The Harsh Reality of Scaling a Pool and Hot Tub Business

If you had ten new customers tomorrow, would that make you feel happy or stressed?

So, your pool and hot tub business is ticking along pretty well, and you're thinking about expanding. But first, you need to work out if you can handle that extra workload—and meet the demands of a whole new neighborhood.

Scaling a service company is tough—we know that as much as anyone.    We are here to talk through scaling your business, the elements involved, and how to do it the right way.

Are You Ready to Handle More Customers?

Before taking on more work, let's ensure you're taking good care of your current customers. If you've ever worked out in the field, you know that people's expectations are higher than ever: They want it and they want it now (and they'd also like to pay with a credit card).

So, if you're looking to grow, ask yourself: Do you have the software and systems in place? Can you update your service routes and job information on the fly? Can your field techs make notes, capture photos, complete work, and take payments, all in the one visit?

Most importantly, are your existing customers happy with what you're doing?

If the answer is yes, that's great! You're ready to take the next step.

Should You Buy an Extra Route or Grow Organically?

You grow your business by adding more customers—that's business 101. But how do you find them?

There are three ways you can do it:

1. Buy an additional route from another pool service company or broker.
2. Form partnerships with builders, property managers, and apartment/hotel owners.
3. Grow organically using your marketing and word-of-mouth.

If you're taking on more customers or buying a whole new route, you need to think about how you'll manage that. Do you stick with the dull, messy manual routing method you're probably using now? Or do you go high-tech and use automated routing instead?

Let’s face it: if you're not using automated routing, then you're missing out on incredible benefits. Benefits such as automatically prioritizing your jobs, integrating your service routes into Google Maps, and generally making better use of your money and time.

But if you really want to scale your business, you need automation to make it work. After all, it's the number of customers you're trying to increase—not your blood pressure. Automation not only will make it easier to manage all the extra jobs, but it will also ensure that everything keeps running like a well-lubricated pool motor bearing.

Don't Let Your Service Work Distract You from Retail Sales

Service and maintenance work might be the core of your pool and hot tub business, but don’t lose focus on the extra money you can make from upselling and retail sales.

Think about it: your service team is talking with your customers every day anyway, so that's a golden opportunity to offer extra goods and services that help your clients get more out of their pools—and bring in more income for your business.

Now, if you're not quite sure about what else you should offer, ask yourself these two questions:

1. Will it help people look after their pool or hot tub between services?
2. Will it make pool or hot tub time more awesome?

If it fits one or both of these criteria, then it's probably a good fit.

Many service companies offer pool accessories, chemicals, cleaning products, and even garden and deck furniture. It's a win for the customer because you're helping make their pool time more fun, and it's an even bigger win for you, their friendly neighborhood pool cleaner.

Do You Have Software That Can Grow with Your Pool and Hot Tub  Business?

In blunt terms, you can't expand unless you get more efficient. You need speed, agility, flexibility—and a system that brings everyone along for the ride.

At Evosus, we make software for pool and hot tub service experts just like you, those who want to reach more customers, those who want to get better at looking after the customers they already got, and most importantly, those who want to run a pool and hot tub business that's head-and-shoulders above the rest.

Find out more about our LOU software system, or get in touch with us for more information.

Scaling a pool and hot tub business is no easy task, but we're here to take on the challenge with you. We're confident that if you try out our software, you'll wonder how you ever did business without it.

Evosus helps pool service companies grow by giving them the visibility they need across multiple locations and between the retail and service sides of business.

To find out how Evosus can help you gain the level of visibility needed to help you scale your business, feel free to contact us for a free consultation today!