ABOUT THIS EPISODE
Home service businesses are getting more attention than ever. But are they really as good as they look?
In this episode of Owned and Operated, John Wilson and Jack Carr talk about why HVAC, plumbing, electrical, and other home service businesses have become so popular; and why they’re still incredibly hard to operate.
They break down what makes home services attractive, the mistakes people make when buying into the trades, and where there’s still opportunity as more buyers enter the space.
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In This Episode
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• Why more people are getting into the trades
• What makes home services such an attractive business model
• Why fragmentation creates so much opportunity
• The reality of staffing, seasonality, and competition
• Why running a home service business takes more than being smart
• The biggest mistake people make when buying a home service company
• The difference between buying a business and buying a job
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Connect
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John Wilson
https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnbwilson1/
Jack Carr
https://x.com/thehvacjack
Catalyst
https://www.ownedandoperated.com/catalyst
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Sponsors
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Quick Staffers
Hire trained HVAC and plumbing CSRs without the overhead of traditional hiring. Save $500 on your first placement with Quick Staffers: https://www.quickstaffers.com/
Profit & Grit
Running a $3M–$15M home service business? Profit & Grit helps contractors improve cash flow, pricing, forecasting, and profitability with guidance from an operator who's built and sold a $25M service business.
Book your free 20-minute strategy call: https://www.profitandgrit.com
FieldPulse
Ready to ditch the whiteboard and spreadsheets? See how FieldPulse helps home service companies simplify scheduling, dispatching, invoicing, and more. Book a free demo: https://landing.fieldpulse.com/owned_and_operated
More Ways To Connect with OAO
John Wilson, CEO of Wilson Companies
Jack Carr, CEO of Rapid HVAC
📌 Disclaimer: Some links may include UTM parameters or affiliate relationships, meaning we may earn a commission if you make a purchase. Episodes may feature sponsors, but all opinions expressed are our own.
SHOW NOTES 🔗
TRANSCRIPT 🔗
00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:03.359
Interest in the trades is only going to accelerate, frankly, just because we need it.
00:00:03.520 --> 00:00:09.599
There's legitimate sub-industries that you buy into and then in two years, 6X multiple on a sub-1 million dollar EVD.
00:00:09.839 --> 00:00:13.599
I've never heard anyone like buy a plumbing or HVAC company and be like, yeah, dude, it's easy.
00:00:13.839 --> 00:00:17.519
There's a intersection of customer service and technicality.
00:00:17.760 --> 00:00:23.920
What I have learned is being successful in this industry has almost nothing to do with intelligence.
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And like everything to do with like how much pain are you willing to endure.
00:00:28.559 --> 00:00:33.679
That cohesion of being able to have what you're not is what makes and breaks a lot of the early businesses.
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It's hard to distinguish like, is this a job or a business?
00:00:36.560 --> 00:00:37.600
Like, what's your take on that?
00:00:37.759 --> 00:00:40.479
The biggest mistake I see people make is not.
00:00:52.000 --> 00:00:53.679
I am your host, John Wilson.
00:00:53.759 --> 00:01:01.200
And on this show, we talk about home service businesses, how to buy them, how to grow them, and pretty much anything else we want.
00:01:01.439 --> 00:01:02.320
Pretty much anything else.
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Pretty much anything else we want.
00:01:03.679 --> 00:01:05.040
Pretty much anything else we want.
00:01:05.359 --> 00:01:11.280
Today we are talking about why are home service businesses the hot chick at the bar right now?
00:01:11.439 --> 00:01:14.079
Why are they the ultimate boring business?
00:01:14.159 --> 00:01:18.560
And everybody now is like trying to find the unsexy business.
00:01:18.719 --> 00:01:20.400
Uh, and apparently that's plumbing.
00:01:20.640 --> 00:01:24.560
I think plumbing's super sexy, but you know, to to the outsider, it's not they're not there yet.
00:01:24.799 --> 00:01:25.920
Yeah, it's been weird.
00:01:26.159 --> 00:01:29.519
I and it's I feel like it's accelerating too.
00:01:29.680 --> 00:01:40.959
Um, yeah, in the sense that I now get random messages from people like old friends, like, hey, I put my sister-in-law onto owned and operated to learn about home service businesses.
00:01:41.040 --> 00:01:43.359
And I'm like, Yeah, uh sweet, awesome.
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Or the guy that owns the the trampoline park down the way stops me at the gym, is like, hey, are you Jack?
00:01:49.519 --> 00:01:50.879
I'm like, this is weird, man.
00:01:50.959 --> 00:01:54.959
This is this isn't what I expected three years ago when we started this or started.
00:01:55.519 --> 00:01:57.200
People are, yeah, people are into it.
00:01:57.439 --> 00:02:02.879
Um, I I and I think like it is becoming more and more of a haven.
00:02:03.120 --> 00:02:04.719
I was I'm on uh Reddit.
00:02:04.879 --> 00:02:08.159
Reddit is apparently like my social media of choice now.
00:02:08.400 --> 00:02:12.080
And so I'm on Reddit and there's like a small business subreddit.
00:02:12.240 --> 00:02:14.000
And you know, like I don't even know.
