Do you know the fastest way to kill your plumbing business? Find out in this episode of Potty Talk LIVE where Richard will explain the most common mistakes most plumbing business owners make when starting their plumbing business and what to avoid to help your business grow.
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Resources
3 Golden Nuggets
3 Common Problems that prevent money rolling in:
- Serving The Wrong Customer – You need to find the right kind of customer for you that will enable positive cash flow. This means avoiding warranty work, general contractors, commercial, and remodels (with a few exceptions)
- Working For Free – If you’re not charging enough, you’re working for free. This includes an hourly rate that isn’t honest, giving free estimates, or not collecting on the job today.
- Acting Like a Bank – you aren’t one, so don’t act like one. Collect today; don’t send a bill, don’t offer financing options. If you aren’t getting paid, you’re providing charity.
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Show Notes
Serve Customers that Value You
[07:43] The first mistake a plumbing owner can make that prevents money from coming in is serving the wrong customer. Wait, isn’t anyone with a plumbing problem your customer? Common mistake: but who is the wrong customer?
Bottom line, it’s someone who doesn’t value you. They don’t value the work that you do, or the quality of the work you provide. Another clue it’s the wrong customer is that they aren’t directly affected by the plumbing work that you do.
The wrong customer could be a general contractor, the home warranty company, commercial accounts, landlords.
The right customer is the one who does value you, it’s their home and that’s what matters to them. It matters what goes in it, it matters who’s in it, it matters what kind of warranty, all those things. It directly affects them, that’s the right customer.
Charge Your HHR, Otherwise You’re Stealing
[15:17] If you’re not charging enough, you’re working for free. whether you have one truck, even if you’re just one truck. If you’re charging anything less than $250 an hour, you’re working for free. It’s costing you more to operate than what you’re charging. You’re not counting for all your time.
You don’t want to fall into the trap of pre-qualifying your customer to set the rate. You could see their big house and assume you’ll be able to upsell away; or see the rough house in the rough part of town and miss out on your biggest bill of the month.
Do the work, set your Honest Hourly Rate, and watch the money come in.
Don’t Bill; Collect Today
[24:37] Not collecting at the time of service and saying I’ll bill you? Might as well say, “I’m a dead man” “Don’t bother paying me”.
If your customer isn’t willing to pay today, they’re not your customer. They’re not the right customer for you.
Cash flow is king. It’s life, it’s air. So imagine holding your breath for 30 days. Are you going to be able to do it? No.
You’re going to die.
And you’re not going to get push back. Most customers know they have to pay at the time of service, so just, and if you don’t accept credit cards yet, tell them that you accept checks and cash.
Richard’s Call to Action
If you want to learn more about numbers that matter and how to best run your plumbing business, why not schedule a free 30-min strategy call with us? Let’s talk about your goals and where you want to be this time next year, and we’ll help you create a path to make that happen. Schedule your free strategy call here today!
