CEO/Founder/Pool guy | 50+ employees, $16M Revenue | Sharing SMB Insights | Unqualified CMO - Sharing my journey to build a Corporate and Personal Brand
Belton, TX
Joined November 2023
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How to make $150k a year cleaning pools 4.5 days week.
No employees, just you, a net and a brush.
The setup
I’d set my work week for Tuesday-Friday cleaning 12 pools a day.
Monday is a flex day. I’d only work Mondays if I’m behind on repairs or need to follow up on things. Maybe some office work if my VA asked me to look over anything.
If I didn’t have any of that, I’d be fishing or golfing.
I would service your pool every week.
Well, not every week. I’d take off the entire week of Christmas and Thanksgiving, one week in the Summer, and one week in the Winter.
You’d know this about my service, and I’d be able to manage your pool so that everything would be fine while I’m gone.
It wouldn’t be an employee servicing your pool. It would be ME. The GOAT of pools.
Ok, not really, but better than your average employed service tech, and with a lot more give a damn.
It’d be a premium service and so it’d be offered at a premium price.
I’d start service off at $275/month, chemicals included.
I’d fill my service route through organic, grass roots marketing.
Customer acquisition costs would be very small to start, and zero once I’ve established my route.
When the route is full I’d start a wait list and begin to increase price to new customers $25-$50 each until I determine the maximum the market would accept.
I’d expect that to be at least $325/month.
I’d do filter cleans and repairs myself. Based on my current business that averages about $1,250 per customer per year.
My Cost of Goods Sold would include chemicals and equipment needed for service, and repair parts. I’d budget 15% for chems and equipment and 65% for parts.
Other expenses would include cost of truck, phone, insurance, vehicle maintenance, fuel, a virtual assistant, an operating software, Quickbooks, and other admin costs.
You may be asking, why a virtual assistant?
The answer is because this is a cush job if you let it be.
I’m going to make $150,000 chilling by the pool. I don’t want the phone to ring and interrupt my podcast and I don’t want to be doing bookwork on the weekends.
I’m going to pay someone $11/hr part time in the Philippines and they’ll do most of that for me.
Sounds to good to be true, huh? Well it’s not. Here’s how the numbers break down:
Revenue
48 pools @ $325/month = $187,200
Filter cleans and Repairs for 48 pools producing $500 labor and $750 parts each = $60,000
COGS
Chemicals and equipment @ 15% service revenue = $28,080
Repair parts @ 65% of parts revenue = $23,400
Credit card fees @ 3% revenue = $7,416
Expenses
Used Truck/Phone/Insurance $800/month = $9,600
Fuel = $4,800/year
Software and other office expenses = $3,600
Virtual Assistant = $14,300
Totals
Revenue: $247,200
COGS: -$58,896
Expenses: -$32,300
--
Earnings: $156,004
Would you take this job? What’s stopping you?
Tim is a great entrepreneur! Good luck brother!
I’m driving 52 hours round trip from Texas to San Francisco in my pool cleaning truck.
I’m raising money.
If I win, every home service will be experienced like the screenshot below.
Networking is the weakest part of my game.
Twitter’s the only reason I know anyone. I was trapped cleaning pools and didn’t have time to actually network, and Twitter was my window to the outside world between 2020–2024. Right now, I need to get connected to as many people as possible.
If you know anyone who might be interested—investors, pool guys—feel free to connect me.
We have revenue.
The product is live.
There will never be a better founder-market fit for something like this.
Why didn’t I just fly? Because I’m a big fan of symbolism. I’m not woo, but I do believe in magic.
My pool cleaning truck is like Don Quixote’s Rocinante or Zorro’s horse Tornado.
All the success and money I’ve ever made happened in this truck.
It seems dumb not to ride it into California for this.
My cofounder and I have built and sold four pool companies to fund this dream, three of them while I was driving this pickup.
Remember when Airbnb was desperate and ended up selling cereal to fund the startup? We did the same thing, just with pool companies.
