The Boardroom Buzz: Grow, Sell, or Exit

You heard Jonathan Pototschnik give Jason Cupp props as a peer and consultant during his time leading ServiceAutopilot. Step on into The Boardroom this week to hear how Jason Cupp grew roots in landscape to later emerge as a Kolbe Certified Growth Consultant. There are an endless number of tools to measure intelligence and personality, but this one of a kind index reveals a person's natural instin...

Succession planning can be tricky. Family businesses often have both ownership and management roles mixed up together. Why is it so important to separate these two aspects when planning for the future of a family business? You know The Tax Man is watching. Don’t skimp out on legal advice if you find yourself making plans to pass down to future generations.  When is comes to passing the CEO-torch a...

Is there a specific draw for acquirers when it comes to regions with higher population density? As businesses expand into urban, suburban, and rural markets, the strategies and service offerings spread out. How could a move towards urban areas influence service offerings and operational efficiency? How can business owners harness data to expand market share? The surge in union activity, even in tr...

‘Merge my business? … Are you suggesting that I work with my competitors?’ Maybe. Paul and Fat Pat respond to a question about mergers from FRAXN’s recent Moneyball event . Step on in to hear if the “juice is worth the squeeze”. It’s a lot more than just getting potential shareholders on the same page. What does and doesn’t need to get unified before selling off the whole kit and caboodle? Despite...

You expect your managers to make well-informed decisions to benefit your company, but do they have a good grasp of financial concepts? It's important to question whether they truly understand the impact of their choices on your company's finances. Have you assigned specific responsibilities for parts of your Profit and Loss (P&L) statement, and do you assess their performance based on these fi...

Definitely qualified (CFA, CPA, MBA) and without the typical cookie cutter approach, Nick Bartolo of Essential Partners , steps into The Boardroom to chat through the world of wealth management. More than just diversifying assets and ensuring performance, Nick introduces a unique framework to grow and protect one's wealth. With ever-changing economic conditions, what thoughts (and emotions) come t...

More customers are pushing back on price hikes while new demand softens. Increased credit card defaults and car foreclosures further the evidence on consumers’ financial struggles. Have you seen the same trends in your business? The pest control sector has observed declining customer loyalty, probably due to higher prices and tightened budgets. Yet, there's a promising opportunity for companies sp...

Lawn Care Millionaire Jonathan Pototschnik gets candid about difficult decisions and focus on his way into, during, and out of Service Autopilot. How did pre-Fat Pat’s Pest Fat Pat find himself on the lawn-centric SA platform many moons ago? From multi-state janitorial to healthcare software to Dallas metro-based lawn and pest business to ServiceAutopilot, hear where pain finds its place in busine...

Step on into The Boardroom to hear from PSSI’s VP of Strategic Development, Paul Lambert. As a leading food safety company, PSSI is responsible for opening more than half of the food production plants in the US every morning. From labor to chemistry to software to consulting, hear how PSSI found its way into pest control. Their strategic approach involves not just expanding customer numbers but en...

Recession is baked into your cake, Fat Pat. Learn from others’ mistakes. You’ll hear what tax wedge distortions caused owners to do back in ’08-’09. Looking across the service industry, which dynamics and sensitivities will help businesses weather a recession? Step into The Boardroom as Uncle Paul and Fat Pat take on more listener questions, such as where do one-time services fit into the mix, if...

From coach to owner and back again, Brian Peters is not the typical CEO. How did Brian go from supporting franchisees at The Dwyer Group (now Neighborly ) to spinning-off his residential-exclusive Evergreen Heating & Air ? From turning away predictable revenue to insights on the world of franchising, you’ll hear tough decisions Brian has made on the road to optimizing his HVAC business.  As a...

Is there a safe answer to the oft-asked but rarely-known “what’s my business worth?” From scaling to an exit strategy to the intricacies of valuation multiples, Paul and Seth tackle a range of listener questions. They even drill down on scaling a million dollar business towards the biggest possible exit. Seth shares his personal thesis with Paul about valuation, but it’s not what you think. What c...

The pest control industry has seen an influx of private equity firms, leading to increased competition and often outbidding strategics. How might this heightened competition impact the market dynamics and strategies of the few remaining strategics in the industry? How might this change in dynamics affect the overall industry and the opportunities available to sellers? And on an individual level, h...