00:02:14.319 --> 00:02:15.919
Millions of people are on that sub.
00:02:16.400 --> 00:02:22.719
But what is kind of funny is like most of the questions or like conversations going around that sub are home service related.
00:02:22.800 --> 00:02:35.360
And it that has definitely been accelerating over the past like year or two, where it's just more people being like, I'm launching a painting company or power washing, or I mean, sometimes it's plumbing HVAC electrical, but often it's just like home service in general.
00:02:35.599 --> 00:02:46.400
Yeah, and even further to further that, like I feel like a lot of the sub businesses, like this fractional CFOs are now fractional CFOs for HVAC companies or for home service companies.
00:02:46.560 --> 00:02:50.400
It's a very interesting transition that um I mean I didn't explain.
00:02:50.639 --> 00:02:53.520
Well, my friend, yeah, my friend Tyler's doing that from Profit and Grit.
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Like, all he's doing is home service companies, and uh like that's their entire business.
00:02:59.759 --> 00:03:06.080
And he's like, Yeah, I think he thinks he could build like a giant business just serving home service companies, which I agree.
00:03:06.240 --> 00:03:11.759
I mean, there's probably tens of millions of like people inside that sphere or companies inside that sphere.
00:03:12.080 --> 00:03:16.240
Do you think that the market or the the kind of industry is growing as a whole?
00:03:16.400 --> 00:03:17.360
Are there more companies?
00:03:17.520 --> 00:03:32.319
I mean, naturally there's gonna be more companies, but how much of that do you feel like is actually conversion from maybe people who weren't on social media and own home service companies to now, hey, I own bought a home service company and now I'm on social media.
00:03:32.479 --> 00:03:36.960
So for example, your dad, like your dad wasn't on LinkedIn or Reddit, um, and you are.
00:03:37.120 --> 00:03:41.039
So how much of it is that versus new businesses coming into play?
00:03:41.680 --> 00:03:46.879
I think a bunch of it is um, I think there's a a few like factors that are big.
00:03:46.960 --> 00:03:52.719
Like I think Alex Hermozzi and Cody Sanchez have brought a lot of attention to like the boring business.
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Um, I think that in the early 2000s or 2020s, uh, there was a really big emphasis on SBA debt and like the silver tsunami, and there's just so many service businesses out there.
00:04:05.759 --> 00:04:09.680
And I think this sort of entrepreneurship through acquisition started to become more of the thing.
00:04:10.000 --> 00:04:27.600
Um, but I remember in it was probably 2019 or 2020, I was listening to a podcast and someone on that podcast, which was like a a sophisticated person, uh said something along the lines of like, you know, you've never heard of a plumbing company failing.
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And and I was like, oh my god, are people gonna start buying plumbing companies?
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Which, you know, then they did.
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But uh, but it was kind of funny.
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Um so and then now I think you just have all of this content out there, specifically like the tick TikTok, I think, most especially, where it's just helping push more and more young people into the trades.
00:04:53.040 --> 00:04:57.839
Like I'm hearing um more than ever.
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Just like random people text me and be like, hey, my son's thinking about becoming an electrician, what do you think?
00:05:02.319 --> 00:05:04.879
My son's be thinking about becoming an HVAC tech, what do you think?
00:05:05.040 --> 00:05:12.319
It's becoming like a movement where like more and more people than ever are like trying to figure out their life inside the trades.
00:05:12.560 --> 00:05:21.519
So I feel like all those different things, like there's just more attention to it, it's less technological, it's a hard, it's a skill, it's a hands-on skill, and like people can make good money.
00:05:21.600 --> 00:05:23.680
Like, it's a good thing.
00:05:24.160 --> 00:05:29.600
Most home service companies don't stall because of demand, they stall because they run out of good people.
00:05:29.759 --> 00:05:34.000
Finding solid help fast is hard, especially in this industry.
00:05:34.160 --> 00:05:36.160
And that's where Quick Staffers comes in.
00:05:36.240 --> 00:05:42.240
They help home service companies build reliable virtual teams that actually understand how the trades work.
00:05:42.319 --> 00:05:50.959
Quick Staffers provides vetted, remote staffed who are already trained on Service Titan and use proven SOPs, the same as the ones that I use at Wilson.
00:05:51.040 --> 00:05:58.639
These are VAs you can plug in from day one to handle customer service, lead follow-up, scheduling support, and a ton more.
00:05:58.800 --> 00:06:02.560
They've been a huge help in scaling my team without the usual hiring headaches.
00:06:02.720 --> 00:06:04.639
Check them out at the link below.
00:06:05.360 --> 00:06:11.680
Yeah, and so I'm gonna ask this up front versus at the end because I think it's I'm I'm curious what your thought is.
00:06:12.399 --> 00:06:18.240
How much of this is um going to stay and how much of this is trend of the week?
00:06:18.319 --> 00:06:25.120
Because like we saw this trending with real estate back in the the 2000 or 2010 to 2020.
00:06:25.360 --> 00:06:31.519
We saw um car washes get hit really hard with this, we saw pest control get hit really hard with this.
00:06:31.839 --> 00:06:34.079
We saw um the what was the big one?
00:06:34.160 --> 00:06:38.480
Uh self-storage was huge, what like 2018 to 2022?
