Episode Overview
Branden Dickey is a mile-a-minute entrepreneur with one caveat in his approach to business. The CEO of LocalRoofs and Owner of Conejo Heating, Air, Plumbing, and Electrical doesn’t like to drive very far.
He prefers to work in his own backyard (not literally, of course).
How did he manage to quickly skyrocket sales to $40 million from $1.2 million – while staying in a 30-mile radius – after taking the business over from his father?
Vertical integration. Getting multiple work orders under one roof.
“When I got into the restoration, I didn't realize how much work can be done and captured in one home based upon a relationship,” Dickey says.
He has an unusual way to mark the variety of work his companies do in a home.
“I go through a home and I brand it like billboards,” Dickey says.Whether it’s a garbage disposal, water heater, air conditioner, electrical panel, whatever it is.”
You can’t brand a countertop or a shower, obviously. But everywhere else, you’ll find his bunny rabbit mascot. Dickey says parents ask for extra stickers for their kids. He even gives out stuffed animal bunnies. Competitors see them and instantly know who they’re up against, Dickey says.
Along with the branding concept, Dickey says his wide-ranging companies are aided by economies of scale.
“When you move fast, there's no secret sauce,” he says. “There is spillage. Yeah. And you gotta maintain culture and your product. You're gonna have some spillover on the finance side…but once you get to a point where it's leveled out, you come back and refine it.”
Dickey’s also a proponent of transparency. A business should have a destination, and everyone should know what that is. There should be no secrets about the destination.
And perhaps, just perhaps, that’s easier to accomplish when your business service area is a 30-mile radius.
Branden Dickey recently joined ServiceTitan’s Jackie Aubel on the “Toolbox for the Trades” podcast, which included Dickey’s thoughts on:
[10:08] How every new vertical in your business acts as an “interior billboard” in your customers’ homes
[18:33] Bringing a new level of professionalism to the roofing industry
[28:13] Why contractors need to adopt an efficiency mindset and measure everything
[39:28] How ServiceTitan streamlines workflows in multiple business verticals
[47:33] Hiring the right people to make up for your deficiencies
Check out these resources we mentioned during the podcast:
To hear more stories from the trades, subscribe to Toolbox for the Trades on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google, or anywhere you get podcasts.
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