Contractor Cents

You may not have heard about the HVAC School Symposium. You probably have heard of my guest, Bryan Orr, and potentially listened to his podcasts. The HVAC School was started by Bryan Orr and this January will be the 8 th year of the symposium. What do you get there in two days? Technical and business knowledge from the experts…including me. Bryan is the founder of the HVAC School, co-founder of th...

We all know that HVAC, plumbing, electrical, and other contracting businesses have gotten a lot more expensive since the pandemic. It’s become more expensive to operate a profitable business which means that it has become more expensive for homeowners to own and maintain an HVAC, plumbing, or electrical system. Zenon Olbrys, CEO of Microf, has built and sold many home service businesses. The inter...

Financials - Before you roll your eyes and click off this episode – we’re going to make the topic entertaining and informative…at least this is what is promised by my guest, Danielle Hayden. Danielle is the Owner & CEO, Kickstart Accounting Inc. CPA and a Small Business Financial Educator Danielle works with service business owners who are avoiding their numbers, guessing at profit, and pu...

Safety is critical. No one wants anyone to be hurt on the job. But what do you do if you are working alone? How do you make sure that you are staying safe? What should you be paying attention to? My guest,Stephen Luke, President of SoloProtect, gives you the answers to these questions and more. Free P&L Statement and Balance Sheet https://tinyurl.com/2rjd6wxu Ruth King Facebook - https://www.f...

You’ve hit a plateau. You’re not growing as much as in the past. Your profits are suffering. What do you do to get out of this situation? My guest, Steve Buors, gives you the answer to what separates the home service companies that continue to grow from those that hit a plateau. Steve is CEO of Reshift Media. He discusses the common mistakes he sees, what the best operators do differently and why...

Dispatch, in my opinion, is the hardest job in a contracting company. Yes, harder than the CEO because it is constant stress – from customers and field personnel. How do you deal with dispatch issues and keeping them as stress free and productive as possible? Mia Parker, partnership specialist at Probook gives you some easy to implement ideas that could help your dispatcher. Free P&L Statement...

How can you market and become identifiable to your customers? Kay Miller, co-author of the Uncopyable book series along with her husband Steve, discusses how easy it is to identify your moose and your color. Go to www.beuncopyable.com/moose-ruth for a form that helps you identify your moose. Free P&L Statement and Balance Sheet https://tinyurl.com/2rjd6wxu Ruth King Facebook - https://www.face...

AI Search is changing how people look for your company. Many of the searches are not even human now. How do you optimize your company to rank with Chat GOT, Claude, Gemini, Co-Pilot and other Large Language Model searches? My guest today, Cassie Egli, gives you the steps to make AI searches productive for your company and you. Free P&L Statement and Balance Sheet https://tinyurl.com/2rjd6wxu R...

Do you struggle with employees leaving and turnover? How about giving team members accountability without micromanaging? My guest today, Ryan Eglin, CEO of Core Matters, believes that employee turnover is a system problem and not a people problem. He’ll give you some tips on decreasing turnover and increasing accountability. Free P&L Statement and Balance Sheet https://tinyurl.com/2rjd6wxu Rut...

Your field employees’ billable hours generate the revenue for your company. Your office personnel support the field so that they can do their jobs effectively and efficiently. Today I’ll cover tracking billable hours and the productivity ratio. These two metrics are critical to ensuring your labor force is productive and profitable. Free P&L Statement and Balance Sheet https://tinyurl.com/2rjd...

In this session, Neil Shoney takes you through the 2-5-5 method of simple ads system that mathematically gives you a 50X higher chance of success and the Exact ad system that’s created a six figure month in 22 different home service niches. Free P&L Statement and Balance Sheet https://tinyurl.com/2rjd6wxu Ruth King Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/ruthking1650 LinkedIn - https://www.linkedi...

If your business is like most businesses your ads fail. In this first of a two part series, Neil Shoney tells you why they fail and what you can do about them. Then you can have a real return on the advertising dollars you invest. Free P&L Statement and Balance Sheet https://tinyurl.com/2rjd6wxu Ruth King Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/ruthking1650 LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/r...