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Like, is this a trend or do you feel like this this uh continues?
00:06:42.879 --> 00:06:49.040
I think that interest in the trades is only going to accelerate over the next 10 to 15 years, frankly, just because we need it.
00:06:49.279 --> 00:06:57.600
Like, I think if you think about um, hey, everybody went into computer science in the early 2000s because that's where jobs were.
00:06:57.839 --> 00:07:01.120
So they went there because like there was a promise that like you could make a living here.
00:07:01.199 --> 00:07:06.879
And they went to coding boot camps and they did, you know, did all this sort of like alternative education, and then they made good money.
00:07:07.040 --> 00:07:14.240
And I think that this is just the next iteration of that, where over the next decade we're gonna see a lot more emphasis on trade schools and hard skills.
00:07:14.560 --> 00:07:23.199
And um hopefully we don't overcorrect because like we obviously do need tradespeople, but like we also do need accountants, like we doctors, nurses.
00:07:23.360 --> 00:07:34.319
You know, we do need like other, you know, whereas I so I it whereas I feel like we definitely overcorrected way past the trades to the point of like now the country is like, hey, we actually need people to work on our infrastructure.
00:07:34.560 --> 00:07:41.279
Um so I think as far as talent goes, the next 10 years, I feel like there's gonna be more and more influx, more and more resources.
00:07:41.439 --> 00:07:45.600
I think as far as value goes, um, I think they're gonna stay valuable.
00:07:45.680 --> 00:07:54.319
Uh, but I I don't think it's gonna um I mean car washes they stayed no one needs to get their car wash.
00:07:54.560 --> 00:07:56.160
They still stayed valuable too, though, right?
00:07:56.240 --> 00:07:57.360
They they still stayed valuable.
00:07:57.759 --> 00:08:00.000
You're not buying a car wash at 3x anymore either.
00:08:00.160 --> 00:08:06.639
Like they stayed valuable, they just lost their like the the online social like push that we were seeing.
00:08:06.879 --> 00:08:08.959
The storage units still valuable, right?
00:08:09.040 --> 00:08:18.240
Nobody's selling a storage unit at, you know, I I guess that's up based on cap rates and not multiples of revenue or or EBITDA, but still like they're still expensive.
00:08:18.399 --> 00:08:24.160
So I think that they just hit a point where that's that's why real estate fizzled out too in circa 2020.
00:08:24.240 --> 00:08:26.480
It's like, hey, oh, rates started to climb again.
00:08:26.560 --> 00:08:30.000
Now we can't buy real estate at the rate we were.
00:08:30.160 --> 00:08:38.240
So maybe it's a rate-in-place equation as well, where you can buy or start a home service company and still make a ton of money.
00:08:38.320 --> 00:08:47.679
Um, there's still a lot of opportunity to grow the business versus hey, you don't have to buy a huge asset heavy business that you're you're paying 7% on or something.
00:08:47.919 --> 00:08:48.080
Yeah.
00:08:48.320 --> 00:08:55.759
Ironically, though, I after I say that, I realize like the SBA debt is prime plus two, which is probably way worse.
00:08:56.080 --> 00:08:58.720
I mean, it's probably like nine or ten or eleven or something.
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I don't even know.
00:09:00.240 --> 00:09:10.399
Um but yeah, I think um I think values are gonna like stay like better than they were 10 years ago, or probably worse than they were, you know, today, tomorrow.
00:09:10.559 --> 00:09:17.919
I I do also think I believe we're getting ready to see like the kind of a historic run-up of trades.
00:09:18.399 --> 00:09:26.799
Um but mo I mean, most people I know there's just not many large legacy.
00:09:27.279 --> 00:09:28.399
I mean, obviously everyone knows this.
00:09:28.480 --> 00:09:30.240
There's not many large legacy operators there anymore.
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They've all partnered with somebody.
00:09:32.639 --> 00:09:38.080
Um so it it'll be it's interesting to watch like the new people take out the incumbents.
00:09:38.879 --> 00:09:40.960
But yeah, I think people are leaving finance.
00:09:41.039 --> 00:09:53.759
I think they're leaving, I mean, in inside the whole like SMB Twit community, half of the people were like ex you know, management consultants that went and bought a landscaping company or roofing company or plumbing or whatever.
00:09:53.840 --> 00:09:58.960
I have 10 friends that were like they worked at McKinsey or something and now they own a plumbing company.
00:09:59.120 --> 00:09:59.440
Yep.
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Uh and I I do think that that part's only accelerating.
00:10:02.879 --> 00:10:03.279
I agree.
00:10:03.360 --> 00:10:06.080
I think that I mean there's a big part of it though, right?
00:10:06.240 --> 00:10:09.759
It's the value engine that our generation was promised.
00:10:09.919 --> 00:10:12.480
We found that wasn't necessarily the case.
00:10:12.639 --> 00:10:13.360
Um, right.
00:10:13.679 --> 00:10:20.320
You just mean like traditional college, traditional college, get a six-figure job, and then you're essentially set for life.
00:10:20.639 --> 00:10:25.919
And wages didn't pace the same rate as um inflation.
