Add on services For the PCO

Growing Your Business Summit ● February 11-13, 2009

Orlando, FL

Building Your Business ThroughExpanded Business Offerings

Daniel S. Gordon, CPA


Orlando, FL

Overview

• Can we SURVIVE this economy?• How can we GROW our business?• Measuring our STRENGTHS and WEAKNESSES• What will it take to be PROFITABLE?• Offering EXPANDED SERVICES?• MARKETING MATH for the PCO• EVALUATING the Market• TEST and IMPLEMENT• Your NEXT STEP


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Can we survive this economy?

• Major events of 2008– Stock Market Collapse– Housing Crisis– Record Prices at the Pump– Implosion of the Auto Industry– Meltdown of Financial Services– Exodus of Manufacturing– Our Great Nation is involved with 2 wars


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• But hold on – NOT SO FAST!!! We can still succeed…• America is the strongest economy in the world!

– Spending doesn’t stop because we don’t have money• We go into debt to get what we want.

– It’s not good for the long term but it will help to pull us out short term

• We are a nation of spenders helping to keep the economy moving– Most of the rest of the world are savers

– Americans find ways to put “stuff” with consumers. – Never Count out The U.S. Consumer!!

• Can’t afford a vacation home? Carve one up… buy a time share• Can’t afford to buy a car? Lease one• Don’t have money for merchandise at the department store? Get

a credit card at the cash register and receive a discount


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• Can we survive?

YES… and the strong companies

will emerge STRONGER!

• Is it going to be tough? Yes• Is it going to take a long time? Possibly• Is time going to pass no matter what we do?

Yes, so we should get to work!


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Can we survive this economy?• What ADVANTAGES do we have as PCOs?

– Fuel Prices have dropped significantly– Our Services are need based and sometimes mandated by law– In most areas of the country we are seasonal, we are used to

managing downturns. The winter comes every year – doesn’t it?– Long before the recession, experts have predicted the U.S. will

become a service economy. Here we are in service businesses and we have a big head start!

– No matter what your political views, you can’t argue the fact that the government is implementing the largest stimulus program in history - over 750 billion dollars. This money will ultimately trickle down.

– For the most part our costs are variable, we can make drastic changes quickly (not always an easy decision but it can be done)


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• What are the RISKS we have as PCOs?– Our customers are feeling the pinch and won’t spend– Our customers fail, leaving us with uncollectable fees– Banks won’t lend to us for vehicle purchases or leases– Competition from other PCOs– Inadequate financing– Falsely believing what worked in the past will work in the future– Ultimate Failure – bankruptcy


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How do we weather the storm?• PREPARE for the recession to be long and deep and then build

flexibility to adjust when needed• Make sure you have TIGHT ROUTES. You may not be able to raise

prices but tight routing has the same effect as raising prices• NEVER SELL UNPROFITABLE WORK on the basis of “its steady

work”… Shrink your business if you have to.• Make sure you have an accounting system that gives you accurate

and timely INFORMATION• MEASURE the results of all your programs and increase the profitable

services and decrease the unprofitable services• Increase your COLLECTION efforts – make sure you’re A/R is healthy

and collectable• Tighten your CREDIT TERMS – shut customers off if needed• Increase your SALES & MARKETING effort – be effective!!• Get ready for the upturn!! Create your 5 year plan; and EXECUTE!


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How can we grow our business?

• First lets go over how we run a successful Pest Control Firm

• The Pest Management business is Simple (Not Easy But Simple)

• We are in a Service Business and Sell our Time.

• This time that we charge for includes:– Diagnosing the Problem– Providing a solution– Setting the Customer up on a Service Contract– Doing the Same thing Over and over until you have built a

route or several routes.


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• The Concept of Selling Time:

– Time is a Perishable Commodity

– Once it is gone, you can’t resell it

– If you route your calls effectively you will be able to maximize the amount of time that you can sell.


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• What is it that we are growing?– Are we growing the number of employees?– Are we growing sales?– Are we growing our current income?– Are we increasing the value of our firm?


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• Let’s assume we are increasing the value of our firm• How do we MEASURE THE VALUE of our firm?• Accounting approach: Assets minus Liabilities

– Assets include:• Customer Lists (The most valuable asset)• Accounts Receivable• Trucks and Equipment• Furniture and Fixtures• Real Estate owned• Other Assets

– Liabilities Include:• Accounts Payable• Credit Lines• Loans Payable


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• The Customer List (Your most Valued Asset)

– Long Term – Can be compared to machinery in a manufacturing business:

• Must be “well oiled” by providing great Service• Routes must be tight allowing for the greatest output from

this machine

– Short Term - Can be compared to a life insurance Salesman setting up a book of renewable policies that generate current income.


