Can't Stop the Growth

You built the thing. You know it better than anyone. For a long time, that was your edge. At a certain size, it becomes your ceiling.

I'm Chad Peterman, CEO of Peterman Brothers. Over the last 15 years we've scaled our home services business from $5 million to $115 million a year, and I didn't do that by being good at finance, HR, or marketing. I did it by hiring people who are far better at those things than I'll ever be. The gap between when I was winging those functions myself and when I handed them to real specialists is one of the clearest lines in our entire growth story.

The smartest thing you can do as an owner is stop trying to be the smartest person in the room. The company can only get as good at finance, HR, and marketing as whoever is running those functions. If that's still you, it's still capped at you.

Which function have you been holding onto the longest? Drop it in the comments.

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Free Coaching for Home Service Pros: https://cantstopthegrowth.com/

Show up, present some options, and hope the phone rings. That's the sales process at most home services businesses. And hope is not a closing strategy.

I'm Chad Peterman, CEO of Peterman Brothers. Over the last 15 years we've scaled our home services business from $5 million to $115 million a year across HVAC, plumbing, and electrical, and I've watched thousands of in-home appointments. I can usually tell you how a call ends from the first five minutes.

The estimate you email at 4 PM is sitting next to two competitors' quotes by 6, and the homeowner's confidence in you fades with every hour it sits there. There's a better way, and it closes in the home every time.

Fear kills more sales than price ever will. Not fear of the homeowner, fear of the awkward moment. Retreating to the emailed estimate feels safer, but it's just a delayed no with a week of waiting attached. The customer who says yes on the visit is the same person you would have emailed. They were just waiting for someone to ask.

Drop a comment and tell me where in the process you're losing the most jobs right now.

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Chad Peterman sits down with Lydia and JB Brewster, the sibling team running Aqua Clear Water Systems in East Tennessee. Their dad started the company in 2005 door-knocking out of a garage, selling water coolers. Today it's grown 30% a year for five to six years straight, in a market where most people don't even know they have a problem.

This one is a masterclass in two things Chad's audience always asks about: how a family business actually works across generations, and how to build people systems and tech systems that most companies your size would never attempt.

Aqua Clear proves the excuses most owners lean on (can't find people, can't sell in a tough market) are just that. Excuses.

Find Aqua Clear: https://aquaclearws.com/Subscribe to Can't Stop the Growth for more conversations with the operators shaping the trades.

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If you're trying to figure out what to do after high school, or you're a parent steering a kid who doesn't know yet, this one's for you. No speech about how the trades are underrated or how college is a scam. Both of those takes are lazy. The real answer is more specific.I'm Chad Peterman, CEO of Peterman Brothers. I went to college, then helped build our home services business into a 9-figure company inside the trades. I've lived both sides, and the honest answer depends almost entirely on the person asking.The honest answer to "college or the trades" isn't which one is objectively better. It's which one fits who you actually are. If you're built for it and you go in knowing what it asks, there's never been a better time to build a career or a company in this industry.Which path are you on, and what made you choose it? Drop it in the comments.Want to connect with me and my team? Schedule a call: https://40kl04.share-na2.hsforms.com/2_9Pg3PvxTw-EsBumhedfjgSubscribe to Can't Stop the Growth for more on building a career and company in the trades.Free Coaching for Home Service Pros: https://cantstopthegrowth.com/

Every owner believes the next million in revenue will fix what's broken. It won't. And chasing it can actually leave you worse off.

I'm Chad Peterman, CEO of Peterman Brothers. Over the last 15 years we've scaled from $5 million to over $115 million a year in home services, and I've hit every stage where revenue climbed and the profit didn't follow. Where you add people, trucks, and overhead, then look up wondering where the money went.

Revenue is a lagging indicator. It tells you what already happened. The numbers underneath it tell you what's about to happen. Fix the operation first, watch the right numbers, then grow.

What number are you going to start tracking this week? Drop it in the comments.