00:10:26.080 --> 00:10:29.840
And so we found out, hey, like that's not necessarily the case.
00:10:29.919 --> 00:10:36.080
And so the intellectual middle class um realize that there might be a different route to generational wealth.
00:10:36.720 --> 00:10:44.399
Or just, I mean, even on just like in working inside the business, like that is the six-figure income, is like you go electrical.
00:10:44.639 --> 00:10:46.000
I I I mean, I fully agree.
00:10:46.080 --> 00:10:54.399
I just I just think that that there's the right, like you kind of said earlier, there people are searching pathways, and the pathway used to be computer science.
00:10:54.480 --> 00:11:05.919
Yeah, now the pathway is maybe it's business ownership, maybe it's just trades, maybe it's somewhere in those kind of sectionalities of um like the industry.
00:11:06.159 --> 00:11:07.519
I want to hit why real quick.
00:11:07.679 --> 00:11:14.080
Something that I think is pretty unique to home service, um, versus like some of the alternatives out there.
00:11:14.960 --> 00:11:17.360
Uh the word fragmentation gets brought up a lot.
00:11:17.440 --> 00:11:21.759
And what fragmentation means is uh there's just a lot of competitors.
00:11:21.919 --> 00:11:25.279
And I think people struggle to conceptualize exactly how many competitors.
00:11:25.440 --> 00:11:28.159
So it's fragmented, there's it's essential.
00:11:28.320 --> 00:11:31.840
Like in, you know, we compared it to car wash, like no one needs to get their car washed.
00:11:32.159 --> 00:11:36.240
Everyone does need heat or they need water, like it's a human need.
00:11:36.639 --> 00:11:48.080
So it is it is um essential, and then you can't like offshore the mechanical work or or a robot ties it or automate it or whatever.
00:11:48.159 --> 00:11:50.159
Like there's still a very manual component to it.
00:11:50.240 --> 00:11:52.080
And there's no limit in all three of those things.
00:11:52.240 --> 00:11:53.919
Yeah, there's like, yeah, basically.
00:11:54.080 --> 00:11:58.799
So all three of those things make this like a hard to defeat model.
00:11:59.200 --> 00:12:04.480
Now, I think what gets quoted a lot is how much competition there is inside big cities, which is totally true.
00:12:04.720 --> 00:12:18.720
But something I think is just crazy, just because of all the like amount of companies that we look at and talk about buying and just we're in the industry, there, I mean, there are just millions and millions of these businesses.
00:12:18.799 --> 00:12:40.000
And it's like, you know, if you get if I if I go 30 minutes outside into absolute nowhere Ohio, there's can there's little businesses doing one to three million dollars of revenue providing a service that for their like 10,000 person population town that's like driving income for the owner, driving income for the team.
00:12:40.240 --> 00:12:42.240
And like that's fragmented to me.
00:12:42.320 --> 00:12:44.240
I mean, it's like basically like a haircut.
00:12:44.559 --> 00:12:55.919
So, like, yeah, there's a great clip or there's a whatever in your area, but like people are only gonna like Google can compete wherever, but like Jim Bob's plumbing is only competing within the 10 mile range that it operates.
00:12:56.320 --> 00:13:00.000
There's geo geographical constraints on how far service areas can actually be.
00:13:00.080 --> 00:13:13.759
And so there's lots of competitors in the big city where there's lots of people, but right, you still have to can you still have to have that service for anywhere that people are living, and in most of the you know, lower 48, that's almost countrywide, right?
00:13:13.840 --> 00:13:26.080
I mean, if you think about the vast vast size of the city, I mean yeah, and the the wilder part is that some of those businesses they're doing massive numbers on just like a small subsect of the population.
00:13:26.240 --> 00:13:31.279
Like this is a town of 30,000, and they're the only HVAC 10 million dollars.
00:13:31.519 --> 00:13:34.399
Yeah, they're doing 10 million dollars, but they've also been there for 50 years.
00:13:34.559 --> 00:13:40.960
They're they have a spot in downtown wherever, but I it's just incredible, and they're just an integrated part of that community.
00:13:41.200 --> 00:13:43.759
I'm always I'm always just so blown away.
00:13:44.000 --> 00:13:46.879
Um, I'm so blown away by it.
00:13:47.120 --> 00:13:54.559
Uh because yeah, I'll drive through like a small town and I'll pass like five HVAC companies, and I'm just like, holy smokes.
00:13:54.720 --> 00:14:19.360
And like, you know, each one of these is like providing an income for their family, and it it's interesting, but to me, like fragmentation is probably the biggest reason that this makes sense because you can only like if you think about home service in general, like yes, I can go launch an e-commerce store and compete against the whole world, or you can launch a carpet cleaning company and you're competing with people within a 20-minute drive of you.
00:14:19.600 --> 00:14:23.279
And if there's no one within a 20-minute drive of you, then you're not competing against anybody.
00:14:23.440 --> 00:14:26.720
And it's kind of like a wild, it's kind of wild.
00:14:26.960 --> 00:14:29.039
And there's so many different ways to take it.
00:14:29.120 --> 00:14:32.399
Like carpet cleaning is an example, even just like cleaning.