But I don’t need the money for survival right now. I need it to blitzkrieg an industry. I have two competitors I need to take out to pull off what I’m trying to do.
I left Saturday around noon. My 8-year-old daughter was crying. My son just wanted to play Minecraft. My wife and cofounder kissed me goodbye. We decided to do this only a few hours before I left.
We both have the ability not to overthink a decision. I think she and I were cowboys in a past life—not the Yellowstone kind, but the real 1800s kind. The kind addicted to risk, adventure, and chasing things down.
My favorite saying is: The cowards never started, and the weak died along the way.
It’s from the Oregon Trail. The saying is about all the people who died chasing gold in California or were too cowardly to leave in the first place.
I have a large piece of pyrite sitting on my dash as a symbol. I got it from a witch’s shop before I left. I walked in and asked her for a rock for good luck. She suggested fool’s gold, and I thought, Well, that’s incredibly fitting for what I’m about to do.
Yesterday I drove 15 hours down I-10 and I-8, skirting the border with my cartel brothers to my left. I’m half Mexican, and I like to joke that since I’ve funded myself up to this point by cleaning pools, my Mexican half was the first investor in my white half. I need a few more of those
I’m glad I drove. This country is beautiful. You don’t get to see that while flying
First stop is San Diego for meetings. Then LA. Then I’ll be in San Francisco by Wednesday or Thursday.
Hit me up.
Five weeks ago I made this post
There were a lot of opinions
Most people said I should do nothing more than I’d already offered
Some said I was a terrible person only driven by profits
And some said I should find a better compromise, maybe even try to turn it into a PR positive
Today the homeowner and I agreed to a compromise where I supported more of the repairs
My legal obligation was zero but I struggled with doing zero given the extent of the issues
This post was probably the only one I’ve ever made where I wished X would stop showing it
The comments were brutal
But ultimately I left with a general consensus of the public’s opinion plus some really good business ideas on how to think of warranty for our business in the future
And for that I’m thankful
Today I received a Better Business Bureau complaint
Here's the backstory:
The homeowner's pool is cracking
It was built in 2020 by a company I acquired in December 2022
The homeowner bought the home in 2021 and started noticing cracks in the pool shell in 2023
Warranties are almost always non transferrable in the gunite pool industry and so the warranty did not transfer from the original homeowner to the new homeowner
We completed an asset purchase of Maximus Pools in December 2022 that included the tangible and intangible assets, but no ownership of the legal entity in order to avoid liablities
We planned to maintain the brand in a limited capacity (mainly just website and local business profiles) so we anticipated some warranty expense to keep goodwill intact and we've executed nearly $50k of warranty work on their behalf
Our warranty representative visited the pool in the Summer of 2023 to examine the cracks but the warranty claim was denied because the property owner was not the original buyer
I did approve completing the work at cost as a good faith gesture
The home owner declined the offer and has resorted to complaints and public disparagement to try to force our hand
Check out the BBB complaint and our response
What do you think? Should we spend the $15k to fix the pool even though we have no contractual obligation? Or should we stand our ground?
I didn’t realize how many parents are against sleep overs
There are 5 comments saying no sleep overs to every yes
My kids started staying at friends’ houses around 8. I have all boys. Might have thought a little harder about it if I had girls.
What’s your take on sleep overs?
Here's an example of Principal/Agent Theory I experienced in my business last week:
Swimming pool renovations are booming. It will be our best year ever.
Last week the construction coordinator told me that even if we sold more renovations, we wouldn't start any that aren't currently in the pipeline before Memorial Day.
The goal was to finish everything that's already been sold by Memorial Day to avoid any time pressure from customers.
I felt that there was also a subconscious goal to experience a sense of accomplishment by clearing everything off of the checklist.
Depending on the project a renovation could take 1-3 weeks.
Having EVERY job we've started complete would mean that we didn't start a job for 1-3 weeks before Memorial Day.
We would forego ~2 weeks of revenue.
I told her that we could adjust our sales script so that the message to customers could be "we cannot finish your renovation before Memorial Day", but we couldn't STOP starting projects.
