Owned and Operated - A Plumbing, Electrical, and HVAC Business Growth Podcast
John Wilson
272 episodes
3 days ago
In this episode of Owned and Operated, John Wilson is joined once again by Ethan Wright from Service Scalers to answer a big question: what would you do with a million-dollar marketing budget? Together, they unpack how $1M breaks down between demand capture (LSAs, PPC, SEO, lead partners) and demand generation (TV, radio, social, branding) — and why the first priority is always the lead. John and Ethan talk about beating proven channels until they’re maxed, why operators get in trouble by spr...
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In this episode of Owned and Operated, John Wilson is joined once again by Ethan Wright from Service Scalers to answer a big question: what would you do with a million-dollar marketing budget? Together, they unpack how $1M breaks down between demand capture (LSAs, PPC, SEO, lead partners) and demand generation (TV, radio, social, branding) — and why the first priority is always the lead. John and Ethan talk about beating proven channels until they’re maxed, why operators get in trouble by spr...
Welcome to Day 21 of the Double Your Profit Series The go-to series for contractors, home service owners, and small business entrepreneurs. Today, we’re tackling a silent bottleneck of growth: Over-qualifying what you already know. The truth is simple: speed wins. Most businesses don’t fail because they made a wrong call — they fail because they got stuck waiting for the perfect call. Analysis paralysis keeps you stuck while competitors take action. 🧠 Why This Matters If more information w...
In this episode of Owned and Operated, John Wilson sits down with Chad Peterman, president of Peterman Brothers, to dive deep into what it takes to scale a home service company to nine figures. Chad shares how he and his team grew Peterman Brothers from $20M to $100M, expanding across multiple Midwest markets while navigating the challenges of recruitment, infrastructure, and market entry. From pooling install labor to centralizing processes and managing service lines, Chad breaks down the s...
Welcome to Day 20 of the Double Your Profit Series The go-to series for contractors, home service owners, and small business entrepreneurs. Today, we’re digging into one of the toughest — and most important — topics in business: Improving Employee Productivity. It’s tempting to think the secret is cloning your best performer. But here’s the reality: if you average your top performer with your lowest performer, their combined output often falls below the team average. That’s why low performer...
Welcome to Day 19 of the Double Your Profit Series The go-to series for contractors, home service owners, and small business entrepreneurs. Today, we’re diving into one of the most profitable levers in your business: Raising Your Conversion Rate. Conversion rate is simply how many potential customers you turn into paying customers. And here’s the beautiful part: you don’t need more leads to grow your business — you just need to get better at handling the ones you already have. 🧠 Why Conversi...
In this episode of Owned and Operated, John Wilson sits down with Ismael Valdez, founder of NextGen and Nuva Thermostats, to unpack how he built one of the fastest-growing home service businesses in the country. Valdez shares how he scaled NextGen from his garage to a $100M+ powerhouse with multiple locations, breaking down the exact strategies that fueled his growth. From high-ROI marketing plays to perfecting tech turnover processes and managing gross profit like a hawk, you’ll learn the pl...
Welcome to Day 18 of the Double Your Profit Series The go-to series for contractors, home service owners, and small business entrepreneurs. Today, we’re talking about one of the most overlooked but powerful levers in your business: Reviewing and ruthlessly cutting recurring costs. I call this the “F** It Up List”* (we’ll bleep it for YouTube 😉). Every month, I go through all recurring expenses in the business and ask one simple question: Do we really need this — and can we negotiate it down? ...
Welcome to Day 17 of the Double Your Profit Series — the go-to series for contractors, home service owners, and small business entrepreneurs. Today’s topic is a little spicy but absolutely essential: Firing Bad Clients. 🧠 Not every customer is worth keeping — even if they fit your target market. Some drain resources, destroy morale, and create constant headaches. Protecting your team (and your profits) means knowing when to let go. 💡 What You’ll Learn in This Episode: The warning signs of a ...
Welcome to Day 15 of the Double Your Profit Series — the go-to profit series for contractors, home service owners, and small business entrepreneurs. Today, we’re talking about one of the most important — and most overlooked — levers in your business: Tightening Your Standards. 🧠 If you’ve ever wondered why performance slips or why “good enough” starts to spread… it’s probably because your standards aren’t as clear (or enforced) as you think. You get what you allow. And if you allow low...
Welcome to Day 16 of the Double Your Profit Series — the go-to series for contractors, home service owners, and small business entrepreneurs. Today, we’re diving into one of the most powerful performance drivers in your business: Creating a Culture of Accountability. 🧠 Accountability means doing what you say you’re going to do — and it starts with setting crystal-clear expectations, assigning measurable goals, and holding regular check-ins to make sure you’re on track. 💡 What You’ll Learn in...
Welcome to Day 14 of the Double Your Profit Series — the go-to profit series for contractors, home service owners, and small business entrepreneurs. Today, we’re diving into one of the simplest, most powerful habits you can build: Making Your P&L a Daily Tool. 🧠 If you’re waiting until the end of the month (or worse, months later) to see your numbers, you’re already too late. Real profit decisions happen in real time — not after the fact. 💡 What You’ll Learn in This Episode: Why monthl...