00:14:32.480 --> 00:14:36.080
Yeah, like I there's like every business in the world is just crazy.
00:14:36.399 --> 00:14:40.240
Cleaning, plumbing, pool cleaning, pool routes.
00:14:40.399 --> 00:14:42.639
I mean, it it's just it's across the board.
00:14:42.720 --> 00:14:44.240
There's so many services.
00:14:44.559 --> 00:14:46.080
Yeah, it's it's so wild.
00:14:46.240 --> 00:14:47.360
It's so wild.
00:14:47.600 --> 00:14:54.960
Uh, I do think something that catches a lot of people by surprise is like, hey, it's a hard, it is hard.
00:14:55.120 --> 00:15:00.879
So there's a lot of good, and you know, we've gone over all the good, but like it is not easy.
00:15:01.120 --> 00:15:05.679
I've never heard anyone like buy a plumbing or HVAC company and be like, yeah, dude, it's easy.
00:15:06.159 --> 00:15:06.879
Easiest thing ever.
00:15:07.039 --> 00:15:07.360
Yeah.
00:15:07.600 --> 00:15:11.679
It is smashing your head against the wall for like every day for a decade.
00:15:12.000 --> 00:15:14.080
Night fight like it is knife fight every day.
00:15:14.399 --> 00:15:17.840
It's a knife fight, it's a knife fight because it is a competitive space.
00:15:18.159 --> 00:15:21.840
Staffing is challenging, as in like getting the staffing that you need.
00:15:22.080 --> 00:15:23.519
It's a people business.
00:15:23.759 --> 00:15:29.279
Like, it's not software where you can just code something, like it's working with people, a lot of people.
00:15:29.519 --> 00:15:31.440
Um, seasonality gets weird.
00:15:31.679 --> 00:15:33.440
Like power washing is such a good example.
00:15:33.519 --> 00:15:39.360
Like power washing in Ohio or like pool cleaning in Ohio, you basically operate for like five months out of 12.
00:15:39.440 --> 00:15:41.759
So like you got to make a lot of money in five months.
00:15:42.000 --> 00:15:45.519
And then like managing growth amid all the reinvestment, and that gets tricky.
00:15:45.600 --> 00:15:46.799
Like, is it time to buy a truck?
00:15:46.960 --> 00:15:48.960
Is it how do I do these tools?
00:15:49.279 --> 00:15:51.200
Um yeah.
00:15:51.360 --> 00:15:57.200
So, like good good business on paper, there's a ton of great attributes, but like it is a hard business.
00:15:57.440 --> 00:16:10.960
Yeah, I think that what's overestimated sometimes is there's the there's the or underestimated, is there's a intersection of customer service and technicality that needs to be had in any of these businesses, right?
00:16:11.039 --> 00:16:17.600
There's a skilled trade, which requires skilled tradesmen, even I mean, I'm not talking bad about them, even pool cleaning.
00:16:17.679 --> 00:16:21.919
Like there is a knowledge of chemistry that needs to be understood, carpet cleaning.
00:16:22.000 --> 00:16:23.279
You have to understand how to use the colour.
00:16:24.960 --> 00:16:28.000
And then, yeah, and then you have to be able to run a business.
00:16:28.159 --> 00:16:39.679
And so, like that intersection of, oh, I'm a good businessman or woman, and oh, I can also do that trade well, or I can hire for that, um, is a very difficult thing that I think is underestimated.
00:16:40.000 --> 00:16:41.440
Yeah, no, I I totally agree.
00:16:41.600 --> 00:16:59.360
And I think this is what got a lot of people in trouble in um like the early sort of rounds of this is hey, I'm a smart human being, and uh so I'm gonna go buy this plumbing company and I'm gonna professionalize sales, marketing, recruiting, operations, whatever.
00:16:59.519 --> 00:17:00.960
Like, totally, totally.
00:17:01.440 --> 00:17:16.240
Like what I have learned is being successful in this industry has almost nothing to do with intelligence and like everything to do with like grit or like just how much pain are you willing to endure?
00:17:16.319 --> 00:17:17.359
Yeah, for how long?
00:17:17.599 --> 00:17:20.960
I said that about one of the the old timers I met a long time ago.
00:17:21.039 --> 00:17:29.920
I was like, could you imagine doing the seasonality of HVAC as an HVAC only company for 40 years of like just how that dude is hardy as hell?
00:17:30.160 --> 00:17:34.960
He has he probably eats nails for breakfast, nothing gets under his skin.
00:17:35.200 --> 00:17:41.279
But like that, that's really what it is is 40 years of seasonality and still being in business is incredible.
00:17:41.440 --> 00:17:46.640
Like it is that difficult that it'll just it builds some character.
00:17:46.799 --> 00:17:47.440
Let's just say that.
00:17:47.759 --> 00:17:48.240
Yeah, yeah.
00:17:48.400 --> 00:17:49.279
Yeah, it does.
00:17:49.519 --> 00:18:00.240
Yeah, but I but I also think I think that's kind of exciting because to me, there's um there's some industries that I would never do well in because like I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed.
00:18:00.480 --> 00:18:07.279
But apparently one where all you have to be is really stubborn for like a decade straight and be willing to get punched in the face a lot.
