals as an interior designer. But I would say what I’m mostly doing here is residential. We do a lot of doctor’s offices and those things because I come from that perspective or from this direction. So, but, for example, I’m not the right person for a hotel right now.

Connie: And that’s what you can do in Germany. Yes. Of course. You can get on those big jobs, but, like, for the smaller jobs or for the residential jobs, that’s not gonna go to the line.

Quinton Comino: Ben, was it more of a, hey. If this is gonna work, it needs to work for both of us, so let’s go to the US. Was that why, or was there maybe a different reason for coming here? Because it sounds like you could have done it in Germany with what you needed to do. What with what’s kind of up your alley.

Ben: Yeah. Correct. I could do that in Germany, but the situation was also different. We liked since the beginning Florida and as kids also, we have been here for vacation visiting family members and so on. So but we said, why not try it out here?

Connie: Yeah. I think it was both. It was our dream to come to the United States or especially to Florida because as he mentioned earlier, we have part of our family here. And then during COVID, there was so much time to think about, okay, what you’re gonna do? And maybe you realize around your forties, you think about everything you’ve done so far using, okay, I have twenty-five more years before I’m going to retire. Do it the same now the next twenty-five years, or do I take the chance and try it out? And it wasn’t easy to put all the pieces together, but at the end, we said, if we don’t try it now, we’re never gonna try it.

Quinton Comino: Yeah. Never gonna do it.

Ben: There’s also, I think, another factor. If you’re looking into real estate and one of the biggest markets for sure is Florida in the United States. So I think that makes sense if you make your homework around work, let’s say, settle a new business — then Florida makes sense in real estate.

Quinton Comino: Yeah. It does. You come into Florida 2022, you would start doing interior design, it sounds like, and then doing some architecture stuff and then picking up remodeling? Can you just take me through that process a little bit?

Ben: It’s a pretty simple story. I thought in the beginning, I cannot be an architect in the United States, so I aim for doing a contractor’s license. But as everyone knows that a contractor’s license is not easy at all.

Ben: So we have some lightning in the background.

Connie: We have a little bit of thunder. And

Ben: and it’s much longer than I had expected. And, you know, examination, getting registered, having the needed experience and so on. It took me far longer than we thought. But, nevertheless, it was after a specific period of time, it was possible, and I got my license.

Ben: So that’s also the access point to real jobs, not just the bathroom remodel next door. It was the access to really, really good jobs. Because as a license holder and insured, you can and different level of expertise and of jobs. And that pays off today, but nevertheless, the first six months were challenging. So we see now ups and downs, and we were almost bankrupt after six.

Quinton Comino: Well, wow.

Connie: It’s hard for me because I think, the first couple of weeks between here, of course, you don’t have right away. You pick clients and so on. So we live near the beach, and then, I was nervous. I was like, oh my gosh. We have to get clients, you know. I was like — and then why don’t you relax? Go to the beach. And I’m like, no. I can’t. You know? I was already all in the business. I’m like, okay. How can I find clients? And then with him waiting for his license and everything, I thought, okay. I mean, we had to buy stuff. You know? We had to car, a bigger one. We needed tools and all of that. So and after you need money for a living. And then after six months, I was okay. If we don’t take over bigger jobs, I mean, that’s not gonna work out. And so I was very nervous to call clients on my own and find, you know, because there’s also the language barrier. Think about it. You come from Germany and then that’s not language you used or the vocabulary you used during your vacation. It’s a totally different vocabulary, so you have to learn new words. And I was nervous to take phone and then call potential clients, but I did. I had to do it. And the first jobs definitely went on the interior design side because we didn’t need a license for that. And as Germans, you are very accurate and everything, so we were thinking, okay. We are not doing stuff we are not allowed to until we have the license. And after that, yeah, we got the bigger jobs then.

Quinton Comino: Yeah. You say as a German, you’re very accurate. Is this a culture thing? Why do you say it like that?

Connie: Like that. I mean, Germany has a lot of rules we have to follow. Everything is organized, like, I would say more than it is here. And that’s where we are coming from. And, also, I mean, I feel like that’s just a feeling. If you don’t do something wrong here because you didn’t know, then somebody’s gonna be there and then, okay. That was not right, but now do it right do it the right way, and I’m gonna explain and so on. If you do it wrong in Germany, okay, you get a fine. You cannot say, I didn’t know. You know? Okay. Then read it up front and so on. And I think the culture is different in this part for sure. South Florida is very helpful. That’s what we feel. Yeah. And, I mean, also, as I said, it’s in our nature. We want we make it accurate. We want to have the insurance for that, and that’s how we grew up.

