We Saved $80K/Month After Fixing One Process (Our Biggest Mistakes)

he biggest HVAC business mistakes cost six figures — and most owners don't catch them until it's too late. In this episode of Owned and Operated, John Wilson and Jack Carr (CEO, Rapid Plumbing, Heating, Cooling & Electric) break down the real failures they made scaling their home service businesses — and exactly how they fixed them. From a $13,000 ad spend weekend that only produced $7,000 in revenue… to an $80,000/month purchasing leak hiding in plain sight… this is a raw look at what actually goes wrong when you grow a home service company. If you're running or scaling an HVAC, plumbing, or electrical business — this episode could save you hundreds of thousands of dollars. 📌 In this episode, we cover: • The $13K ad spend mistake — how poor capacity planning led to negative ROI (and the system that fixed it) • The $80,000/month purchasing leak — why tightening PO approvals instantly changed margins • Vendor pricing failures — how not renegotiating material costs led to six-figure losses • Software creep & silent expense bloat — the hidden $10K/month most operators don't catch ⏱️ Chapters 00:00 Intro — Growth updates & what's new 03:22 Slow season sales & market conditions 09:08 The $13K ad spend disaster — data & capacity planning failures 15:10 How to catch spending leaks before they drain your margins 17:36 Vendor pricing mistakes that cost six figures 25:15 Construction vs. service cash flow — lessons learned 45:10 Recruiting failures & the cost of scaling without a plan 50:32 The real root cause: data & process discipline 💳 Extra Special Thanks to Coast! Coast is the smart fuel card built for home service businesses. Set custom spend controls, stop fuel fraud in real time, earn rebates, and use it anywhere Visa is accepted — no more station restrictions or admin headaches. Want to see how much you could save? 🔗 https://coastpay.com/lp/ownedandoperated/ The Coast Visa® Commercial Card is issued by Celtic Bank. All card accounts subject to credit approval. 🛒 Extra Special Thanks to Contractor Commerce! Contractor Commerce turns your website into a 24/7 sales engine for service contractors. With guided pricing, online service and membership sales, and deep system integrations, your site pre-qualifies customers before the phone ever rings. Visit http://contractorcommerce.com/ Book a demo to see how Contractor Commerce turns your website into a 24/7 sales and qualification engine. 💼 Shoutout to Quick Staffers LLC Need trained HVAC & plumbing CSRs at a fraction of the cost? Quick Staffers LLC specializes in placing top-tier global talent with the best SOPs and scripts. 🔥 Get $500 off your first placement here https://www.quickstaffers.com/ 🎙️ Hosts John Wilson — https://x.com/WilsonCompanies Jack Carr — Rapid Plumbing, Heating, Cooling & Electric (Nashville, TN) #HVACBusiness #HomeServiceBusiness #PlumbingBusiness #HVACMarketing #BusinessFailures #ServiceBusinessGrowth #CashFlow #Contractors #SmallBusinessMistakes