00:18:07.440 --> 00:18:08.880
Like I do okay in that one.
00:18:09.039 --> 00:18:12.720
But like there's so many, like I'm you know, I'm not that, I'm not uh super bright.
00:18:12.799 --> 00:18:15.599
So like I'm grateful to be in the industry I'm in.
00:18:15.920 --> 00:18:20.319
I'm not gonna there, I have no comment on there because I was like, I think John's kind of smart.
00:18:20.400 --> 00:18:24.400
So now that now now I feel like I'm not the smartest tool in the shed either.
00:18:24.960 --> 00:18:25.599
Sharpest.
00:18:25.759 --> 00:18:26.480
See, look at that.
00:18:26.559 --> 00:18:26.799
That's right.
00:18:27.039 --> 00:18:28.160
Embarrassing myself live.
00:18:28.400 --> 00:18:36.960
What do you think about like uh one one of the dangers is as people are looking at this, they're but they're it's hard to distinguish like, is this a job or a business?
00:18:37.200 --> 00:18:38.880
Like, what's your take on that?
00:18:39.200 --> 00:18:43.359
As your business grows, the financial decisions get a lot more expensive.
00:18:43.519 --> 00:18:48.000
Things like hiring techs, buying trucks, raising pricing, and marketing.
00:18:48.160 --> 00:18:53.359
If you're making those decisions without really understanding your numbers, you're probably leaving a pile of money on the table.
00:18:53.440 --> 00:18:55.200
And that's where profit and grit comes in.
00:18:55.359 --> 00:19:00.079
Tyler has built, scaled, and sold a$25 million service business.
00:19:00.240 --> 00:19:03.119
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00:19:27.680 --> 00:19:37.759
Yeah, I think I think the biggest um risk that people take when they're buying a business, especially in the home service, is understanding that business prior.
00:19:38.000 --> 00:19:48.799
So I know myself and I know as I've walked, you know, countless operators through their first acquisition, the biggest mistake I see people make is not understanding the industry they're buying into.
00:19:49.039 --> 00:19:50.960
And it it's happened to me twice.
00:19:51.119 --> 00:19:55.759
Uh, I've been lucky enough to kind of dodge some bullets, but others have not.
00:19:55.839 --> 00:20:01.119
Uh, and that's specifically around like construction versus remodel versus residential.
00:20:01.279 --> 00:20:13.440
And so when we talk about boring businesses, a lot of times what we're referring to is like residential service, but there's other businesses in that resie sectional that are kind of construction adjacent.
00:20:13.599 --> 00:20:37.359
And I think what happens a lot of times is people here buy a home service business and then they go and they buy a home construction business, and then they have this looming debt service over their head, and they either have bad cash terms, or and that I mean that goes for commercial too, they have bad cash terms or uh the industry slows, right?
00:20:37.440 --> 00:20:39.039
We saw it in 22, which is crazy.
00:20:39.119 --> 00:20:40.319
That wasn't that long ago, yeah.
00:20:40.480 --> 00:20:50.880
Where the home building market almost ground to a halt, and if you had 10,000, 20,000,$30,000 in debt from buying that business looming over you, you didn't install anything for six months.
00:20:51.119 --> 00:20:56.799
And so you have to have six months worth of payments saved up, and it's just that that just doesn't happen.
00:20:57.039 --> 00:21:00.000
So that's the biggest mistake I see.
00:21:00.160 --> 00:21:05.680
And what worries me about the industry is making sure that when you're buying in, you know what the difference is.
00:21:05.839 --> 00:21:11.119
Um and the differences in electrical, the differences in plumbing, they can be pretty razor thin.
00:21:11.200 --> 00:21:19.680
Like you could hear, hey, no, we do a lot of residential um rough ends and install and not realize that well, they're doing, you know, what do they call it?
00:21:19.839 --> 00:21:21.440
Um custom homes.
00:21:21.680 --> 00:21:22.880
Same thing, it's construction.
00:21:23.039 --> 00:21:26.319
Like that is a construction business um through and through.
00:21:26.480 --> 00:21:32.720
So I mean, you had to shut down a million dollar plus vertical, I had to shut down a million dollar plus vertical, it bites us all.
00:21:32.960 --> 00:21:38.880
Yeah, unfortunately, I've had a lot of friends go through just a tremendous um amount of pain, like learning that lesson, which sucks.
00:21:39.200 --> 00:21:43.920
Um But yeah, I also think like what size are you buying and what does the owner do?
00:21:44.079 --> 00:21:50.000
Uh, like I've bought a business that was a million dollars that the owner was like legitimately a passive owner.
00:21:50.079 --> 00:21:55.759
And I've also bought a business that was four million dollars, and the owner was like the key driver of that business.
00:21:55.920 --> 00:21:58.240
So size is not the thing that matters the most.
00:21:58.319 --> 00:21:59.759
You have to like sort of look inside the business.
00:22:00.400 --> 00:22:02.240
And um figure it out.
00:22:02.480 --> 00:22:09.119
Yeah, if the structure's fine, yeah, management, how that's set up, do they have service managers, do they have install managers?
00:22:09.359 --> 00:22:17.119
And then I think the the last bit that goes really well with that is understanding what your skill set is and fitting that into the puzzle nicely.
