what exactly do you do

Well… that depends.

I learned early, thanks to B-school, that the safest way to answer a question is to never be wrong.

“How much will it cost?”
“Well, that depends…”

“Can you give me a range?”
“Sure. Somewhere between $1 and $2,200,000.”

“How long will it take?”
“Well, that depends on what’s behind the walls…”

Here’s the truth: most clients only care about two things—cost and time.

And because every request is different, the answer is never simple.

Today, per request from Ananth Srinivasan, here are two examples of what we’ve been working on:

Project 1: Water Control
Earlier this year, we installed trench drains per engineering specs.
They turned out undersized, and the kitchen flooded twice.

Instead of pointing fingers, I offered a solution.

The photos you see are of the new trench drain that I designed (with a little help from David Huval, P.E., MSCE).

This drain can handle a 20,000 lb load and move a sh$% load of water.

We ran 400 feet of 12” pipe all the way to the creek.

If this were a new project, the cost would’ve been around $50,000 (30K for pipe, 14K for the drain, 6K for my time).

But since the original failed? We did it at cost, under 10K.

Project 2: Building Envelope Sealing

This one was 5,000 LF of joint sealant, plus brick replacement and painting soffits and awnings.

We finished in 30 days, working 7 days a week to hit schedule.

The best part?

Soon I’ll see the bid tabs, the other contractors’ numbers.

For me, that’s gold.

I’ll refine my model, improve, and dominate.

These two projects show the split personality of my work:

Project 1 fits my consulting company: huvalconsultinggroup.com

Project 2 fits my construction company: www.bayoucitybuildout.com

This journey started in 2017, when I dove into the deep waters of entrepreneurship.

Eight years later, I’m still here, still swimming, not even close to tired.

I’ve built everything from fine furniture to working inside sterile hospital environments.

The fun never stops, and neither does the grind.

Here’s what I’ve learned:

Business is like bamboo. It spends years growing roots where no one can see.

It looks like nothing is happening, until suddenly, you’ve got a jungle.


Stay patient. Stay humble. Keep grinding.

Your breakthrough is closer than you think.