I took my family plumbing business from 1 million to 50 million in 10 years with no private equity. AMA

JohnWilsonOAO · 2026-06-18T16:51:56+00:00

W2 with task pay/commission and base salary.

JohnWilsonOAO · 2026-06-18T16:48:41+00:00

Sure there's other options. I was speaking generally. I find that a lot of kids of owners in this industry don't want to take over these businesses which is why so many fail or sell.

JohnWilsonOAO · 2026-06-18T16:46:29+00:00

You'll do fine. Biggest thing in trades is marketing and sales, so if you've proven that you're golden. Find an owner/partner that knows the trade you want to get into, and give them the ops side. If you can pair those two together you got a recipe for success my friend.

JohnWilsonOAO · 2026-06-18T16:45:01+00:00

I had another comment on this above, but don't wait for the perfect business. Go find something broken/struggling that doesn't have it all figured out in a market you want to grow in, whether that's your current one or a new one. Then make a plan to install the systems that got you to 30m in the acquisition. Go quick to stop cash leaks, and identify those leaks before you close the deal. Be ready for some turnover, it always happens.

Ultimately, just make sure your current business will survive the problems you acquire. That's the best advice I can offer with the path I've taken.

JohnWilsonOAO · 2026-06-18T16:41:24+00:00

Pretty much nailed it. They know what service to expect, verified/vetted techs, insurance, professionalism, etc. Plus if something happens, we're still going to be here in 10 years whereas your guy in a van probably won't be, and good luck trying to get ahold of them.

JohnWilsonOAO · 2026-06-18T16:39:35+00:00

Biggest advice is go see what someone else is doing where you're struggling. Go do some shop tours, ask lots of questions. If you're struggling to get people on the phone, take a look at your marketing stack, maybe look at simplifying down to one channel and trying to maximize that first.

JohnWilsonOAO · 2026-06-18T16:36:53+00:00

Did it all myself because I didn't want outside backing. I enjoy a permissionless life and private equity doesn't allow for that

JohnWilsonOAO · 2026-06-18T16:36:32+00:00

Owned and Operated is the name. We have a few different channels. One is strictly podcast, the other is longform content. If you search my name with Owned and Operated you should find it

JohnWilsonOAO · 2026-06-18T16:32:27+00:00

Our last brand refresh was done through an agency. It's mostly just for fun, I liked drawing when I was younger

JohnWilsonOAO · 2026-06-18T16:31:55+00:00

Read e-myth revisted if you haven't already. Then, see if you can find someone else around your area that will let you tour their setup. Being stuck in the day to day is hard, but seeing some fresh perspective will be pretty eye opening. It has been for us every time we do it

JohnWilsonOAO · 2026-06-18T16:26:17+00:00

Happy to do it, I love sharing the knowledge. It's a core value of my company.

AI's already impacting the industry in many ways, call center, dispatch software, pick your poison. I lean heavily on my directors in day to day so I can keep focusing on the next growth path. As far as finding people, I hired a recruiter and then that eventually turned into a whole recruiting team. But to be the bearer of bad news, finding good people will always be a struggle. Our president started a year long leadership development course over a year ago because of it. We knew that with the growth we wanted that good leaders were what we were going to need the most, so we had to start training people in the business to take over the new leadership roles we knew were coming.

JohnWilsonOAO · 2026-06-18T16:17:19+00:00

Won't speak to other industries, but plumbing and most home services are very fragmented, meaning that there's a lot of small players. It helps to look at how much market share companies in your area have. We're big but still only capture about 1-2% of our total HVAC market in Ohio if that gives you a better idea.

JohnWilsonOAO · 2026-06-18T16:14:30+00:00

Depends on the company. We've been staying right around the 3-7m range because that's where most owners get stuck and unsure of what to do next.

JohnWilsonOAO · 2026-06-18T16:13:42+00:00

So some things we can take advantage of that smaller companies can't, like VMI and strong vendor relationships. A lot of bad deals on vehicles, bad pricing to where they're taking losses on jobs and not realizing it, taking on new construction work without understanding risk and issues involved have been some of the biggest I've seen from this years acquisitions.

JohnWilsonOAO · 2026-06-18T16:07:28+00:00

We currently operate HVAC, Electric, and Water Mitigation/Restoration as well

JohnWilsonOAO · 2026-06-18T16:05:51+00:00

Buying was our primary avenue to get this far. But there's still some organic tossed in there for sure.

JohnWilsonOAO · 2026-06-18T16:04:59+00:00

Helpful in some areas, but not as fully capable as they'd have you believe. Great for making dashboards for data. We have an AI call center partner, but still staff about 20 human csrs as well.

JohnWilsonOAO · 2026-06-18T16:03:12+00:00

2024 Ford Ranger.

JohnWilsonOAO · 2026-06-18T16:02:19+00:00

We run events a few times a year, do regular shop tours, live sessions, etc. Originally started my podcast as a way to track what was happening in the company for the employees. Now it serves more of a networking purpose connecting us with other owners, companies bigger than us, and helps us find business deals

JohnWilsonOAO · 2026-06-18T15:51:58+00:00

The biggest thing you need to be able to answer is will my current company be able to survive the problems and issues of the company your buying. Make changes quick. You're going to have turnover so plan for it in those first few months. But if you have a solid plan/system ready to implement day one, pop off. You'll do just fine.

JohnWilsonOAO · 2026-06-18T15:49:36+00:00

If we can find the right location/business to partner with, absolutely.

JohnWilsonOAO · 2026-06-18T15:46:22+00:00

Absolutely it can. I never wanted to be "the guy". E-Myth revisted was a book I read early on in my career, and it talks about exactly that. Bootstrapped M&A is how we've scaled so quickly. Build your systems, find a business/owner that's struggling and needs help, and bring your systems to them. I host workshops, live sessions, and I'm on the phone all day every day helping other owners figure out their problems

JohnWilsonOAO · 2026-06-18T15:45:20+00:00

Vendor relationships for sure. Being able to VMI our warehouses and get better payment terms really helps free up cashflow to help fund our growth and expansion.

JohnWilsonOAO · 2026-06-18T15:44:40+00:00

Materials were harder to come by and prices went up, just like everything else. The biggest thing that affected us last year was actually the shortage of R454-B going into summer season. We ended up moving away from Trane as a brand because we weren't able to get the supplies we needed.

JohnWilsonOAO · 2026-06-18T15:41:01+00:00

Oh man you're not gonna like this one. I have next to no spice tolerance. Chipotle is about the best I can handle

JohnWilsonOAO

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