00:22:17.279 --> 00:22:25.839
Like I'd rather take a business where the owner was doing a lot of the technical stuff, the operational stuff, and I because I'm an operational guy.
00:22:25.920 --> 00:22:29.200
I'll take that over and it has a solid sales team.
00:22:29.359 --> 00:22:34.319
But there's people who are amazing salesmen, they're great at local service marketing.
00:22:34.480 --> 00:22:50.000
Um, like they should buy a business that may be smaller or bigger, but has a good technical team in place because that that cohesion of being able to have what you're not and understanding that about yourself is what makes and breaks a lot of the early businesses.
00:22:50.240 --> 00:22:50.559
All right.
00:22:50.640 --> 00:22:58.559
So we're five, 10 years into like into sort of a heavy amount of act uh consolidation inside the trades.
00:22:58.720 --> 00:23:00.400
Do you think do you still think there's opportunity?
00:23:00.640 --> 00:23:02.160
Yeah, it's that fragmentation again.
00:23:02.240 --> 00:23:03.599
There's huge opportunities.
00:23:03.839 --> 00:23:04.079
Yeah.
00:23:04.319 --> 00:23:04.559
Yeah.
00:23:04.720 --> 00:23:07.279
I mean, 30 minutes south of Nashville, right?
00:23:07.359 --> 00:23:08.400
There's Spring Hill.
00:23:08.559 --> 00:23:11.039
There's five HVAC companies in Spring Hill.
00:23:11.279 --> 00:23:18.240
Spring Hill has put so many houses in in the last 10 years that they're not allowed to put any more houses in because their sewers are overloaded.
00:23:18.400 --> 00:23:26.480
So, like, that's how much infrastructure has been put in, or not infrastructure, excuse me, housing has been put into that area.
00:23:27.279 --> 00:23:30.799
And so there's there's massive amounts of relocation across countries.
00:23:31.039 --> 00:23:39.039
Um, so like there's just I think that this is still a early industry and not just an HVAC plumbing electrical.
00:23:39.119 --> 00:23:41.279
I'm talking again, all of them.
00:23:41.680 --> 00:23:42.000
All of them.
00:23:42.240 --> 00:23:42.400
Yeah.
00:23:42.559 --> 00:23:44.079
No, I I I think I agree.
00:23:44.240 --> 00:23:52.640
Some something I think is kind of funny is people get um they think that HVAC is like picked over, is the word that I hear uh get used a lot.
00:23:53.119 --> 00:24:04.079
And like my best answer to that is in 2021, like Wilson did five 4.8 million dollars in 2020.
00:24:04.559 --> 00:24:07.200
And today we will do like 53.
00:24:08.240 --> 00:24:16.400
So like yes, during the first wave of consolidation, like we we didn't even like exist really as like a potential target.
00:24:16.480 --> 00:24:26.559
Um and I can I can say that of like I have 20 friends that have the same story where in 2020 they were either like a million or some some of them weren't even in the industry yet.
00:24:26.640 --> 00:24:28.079
You weren't in the industry yet.
00:24:28.400 --> 00:24:35.200
And they entered in 21, 22, 23, and like that business now is like a 30 plus million dollar business.
00:24:35.599 --> 00:24:41.599
So I I think that like there is still opportunity because there's still so many other companies that have not been brought in.
00:24:41.680 --> 00:24:52.079
There's still verticals that have not been touched yet, but also in the first wave of consolidation, all of those legacy companies have basically been replaced by new participants.
00:24:52.400 --> 00:25:02.480
I'd also argue that there's probably more opportunity now, in the sense that yeah, maybe HVAC H I don't actually disagree that HVAC quote unquote has been picked over.
00:25:02.559 --> 00:25:06.480
I think if you're only looking at on-market deals, yes, that is going to be the case.
00:25:06.720 --> 00:25:12.880
If you're on biz by sell only, um looking at deals, yeah, you the they're getting more expensive, right?
00:25:12.960 --> 00:25:16.000
Because it's becoming a more valuable, more popularized industry.
00:25:16.079 --> 00:25:17.200
There's more buyers.
00:25:17.440 --> 00:25:22.880
But if you look at painting, for example, like painting is just starting to go through.
00:25:22.960 --> 00:25:25.440
I've seen a few of the first big roll-ups starting to go in place.
00:25:25.599 --> 00:25:26.000
Septic.
00:25:26.400 --> 00:25:30.640
Which that feels like painting feels like a hell of a I don't know.
00:25:30.720 --> 00:25:34.880
Like, I've got question marks in my head around rolling up painting, but not my point.
00:25:34.960 --> 00:25:37.440
But my point is like septic's starting to see the first big roll-ups.
00:25:37.519 --> 00:25:41.119
There's like three or four big consolidators that are starting to move into the market.
00:25:41.519 --> 00:25:52.319
And so, point being is that if you were to jump into one of these non non-popular boring businesses like Septic, like there's a huge opportunity in Septic right now.
00:25:52.480 --> 00:25:53.279
We've seen it.
00:25:53.440 --> 00:26:00.799
Um I mean, even in the last year, what uh home not remedi remediation, what's that called?
