Join Richard, The Million Dollar Plumber and The Lovely Laura for this special 400th episode of Potty Talk as they share some of the worst days of their plumbing business.
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Resources
3 Golden Nuggets
- I Got Grinched
- Money in the Bank
- A Slice of Humble Pie
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Show Notes
Potty Talk is a podcast that is made to educate and help plumbing business owners succeed in business. We share essential tips, but most importantly, our experience. That being said, we didn’t gain our experience easily.
Because success does NOT happen overnight.
Instead, we gained our success by going through A LOT of ups and downs that have taught us and shaped us into who we are today.
So, for our 400th episode, we wanted to share with you 3 horror stories that have taught us 3 very valuable lessons throughout our plumbing journey.
Hope you enjoy the read–and most importantly, hope you learn from our mistakes!
I Got Grinched
Our first mistake (of many) was working new construction.
Now, we get it. New construction sounds good when you’re first starting out, and it is MUCH easier to come by than residential service. But the cons of working with contractors are much higher than the pros. And much more expensive too.
In our first year in our plumbing business, we worked with a contractor who did not pay us on time–which is the biggest issue with new construction plumbing.
After a while, they owed us a lot of money, and in turn, we owed our supply houses a lot of money. So, in an attempt to do what’s RIGHT, we sued the construction company. And their response? Counter suing us for a MILLION dollars!
And what’s worse is we found out about the counter lawsuit on Christmas Eve! So, in short, we got Grinched.
The lesson here? Avoid new construction plumbing.
Residential plumbing is the plumbing service that makes the most sense AND money.
Money in the Bank
This second mistake was a pure bonehead moment.
It all went down on the first job with our first hire. Richard was training the new tech on the job, excited as ever that the business was growing, showing him the ropes and giving tips every step of the way.
And the most important tip was to collect on the day OF the job, not after.
Money in the bank, as we always say.
And as soon as the words come out of Richards’s mouth, the valve blows up.
Now, the lesson here ISN’T to not get excited–but that accidents HAPPEN. And that’s okay! The valve blowing up did not mean that our plumbing company was a failure; it was just a hiccup along the way that we had to get over and continue doing our job as best we could.
So, no matter how many issues you face along the way, remember to dust yourself up and keep going.
Because trust us, the end goal is worth it.
A Slice of Humble Pie
The third and final story has less to do with plumbing and more to do with your skills as a leader.
And it’s about our past in politics and Richard running for senate in 2010. By then, he’d become a public figure with a respectable amount of following and voters, but sadly, didn’t win the race.
And so we were back to putting all our focus back into our plumbing business. And one day, as Richard is on a call fixing someone’s problem, the homeowner turns out to be a supporter who voted for Richard.
But instead of being embarrassed about his job as a plumber, he proudly did his job as if nothing had happened.
And the lesson here is that plumbing is a respectable job.
As a plumbing business owner, you NEED to have confidence and faith that your business CAN and WILL grow into a successful, multi-million dollar business.
It’s time to get over all these preconceived ideas that plumbers can’t be business owners or that plumbing is a dead-end job–because it’s not!
So be confident and run your business with pride.
And there you have it: three horror stories from the crypt that taught us valuable lessons about running a plumbing business.
And hopefully, will teach you a thing or two about running your plumbing business.
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!