Quinton Comino: Yeah. That’s good. How do you feel that has helped you as you’ve gone to interior design to now some sounds like remodeling. How has that approach helped you? How have your customers been able to benefit from that? Hey. We’re gonna be super exact. We’re gonna be super accurate in everything we do.

Ben: I think what you’re talking about is interesting because that’s one thing, having a good quality, having a good outcome, having a good result with the needed crew or what do you have in the background, what is also really challenging in the beginning, finding good team members and become a team, and nothing else because everyone is contributing to having a good project final result by the end. And that is about construction technology, how you use your project, how you organize your project, and just an example with 3D laser measurements in here. It’s much bigger and more reliable as doing it by hand what we did back in the days.

Ben: The other thing is about building product to use. And one example is everyone remembers the old vinyl one, the gray one, what everyone was using and still using in the majority of the cases. But using European-grade materials, what is a game changer for a lot of things. It’s a little more costly but it pays off by the end because the longevity of these products and of the office in this case or showers, whatever, it’s much longer.

Connie: Yeah. Yeah.

Quinton Comino: So how was it finding labor? Did you do the work yourself to start, Ben, or was it very quickly you were able to pick up labor? And what was that communication like? Because if we’re in Florida, particularly South Florida, a lot of your labor is gonna be from South America. And so you not only have to communicate and understand American culture, but then you also have South American culture. And that’s maybe even more separated from German culture. So what was that like starting out, getting labor, communicating? How was all that?

Ben: Connie was smiling already. I had expected. She’s talking about this.

Connie: I can do it. I can do it. So, of course, the construction part is more on his side, but I see maybe that’s the good part because I see more neutral. I’m not you know, I see it a little bit more from the outside. So first of all, when you talk about the South American people, so they want — that’s a good part. They are really interested in being taught and, you know, being better to develop, to open up. That’s a good part. The bad part is so we are used, let’s say, a tile guy. Okay? In Germany, a tile guy has to learn the task for three years, and then they’re gonna write an exam after that. And then they have to go to, you know, what they can do and everything. So but here, it’s like you ask somebody, okay. You do tile work. How did you learn? They sometimes say, well, YouTube.

Quinton Comino: Yeah. Yeah.

Ben: So that’s the big story. You know? If you got taught by YouTube, the result cannot be the same.

Quinton Comino: Yeah. That’s funny.

Ben: Yeah.

Connie: But as I said, we are open. And as we are very accurate, we are open — we want to teach them, and that’s what you’re doing every day.

Ben: That’s one thing. But also, I mean, there are trainings for crew members on different sources. It’s not only about YouTube. There are in-person trainings available from famous, let’s say, tile companies, talking about waterproofing and so on. Their companies, they want the product, but on the other hand, they train you in their products to make sure you use them in the future. So that’s what we do. We send a lot of our crew members on these trainings to just be better. You know? That’s the thing. It’s about also quality control on a consistent basis. That’s also really, really important and about how you approach a team member. Is it just employee or is it just a worker? No. It’s a team member. And I think that’s a difference. So what we do after every — we do an evaluation we meet, what went good, what went not good, what we can improve.

Quinton Comino: Wow. That’s phenomenal. You do that on every job.

Connie: Yeah. We have to. I mean — we are now talking only about the good things, but we had some issues, and we still have. I mean, right now, you’re in Florida too. Some people have to leave the country, then you have to hire new ones. And you start from the beginning. And, of course, in the beginning, it’s always hard. If somebody’s seeing a new team member, it’s just — it takes longer. There are mistakes, of course. I mean, then you find a solution. That’s what we do.

Quinton Comino: Yeah. That’s good. So what can you tell me some of the remodeling jobs that you’ve done lately? I’d love to hear, it sounds like it’s grown from, like, small, maybe just a bathroom only to doing bigger stuff.

Ben: It starts even earlier — just trimming trees at the property. What I did, it was one — this was the very first job cutting trees, and it was called a hedge and was not a hedge. It was a — they asked us client to cut down, and I did it. And the helper in this case — and we had rights to the disposal’s chin and — it was a tough one for this gentleman.

Connie: I was cleaning the same house. I remember that. That’s how we started. I mean, that we needed money and started, you know — it’s not that. You know? It was a job. Yes. It brought money.

Ben: Tenant moved out. Client wants to refresh the house, fresh painting, some trimming outside, and cleaning. And that was let’s say basically that have been the first jobs. But pretty quick, people came up and said, hey. I would like to have the full house painted. I would like to whatever this or that little thing, handyman jobs you could take on to do it and just do it. But then as I said, after pretty much six months and we had the license in place, that was the game changer. We had to file permits on what we’re doing, we don’t use any — we do everything on our own. We have the full control of the — we have the, let’s say, a two-degree one-stop-shop solution for our clients. They don’t need to go architect. We bring everything in-house.

