The 5 Moves to Make BEFORE You Go Solo!
Running solo doesn't mean running broke. Master income vs profit, raise your prices, and build a lean home service business that pays you well — on your terms.
KickSTART: “Staying small” can be a valid business (and lifestyle) model… IF you structure it correctly from the git-go. Intrigued? Then read on…
Honestly? I get so very tired of this endless debate in our residential services industry: “Should an owner go solo as a ‘Lone Wolf’ operator or ‘go big’ and hire employees?”
Why my frustration? Because BOTH of these totally opposite philosophies work well… IF you do it right! (Most don’t!) The one business model that does NOT work?
Getting stuck in the middle! 🫣 I call this the “Road In-Between” (RIB) as in you are “too big” to enjoy the (supposedly) carefree life of an owner-operator BUT “too small” to hire mid-level management to give you the ever-elusive Personal Freedom! (Was that a run-on sentence or what?)😦
Steve’s cut to the chase? The Road In-Between is where entrepreneurial dreams go to die! The RIB will bleed you and your family dry… financially, emotionally and spiritually.
Now, I’ve been accused of being a “get big or go home” guy. Not true. You don’t have to go big to win. You just have to be smart about it. Actually, this “being smart” applies to residential service providers of any size!
The smartest shift all of us can make right now? 🛑STOP your obsessive flexing about gross business income! Listen carefully here…
💡Gross revenue is vanity. Net profit is sanity.
Got it? If so, let’s focus on how to build an owner-operated residential services business that creates absurd net profits while giving you, the owner, a balanced, fulfilling and happy lifestyle… long-term!
A 5-Point “Starting Out Right” Playbook for Solo “Lone Wolves”!
1. Count the Cost BEFORE You Commit
Don’t make the decision to “go it alone” after a bad week when a problem employee has driven you crazy. Staying small is a legitimate business model — but only if you go in with both eyes wide open.
Look at the real numbers, the lifestyle tradeoffs, the ceiling on your growth. If you’ve done that and you’re still saying “Steve, I want to stay small”… GREAT! Let’s start out right building your new life!
2. Own Your Decision — and Own Your Identity
Please 🙏 STOP apologizing for not running a fleet of vans. I’ve worked with residential service providers that are slaves to their 20-truck business and yet… they take home less than a sharp one-person operation.😫 Even worse, these poor saps dread waking up every morning! Life is too short to live like this!
Once you understand that income vs profit is the real game, you stop comparing your gross revenue to the guy bragging online and start comparing your take-home. That’s what pays your mortgage. Or even better…
💡 STOP “comparing”- we’ll talk about this!
3. Position Yourself as the “Boutique” Pro, Not the Budget Option
STOP trying to out-advertise the big franchises. (Or your low-ball, bait-and-switch competitor down the street.) Instead, morph yourself into the fussy, slightly OCD craftsperson. The local expert. An individual that clients trust with their home to actually care about the work.
Lean into this reputation hard. Be the service pro with the reputation so good that clients refer you to their neighbors… without you offering them a kickback. When you build this kind of loyalty, you won’t compete on price — you’ll compete on trust and win every time!
4. Raise Your Prices — Seriously, Do It Now!
Puhleeeease, don’t tell me, “Steve, I’m already the most expensive in town.” I don’t care and neither will your clients. (See #3 above.) Raise your prices anyway.
Steve’s “little known fact”: Small, regular price increases will go unnoticed by most clients. (Homeowners usually can’t remember how much they paid last time!)
Even a small price adjustment can increase your net profit by 20 or 30%... without adding a single job. Work less- make more! This is the fastest lever you have. Pull it... NOW!
NOTE: Make raising your prices a habit — a quiet annual price adjustment keeps you ahead of rising costs and increases profits without anyone flinching… or even noticing. (Thanks to our current “inflationary psychology” customers expect to pay more when they call you again!)
ProTIP: Always make a price adjustment an “odd percentage” instead of a “round number”. This adds credibility when you can explain to the (very few) previous clients who complain about an increase, “Yes, Mrs. Jones, on January 1st we were FORCED (key word here!) to raise our prices by 13.4%.”
5. Sell More on Every Single Job
You’re already there. You’re already trusted. The client just needs to know what else you offer. Don’t assume they know your full list of services — walk them through it BEFORE you even arrive.
Pre-orient every client about what they can add on. They can’t buy what they don’t know exists, and every Additional Service Option you miss is money left on the table in a job you’ve already driven to! (Windshield time is a killer for Lone Wolves.)
Feeling better about your (reasonably) stress-free future as a solo owner-operator? Going forward, I’ll share more tips on how to structure and run your “Lone Wolf” operation!
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