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• You need a Plan… The plan must focus on growingyour customer list as well as selling more to existing customers

This is the Asset that will spit out the profits.– Remember- The PCO business is not a high margin

business. Rather it is a moderate margin business where you generate high profits from customers that use your service on a scheduled recurring business


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• Service Contracts vs. One Shots– Consider that it costs anywhere from $80.00 to

$500.00 to generate a lead from the phone book– Which is better a one shot at $150.00 or a ongoing

service agreement at $75.00 per quarter?


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Measuring our Strengths and Weaknesses• Strengths

– We know how to do small jobs assigned to one Technician in a truck who repeats this all day long

– We know how to sell these jobs in a formula that includes:• Initial service• Sell a recurring contract or renewal• Manage that customer, collecting revenue from him on a periodic basis

long into the future• Price that work at an Acceptable Return per hour that yields a profit each

and every time we service the customers• Scheduling or routing that work that maximizes the efficiency of our routes• Having a back office operation that allows proper billing and A/R

management• Minimizing financial risk by each ticket being small compared to our

overall operation making it almost inconsequencial if the customer defaults on the services


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Measuring our Strengths and Weaknesses

• Weaknesses:– Our Equipment is highly specific and can’t be used to do much

other than pest control– Our sales efforts are based on selling a formula based

standardized service making it very difficult to sell complicated services that need further research and multiple visits to price the service.

– Our services cross many trades or disciplines but our knowledge is only in one

– Skilled employees are hard to come by– We are not used to billing on percentage of completion– Competitors in other disciplines can sometimes employ

cheaper help


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Offering Expanded Services?

• What a great idea:– Maximize our average revenue per customer– We have a business model that can be applied to

several services– Customers like us and would trust us for other

services– One stop shopping– We need to remember our objective which is to

build the value of our company maximize the recurring work within a customer data base.


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Offering Expanded Services?• Benchmarking Revenue Per Customer – Most companies look at

Revenue for the company or Revenue for the branch and determine profitability from there.

• Disadvantages to Looking at your business this way:– You can have unprofitable customers– You will never understand your profitability as you will always be

looking at the sum of the parts as opposed to the parts themselves

• Suggestion:– Look at Dollars per hour per customer– Look at Revenue per customer per year

• Benchmark that number• Try to increase that average each year

• By doing this you guarantee profitability as well as maximize the amount each customer is spending with you


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Offering Expanded Services?

• Can we make money with one shot work? Absolutely

• Does it take our focus off building our annuity machine? Maybe

• Is it a good idea to emulate companies who have done what you want to do? Probably– What does Rollins offer? Recurring Services– What does Servicemaster offer? Recurring Services

• Is there a reason that there are no national Carpentry companies?


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What will it take to be profitable?

The Pest Management Pricing Model is based on two variables:

• Money – This is an hourly charge for our service that covers our costs

and allows us to make a reasonable profit. How do we know what that hourly rate should be? Accountants calculate this number using a technique called BREAKEVEN ANALYSIS.

• Time – The service time that it takes to fulfill the obligation of

eliminating the customer’s pests under the service program. This includes treatment time and call back time.


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Run a Break-Even Analysis to find out…

Break-Even Pointin Units (Service Hrs) =

Fixed Costs

Gross Profit per Hour


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Fixed Costs Any cost that remains constant at any volume of business - Examples: Rent, Advertising, Utilities, etc.


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Variable Costs Costs associated with producing

one unit of our service. For our purposes, one unit of a service will be one hour of service. Thus, variable costs are those costs that rise and fall based upon the number of hours that we provide service.

– Examples: Hourly pay for your employees, Workers Compensation Insurance, Material Costs, etc.


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Gross ProfitThe difference between the pricecharged per Unit (Hour of Service) and the Variable Costs.

Example:If we bill our service at $100 per hourand a technicians gets $20 per hourand all other variable costs associated with providing that hour of service are $35, our gross profit would be $45. (figured: $100 billed less ($20+$35) variable costs).

Gross Profit

% o

f G

ross

Rev

enue

Gross Revenue Cost of Goods Gross Profit


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What will it take to be profitable?So, what Is My Breakeven Point?

Break-Even Analysis

Fixed Cost

Gro

ss P

rofit

/Hr

Fixed Cost Gross Profit/Hr

Break-Even Pointin Units (Service Hrs)

=Fixed Costs

Gross Profit per Hour.