Quinton Comino: You handle all of those things?

Ben: Yeah.

Quinton Comino: Oh, and you have those in them as — do you sub this stuff out, or do you have them as W-2s that they’re employees?

Ben: It depends on the project. We sub it out, but we have also employees. They are doing jobs like that. They have their own license. They work with us or they partner up with us in another project size and the complexity, then we source out MEP.

Quinton Comino: Okay. Yeah. What are some of those bigger projects that you’ve had to do and that you’ve had to source out?

Ben: Yeah. So bigger project means what we’re doing on continuous basis is condos. So this what is everyone because, you know, limited times to work with. Super clean. Limited also noise, what you can do. The people need to work and follow the rules. And that’s also sometimes you need to manage a lot of inspections with inspectors from the city. But that’s to be honest, these jobs we really like, and we really love that we can do a two-bedroom apartment in about a month.

Quinton Comino: Why do you like — sorry. Go ahead.

Ben: As soon as the permit is approved, then we run this project pretty quick.

Quinton Comino: Quick. Yeah. So why do you like those jobs? Because they’re quick? Or

Connie: No. No. No. The about the apartment? So first of all, not everybody wants to do it. So most of the contractors for example, I had this last week. I met another general contractor in the elevator of one of the buildings we’re continuously working, and he was complaining. He was like, ah, it’s so it’s not working those buildings. I hate it. They have so many rules. You know? I just left the toolbox in the hallway, and they came up and secured. He was I don’t know. Whatever.

Quinton Comino: Yeah. Yeah.

Connie: And I was well — and then he said, this building is not nice. And I said, well, I love this building. They are super nice. You know? We never had any issue with them. This is because, as I said earlier, we are very accurate. So we have our stuff together before we go to the office. All the paperwork so they just sign, we notarize it, and everything is there. Also, we know the rules. So we are used to follow rules. So it’s fine if the toolbox cannot be in the hallway, the toolbox is not in the hallway. And if it’s there and things happen — we had this in another apartment. We are remodeling right now a penthouse. And we opened the whole ceiling, and all the dust came inside, you know, the shaft and everything. It was in the apartment. Of course, they called us and said, well, we have a lot of dust, so we send a cleaning lady.

Ben: Mhmm.

Connie: Of course. The next day, the cleaning lady was there. This happens. No problem. We solved it.

Quinton Comino: But so you have these employees and you have these subs. They’re not Germans. Okay? Maybe some of them are, but they’re probably not. Probably not. None of them are Germans. Okay? So they don’t necessarily have that background of accuracy and just being exact, but it sounds like you have trained them to have that same approach. How did you do that?

Connie: Being there, I would say.

Ben: Being there, being also not the guy who’s shouting out loud. Being that guy and being that leader who gives chance to develop. I think that’s a big difference.

Connie: And to show them. Sometimes we go there, and then we do it on our own. They just watch us. That’s what we do sometimes.

Ben: I think also the difference is being specifically at the end of some jobs and, you know, when you have a punch list, you have to do that in that moment of time of the project. I think you have to be there. You have to be a hand helping to the crew and also be with them on-site in doing that. And you know, at the moment, a lot of people losing, let’s say, control about that, and we make sure, let’s say, also being there, being helpful, then get it done.

Connie: Yeah. And it happens a lot, to be honest, that I myself, I’m clean. And then I guide them also. So for example, there was this one remodel couple of months ago, and it was — I don’t I don’t want it to finish in a week or so. We have one more week to go, let’s say this. And then I went there and I said to Benny, oh my gosh. There’s a lot to do. And he said, well, I think we’re in the last — I’m like, no. No. You’re not — you have to — this is not you know? And then I went with them a couple of days. Day after day, I went there and said, you do this, you do that. And you did the same thing, basically. But I think before I see more than two, and I saw more from the perspective when the next door, it needs to be clean. Everything needs to be in place.

Ben: Good.

Connie: And he saw me more the side. Okay. We need to close this hole or whatever. You know? Let’s just — all this stuff. Yeah. And that’s what we did. I mean and that’s a quick work quick work with a lot of manpower.

Quinton Comino: Yeah. That’s really good. I love that. So would you say your specialty is those condos, those apartments? Would you say that’s what you specialize in?

Ben: Yeah. Currently, yes. Currently, yes. I would say we are really specialized in apartment remodels. Yeah. Really, really quick and quicker than other ones. They take six months or whatever.

Quinton Comino: Yeah.

Ben: We do it. We just said in the size six or eight weeks, a full remodel, and this is just the difference.

