Mother-daughter duo of Texas-based S & D Plumbing, CEO Rhonda Dowdy and Director of Business Development Amanda Dowdy Lawson share what it takes to create a family-centered home services business. They highlight the lessons, relationships, and new projects that are taking their company to new heights. 

Building From the Ground Up

Rhonda shares that the business began when her husband Sam Dowdy decided to build his own business after working in the industry as a tech for several years. When they founded S & D Plumbing 40 years ago, she had a background as an accountant, but no experience running a business. The first 20-25 years were filled with many lessons and challenges, but in the last 15 years or so they have really perfected best practices and found their niche. 

Although Amanda grew up in the family business, it is only in the last month that she has become an official employee. In her role as Director of Business Development, she is focused on building relationships with vendors and employees, branding and social media, and shaping her position as she learns how she can best serve the business. Her first project was the successful grand opening of their second location. 

Navigating Seasons of Growth 

About 28 years ago, Rhonda shares that Sam was able to make the move from working in the truck to working on building the company.

“It’s scary to do, you know, it’s a big step, but it’s what it took to be able to build his team and his technicians as well as go out and meet customers and kind of be the PR of the company in that way. And then you know, really what happened over time is we realized the need for processes, it’s a big step, and so we have processes now and that’s critical for starting that second location.”

The way you do business builds your brand and reputation. Rhonda emphasizes that preparing your techs with training and processes to represent your company well is essential. 

S & D Plumbing’s second location is a managed repair location. Over the years, Rhonda has seen how many of their best techs go on to build their own company. The creation of this second location was born out of their desire to provide a platform for these techs who want to grow in leadership and ownership without having to worry about where their leads are coming from or the customer service side of the business. 

Establishing Your Home Services Niche

S & D Plumbing has built its business on a reputation of excellence. Rhonda shares that even in the early years when they were learning the ropes, Sam was confident that they were going to find their niche. They did, and leak detection became an innovative path to consistent leads and business growth. 

Amanda also emphasizes that her parents were both willing to adapt to current trends and new approaches in order to grow. 

• Went paperless
• Provided menu pricing
• Offered commission pay
• Created opportunities for techs and employees
• Showed up every day and made sacrifices 

When they first went into business, Rhonda says they took any lead that came in. Experience taught them to focus on their strengths in repairing residential and they eventually moved away from commercial jobs.

Family-centered Business

Although S & D Plumbing moved away from commercial jobs, their son Sam Dowdy Jr. decided to pursue it and he founded Coppera Co., of which Rhonda is also an owner. Their son Dan Dowdy was instrumental in leading S & D Plumbing to its successful position today, and has now begun to focus more on building a coaching business. Amanda shares that unlike her brothers, she didn’t want to work in the plumbing industry or family business initially. But now she sees that there is room for growth and opportunity.

“The pandemic is actually what shifted my mindset into coming into the family business, realizing how essential it is and I love being on a team and it’s even better when that team is your family. And so it’s been extremely positive to see all of the hard work they have put in and really those seeds starting to grow now, and I get to step and learn on fast forward and be a part of this amazing team and just see it grow even more.” 

Rhonda and Amanda both have a vision for building S & D Plumbing into a generational business not just for their own family, but also for their employees and techs. In the future, they look forward to building a school for tech training, leadership, and business ownership.