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If rent, utilities and all other fixed costs are $10,000 and we use our $45.00 gross profit per hr example than our breakeven point is 222.2 hours of service at a $100 per hour selling price.

After 222.2 hours of service we will start making a profit of $45 per hour. You see the gross profit contributes to paying the fixed costs. Once the fixed costs are paid, the gross profit contributes to bottom line profit. This is the reason some accountants call gross profit the contribution margin.

Example


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$10,000 Fixed Costs$45.00 Per Hr Variable Costs 222.22 Hrs to Break Even=

Gro

ss

Ma

rgin

Break-Even Point


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However, at various sales levels certain fixed costs rise (i.e. after a certain sales level, a new piece of equipment might have to be added, thus the cost of using that piece of equipment must be added to fixed costs).

Therefore, figuring your breakeven point can sometimes be confusing.

Is it Really That Simple?

YES!!!


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What Services can we offer?

• Lawn Care– Pros:

• Recurring Revenue

• Routing Easy

• Fits our business model well

• Suppliers cross over with pest control

• Weed and Feed can be very profitable

– Cons:• Seasonal – same as Pest control

• is a very labor intensive

• Cutting requires expensive mowers requiring maintenance

• Carrying materials can test the suspension on smaller trucks


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• Pool Care– Pros:

• Fits our business model well• Offers twice per year high ticket (Opens and closing)• Offers weekly route work – cleaning / chemicals• Routing is easy• Training is relatively easy

– Cons:• Seasonal – same as Pest control• May require specialized knowledge of pumps etc.• Can ruin Pool liners if chemicals not added properly


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• Air Duct Cleaning– Pros:

• Very profitable• Renewable• Equipment is affordable and can be leased or financed• Customers perceive it as a needed service• Training is relatively easy• Maybe able to offer an annual deodorizing service

– Cons:• A full blown renewal or repeat of the service happens only every 2

or 3 years• Requires a dedicated set up on our Trucks• The industry has many “Shotty low ball Operators” that we need

to compete with


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• Other Pest Control Services (more service to customers who are wealthier and more sensitive)– Pros:

• Fits our Business Model Well• Makes Use of the 80 / 20 Rule• Very Profitable• Can be routed easily• Technicians are already Trained (or need minimal Training)• High Dollar per Hour

– Cons:• Customers require extra attention• We may have to go outside our standard service• May require additional training for Techs


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• Septic Cleaning– Pros:

• Recurring Revenue• Very profitable• Renewable• Customers are usually mandated by local law to have this service

performed• Training is relatively easy

– Cons:• A full blown renewal or repeat of the service happens only every 2

or 3 years• Requires a dedicated Trucks that are expensive• It’s a dirty business• The disposing of collections are subject to fees and regulation


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• Chiropractic or Dental services??? – Pros:

• The model is exactly like ours– Cleanout

– Recurring service or renewal

– Cons:• Need a license which includes many years of School• This example is made in jest, but it brings to light the

concept of selling time in an initial service and then setting up recurring revenue – This is how you grow the value of your business.


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What Services can we offer?• “Honey Do Services” – How about sending a handyman out to a

customer’s house on a periodic basis to do whatever is needed around the house – for a fixed number of hours– Pros:

• Fits our Business Model Well• Makes Use of the 80 / 20 Rule – high end customers will

subscribe• Very Profitable• Can be routed easily• High Dollar per Hour

– Cons:• Customers require extra attention• We may have to go outside our standard service• May require additional training for Techs


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• Crawl Space encapsulation– Pros:

• Very Profitable / High dollar item

• Installation and sales can be reduced to a formula

• Very small Capital Investment to get started

• Solves moisture problems that can help pest control program

– Cons:• Usually requires more than one technician

• Requires special Training

• Renewal potential – but retention is low

• Requires Technicians usually for a full day or more so routing can become a problem


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• HVAC Services– Pros:

• Recurring Revenue• Very profitable• Renewable• Customers rely on this service to heat or air condition a

house

– Cons:• Requires a dedicated Trucks that are expensive• Need trained, licensed technicians• May be prudent to set up another division to handle this


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• Mold Remediation– Pros

• Initial Service and annual renewal possible• People are very aware of this problem – its well publicized• Very profitable• Excellent Training available from the vendors

– Cons:• Requires a dedicated Trucks• Down time for training• May be prudent to set up another division to handle this


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• Rodent Proofing– Pros:

• We are in the pest control business (implied expertise in customer’s eyes)

• Initial Service and annual renewal possible• Material cost minimal• High dollar per hour• Very little training

