Today we’d like to introduce you to Christian Duggan.
Hi Christian, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I grew up in a small town just off Cape Cod. I went to school in New Hampshire for business. When I graduated, I backpacked around Europe for a bit to see a different part of the world and try to figure out my life plan. When I came home, I got a job in Boston working in finance for Fidelity Investments. It was a great place to begin! I learned so much there and met a lot of great people, including my wife, Teresa.
I recall a speech from the owner and CEO at the time, Ned Johnson. He told a group of us that he couldn’t promise we’d always have a job there—it’s a business, and business dynamics change—but if we took advantage of everything they had to offer in terms of educating ourselves and leveraged the tools and resources available, then if circumstances ever forced us to leave, we would be more prepared and capable than when we started. I really took that to heart, and that advice helped me a lot in the coming years.
It was the late 90s at this point, and the dot-com boom was in full throttle. I was happy at Fidelity, but I really wanted to learn about technology, the internet, and how all of it worked. Through a connection my cousin had, I got an interview at a company called Network Appliance (now just NetApp). I applied for a sales position in Boston. The gentleman who would become my manager said he liked my sales experience but was concerned that I was very new to technology. He offered to put me in touch with a new group being established in the RTP area of North Carolina. He said if I went down there for a year, learned everything I could, and did well, he would bring me back up to Boston and into the outside sales team.
After thinking it over and discussing it with Teresa, we decided to make the move. Within a month, Teresa and I got married, and two weeks later we were in Cary, North Carolina, starting a new job in a new field—and shortly after, we started a family.
Then 9/11 happened, and everything changed. I stayed with NetApp for four years, but the opportunity to move back never materialized. In 2004, NetApp had layoffs and my group was cut. I decided at that point that I wanted to start my own business and make my own way.
I set up an LLC and partnered with an engineer who had also been laid off in the RIF. We teamed up with a company in New York that helped us finance our deals, and we began reselling NetApp storage and other technology to businesses up and down the East Coast.
After four years of doing that, another friend from NetApp called and asked if we wanted to team up with him and one of his friends to form our own IT integration company. We decided to move forward and signed contracts. We started Tego Data Systems two weeks before Lehman Brothers collapsed and the housing market crash began in 2008. It was a shock! I thought, “What are we doing starting a company in a hyper-competitive field right at the beginning of a major economic downturn?” But we just put our heads down and got to work.
Nine years later, we had built a $10 million business with Red Hat and United Technologies as some of our biggest customers. In 2017, we sold the business.
I took a little time to figure out what was next. Ultimately, I decided not to continue in technology. My father is a contractor in Massachusetts, and when I was in high school and college, I would work with him. I learned a lot and liked the idea of building physical things, so that’s the direction I turned. I started my roofing business in 2018. It’s been a bumpy ride, but that is the nature of starting any business. It is challenging but also very rewarding
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Hah, no if you’re looking for a smooth road, starting your own business is probably not for you. About 50% of startups fail within the first 5 years. I would say finding the right team to help you is one of the biggest challenges. You need good people who are passionate about doing quality work and won’t cut corners. Resilience is a must. No matter how much planning you do before you begin you will be faced with obstacles you did not see coming. You just need to push through, learn not to repeat mistakes and work on getting better every day. Focus on the value your product can bring to your customers.
As you know, we’re big fans of Castle Exteriors . For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
At Castle Exteriors, we are focused on protecting your home or business from the elements by providing roofing, siding, paint, gutters and trim services. There are many companies in the Raleigh area that provide these services. What separates us, I believe is our dedication to quality and how we handle a project from start to finish. We are not a big company and are not trying to be one. For a customer, this has it’s advantages. Larger companies have more layers and more layers means more bureaucracy. When important decisions need to be made it can take time to get approvals and they are often made at a distance from the customer. There is also a lot of pressure to get the “next” deal and this shifts focus away from a customer that just signed a contract. We rarely are doing more than one job at a time. When someone decides to hire us we are focused 100% on them and their home or business. I’m the one that meets with customers and I’m the one they call when they have a question or need something. This streamlines the process and keeps a project moving forward. Setting proper expectations and communicating regularly is extremely important to us! The jobs we do are impactful, and quite frankly, disruptive to a home or business owner. It’s important that they know what is going to happen and when, every step of the way. It’s also important that they know what we said we would do is what actually what is done. This is why I have my crews take pictures at each stage of a project. When a customer re-roofs their home or business they’re probably not going to be able to watch us the whole time and when the roof is done, 70% of what makes the roofing system work is no longer visible. Pictures off the process help a customer rest easy knowing they got what they paid for.
Do you have any advice for those looking to network or find a mentor?
There are a lot of business networking groups you can join. Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO) is a great one! There is a lot of stress when you are running a business and you can often feel isolated. This group puts you with other business owners who are facing similar challenges. You meet once a month and discuss what’s happening with your business and sometimes personal life and share ideas on what’s working and what isn’t. I don’t know any entrepreneur that wouldn’t do what they could to help someone else who’s trying to start their own business. Find people that have done it, ask questions and listen. Their wisdom will likely save you a lot of time and money.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.castle-ext.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/castleexteriorsllc/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61556355748051
