Here’s my top home service based businesses

Get in the game with home service businesses

Sup everyone,

How are your eyes doing? Eclipse-a-mania took over the entire area this week, including here at Wilson. Honestly, it was a great time. We got the grill going and made lunch for the fam, then stood out in the parking lot and watched one of the wildest things I’ve ever seen.

Do you think the birds knew? Moments before the eclipse began doing its thing a whole bunch of hawks circled then landed on a nearby light pole.

Sometimes we just have intuition on things. And speaking of—nailed the transition!—we’re talking this week about home service-based businesses. Mainly, my favorites and where you can start.

These are businesses that can scale quickly, feature a real ‘get up and go’ way of operating, and can get you into big-time order values and leads. Each one has its own special quirks, but all of them offer upward revenue paths and the chance to eventually create a self-sustainability.

Let’s do it.

• Plumbing, HVAC, and Electric: These are essential and scalable businesses with significant revenue potential in most markets, making them attractive options for long-term growth.

• Water Treatment: Offers recurring service and maintenance contracts, seamlessly integrating with plumbing services, and boasts a healthy average ticket value.

• Damage Remediation: A project-oriented business with a manageable lead requirement to achieve substantial revenue, focusing on cleaning up mold and water damage.

• Roofing: Despite talent challenges, roofing has a high average order value, allowing for substantial investment in lead generation and advertising.

• Foundation Repair: With an impressive average ticket size, this business involves contracting with homeowners to fix foundation issues, offering unique lead generation opportunities.

• Lawn Care & Landscaping: While competitive, landscaping offers various services beyond basic lawn mowing, including hedging, plant replacements, and hardscaping projects.

This is by no means a finite list of home-service businesses. There’s so many more we could be talking on! Did I miss one you’re really passionate about? It may just be that I don’t know all about it. Head over to my Twitter and give a shout, I’d love to hear more.

Admittedly, I’m biased here. Plumbing, HVAC, and electrical have my heart, and for good reason: They're the ones that I live and breathe every day. I love the service and install component. I like that they're scalable. A lot of what I find attractive inside a home service business is asking the question “What is the TAM (Total addressable market)?”

How big can the beast grow? You discover that by seeing who your competitors are in the market and making comparisons. Is there a one hundred million dollar version around? Then that’s a pretty good indicator of what kind of market you’re looking at.

Of course, one of the true benefits of these three is the lifestyle choice it affords. If you want to tuck your kids in at night and find some normalcy, as long as you’re staying in one market. Past that, you’re looking at geographical expansion as your avenue for new markets.

Water treatment

Despite what old-school gaming icon Sonic The Hedgehog would say, water is safe! In this case, I mean that it’s a nice, safe, and steady option within the world of home service businesses. It can tack on to plumbing really easily, which makes it a great companion business. Also, it is a recurring component because you have to do the service and repair, and you have to do maintenance contracts.

You’re also looking at an install side with an average of 4,000 tickets. Nothing to sneeze at, right? You know what else is nothing to sneeze at (BOOM, transition)?

Small business marketing, and learning to grow the right ways. Don’t be like Sonic and drown in the deep waters of online marketing and lead chasing.

Check out and talk to our friends over at Service Scalers: learn the ways of SMB marketing, and get in the digital marketing game. Service Scalers is that 1UP you need to keep going and make it to the next level in style.

Okay, enough hedgehog talk. Let’s discuss damage.

Damage remediation

If you’re picking up on a water theme, congrats. I must really like water. Or, to be more blunt, I like the opportunities water and it’s all-consuming ability to wreck our lives offers. An average order value of 3,500-4,000 isn’t too shabby either.

Water damage can range from minor leaks to major flooding. Unchecked water damage can do continued harm in the long term and lead to health hazards if not cleaned and repaired immediately. This means that there isn’t a lot of time to waste if you’re the consumer. They just want it done, which creates a lot of value for existing in the market and being speedy.

However, this is a fully project-based business. BUT, that also means that 3-5 leads a week turns into a million dollars in a hurry.

Roofing

Out of the basement and up to the roof. Roofing is cool, but it takes nerves of steel. I think the talent pool is kind of tough because most roofing owners I know have had a weapon pulled on them at one point or another by their own team. But if you can get past that (big ask, I know) then you’re looking at a high average order value.

It’s also a space where you can spend a ton of money on leads that turn into sales. Another bonus: No service component. This all means that it’s a pretty cut and dry, straight forward business.

Just watch out for high school teachers-turned-drug dealers hurling pizzas up there.

Foundation Repair, Lawn Care, and Landscaping

Let’s wrap this thing up! We return back to the wet and wild world of water with foundation repair—an average ticket of $15-$30,000 thanks to the nature of the work. Cracks appear, houses settle, and water works its way in like a colony of termites would.

This high ticket price also gives you a wide berth of driving leads. Home shows? Canvassing? Walking through a flood zone and seeing what you see? All options!

Finally, we have the land of lawn care. As the commercials keep telling me on a daily basis: “Feed your lawn. FEED IT!” It’s that time of the year and lawns need some serious TLC. As long as you’re willing to beat the neighborhood kids going around and offering lawn cuts at 30 bucks a pop, there’s some serious heat to be had.

More over, lawn care and landscaping is just a super fascinating piece of territory to me, thanks to the fun verticals involved. The numerous options for service are just fantastic as well. Hedging? Preventative? Planting? Clearing? Damage remediation? Honestly, the possibilities are endless…

But, for real: Don’t let those kids get the jump on you.

On the Pod This Week

New week, new adventures with the OaO bois! On Tuesday we looked at acquisitions versus start-ups in the world of home businesses. Meanwhile, today on the pod, Jack and I are looking at one of the largest home service beasts around, Leaf Filter. What is there to learn about the things they do? We go over it in style.

And if YouTube isn’t your thing then be sure to catch both shows over on Spotify or at Apple Podcasts.

Have a great week. Get out there and make the most of it.

👊👊👊👊

Cya,
John Wilson

Breaking $5 Million:
Scaling Your Home Service Business

Join us from June 4th-6th, 2024, for the Breaking 5 Million Workshop! This workshop is specifically crafted to help you take your home service businesses to the next level.

Hosted by John Wilson, the host of Owned and Operated, the event will take place at his brand new headquarters in Stow, Ohio.

Over the course of two days, you'll gain access to invaluable content designed to equip you for success. Expect actionable insights and a clear roadmap to guide your home service business toward reaching the milestone of 5 million in revenue!

The March workshop was a whirlwind success, as we welcomed plumbers, hvac, roofing, fencing owners and more to the Wilson HQ. Connect with your peers, have some fun, and get a clear roadmap to grow your biz to the $5M milestone.

You won’t regret the decision!