What if you had financial freedom? What if your business was incredibly profitable, had enough cash to cover any emergency, and you could retire wealth? This is possible for you. My guest, Chad Hufford is a financial planner and coach who helps blue-collar professionals and entrepreneurs translate business income into personal wealth, long-term clarity, and financial resilience. It all starts with...

Which is better: Word of mouth or paid ads? My guest, Chris Fresh, says that word of mouth still beats paid ads. Chris is the founder of the Plumbing Sales coach. His philosophy is “always be serving” which has help technicians communicate better, provide a better customer experience, and increase your company’s profitability. He’ll tell you why word of mouth is better and how to make it a reality...

The AI tsunami is here. How do you start…productively getting what you want and need out of AI? My guest, Rudy Poe, teaches contractors how to go from an “AI stranger” to a confident daily partner, giving you the skills that last a lifetime. Free P&L Statement and Balance Sheet https://tinyurl.com/2rjd6wxu Ruth King Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/ruthking1650 LinkedIn - https://www.linked...

The challenges of growth. You might assume that growth can be fixed by hiring more people, marketing, changing software, adding more trucks, and the other conventional things you might do as you grow. My guest, Jenny Benbrook, has shown why doing these things doesn’t solve the problem. She’ll give you the real answer to grow profitably and productively. Jenny is a previous Contractor Cents guest....

My father always told me that the smartest business people learn from the mistakes of others so they don’t make them. In this podcast, you’ll get the opportunity to learn real world, boots on the ground, leadership lessons from Keith Flores…a highly respected entrepreneur, HVAC industry leader, and founder/operator with over 30 years of experience in the trades and business world. Free P&L Sta...

Do you get frustrated when your team members can’t read your mind? How about when you get the feeling “If it needs to be done right, I have to do it myself?” Or, maybe you can’t grow because you don’t like to delegate? Skye Warren, Founder of the Unconventional Organisation, gives you the three biggest reasons owners struggle to delegate and how to eliminate that struggle. Free P&L Statement a...

Revenue is ego. Net profit is oxygen. Stop thinking revenue and start thinking net operating profit….oxygen is that important. My guest, Jackie Sponsler, Director of Onboarding and master Business Advisor for CEO Warrior gives you how to look at cash flow, profits, and more so you can truly focus on oxygen. Free P&L Statement and Balance Sheet https://tinyurl.com/2rjd6wxu Ruth King Facebook -...

It’s the June and probably many of you are still complaining about how much you paid in taxes and vow to never do that again. What if you had six things to do today to legally reduce your taxes? Mike Milligan Certified Financial Planner and , founder of 1. Oak Financial gives you some strategies that can help you now. Free P&L Statement and Balance Sheet https://tinyurl.com/2rjd6wxu Ruth King...

What do you do if need funding for your business? Maybe to purchase your building, to buy out a partner or funding so your children can purchase your business and you can walk away…or maybe some other reason. Many times you turn to your banker. An SBA loan may also be an option for you. Dillion Caraway, Senior Loan Officer at Live Oak Bank, the #1 SBA 7(a) loan funder in the United States, gives y...

AI is being touted by some as the answer to everything. Thankfully robots can’t braze…yet! How is AI impacting our industry as it relates to Accounts Receivable? What should you have it do? What should it NEVER do? My guest, George Kurdin, co-founder and CEO of Monk, answers these questions and more. Free P&L Statement and Balance Sheet https://tinyurl.com/2rjd6wxu Ruth King Facebook - https:/...

What if you knew exactly what words you should use with your managers and prospective customers to help them understand what you are talking about? What if there was a simple tool to make communications easier? Close more sales because the salesperson knows how to build trust? There’s a new, simple way to do this. Leon Morales, CPA and Chief Energy Officer at DNA Behavior tells you how this new ap...

How do you find skilled labor? What if you found a source where you experienced a 90% success rate in finding that labor? What if you had a profiling template to help choose the right people for the right jobs? What would all of this do for your business? My guest, Paul Sanneman, is the founder and Contractor Staffing Source. He’ll explain how you can achieve a 90% success rate in finding labor. F...

Thinking about selling your business in the future? There is an emotional roller coaster associated with the sales process and what happens after the sale. Matt Michel and Brandon Jacob, two long time industry experts, just published "The Business Exit Rollercoaster" which is about the emotional side of selling a business. It's based on nearly 100 interviews with business owners who sold, investme...