How Can Small Businesses and Shops Compete with Private Equity?
The consolidated shops in most markets are running a real playbook now. Phones covered every hour. Leads worked in minutes. Estimate in the customer's hands before the van leaves the job. Photos of the panel and the attic feeding next year's upsell. Published price book so nobody has to negotiate. From outside it looks intimidating and there's been enough money behind it that PitchBook counts north of 800 HVAC, plumbing and electrical acquisitions since 2022. One roll-up went from nothing to 75 brands and 13,000 employees in seven years. But almost every one of those things used to require a six-figure back office, and now costs a few hundred a month. The systems gap is closing fast, and it's closing in the small operator's favor. Meanwhile the thing the big shops are genuinely short on is people. ServiceTitan puts electrical turnover around 21% and median tech tenure at three years. A lot of good techs have no interest in being on a leaderboard with a required close rate attached. So the way I read it: the consolidators are winning on operations and losing on talent. The operations is the half that just got cheap. What do others think?To Everyone Who Didnt Win The Jobber Grant
I jus got the email of the winners... I know I’m not the only one who was hoping to hear our name called. Being told you didn’t make the cut can definitely sting, especially when you’ve put your heart, time, and energy into building your business. But not being selected doesn’t mean your business isn’t worthy. It doesn’t erase the work you’ve already put in, the customers you’ve helped, or the dreams you’re chasing. Congratulations to the 9 who were selected you earned it. 👏 And to everyone who didn’t, keep going. Our story doesn’t end with one “no.” Sometimes the setback is just another chapter before the breakthrough. Keep building. Keep learning. Keep showing up. We may not have won the grant, but we’re not done winning. 💪🚀July Community Spotlight: A Little Recognition Goes a Long Way
Every trade is different. Every business is at a different stage. But the members in this month's spotlight have one thing in common: they showed up, shared what they know, and made this community more useful for everyone who comes across their posts and replies. 🌟 Mims01 — has a talent for asking questions that make others want to share. His What inspired you to start your own business? post drew 27 replies, and Would you fire a difficult customer even if they spend a lot? pulled in honest takes from members who'd been in the exact same spot. 🌟 Windowwizardusa — shared how a local BNI group alone accounted for a third of their first year revenue in a thread on slow season marketing, then took the conversation further by asking what marketing gets you the biggest return. 🌟 TPSD — replies with the kind of honesty that moves a conversation forward. Their take on getting your spouse involved in the business is the kind of reply that makes you rethink your approach, and their reply in the AI and kids career thread brings the perspective of someone actually living it with four kids and a business on the side. 🌟 Sophiera — asked a genuinely useful question about what networking actually looks like day-to-day and brought the same curiosity to a thread about when you stopped thinking like a tradesperson and started thinking like a business owner, where she shared her own perspective as a solopreneur and kept coming back to engage with every reply. 🌟 ChuckHireExpert — shows up in hiring threads with answers that go beyond the usual job board suggestions. Their reply on finding part-time workers without expensive postings and breakdown of vetting new hires with automated screening are worth reading if hiring is on your radar. Know someone who helped you out this month? Tag them below, or better yet, start a post of your own. 👇What if your business is successful... but you still Hate running it?
A friend of mine owns a profitable laundry mat but hates going in every other week and just plain out dont like dealing with it. We talk a lot about growing revenue, getting more customers, hiring employees, and becoming “successful.” But what happens when you reach those goals and realize you don’t actually enjoy the business you built? Maybe the money is good, the customers are coming in, and the business is growing, but you're constantly stressed, working longer hours, or stuck doing things you never wanted to do. Question: 👉 Would you change the business model, sell the company, scale back, or keep pushing because the numbers look good?Would You Encourage The Next Generation to Get Into Your Trade?
What industry are you in? And would you actually recommend it to someone younger looking at their career options right now? 67% of Gen Z say they'd recommend a trade career to a sibling or friend. Curious if that tracks with what shows up in the comments here! More stats like this in the full Blue Collar Report
