Navigating the COVID pandemic has been a challenge for many Australian businesses and families, but Geocrete’s Paul Warner has seen his business flourish despite tough Victorian lockdowns.
Paul said he’s used the past two years to focus on building both Geocrete and his personal life, and to give back to his community.
“Maintaining a positive mindset has been very important to me during the pandemic, and I’ve been so fortunate to be in the right industry and to continue to attract customers during such a difficult period,” he said.
It’s a strategy that has paid off for Paul, who has recently become a preferred polisher for Holcim, one of the biggest concrete supply companies in Australia, and has been specified for several architect’s jobs in the past two years. He’s also the preferred supplier for VicMix and Hanson Concrete.
Paul said the initial lockdowns provided him with a fantastic opportunity to update his equipment, uniforms and vehicles with new branding, using a sleek silver and black palette to create a look that is both luxurious and intriguing. “I love the stealthy feel of our branding – how the black on black encourages people to take a closer look,” he said. Geocrete brochures also received their first update in a decade, with their textured black covers enclosing a stunning catalogue of bespoke, glossy floors and remarkable craftmanship.
Paul said he has also used the time to take other polishing companies under his wing and mentor them on some of the trickier parts of the trade, such as dealing with pricing, marketing and difficult customers.
When I started out, there were very few seminars like there are today, and it would have helped me so much to have a mentor myself. Life is about supporting and inspiring others, and it’s excellent to be putting something back into the industry.
Most of Paul’s clients are not only inspired by the beautiful floors he creates, but also his daily routine, which starts at 3am with meditation, a 15km run and weights session at the gym, before his day starts at 7:30am.
Keeping super fit and maintaining a work-life balance is very important to me, and daily fasting and a healthy diet ensure that I haven’t been sick in seven years. I haven’t had a TV for six years, have read more than 1200 books and love my Ocicats, garden and my community. All these things give me an enormous amount of energy that I can put back into my floors that I love.
For Paul, it’s seeing his customers’ response to their finished floors that gives him the most satisfaction. “Some of my clients over the past two years have been going through very hard times, and it’s been my pleasure to put into their jobs twice as much as they expected from me. When I see my clients’ eyes and hear the kind words they say in appreciation of my work, that gives me more energy again.”
Qantas pilot David McNulty is one of Paul’s most recent happy customers, who chose Paul to polish his family home’s floors at Croydon, based on Google reviews. “I’m so happy we went with Geocrete. It turns out the 4.9 star Google rating didn’t do them justice. Paul was borderline OCD making sure everything was perfect, to the point where he was fixing imperfections in the concrete I couldn’t even see.”
“At the initial quote, he pointed out that my new concrete had been poorly laid, with the lip of new concrete being almost 20mm higher than the existing concrete and explained that it would be super time consuming and expensive to make it perfect. With the spa fence going there, I decided to leave the lip. Much to our surprise, upon completion Paul couldn’t live with the job not being perfect so did many hours of extra grinding at his own expense.”
“Every time he came on site he was on time to the minute, if not a few minutes early. He was super flexible working around our time schedule and working around whatever the weather gods threw at us, polishing our outside area during winter.”
“Paul is a talented, hardworking, passionate tradie who loves his work and takes pride in it. A rare breed these days.”