00:26:00.960 --> 00:26:02.079
You cut and dry.
00:26:02.319 --> 00:26:03.759
Yeah, yeah, damage remediation.
00:26:04.160 --> 00:26:06.000
That has been that has popped off.
00:26:06.160 --> 00:26:11.519
Like people are buying these things for like five, six times for sub-million EBITDA businesses.
00:26:11.599 --> 00:26:12.880
Like it's really gotten crazy.
00:26:13.200 --> 00:26:16.720
And so imagine buying that doesn't make sense if you understand the industry.
00:26:16.799 --> 00:26:17.519
It's like what?
00:26:17.759 --> 00:26:31.759
But point being, like, if you're getting in, I don't want to say it's a lottery ticket, but like there's legitimate sub-industries that you buy into, and then in two years you go from hey, 2x multiple to a 6x multiple on a sub-1 million dollar EBITDA.
00:26:32.160 --> 00:26:34.480
Um, I think roofing still has a lot of opportunity.
00:26:34.559 --> 00:26:37.039
I think pest control now still has a lot of opportunity.
00:26:37.279 --> 00:26:44.960
Um I think that there's a lot of industries that are not HVAC, HVAC plumbing, plumbing, yeah that um like are still huge.
00:26:45.119 --> 00:26:49.200
Even even HVAC and plumbing are still huge, but you just have to buy it slightly differently.
00:26:49.519 --> 00:26:50.079
Awesome.
00:26:50.319 --> 00:26:54.319
I my take is home service is basically the ultimate boring business.
00:26:54.640 --> 00:27:03.119
I think that like it has all the right ingredients um to basically be the perfect boring business.
00:27:03.599 --> 00:27:12.480
It's because I think when I think when I think about the alternatives that I consider to be boring businesses, like they have attributes I don't like.
00:27:12.640 --> 00:27:17.039
Like I've always thought haircut was interesting, but like the average ticket's like 15 bucks.
00:27:17.359 --> 00:27:20.880
Whereas like plumbing the average tickets, you know, a thousand dollars or something.
00:27:21.359 --> 00:27:24.000
Um it's essential versus non-essential.
00:27:24.079 --> 00:27:27.920
And like, yeah, I I just think I I think home service is the ultimate.
00:27:28.160 --> 00:27:30.319
I I do think that there's other opportunities, right?
00:27:30.400 --> 00:27:39.759
Like uh when I think of when I think of non-home service specific boring businesses, my mind goes to, and maybe this is just me, uh, but like accounting.
00:27:39.839 --> 00:27:47.200
Like I still think like a CPA roll up or uh like bookkeeping service roll-ups, like great opportunities there.
00:27:47.359 --> 00:27:50.240
I mean, we've seen some of the numbers on those businesses, they're wonderful.
00:27:50.559 --> 00:27:51.440
Yeah, those are crazy.
00:27:51.680 --> 00:28:03.119
I think that there's there's another, there's something to be said about kind of these service providers in general, maybe B2B service providers, that there is some opportunity into, though traditionally, right?
00:28:03.200 --> 00:28:12.480
They're not, and when we think of the dirty home or dirty, um boring business, like that's kind of where the we get stuck on the home service.
00:28:12.640 --> 00:28:17.119
Um, like definitely septic and plumbing falls into that category.
00:28:17.279 --> 00:28:20.400
So um, but not the only one.
00:28:20.480 --> 00:28:30.000
Uh, I I'd venture out to say B2B service has some really dirty like I mean, think about like um I'm just my my mind's going, I'm doing this live, is like porta potties.
00:28:30.240 --> 00:28:34.400
Porta potties dirty B2B not home service.
00:28:34.480 --> 00:28:38.559
Uh roll off dumpsters, same thing, B2B service.
00:28:38.720 --> 00:28:42.400
So I think that there's a big opportunity still in B2B service as well.
00:28:42.799 --> 00:28:48.640
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00:29:40.319 --> 00:29:42.240
Well, if you like what you heard, make sure you like and sub.
00:29:42.480 --> 00:29:45.119
And tell us in the comments what your favorite boring business is.
00:29:45.279 --> 00:29:46.960
Um I'd love to hear more.
00:29:47.119 --> 00:29:49.119
I think it'd be fun to do like uh unpack.
00:29:49.279 --> 00:29:50.880
Dumpsters is crazy.
00:29:51.039 --> 00:29:58.480
Like I every time I see there's a dumpster company based around here, and every time I see one of their trucks, I'm like, I feel like we need to buy them.
00:29:58.640 --> 00:30:00.960
And um I just think it's just sweet business.
00:30:01.759 --> 00:30:03.759
I mean, I'm I've looked into the metrics on it.
00:30:04.079 --> 00:30:06.400
It's like a$60,000 account on our own.
00:30:06.559 --> 00:30:06.799
Yeah.
00:30:07.039 --> 00:30:09.440
Which is like one truck and two dumpsters.
00:30:09.519 --> 00:30:10.480
Like I know.
00:30:10.720 --> 00:30:11.200
I know.
00:30:11.440 --> 00:30:12.720
Anyway, awesome.
00:30:12.799 --> 00:30:13.440
Thanks, guys.