How many times has a technician said, “I think the owner is getting rich!”? There’s an interesting perception that hvac business owners must be raking in the cash. Is that true? In this post we’re going to break down the true cost of running an HVAC business. RELATED – 11 Things to Know About Commission Based Pay for Service Techs
Well, I have the answer and I’m going to share it with you.
Let’s look at the business model for a residential air conditioning and heating service company as an example. This example will work for your plumbing or electrical business as well.
Pull a dollar bill from your pocket. That dollar represents a dollar of HVAC business revenue. You are going to be using that dollar in this exercise.
Can you answer the following questions with precision?
It’s interesting that when I do this exercise with technicians, most techs think that the owner keeps up to half the money brought in! Which would mean that if the company does one million dollars, the owner would get to take home up to $500,000.00 a year. However, that is far from the truth.
Now we are going to look at the true cost of running a typical residential heating and air conditioning business. We are going to do this by breaking down every penny of the dollar.
I’m no mathematician but I believe that leaves 6 cents.
At 6% profit, on a million dollar company the business owner gets to keep $60,000.00 if everything goes well.
Keep in mind that this doesn’t take into consideration the risk of running a business. Nor does it take into consideration the years of non-profit that it takes to grow a business.
While 6% profits or less is normal, it is not the goal. Our goal at Service Excellence Training is to keep our clients at a 15% net margin at minimum. We do this through ongoing front line training as well as business consulting to maximize opportunities.
As a technician this should hopefully answer your question if you are getting your fair share of the pie.
Check out this guide to Super Simple Financials, or download this Free Infographic now.
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