Connie: And there’s another reason why we are so specifically working in apartments. I think in a single-family home, for example, most people decide to go without a permit first of all. And there’s already the point where we say, by law, you know, okay. This is our term and accuracy, standing in our way. And then also, I mean, you can get cheaper workers or cheaper contractors because they say, well, I can go with the one that has no license. It’s a single-family home. What’s gonna happen? Nothing’s gonna happen. So I take the one without the license. Sometimes we come on the jobs then afterwards because they did it with somebody. And I’m not saying that people without a license are not doing good work. That’s not what I’m saying. But sometimes they come later and they say, okay. I tried it out. It didn’t work out. Now we have to make it good again. So

Quinton Comino: Mhmm. Yeah. That’s something else. Yeah. One of our salespeople here, she says cheap is expensive.

Connie: I think did you hear that? It’s it’s it’s a little frozen. Do you hear us?

Quinton Comino: Yeah. I heard all that. Yeah. Yeah. Yep. I’m still here with you.

Ben: Okay.

Quinton Comino: So what I was just saying I think — all of them. Yeah. Maybe. To my response there, Connie, is one of our salespeople here, she says cheap is expensive because we’ll have sale customers and they’ll get, well, I got this price for this. Sure. That’s cheap, but that’s gonna cost you more at the end of the day. Because I know what I’m doing. I know my business. I know what stuff costs. And it’s $20.25. You get what you pay for. So, sure, if you wanna go with the cheap thing, that’s fine, but it’s going to cost you one way or another. Just how it works. So I definitely can understand that when customers will come back to you after the fact.

Connie: Yeah. And that’s fine.

Ben: I mean, it’s every personal decision now. How big budget, how much is the money I have in the pocket? Okay. Sure. But also considering and talking about condos, condos are different level of doing construction. And it has to operate in order to protect the other units from, let’s say, or even they coming up later. You know?

Quinton Comino: Yeah. That’s true. That’s good. So you said SunConsult the next twenty-five years before you retire. What do you guys wanna do? Come to the US from Germany. We wanna try something different. Go into business together. You’re doing these things. What would you say the future is for SunConsult? It sounds like you have more of a vision for it than where you’re at. It doesn’t sound like this is where you wanna stay. It sounds like you wanna do more. But maybe I’m wrong. What’s the vision for you guys moving forward?

Ben: I think the vision is to build maybe somewhere. Building, maybe starting single-family or duplex or whatever. We are pretty much there of that. Maybe more in the future, but growing the business on continuous basis and on a healthy and sustainable basis. I think that’s the aim we’re having for, growing together with the team. I think that’s for me at least a really important thing. We have a great team after almost three years. There’s for sure always stuff that’s out there. He wants to work for us. He’s more than welcome. We’re always looking for good people. And let’s say having a good pipeline filled the next years for growth.

Quinton Comino: I love that. That’s really good. So tell — so just wrapping up here. Where in Florida if someone’s listening to this and says, I want that accuracy that Ben and Connie bring. I want that exactness. What’s the service area that you are in here in Florida?

Ben: We are pretty much serving from Key Biscayne down South Miami up to north, I would say, Boynton Beach, West Palm Beach area.

Connie: Mhmm.

Ben: Other ways, let’s say, the direction towards left, you know, West Coast, it’s going to Naples and Fort Myers.

Quinton Comino: Oh, you’ll do some stuff over there? You’ll go to Naples and Fort Myers on the West Coast?

Connie: Depending on the job size, of course. But mhmm.

Quinton Comino: That’s good. That’s fantastic. That is really good. That’s a great market to be in. South Florida. You could be busy doing that for the rest of lives if you want, but single-family housing, that would be fantastic. I would love to see that for you guys. That would be such — thank you — yeah. That’d be fantastic. Such growth, and sounds like you could build the team to do that.

Connie: Yeah. We can.

Quinton Comino: Yeah. So if customers want to find out more, where should they go? How should they get in touch with you guys?

Ben: I mean, that — sorry.

Connie: They can call us anytime. We have a website. We are pretty active on Instagram. SunConsult home service company is our name. Yeah. I think we’re pretty easy to find. You can just type in interior design Fort Lauderdale. I would show up. My face is there.

Quinton Comino: Great.

Connie: How can they find you?

Ben: Same. Same way. Just try to cloud online. You will find on Google or whatever. And if you want to build better, faster, and more reliable, just call us, and we Rp happy to help.

Quinton Comino: I love that. Better, faster, and reliable. Well, thank you, Ben and Connie. It’s been really a pleasure having you on the show. Really appreciate it. That’s sunconsultservice.com. You’ll be able to find all their information there. They’re active on Instagram as well, sunconsultservice. Ben and Connie, thank you very, very much. It’s been a joy having you today.

Connie: Thank you, Brent. Yes.

Connie: Thanks. See you. Bye.

Ben: Bye bye.