Big Tips for Small Business with HGTV's Cousins on Call

As the stars of HGTV’s Cousins on Call, Anthony Carrino and John Colaneri are known for their stunning home renovations. When the pair isn’t busy winning over fans on the small screen, they’re running their family-owned construction company, Brunelleschi Construction, started by Anthony and his father in 2004.

Here Anthony and John share their path to entrepreneurship and how they’ve been successful by staying true to their vision.

What went into the decision to start Brunelleschi Construction?
Anthony: I was working for my dad at the time at his import/export company, and we were buying and selling loud speakers components in Italy, Spain, and Mexico. With the Euro coming about and really squeezing the currency trade, the business wasn't what it was for him 20-30 years ago when he started it. So, we were kind of brainstorming on different paths that we could go down, and I probably said to my dad something along the lines of, we've always run our own construction projects and we've got a ton family that is in construction. Let's lean on our strengths and look at doing a project together, and if it goes well, then we'll turn it into a business. So, that is kind of what we did. We bought a four unit brownstone in Hoboken, New Jersey and we renovated it in about a year's time. We sold it out in about two weeks and there was no looking back after that. Everybody loved the product and wanted more so Brunelleschi was born.

How did the opportunity for Cousins on Call come about?
Anthony: That was more out of a friend just kind of telling us that we should have a TV show. She thought we were really passionate about what we do and she wanted to follow us around for a day with a camera. So she filmed us for a day and she just cold called the production company, and they watched the tape and liked what they saw. They sent a crew out to do a little more of an in-depth sizzle reel. Then we had ten months of radio silence and didn't hear from anybody, and then the owner of the production company called and said he wants to do a pilot, and that's where it started.

What have been the most successful ways you've marketed your business locally, both before and after the success of Cousins on Call?
John: Before the show, people always viewed our company as offering a high-quality product and a very different design. One of the reasons why Brunelleschi, even before the show, really took off and we got so much notoriety was because of our designs and because they were outside the box. It really showed during the real estate boom, developers were popping up same exact designs over and over and over again. We wanted to do something that we knew was very different, so that is how we got our notoriety. And then once the show aired, it really took off. For us word of mouth is, I would say, the greatest advertiser for us.

Anthony: I think the one big difference between pre- and post-TV world is that we always had a social presence and we always depended on word of mouth, but we had to go actively looking for work. Where that changes in a post-television show world is that we never had to say no to work before, and now we're at a point where we do not have the resources to do everything that people are asking us to do. And secondly, when the show first came out, I think the general public assumed that if you're on TV, you're in the millionaires club and you've got to have a lot of money. So, we were getting a lot of requests for work and we had to really qualify the [requests] so we could use the limited resources that we had in the most advantageous way.

What lessons have you learned while growing your business and brand?
Anthony: I think the biggest thing we learned is nobody works as we do. We've either had them quit or had to fire three or four different project managers. They just couldn't keep up with with the speed in which we were working and the amount of time and effort that John and I put in. But I can say now that we are really, really happy with our core team-- our office manager, Lynn, our estimator, Zach, our project manager, Justin--they are all quality people and they have a passion along with a work ethic that allows us all to make Brunelleschi Construction successful. But they were not easy to find.

John: On the business side of things, the push and pull that we've felt is figuring out how fast you actually grow a business. You find a lot of companies that try to grow way too fast and then get eaten up. That was really the big hurtle that was in front of us. We were getting flooded with calls and emails [about jobs]. Construction isn't like selling cakes or baking cupcakes where you can pump them out. These are very difficult things that take time and months.

If you had $500 left in your monthly budget at the end of the month, how would you spend it?
John: Save it. Put in the bank. Do not spend it. That is short and sweet on that because the biggest thing for small businesses like ours is cash flow. We're dealing with large projects can range anywhere from $100,000 to $500,000 to a project that's $5,000,000 and we're not getting all of that money upfront. So you have to be able to pay your overhead, pay your employees, have the company running, while you're waiting for those payments to actually come in. Save as much as you can and have that cash flow to sustain the business so it can grow further.

Why is it important for a business to be involved with and connected to its surrounding community?
Anthony: For us, it's not even a decision that you make. If you work in your community, you are a part of your community, so you've got to serve that community. For us, it goes even further. We live in and work in our community, and the nature of our business is a such that we have a business where we can shape the community, which is something that we take a lot of pride in.

What have been your keys to success?
John: I think for Anthony and me, it's the passion that we feel for all of our projects. I don't think there is anything that we do that we don't feel very strongly about. When we go into a project--it could be just a single kitchen, it could be an entire home or it could be a multi-use building--we are putting everything we have into that space to make it really flourish.

Anthony: I think the other thing is that with clients, we like to educate our them because it is kind of a daunting process and it is a lot of money. It's not a process that people go through repetitively. If you go through one construction project in a lifetime, that could be considered a lot if you're not in the business. So we really take pride in educating people and walking them through the steps and getting them both at a comfort level and also managing their expectations from a timeline perspective so that they have a real clear and accurate understanding of the way the project is going to operate.

If you had one piece of advice for small business owners, what would it be?
Anthony: Stick to your vision, believe in your vision and trust your gut. It's your business, you got to be the one that's guiding the ship. Your employees depend on you for that. You need to take the time to focus and really believe in the decisions you're making, and once you make that decision, you've got to follow through with it.