If you’re building a home service business in a rural market, the playbook looks a little different — and this episode shows exactly why. In this episode of Owned and Operated, John Wilson, CEO of Wilson Plumbing in Ohio, sits down with Laura and Brian Beltz, founders of Beltz, to unpack how they’ve grown from a one-truck startup in 2001 to a 49-person team — all while staying true to their community roots. If you’re thinking about expanding into multiple markets, growing in a rural area, or...
Welcome to Day 13 of the Double Your Profit Series — the go-to profit series for contractors, home service owners, and small business entrepreneurs. Today’s lesson is short on purpose—because that’s the point: Cut Your Meetings in Half. 🕒 Meetings can be one of the biggest hidden drains on your profit. They pull people out of productive work, rack up payroll costs, and often could have just been an email. 💡 What You’ll Learn in This Episode: – Why most businesses have more meetings than the...
Welcome to Day 12 of the Double Your Profit Series — the go-to profit series for contractors, home service owners, and small business entrepreneurs. Today’s topic is one of the fastest, easiest, and most effective ways to increase your bottom line: Using Scarcity to Raise Prices. 📈 Raising your prices isn’t about being greedy—it’s about charging what the market will bear, especially when demand is high and capacity is limited. If you’re fully booked and still discounting… you’re just giving ...
If you’re trying to grow a home service business, your marketing budget is one of your biggest bets — and biggest risks. In this episode of Owned and Operated, John Wilson and Sam Preston host a no-fluff Q&A tackling real contractor questions on lead generation, paid ads, and when to actually bring in an agency. They break down how to allocate marketing spend at every stage — from $1K/month up to $200K — and what it really takes to get traction with LSA, GMB, and PPC. You’ll learn how to ...
Welcome to Day 11 of the Double Your Profit Series — the go-to profit series for contractors, home service owners, and small business entrepreneurs. Today we’re unlocking one of the most powerful, overlooked profit drivers in your business: Optimizing Your Schedule for Profit. 🧠 Every day your team is dispatched inefficiently is a day you’re leaving thousands on the table. The key? Prioritize urgency and opportunity—not just availability. 💡 What You’ll Learn in This Episode: – Why a $100 fa...
Welcome to Day 10 of the Double Your Profit Series — the go-to profit series for contractors, home service owners, and small business entrepreneurs. Today, we’re tackling something that’s as obvious as it is underused: Tying Compensation to What Actually Matters. 🧠 If you’ve ever said “I wish we had more sales” — but your sales team is on base salary with no commission — this one’s for you. No incentives? No results. It’s that simple. 💡 What You’ll Learn in This Episode: Why lack of commissio...
Welcome to Day 9 of the Double Your Profit Series — the go-to profit series for contractors, home service owners, and small business entrepreneurs. Today, we’re diving into one of the most overlooked drivers of bottom-line success: Training for Profit Awareness. 🔍 If your team doesn’t know the score, how can they help win the game? This episode is about building a culture where everyone—from the field to the office—understands what profit is, how it works, and how they can impact it daily. ...
Welcome to Day 8 of the Double Your Profit Series —the go-to profit series for contractors, home service owners, and small business entrepreneurs. Today’s topic might feel uncomfortable, but it’s a game changer: Fire Your Worst Customers. We’re talking about freeing your team, protecting your profit, and finally saying goodbye to the clients who drain your time, energy, and resources. 🧨 If you’ve ever had a customer who constantly calls, complains, escalates, and sucks the life out of your op...
Welcome to Day 7 of the Double Your Profit Series —the go-to profit series for contractors, home service owners, and small business entrepreneurs. Today we break down the Profit First Pricing method, a mindset shift that guarantees you pay yourself first by building profit directly into your prices. 💰 Instead of calculating your price based on cost, we flip the script. This strategy ensures you never underbid, stop discounting, and always protect your margins. If you’ve ever felt stuck selli...
AI isn’t coming — it’s here. And the way people find your business is already changing. In this episode of Owned and Operated, John sits down with Sam Preston, CEO of Service Scalers, for a deep-dive on how AI is reshaping local search and why HVAC, plumbing, and home service operators need to evolve fast — or risk being left behind. They explore what it means to “rank” in a world of LLMs, how showing up in ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google’s AI Overview actually works, and why your SEO and Goo...
Owned and Operated - A Plumbing, Electrical, and HVAC Business Growth Podcast
In this episode of Owned and Operated, John Wilson is joined once again by Ethan Wright from Service Scalers to answer a big question: what would you do with a million-dollar marketing budget? Together, they unpack how $1M breaks down between demand capture (LSAs, PPC, SEO, lead partners) and demand generation (TV, radio, social, branding) — and why the first priority is always the lead. John and Ethan talk about beating proven channels until they’re maxed, why operators get in trouble by spr...