This was not an easy message for her.
In her eyes what is most important was a lack of pressure and clearing a checklist.
In my eyes what is important is pushing every day to hit our 2024 goals.
A clear conflict of interest we had to overcome.
Principal Agent Theory
If I own a business and I do everything myself, I should expect to act in my own best interest. As soon as I start delegating, I introduce agents. People are doing work on my behalf. They do not always have or act in my best interests. The difference between those two results is called Agency Loss. It is the difference between the best result for the owner (principal) and the actual result due to the actions of the employee (agent).
It is unavoidable when owning a business. Here is an easy example:
You get your AC maintained every 3 months. ACME AC has been providing this service for multiple years. The owner of ACME AC, Gary Acme, remembers to bring a box of cookies in for the accounting department when he does the service. A new provider solicits your business and offers a more competitive price for the same comprehensive service. Anne in accounting decides to stick with Gary. The price difference is not that much, and she likes Gary. Gary is so thoughtful, and always brings in cookies. Agency Loss.
Now multiply this over a myriad of possibilities in your business and you can see how this can add up. This is why Sam Walton of Walmart had a strict policy of no gifts in the purchasing department. He knew this could lead to agency loss. I believe it is also why so many owners/operators have a difficult time delegating. These little mistakes drive them nuts. No one will look out for their best interests like they will, so they hold tight to all the decision-making capabilities. But not delegating is also a death sentence for growth. You cannot grow without learning to delegate. You cannot delegate without risking Agency Loss. What to do?
1. Accept it - When you delegate, you give up control of the result. Accept that things will be done differently than you would have done them. It helps to keep the big picture in mind, the growth you are trying to achieve.
2. Processes - Implement processes in the areas of your business where Agency Loss is most likely to occur. Limit the maximum discount a salesperson can give without approval or receiving gifts in procurement for example.
3. Provider Refresh – Periodically refresh your providers. Have your accounting department procure multiple quotes for the different services and expenses you incur, then submit them for review. This will keep everyone honest and efficient.
4. Zero Cost Budgeting – This is a major undertaking. I do not recommend doing it every year. Zero Cost Budgeting is starting from scratch. When building next year’s budget, rather than starting from the previous year, set everything to 0. Make each department justify every expense. Question everything and look for efficiency. This is a very valuable tool and very exhaustive.
With delegation comes a loss of control and the introduction of the principal-agent problem. Delegation is necessary to grow. Therefore, learning to live and manage agency loss is inevitable.
Organizations in my area do a lot of reverse raffles for fund raisers
They sale a couple hundred tickets to an event where they serve dinner and drinks and draw tickets
You socialize for 2 hours while they announce who has been drawn out
Last 10 tickets win a prize
First place is usually a golf cart, Polaris Ranger, or even a truck
I’m at one of these tonight
I’ve won tons of things I don’t need at them
Deer feeders, spa gift cards, play stations, etc etc etc
I don’t find them as fun as I used to but I try to show up and support the community
When I tell people that aren’t in my area that I’m going to one of these events they usually ask me to explain what it is
Do organizations in your area have reverse raffles?
There’s some serious money won at these
How do we teach people about pools and make it fun?
Entertainment and Education are our two best performing content genres
We've approached them with separate videos but we thought if we could put the two together it could make some killer content
So we came up with the "You're a Pool Guy, Right?" series
It's a skit where one person plays two different characters - a pool owner and a pool guy
The pool owner asks a question and the pool guy answers
Mix in a little sarcasm for humor, a technical answer for education... two birds
We dropped our second "You're a Pool Guy, Right?" video yesterday and it did great
4X the normal reach on Facebook and 25X the normal reach on YouTube
We have six more to post over the next 3 weeks
We'll make 8 more for next month
If you asked me which of our content pieces you should recreate for your business, this would be the one
Today my 3 year old flew his first kite and loved it
But he loves fishing even more
So we combined the two
Huge dad win
We were able to get the kite hundreds of feet away
And it felt like a real fish pulling on the other end of the line
Tons of fun!
