Are you personally ready for the holidays?
Running a business can be time consuming and keeping the balance with personal life can be challenging. Are you ready for the holidays? What tips can you share from entrepreneur to entrepreneur that worked for you to shut your business brain off and turn on your family/personal/hobby brain on?What do you focus on for end of year planning? What goals do you focus on?
We are wrapping up 2025 with our standard end of year planning. We just grew 45% over last year. A great year for the most part. What are some of you doing to grow in 2026? What are your goals? What is some of the most important data you are reviewing? How do you include your team?
💡 Deep Discussion
What core belief about running a home-service business did you have when you started that has since been completely overturned—and how has that single mindset shift reshaped the way you lead, hire, or serve customers today? Ill start give you my answer first: When I launched Mr. Backflow I was convinced that “if you’re the best technician in town, the phone will ring.” I poured every waking hour into mastering test gauges, pressure zones, and relief-valve anatomy—but assumed marketing, storytelling, and team culture were secondary noise. Spoiler: being a backflow Jedi means nothing if homeowners don’t know what a backflow preventer is, why it fails, or who to trust when it leaks. My once-sacred belief—“skill sells itself”—got obliterated in year one. Here’s how flipping that mindset rewired the whole company: Lead with clarity, not jargon • We turned boring reports into photo-rich “device health cards” that read like a mechanic’s inspection sheet. • Instagram reels now explain “Why that brass thing by your hose bib matters” in 15 seconds. Result: service calls doubled and we collect a 5-star review on 4 out of every 5 jobs. Hire for empathy first, wrenches second • New techs must role-play explaining a failed check valve to a curious grandma before they ever pick up a tester. • I can train the plumbing; I can’t fake patience and good vibes. Result: callbacks dropped 30 %, morale skyrocketed, and customers ask for techs by name. Systemize the story • Automated email/SMS drip educates clients on backflow law, seasonal tips, and what to expect on-site. • Team tablets generate on-the-spot quotes with “good / better / best” options—zero mystery pricing. Result: average job value is up 18 % because clients actually understand the upsell. Bottom line: the skill is still non-negotiable, but *communication* is the real differentiator. Once I stopped assuming expertise was enough—and started speaking human, hiring empathetic pros, and packaging our knowledge in bite-size ways—Mr. Backflow went from a one-man wrench show to the go-to clean-water problem solver in Carlsbad.How did you start your own service business after working for another company?
How many people started their own company after working for someone else and thinking they could do it better on their own? Or saw the flaws in a company and aligned themselves to not make those mistakes? I have worked in my industry for 12 years and saw the best and the worst. I learned from both, probably more from the bad! I adapted all of those into my own business and my customers love it. How many people thought they could easily take customers from their previous company? Did it go as planned? Was there hesitation from any of them? Obviously I am sure everyone respected their Non-Compete Clause if there was one signed, but I feel like a lot of us started their dream in the same way! I would love to hear these stories!Who is running off of EOS? How has it helped your business grow?
I am a member of a local BNI group. Recently I had a EOS coach join my BNI chapter. I did a free 90 minute consultation with him on EOS. I am looking at potentially making the investment to hire them and fully implement EOS into my business. I'm just curious how it is working for others before jumping into it. EOS is based off the book, "Traction" my Gino Wickman.How to build a cleaning business?
Hi Jobber Community! I have been at running my cleaning business for 16 years now. It has been and continue to be a journey. If you could start over again, how would you do it. What would you do differently or the same? By my business coach I have been told many times that I am different. Coming from corporate I had an excellent admin background, which I know for many service based enterpreneurs is a missing skill. So I consider myself lucky in this arena. Other arenas not so much, like building a team, developing my own voice in the industry. One thing I would do differently is I would have hired a business coach so much sooner. I did not know how much I needed one until I had one.Have you ever hit a point in your business where you thought about quitting?
In this episode of Masters of Home Service Doni Jones shares her story of building a $4 million tree care business. Success didn't come without challenges. When her truck was repossessed in the middle of the night, she was ready to give up. But waking up the next morning, decided she needed to take responsibility and get to work. Her decision to keep going became the turning point. You can tune into her full story below: Have you been to the point of giving up? What kept you going? Any tips for others?
The next level...what does it look like?
I am slowly getting to the point where a mental conversation with myself is happening where I am thinking about having a second pair of hands to help me and my business. I have always thought that would look like simply having a full-time employee, but lately I have been thinking about going in a different direction. I have imagined having a partner or a second owner working with me, and we would both just be working to build a business together. Have them own their own vehicle, get their own supplies and generate their own leads. Does this make sense to anyone? Would it be better just to pay someone a salary or hourly and have them work for me? Or would it make sense to have a partner?
