Want to rule the digital landscape in your home service business? It's not just about Google ads anymore. There are 4 pillars you need to master: LSA, PPC, SEO, and GMB. Dive in with me: 1️⃣ Local Service Ads (LSA):
Immediate leads, but the competition is fierce. Focus on rapid response and top-notch service. LSAs are a game-changer, yet they've become more competitive, driving up costs. A potent tool but should be part of a diversified strategy.

Read this if you have a company but want to own multiple…

⬇️ Most people that want to own multiple companies (holding company model) buy or build one company but rarely seem to get to company number two.

Well, I’ve got good news for you.

Let’s talk buying a business.

Personal guarantees.

Dealing with the fear.

Having realistic expectations.

⬇⬇ 1/ The dreaded personal guarantee.

Definition: an individual’s legal promise to repay credit issued for a business.

What does that mean? It means if the business fails, you’re responsible for the debt. The bank can take your cash, your stocks, and even your real estate.

My grandpa started Wilson Companies in 1958 with $500.

60+ years later & that $500 has turned into 10s of millions.

Many mistakes have been made along the way.

Here’re a couple multi-generational lessons we’ve learned: 1. Making mistakes is fine. Making critical mistakes isn’t.

In the 64 years of running the company, we’ve made 1000s of mistakes.

But none of them resulted in the business shutting down.

Save. Get solid cash flow. Don’t over-hire. No awful acquisitions

Hiring for your HoldCo?

Here how to screen for smart operators to run your businesses: First, why it matters:

Smart operators know how to think quickly and creatively. Operations is a fast paced job that can change quickly.

In 2020 we did $4 million in sales and had 30 employees.

In 2021 we did $20+ million in sales and had 110 employees.

And we’re growing just as fast in 2022.

Here’s how to replicate our growth: Small steps

Hemingway said growth happens “slowly, then all at once.”

John Wooden said, “Little things make big things happen.”

“How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time”.

Really. Small steps over a long time = crazy growth.

Operators have 3 main responsibilities every day.

1. Fires
2. Maintenance
3. Process Improvements

Let’s break it down… Fires are the daily moments where all hell breaks loose for a few minutes (or hours) and someone needs to jump on it…

Internet outages
Angry customers
Truck breakdowns
Process breakdowns

97% of wealth is destroyed within a few decades after its been built.

Here’s why: For most families, the course of wealth goes something like this.

The 1st generation makes it.
The 2nd generation enjoys it.
The 3rd generation destroys it.

Here are a few of the problems that cause this…

3 key attributes to look for when hiring an operator: 👇 First, the term operator is used broadly.

What I mean is someone who performs the day to day functions in a business: leading, managing people & financial statements, hiring, etc.

Doesn’t do technician work. But does pretty much everything else.

Some timeless lessons from a Plumber:

Thanks Dad! 1. Don’t bite your nails

How to buy a home service business: I grew up in the trades and it’s all I have ever known.

My grandfather started our business in 1958 and I run that same brand today.

You don’t need to go into tech or finance to make money,. You can buy your local plumbing or HVAC company and set your family up.

If you read my letter last week, then you now know how to buy a home service company. Now don’t get me wrong, buying one company is incredible and life-changing for most people, but we aren’t most people. We want more than life can give us. We thirst for more. We literally can not stop ourselves from seeking out the next thing and moving towards it. So once one deal is done, it’s only natural to begin looking again.

I’ve bought 8 home-service businesses and manage 120+ employees.

Here’s how you can get started doing the same: Choose an industry:

There are 4 tiers of home service businesses:

Tier 1: Big TAM, licensed moat. The “white collar” of blue collar.

Ex. Plumbing, HVAC, electricians

Tier 2: Low TAM, no license, some service/install

Ex. Pool service, garage doors, damage remediation:

Ever hear of a "tuck-in" acquisition?

Doing several small tuck-in acquisitions sounds like a good way to grow your business.

But here's why it's not: Tuck-ins are acquisitions of very small companies and can be neatly folded into an existing operation without much need for integration.

You’ll often hear them referred to as “tuck-ins,” “acqui-hires,” or just a quick market share grab.

There are a thousand ways to structure a holding company.

Our HoldCo has a portfolio of 5 home service businesses with 120+ team members.

Here’s how we structure our holdco: Cash & Bank Accounts

Each operating company has two bank accounts. The operating account is the day-to-day checking account, while the capital account doubles as the “oh shit” account and the sweep account for distributions.

An over-simplified guide to building a holding company (6 steps): 1/ Learn a skill.

Work for a company doing the skill you are interested in.

Or acquire the company and have the owner or operator teach you how to operate it.

Don’t underestimate the value of getting in the weeds.

That’s how you learn how the business really runs.

Building wealth when you're young: You’ve got two buckets.

Bucket A: cash-flowing businesses & assets you own.

Primary purpose = cashflow.

No business? Bucket A is your W2 job.

I talked with buddy breaking out of a corporate gig to acquire a company.

He asked me about the broad-strokes to our acquisition process and I thought everyone here would want a look as well.

1/ Sourcing
2/ Introduction
3/ Pre-LOI
4/ Diligence
5/ Closing
6/ Integration 1/ Sourcing

Before we have a deal to execute on, we have to find that deal. Finding a deal typically involves following this process…

A. Deciding on what types of industries, geographic areas, and size of company that make sense as acquisition targets.

When I was in the first inning of my entrepreneurial journey, I struggled with finding mentorship.

By “mentorship”, I mean a traditional mentor...

👇 - Someone I could call on frequently.
- Someone that I admired and I aspired to live their life.
- Someone who would cultivate me.
- Someone that shared my ambitions and wouldn’t settle.

Surprisingly, I was unsuccessful in finding this mythical person.

Most people can buy a $300,000 SDE business and change their life but they have no idea what those ops look like.

Well grab a coffee, kick your feet up, and let me show you. A $300K company is somewhere between $700K and $1.5mm in sales depending on trade.

Most of these companies started as "Guy in a truck" and eventually knew that to get a bit bigger they need to hire, train and build a system or two around the business.

With @HoldCoConf coming up soon, I wanted to reflect on the different stages of SMB growth.

Today I'll cover the "Chuck in a truck" phase - usually $0 - $500K in sales

(If >100 people like this I'll drop a thread on $500K-$1.5mm tomorrow!)⬇️ @HoldCoConf So what does a $500K rev business owner look like?

Typically this owner dislikes working under someone else.

Often, these owners are fiercely independent and absolute masters of their craft. However, what they have in skill they tend to lack in soft skills and business sense.