– Cons:• Customers require extra attention• We may have to go outside our standard service


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• Bed Bugs– Pros:

• Large Commercial and residential market• Initial Service and annual renewal possible• Product sales possible

– Cons:• Customers require extra attention• We may have to go outside our standard service• Extra Training Need for Techs• When call backs are a problem, they can require a lot of

attention


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• Wildlife Control– Pros:

• Large Commercial and residential market• Initial Service and annual renewal possible• Product sales possible

– Cons:• Customers require extra attention• We may have to go outside our standard service• Extra Training Need for Techs• When call backs are a problem, they can require a lot of

attention • Some States require additional licensing


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• Mosquito Control– Pros:

• It’s a needed service• It can either be a routed service or a renewable service• Profitability is usually high• Addresses Public Health Concerns

– Cons:• Need Special Equipment• Highly Seasonal• May need additional licenses in some states


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• House Cleaning– Pros:

• Can be set up on routes• Usually recurs weekly or 2 time per month• Can cross sell even more service (i.e. window cleaning,

carpet cleaning etc.)

– Cons:• Labor is very difficult to come by and usually work in crews• Need to be extremely efficient as Gross Margins are low• Quality issues are always a problem


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• Security Services– Pros:

• Fits our model very well. Initial set up and monthly monitoring

• Mail box money each month• Truly an annuity business• Monitoring is outsourced and the money is made on the

markup with no labor

– Cons:• Need specialized Training to set up


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• Gutter Cleaning– Pros:

• It’s Renewable and usually can be done a couple times per year

• Not much equipment needed• Very little training needed

– Cons:• Competition is very stiff from low priced competitors since

there are no barriers to entry• Low dollars per hour• Workers comp rate is that of a roofer


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• Carpet Cleaning– Pros:

• Recurring work – at least annually but sometimes quarterly• Dollars per hour can be high• Add on services such as stain removal, Scotch Guard, etc.

– Cons:• Need Special Equipment that can be expensive• Need specialized training• Work is very strenuous and labor intensive


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• Snow Plowing– Pros:

• Great counter seasonal work• Dollars per hour are high• Contract work as opposed to per snowfall work will give

you predictable revenue

– Cons:• Needs special equipment – Puts a lot of wear and tear on

trucks• Work is done 24 / 7 when it snows


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• Carpentry– Pros:

• Big ticket Jobs – can we keep guys busy?• Could include termite repair – built in source of leads• Smaller jobs – usually more profitable

– Cons:• The competition is with other carpentry companies – They

work for a much lower dollar per hour• Non recurring work• There is a reason that there are no national carpentry

businesses


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• Deck Sealing– Pros:

• It’s a needed service• It’s an annual renewable service• Help’s with pest management• Profitability is usually high

– Cons:• Need Special Equipment• Highly Seasonal• The work is multi step requiring a couple of visits


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• Christmas Lighting– Pros:

• Counter Seasonal to Pest Control• It’s annual and renewable• It can be very high dollars per hour

– Cons:• Storage• Breakage of the decorations / Lights• Highly subjective based on the customer’s expectations• Need to purchase inventory that may or may not get used

for a year or more


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Marketing Math for the PCO

• We want Growth– How Much? Over What Period of Time?– What Resources Will We Need?

• Equipment, People, Money?

– Where Will the Growth Come From? – New Customers, or More Business from Existing

Customers?– Is Our Current House in Order to Achieve this

Growth?


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• Define Growth – Set Goals– Example of a Goal

• I want to take my Business from $500,000 in Annual Revenue to $1,000,000 in Annual Revenue over the next 4 Years, increasing my profit margin from 12% to 20% for the same period.

– Not an example of a Goal• I want to get Bigger.


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• What is our Revenue per Machine, Truck or Other Key Hard Asset?

• What is our Revenue per Employee?• Are Revenues Maximized per Employee or

Hard Asset… or can we do more with what we have?

• In Order to Fuel This Growth, How many more employees will we need? What new Hard Assets will we Need?


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• Money Requirements

– If more People or Equipment is Required For Expansion… How does it get Paid For?

– Several Options Exist:• Through Daily Operations & Cash Flow• Through Financing (i.e Bank, Finance Companies, etc.)• By Giving Up Equity (i.e. Silent Partner, Not so Silent

Partner, Joint Venture)


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• Where Will the Growth Come From?

New Customers

• New Customer Acquisition is Expensive– The Yellow Pages estimates that Cost per Lead can

vary from $80.00 - $500 per Lead.– Selling Expense once the Lead is Secured includes

Employee Time, Commission, etc.


