Starting a business from scratch is a lot like starting a construction project: before anyone sees the finished product, there’s a whole lot of work happening at the foundation.
For Josh Sinacola, owner and operator of Top Gun Building LLC, that foundation has been decades in the making.
Josh grew up around construction, spent years building his experience in the industry, and eventually reached a point where he knew it was time to take everything he had learned and build something of his own.
Now, with Top Gun Building, he’s working toward an even bigger goal: creating a construction company known not only for the projects it completes, but for honesty, transparency, ethics, and the way clients are treated along the way.
Construction Is in His DNA
Josh’s connection to construction started long before Top Gun Building existed.
His dad owned a construction business, so Josh grew up around the trades. From underground excavation and pipework to concrete and larger projects, construction was simply part of life.
As a kid and young adult, Josh spent plenty of time operating heavy equipment and doing the hard, hands-on labor that comes with the industry.
Around 2006, as the economy began changing, Josh moved to Arizona and started pumping concrete. From there, he began working alongside general contractors, gaining experience that would eventually shape the career—and company—he has today.
As Josh puts it, building feels like it’s “in my blood” and “in my DNA.”
But the idea of owning his own business actually goes back even further.
A Business Owner in the Making
At 18, Josh sat down with a yellow legal pad and created his first business proposal.
The idea? A landscaping company.
There was only one small problem with the plan: Josh wanted his dad to fund the company, purchase all the equipment and provide the resources while Josh ran it.
At 18, he thought it was a pretty great deal.
Years later, the dream of owning a business never completely disappeared. But it wasn’t until Josh turned 40 that he decided it was finally time to stop building for everyone else and start building something for himself and his family.
“I feel like I’m in the second half of my life now,” he explained. “So time is not on my side anymore.”
That realization helped push him to launch Top Gun Building.
So…Why Top Gun Building?
There’s a fun story behind the name.
Top Gun has long been one of Josh’s favorite movies. In fact, during high school, he had to create a business plan for a class—and even that imaginary company had a Top Gun theme, complete with business trucks named after Maverick, Goose and Iceman.
When it came time to name his real company, Josh combined that longtime love of Top Gun with another aesthetic he enjoys: the Western, cowboy feel.
And Top Gun Building was born.
Bringing Transparency Back to Construction
There’s something much bigger behind Top Gun Building than simply wanting to own a company.
Josh wants to help change the way people experience the construction industry.
He believes too many homeowners, consumers and clients have encountered unethical practices in construction, and he wants Top Gun Building to represent something different.
“I want to bring ethics back into construction,” Josh said. “I want to bring morality back into construction, and I want to bring transparency to every client that I work with.”
For Josh, that means being willing to tell clients what they need to hear, even when it isn’t necessarily what they want to hear.
When he walks into a project, he looks at the entire picture. If he notices a potential issue, concern or something that could become a problem later, he believes the client deserves to know.
That commitment has already come at a cost. Josh shared that his transparency has even cost him a job.
Still, there are three things he refuses to compromise:
Transparency. Morals. Ethics.
No project or paycheck is worth sacrificing them.
The Exciting—and Terrifying—Part of Starting From Zero
There’s an understandable sense of pride that comes from building a company from nothing.
But Josh is also refreshingly open about the other side of entrepreneurship.
It’s scary.
There’s the financial uncertainty. There’s the challenge of creating a consistent stream of projects. And then there’s the fear many business owners experience but don’t always talk about:
What if this doesn’t work?
Josh admits that fear of failure is one of his biggest concerns in this early stage.
When those doubts creep in, he leans heavily on his faith and his belief that continuing to show up, help people and create opportunities will eventually move him forward.
Every morning becomes another chance for new conversations, new opportunities and new ways to help someone.
Josh also tries to freely share his knowledge, resources and advice with others.
His philosophy is simple: pour into people now and trust that doing good work and helping others will eventually come back around.
Why the Finished Project Matters
Ask Josh what would make all of this worth it, and his answer isn’t simply revenue or company size.
It’s the finished project.
There’s a feeling he says is difficult to explain when construction is finally complete and he gets to hand the keys over to a client.
Maybe it’s a new commercial space.
Maybe it’s a home.
Whatever the project, something that once existed only as an idea is suddenly real.
“There’s just this sense of accomplishment, the sense of pride, the sense of you actually helped someone and could have potentially changed their life forever,” Josh said.
It’s the emotion on a client’s face—and the possibility of creating lifelong relationships—that Josh hopes will continue to matter whether Top Gun Building is one year old, five years old or ten years old.
The Projects Josh Wants Top Gun Building to Be Known For
While Josh has experience throughout construction, there are a few types of projects he especially enjoys.
On the commercial side, he loves tenant improvements and commercial remodels.
Throughout his career, Josh has worked on projects including veterinary clinics, pet spas, medical and dental offices and even movie theater remodels across the country.
There’s something particularly rewarding to him about walking into an empty commercial shell and transforming that blank canvas into an incredible finished space.
Those commercial tenant improvement projects are a major focus for Top Gun Building.
On the residential side, Josh is also interested in ground-up residential construction and new home builds.
Whether he’s transforming a commercial suite or helping someone create the home they’ve imagined, the goal remains the same: build something meaningful and build it the right way.
Construction Is a Team Sport
After spending most of his life in the industry, construction has taught Josh quite a bit about himself—including, he jokes, that he needs to work on his patience.
But perhaps the biggest lesson has been that you simply cannot do everything alone.
Successful construction requires a support system.
That might include an internal team, subcontractors, mentors or other professionals. For a general contractor hoping to grow a business, Josh believes having the right people around you is essential.
That lesson is especially relevant now as he works through the early stages of Top Gun Building: figuring out systems, deciding which projects are the right fit and creating the foundation for the company he ultimately wants to build.
Looking Five Years Ahead
Josh has a clear vision for where he wants Top Gun Building to go.
Five years from now, he hopes to be able to sit down for this interview again and say that Top Gun Building has become one of the top general contractors in the East Valley.
But success won’t only be measured by the company’s growth.
Josh wants to be able to say he has helped hundreds of people bring their ideas to life—whether that means building out a commercial space, constructing a new family home, creating a forever home or adding space that allows multiple generations of a family to live closer together.
He also wants that success to benefit the community around him.
Josh considers himself deeply community-oriented and hopes that as Top Gun Building grows, he’ll be able to give back to the Queen Creek and San Tan Valley communities that helped his company grow from the ground up.
Enjoying the Building Phase
There may eventually come a day when Top Gun Building is a larger company with a bigger team, more projects and an entirely new set of responsibilities.
And Josh suspects that when that happens, he may actually miss this part.
Right now, everything is still being created.
The systems. The processes. The relationships. The reputation. The business itself.
It’s exciting and terrifying all at once.
But when you spend your life building things, there’s something pretty fitting about getting the opportunity to build your own company, too.
And for Josh Sinacola, Top Gun Building is just getting started.
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