Josh Webb (PatchMaster)

Josh Webb is the owner of PatchMaster, a residential and commercial drywall repair service in the Twin Cities. 

Born in Sun Prairie, a suburb of Madison, Wisconsin, Webb’s hometown has quite the claim to fame.  

“It’s known for midget races,” Webb says. 

“But not midgets as in small people. A midget is actually a type of race car.”

Webb never envisioned becoming Jeff Gordon or Dale Earnhardt, but he always possessed an aptitude for science, and after high school he enrolled at UW-Madison to study chemical engineering. 

“I am an analytical, science nerd, but I didn’t know how hard that program [chemical engineering] was going to be,” Webb shares. 

“In retrospect, the biggest thing I learned at Madison was how to learn, and that has served me well.”

Post-college, Webb went to work at a chemical factory down in Houston. 

“Quickly realized I couldn’t do that forever,” he acknowledges, but while in Houston, Webb also earned his MBA.

That, in combination with working at Amazon and also learning how to run an e-commerce platform, gave Webb the confidence that he could one day operate a successful business. 

“And now, with PatchMaster, this is simply the next iteration of my entrepreneurial journey,” he says. 

For context, PatchMaster fixes cracks and holes in walls and ceilings, effectively restoring those surfaces to their original condition. 

“You see a hole in the wall, and we make it disappear,” Webb says. 

“Our goal is to make it look like those holes never happened, and that we were never in your home.”

It’s not everyday that someone finds a hole in their wall, but according to Webb, there is a lot of demand in the Twin Cities from homeowners who can’t stand gaping holes or the cracks on their ceilings.

“The business is a really cool niche,” says Webb, who is a franchisee owner/operator of PatchMaster, “and there is a lot of opportunity in this industry.” 

At present, Webb has a team of experts who perform the actual drywall work, and his focus is on enhancing the customer service experience and growing the business. 

What started as a one-man operation has now morphed into a full-fledged business.  

Consequently, the cost for PatchMaster’s services is rarely the lowest estimate a homeowner or business owner will receive. 

Depending on factors such as size of holes/cracks, how much texturing is necessary, and if painting is required, PatchMaster’s services range from $400-$1,500. 

“The bigger the hole, the more time it takes to patch it,” Webb shares.  

“You then also have to factor in how much painting is going to be required, or how much texturing of the surface will be needed.”

Plus, hiring skilled drywall experts costs Webb a premium, and that cost inevitably is passed down to customers, who ultimately benefit from having an experienced professional repair their home. 

“Finding high-quality guys who can do things the right way is expensive,” Webb says. 

“There are certainly handymen who could beat my price, but usually a general handyman only has a baseline knowledge of drywall, versus a proven track record of experience like my guys do.” 

Already, Webb has turned PatchMaster into a profitable business.

His Twin Cities location is ranked top 5 in the country among all other PatchMaster franchisees, a distinction that once again can be attributed to a variety of elements. 

“Every drywall company is different, but we make a clear effort to hire experts who have ten or fifteen years of experience to perform the work,” Webb notes.  

“Beyond that, where we try to further differentiate ourselves is in customer service.”

Based on PatchMaster’s 5.0 rating on Google Reviews, Webb’s steadfast commitment to delivering outstanding customer service is working. 

“Constant communication is also crucial,” Webb says. 

“We’re always trying to keep people updated on their projects.”

Additionally, Webb has created systems and processes that allow his team to be on time and not rushing through jobs or sacrificing craftsmanship in order to meet consumer demand. 

“I’ll say, it’s been hard to find drywall guys who are really good at what they do, and also show up on time, but that’s a core tenet of ours, is finding people who can fulfill both of those job responsibilities,” Webb explains. 

“When I tell a customer that we’re going to be there at 9AM, that’s what they and I are expecting, and fortunately, we have been able to find people who have been able to meet those expectations.”

In other words, clients aren’t stuck at home with 4-hour appointment slots wondering when their drywall installer will arrive. 

“Those lengthy appointment windows are hard for a customer to deal with,” Webb says. 

“People are busy and have lives, and they don’t want to wait around all morning or afternoon for a drywall guy to come in and patch up the wall or ceiling.”

In that sense, speed is key, but as mentioned, if the quality of work was compromised, then expediency would be rather irrelevant. 

“At PatchMaster, we are the experts in the space, and we are going to give our customers not only a great experience, but also a great end product that will have their problem completely remedied,” says Webb, before again acknowledging that his company’s expertise means clients searching exclusively for the lowest price available may be better served to look elsewhere for a drywall solution.  

“We might not be the cheapest option, but we strive to be the best option for Twin Cities homeowners, and that’s a strategy that has served us well to this point.”

For a Twin Cities company that started at the bottom and now they’re here, the future of PatchMaster appears promising. 

Of course, Webb is aiming to spearhead continued growth with his drywall endeavor, but he’s not in a hurry to have his entity become a Twin Cities juggernaut.

Instead, he wants to be calculated with PatchMaster’s ascension, and at no point waver from their foundational pillar of exceptional customer service. 

“I don’t want to see us rapidly grow and then drop the ball on customer service,” Webb insists. 

“So yes, we want to continue to scale, but we want to do so sustainably, while simultaneously doing everything we can to ensure that our customers are being taken care of.” QS

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