After being in business for about 10 years now , i'm wondering if it's just not a pipe dream of new business owners to think that in a small rural town you can have a large HVAC company and actually make any more money than you would if you just keep it simple and only one guy. I have tried it all ways. It was me in the beginning, then i grew and grew and now it's just me again. I actually love the way it is now. I don't care to have the most trucks on the road or sell the most units or any of that crap and because it's just me I have tremendous flexibility that I never seem to have before. I was so concentrated about profit that it blurred everything else. I have talked to an owner in town who owned the biggest company in town (he has now passed and someone else has taken over) and he flat told me he wasn't making hardly any money, he was just doing a lot of work. Around 1 to 2 percent net. He wasn't putting anything in the bank. I have another good friend who told me he was doing great but lost his rear last year. He's got about 5 guys running around and is just always busy or putting up with someones B.S. I service a lot of areas but frankly even if i could make it big I don't think I would like the life. My net profit sky rocketed this year and I love not taking every stupid job that comes down the pike just to keep people busy. Let me know what you think.
I, like you started as one man, and then wanted more. I worked so hard to make it big. so after years of hard work and hiring guy's here and there I had 8 trucks and something like 23 employees, a store front office with a show room with working units. and looking back I think I did it for all the wrong reasons. I think I just wanted to be noticed more. it took over my life and I didn't even know it. I had a severe back problem and downsized a little. then a few years later I had surgery and was out of work for around a year. my biz never fully recovered. I am proud to say I am glad. I am now down to 1 van and 2 employees. I love it. I am actually making money again. and am not chasing customers all week long. now I can pick and choose jobs because I don't have all the employees to keep busy. I have 3 business's now and still don't work like I did then.
The "big boys" in our area do well by hiring "salestechs" straight out of school. Low wages, lots of advertising and system change outs makes them successful.
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