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• More Business From Existing Customers

• Your Customers Already Know You– The Cost associated with expanding your

relationship is significantly less than new customer acquisition.

– An excellent way to guarantee yourself a predictable revenue stream while allowing your customers to do predictable expense budgeting.


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• Is Our Current House in Order to Achieve Growth?

• Is your Accounting System Set Up so that you know exactly where you are in terms of:– Sales– Expenses– Accounts Receivable– Accounts Payable– Cash Account Balances


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• One of the most important things that you need to do in business is to decide:– What it is you are going to do– With whom you are going to do it – How much you are going to charge,

– How you will get the word out to potential customers.


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• A common error among PCOs is trying to be everything to everyone. – Example 1: Bird work is a very highly specialized

area of pest control that can be extremely profitable. However, if you don’t have the skills to do that type of work, DON’T DO IT!

– Since it will probably lead to substandard work, bad feelings with the customer, and take time away from developing the type of service work that you want to develop.


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• In defining your overall strategy, the MARKETING MIX concept is extremely useful.

It is broken into four categories known as the Four P’s of Marketing:

– Product– Price– Place– Promotion


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PRODUCT - From a marketing prospective our product is our service. We need to define:

• The Quality• The Features• The Services• The Warranties• etc.

• From a standpoint of practicality, it makes sense that as we grow our business we need to be uniform in our Service Plans.

• As our customer list grows, it will become extremely difficult to manage a business where every customer’s service is different. Thus, in defining our services we should design a core group of services that are standardized.

• All of our technicians can be trained to work using standardized methods. In addition our office staff is not faced with differing problems with each customer.

• STANDARDIZATION OF SERVICES IS KEY!


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PRICE– Pricing is extremely important.– You need to price for profit.

Remember our discussion on Breakeven Analysis…

Understand how high the bar is

that you are trying to reach!


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PLACE – Service Area Defined - In designing our business we need to

define our service area. Again, if you go outside of your service area, you need to charge a lot more money in order to account for the travel time.

– The most profitable pest control companies have very well defined service areas. In fact, each office has sub service areas for each route. Sound routing methodology needs to be employed.

– At this point we should note that you should have well-defined service areas that you will not breach.


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PROMOTION • This is getting the word out. It’s is not my intention to

speak about all of the promotional concepts of marketing a pest control company.

• However, we should be able to track our advertising in our computer system and generate reports that will tell us which advertising works and which does not. – Promoting your company through advertising is the single

most important thing that you can do to build your company.– However, too much of the wrong type of advertising can sink

your company quickly. By tracking which advertising is working through your computer system, you can build successful advertising campaigns that deliver RESULTS.


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Evaluating The Market• We have a huge advantage in surveying the market to see if our

new business (“added service”) is viable.

• Captive audience / response rate no matter what you do will be hire than if you were starting a brand new business.

• Understanding the demand for your service – We can literally get the same type of information as a focus group by doing telephone surveys.– These surveys can be used as a marketing tool to sell our services.

• Once we determine how many customers are interested, we can do accurate revenue projections using our customer database.

• If we determine that there is demand for our service to our existing customer base we can then roll it out to the world.


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Test and Implement

Business is an ongoing experiment... suggested method of rollout:

• Go Slow – make sure that operational issues are sorted• Choose a select group of customers

– Be honest and let them know you are testing (perhaps offer a discount). In computers this is called “beta testing”

• Get Feedback on how the entire customer experience worked out• Take note of customer feedback and implement constructive

changes• Retest the service implementing those changes• Once you feel that you have a winner, roll it out to your entire

customer base• Roll it out to the rest of the world (within your geographical limits)


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Your Next Step…

- PestPac & QuickBooks Online Integration & Reporting- Monthly Conference Call to Help Improve Your Results- Year End Financial Reporting- Year End Tax Services

If your CPA doesn’t know Your Industry…YOU DON’T NEED HIM!

Daniel S Gordon, CPA [email protected] 973-300-0288www.pcobookkeepers.com


Orlando, FL

And For Super-Charged PMP Business Growth…

www.pmpwealthbuilders.com

• Best Coaching in the PMP Industry• Monthly Newsletters & Conference Calls• Manuals & CD’s Covering

•Operations•Accounting•Marketing•Management

• The McDonald’s Franchise System For Building a PMP Firm Without Paying 1 MILLION DOLLARS!!!


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CONTACT US TODAY!

973-300-0288 www.pcobookkeepers.com/growyourbiz

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