We post 60 videos per month on all social media platforms
Up from 7 videos and 13 static posts per month in 2023
Each week we review follows, reach, engagement and profile visits
And the numbers have consistently grown
I believe there are two reasons for the positive results
1. Consistency in posting. If you increase posts by 3X (8.6X video posts) something is going to hit. More hits grows your following and also means better treatment from the algorithms.
2. A bigger focus on making content our audience wants to see. The posts have transitioned from ad like videos with logos and calls to action, to posts that are entertaining and educational. We look at each video as an opportunity for an impression, not a content piece to generate leads.
My outlook on social media has become a lot like my outlook on SEO - It's a long game.
Does it generate some leads immediately? Yes. But if we can keep the flywheel turning it will produce lots of leads in the future.
I can't wait to look at these graphs at the end of 2024 and beyond.
PS - I had to separate TikTok into it's own graph after a viral post two weeks ago. TikTok reach is starting to come back down (until our next viral post!)
Last year I invested in a music festival
Last weekend that music festival happened
It was an incredible event
Three days, thirty-one artists, tens of thousands of people
Seeing it all come together after studying the pro formas, consulting on some vendor agreements, and anxiously reading each investor update made it that much more exciting to attend
The coordination and planning to bring an event like this together is incredible
I’m lucky to have been invited to invest with a proven group
Actuals aren’t in yet but I’m excited to see them
What questions does SMB have about the business behind a Texas Country Music Festival?
My son is probably the only one in the world to catch one of these on his first fishing trip
It was April 12, 2020 - four years to the day
Because of COVID we were doing a lot of river fishing
The river was a place to get away with the kids where we wouldn’t see a soul and had no obligations to wear masks or social distance
On this day, I asked my 4 year old if he wanted to go with us, and to my surprise he said yes
I probably shouldn’t have let him go
We had a huge rain the night before, the river rose 4-6 feet, and conditions were more dangerous than usual
I probably shouldn’t have went myself, but we had lines in the water and I felt an obligation to go check them
We cruised a mile up river and noticed something strange
There was a black calf clinging to the bank with his front legs
He had been washed into the river during the big rain the night before
As we moved towards him I asked my then 7 year old if he wanted to pick the calf up. I told him if we did he wouldn’t be able to fish. I fully expected him to tell me to save the calf.
He said he’d rather fish and we could grab the calf on the way back. When I think about that conversation it still makes me laugh.
I explained to him the calf wouldn’t make it that long. That if we left him the calf would die and it was now or never.
He reluctantly agreed (although I wasn’t really giving him a choice)
I idled over to the calf and pulled him into the boat
He was small, probably just a day or two old
He didn’t put up a fight, he was too weak
I laid him at my feet in the floor of the small aluminum boat and put my legs over him to ensure he wouldn’t stand up and tip us
We cruised up river to where we put our boat in
This is back woods fishing
There’s no boat ramp, just a path with a steep bank and steps in the dirt that we dug in with a shovel
I put the 70lb calf over my shoulders and carried him up the bank
I felt like I was in a Western or a scene from Yellowstone
I sent a picture to my wife and asked her to post on Facebook and start looking for a home for the little guy
Within 30 minutes we had found someone ready to raise the calf
They had all the supplies to start nursing him back to health
I put the calf in the cab of my truck and turned the heater on hoping to warm him up
The kids sat next to him while I drug the boat up the river bank and loaded it on the trailer
Then we drove the calf to his new home
He quickly recovered and we were able to keep up with him on Facebook as he grew into a full sized bull
—
This is one of my fondest memories.
It’s something I’ll never forget, and I don’t think my kids will either.
When I tell the story I usually say my son is 1 in 8 billion since he’s likely the only person in the world to catch a cow on his first fishing trip.
He is 8 now and he doesn’t like to fish. I don’t blame him really. He caught a cow on his first fishing trip. How could he ever top that???
I’m thankful to be a pool guy in a year round market. The seasonality is hard enough in Texas. I can’t imagine trying to staff up and staff down every 6 months, while trying to build talent, culture, etc.