While together at TPCA’s Pest Expo , Patrick and Seth dive into technicians as salespeople. In the service industry, it’s assumed and expected for techs to sell, right? The two chat through sales, from (pure) selling to upselling, and even having salespeople perform initial services. And what about selling service over the phone? Maybe it’s a question of efficiency, or it may just come down to nec...

Do you pay your salespeople in perpetuity? Peel back the layers to expose the hidden dangers of perpetual payouts. Irregardless of what an acquirer wants, it’s time to take another look at your sales comp plan. The partnering-with-pest-control question continues. In this case, The Boardroom takes another stab at the home inspection question from Episode 131 . Do the same rules regarding perpetuity...

Step on in to hear Carroll Fitzgerald's inspiring journey from a bank examiner to a successful entrepreneur in the landscaping industry. How did his banking background contribute to his thriving side hustle of mowing foreclosed lawns? As time went on, Fitzgerald's portfolio expanded to include landscape, tree care, and irrigation services. Carroll shares insights into the profit margins of these d...

Paul invites Patrick and Seth to discuss FRAXN . Yes, you’ll hear a lot of “ Buzz ” words, but with Fat Pat as a Co-Founder, what else would you expect? Patrick and Seth have built not only a management tool but also a great team at FRAXN. With FRAXN, pest control owners gain insights into their business and identify areas for improvement. Register for The Moneyball Series at fraxn.com/events Audi...

Seth Garber steps into The Boardroom while Paul is away. This time to tackle controlling a phone conversation. Sorry. Say what? From upset customers to prospects, does saying “I’m sorry” convey responsibility? Is Peacemaker Patrick alone here?  Is the customer always right? Do your CSR’s go through 9-degrees of training? It sounds like it’s the perfect opportunity to role play with none other than...

Garland Vance has a PhD in leadership. Literally. Garland has helped industry-giant Rollins build and develop their leadership pipeline. Keynote speaker, entrepreneur, and author of Gettin’ (un)Busy , Garland can now add The Boardroom Buzz guest to his resumé 😉. Hear how Fat Pat met Garland at Arizona Pest Professional Organization’s (AzPPO) Great Western Conference.  It goes without saying - lea...

You don’t want to miss this round of listener-submitted questions, including Andy Sanefski’s question on past and future consolidation trends. Is there such a thing as too high revenue per technician? In 2021, everything must go, but what about now? When to increase pricing, and how much? And should I communicate the price increase? Paul has a secret trip planned. Don’t get FOMO like Patrick. Subs...

This one’s for the partners out there. Before pressing play, ask yourself if there’s a common theme behind partnership problems. How do you prevent blowing up friendships over the course of building a business together? Know your role. Tune in to hear about the importance of distinguishing between shareholder vs employee roles. Partners, how did you decide compensation, equity, and strategy decisi...

Let’s keep this short and sweet. Paul and Patrick answer six listener questions. So the 6th listener to email thebuzz@potomaccompany.com with the Subject Line “I actually read this” will get a gift. Audio Mixing and Editing by www.verbell.ltd

He’s made his way up the ranks in the pest industry but David Johnson finds himself falling into plumbing of all places. Buy a commercial plumbing company in 2020 without any experience? It’s a great idea , they said.  Now the proud owner of Atlanta-based Citywide Plumbing , David shares his life lessons on leadership, sales, taking risks and more in this Boardroom chat. David takes us back to his...

Of all people, how did Patrick’s college friend Ryan Bishop get swept into the cleaning business? Ryan leads  DTK Facility Services’s  over 1,600 employees across 190 counties. Similarities between pest control and janitorial cleaning? Step into The Boardroom to find out. Clean. Setup. Repeat. Ryan breaks down the complacency breakdown in this repetitive industry. Salesperson at heart, Ryan shares...

You could say that Bryan Benak worked his way up in the trades. Recruited by Albert Cantu himself into the glory days of Terminix, Bryan went from managing a $1 million branch to present-day where he’s the CEO of $250 million Southern Home Services .  Making stops at ServiceMasters’ Merry Maids and American Residential Services, and then finding a special situations detour along the way, Bryan has...