Want to connect with me and my team? Schedule a call: https://40kl04.share-na2.hsforms.com/2_9Pg3PvxTw-EsBumhedfjg

Subscribe to Can't Stop the Growth for more on scaling a home service business.Free Coaching for Home Service Pros: https://cantstopthegrowth.com/

If you're spending money on marketing and not totally sure it's working, or running on referrals and hoping the phone keeps ringing, this one's for you.I'm Chad Peterman, CEO of Peterman Brothers. Over the last 15 years we've scaled from $5 million to over $115 million a year in home services, and at that scale, marketing is not a set-it-and-forget-it line item. We spend between $8 and $10 million every year generating leads, and we have to know where every dollar goes.What are you going to start tracking more closely? Drop it in the comments.Want to connect with me and my team? Schedule a call: https://40kl04.share-na2.hsforms.com/2_9Pg3PvxTw-EsBumhedfjg Subscribe to Can't Stop the Growth for more on scaling a home service business.#HomeService #HVAC #Marketing #CantStopTheGrowth #ChadPeterman

You did the visit. You built the estimate. Then nothing. No call, no text, complete radio silence. It feels like a price problem. It almost never is.I'm Chad Peterman, CEO of Peterman Brothers. Over the last 15 years we've scaled from $5 million to over $115 million a year in home services, and we've watched thousands of estimates close and not close. The pattern is consistent enough that I can usually tell before the tech leaves the driveway whether that job is coming back.Ghosting isn't a pricing problem. It's a trust problem disguised as one. The estimate you sent didn't lose the job. Something that happened before you sent it did.Which part of the visit are you going to work on first? Drop it in the comments.Want to connect with me and my team? Schedule a call: https://40kl04.share-na2.hsforms.com/2_9Pg3PvxTw-EsBumhedfjg Subscribe to Can't Stop the Growth for more on scaling a home service business.Free Coaching for Home Service Pros: https://cantstopthegrowth.com/

Most contractors don't have a fraud problem. They have a messy books problem. And it's quietly costing them sleep, options, and profit.

"I just can't find good people." If you've ever said it, or blamed a slow quarter on the labor market, this one's for you.I'm Chad Peterman, CEO of Peterman Brothers. Over the last 15 years we've scaled from $5 million to over $115 million a year with 500+ people, in the exact same markets where owners tell me there are no technicians. The market isn't dry. Your offer just isn't strong enough to pull someone away from where they already are.Finding A-players and keeping them are two different problems, and most owners lose them on the second one. The pipeline for good talent isn't empty. It's just not pointed at you yet.Which of the four levers are you working on right now? Drop it in the comments. I read every one.Want to connect with me and my team? Schedule a call: https://40kl04.share-na2.hsforms.com/2_9Pg3PvxTw-EsBumhedfjg Subscribe to Can't Stop the Growth for more on scaling a home service business.Free Coaching for Home Service Pros: https://cantstopthegrowth.com/

You started your own shop, and you're still the best technician on the team. That's exactly the problem.I'm Chad Peterman, CEO of Peterman Brothers. Over the last 15 years we've scaled from $5 million to over $115 million a year in home services, and everything in this episode I got wrong myself first, most of it back around 20 employees when I still thought being the hardest worker in the building was the job.This is the exact shift from doing the work to leading the people who do it. Four skills, and once you see them, you'll spot the one thing actually capping your growth. For most owners, it's them.The best technician in the building and the best owner of the business are two different people. You've already proven you can be the first one. The second one is learnable, but only on purpose.

Which of these skills are you working on right now? Drop it in the comments.

Want to go deeper on the owner skill set? Schedule a call: https://40kl04.share-na2.hsforms.com/2_9Pg3PvxTw-EsBumhedfjg

Subscribe to Can't Stop the Growth for more on scaling a home service business.

Free Coaching for Home Service Pros: https://cantstopthegrowth.com/