My 11 year old son lost the championship game because of a mental error
In his last baseball tournament, he came in to close the game
He's usually clutch but he made a mistake that cost his team the win
I had something important to tell him but I waited until we got to the car
--
My son's always been a great baseball player.
He's 11 but he plays up with a group of 12 year olds.
They play at a high level, and other than him being a little smaller than the other kids, you wouldn't know he's a year younger.
Last week they found themselves in the championship game.
My son has been pitching great and so when his team was in a bind and they brought him in to pitch, we were all confident he'd find a way out.
His team was up 4-2. Fifth inning (of 6). Bases loaded, one out.
Looking confident, he steps onto the mound to warm up.
First pitch, he strides long but his front foot slips when it lands on the steep mound.
Second pitch, he slips again. As he continues to warm up, he adjusts, but still not comfortable.
He's a competitor though, we all believe he'll find it.
But he didn't.
He walks the first batter. We're still up 4-3.
Second batter - ball then strike.
Then something completely unexpected happens.
With the bases loaded he picks off to first base.
As you would expect, no one is covering the bag. The ball flies over the bag and rolls to the right field fence.
He picked up the wrong sign from the catcher, and without thinking it through, made a mental error that gave up two runs.
They didn't come back from the mistake and his team lost 5-4.
--
I wasn't sure how to act after the game.
While still at the field I had to find the right balance of support while still showing disappointment in the loss.
I knew that I needed to save any real conversation for the car.
We walked to the parking lot, mostly in silence.
When we got in the car and drove to the exit, but I pulled over just before leaving.
"Caleb, I want to tell you two things." I paused. He looked at me, anticipating baseball advice and getting ready to fire back.
"No matter what, I love you and I'm proud of you."
I tear ran down his face. I choked back emotion.
After a few seconds of silence, I put the car in gear and drove out of the parking lot.
On the 90 minute drive we hardly spoke.
Everything that needed to be said had been said.
He didn't need advice. He didn't need to hear that it would be alright, that he'd get 'em next time.
He just needed to know that no matter what, I was there for him.
Heck of a resume
Kevin is definitely worth a follow
I have a number of new followers - just hit 1,000 today
Here is a bit about me:
Current
✅ CEO portfolio of fintech SaaS
✅ Investor DTC product
✅ Buy side SMB deal reviews search funds & LMM PE
Background
☑️ CEO private equity backed AI SaaS
☑️ Stint in big investment bank
☑️ Founded B2B service company, scaled & exit
I write about write about methods & leadership to grow small businesses.
Thank you all for commenting and re posting. I love hearing from other parents.
I have five kids and lots of dad stories. I look forward to sharing more.
Today I received a Better Business Bureau complaint
Here's the backstory:
The homeowner's pool is cracking
It was built in 2020 by a company I acquired in December 2022
The homeowner bought the home in 2021 and started noticing cracks in the pool shell in 2023
Warranties are almost always non transferrable in the gunite pool industry and so the warranty did not transfer from the original homeowner to the new homeowner
We completed an asset purchase of Maximus Pools in December 2022 that included the tangible and intangible assets, but no ownership of the legal entity in order to avoid liablities
We planned to maintain the brand in a limited capacity (mainly just website and local business profiles) so we anticipated some warranty expense to keep goodwill intact and we've executed nearly $50k of warranty work on their behalf
Our warranty representative visited the pool in the Summer of 2023 to examine the cracks but the warranty claim was denied because the property owner was not the original buyer
I did approve completing the work at cost as a good faith gesture
The home owner declined the offer and has resorted to complaints and public disparagement to try to force our hand
Check out the BBB complaint and our response
What do you think? Should we spend the $15k to fix the pool even though we have no contractual obligation? Or should we stand our ground?
Lots of great perspectives.
I had a conversation with my business partner this morning about the mix of responses, potential for future transferable warranties, and the best way to move forward with this homeowner.
It was fueled by these comments. I greatly appreciate all of you taking the time to share your perspective.
