Owned and Operated - A Plumbing, Electrical, and HVAC Business Growth Podcast
by John Wilson · 403 episodes
BusinessEntrepreneurshipMarketing
Owned and Operated is the podcast for home service entrepreneurs who want to build larger, more profitable businesses.Hosted by John Wilson and Jack Carr, each episode features candid conversations with the founders, operators, investors, and industry leaders shaping the future of HVAC, plumbing, electrical, septic, roofing, restoration, and the wider home service industry.From acquisitions and marketing to sales, leadership, hiring, finance, AI, and operational excellence, you'll hear real-world lessons, proven strategies, and actionable playbooks from people who have actually built successful companies.If you're buying your first business, scaling past your next revenue milestone, or building toward an...
Latest episodes
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39 min
How One Man Turned Around a Failing $500M HVAC Company
How do you turn a failing $500M home service company into a profitable business in just three years?John Wilson sits down with the former operator behind one of the largest HVAC an…
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1 h 24
Stop Buying More Leads. Fix Your Home Service Sales. With Brian Burton
What if you could grow your home service business without spending another dollar on marketing?John Wilson sits down with Brian Burton, co-host of Waste No Day and creator of Blue…
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45 min
From $700K to $15M: How He Built an Electrical Business in 5 Years
From $700K to $15M in just five years. Shane Viggiani has nearly doubled his electrical business every year, growing from one truck to a 50-person operation in Las Vegas.John Wilso…
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56 min
What HVAC Owners Get Wrong About the Labor Shortage
The HVAC industry doesn't just have a labor shortage. It has a training problem.John Wilson sits down with Jennifer Manzo, HVAC business owner and founder of HVA-Chicks Coalition,…
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39 min
The Low-Cost Marketing Playbook for Home Service Businesses
You don't need a massive marketing budget to grow a home service business. You just need to find opportunities your competitors are missing.Jack Carr sits down with Sam Preston of…
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39 min
Why Profitable Home Service Companies Keep Running Out of Cash
Your home service business can be profitable on paper and still run out of cash.John Wilson sits down with Tyler Martin of Profit & Grit to break down where cash actually goes as a…
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55 min
How We’d Structure Home Service Marketing From $5M to $10M
What does the perfect marketing team actually look like for a $5M home service company trying to reach $10M?John Wilson and Jack Carr go head-to-head to build a marketing departmen…
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44 min
Why Home Service Marketing Breaks at $5M
Most home service companies think they need more leads. But as you approach $5M, the real problems are often attribution, capacity, booking rates, sales, and fulfillment.Jack Carr…
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27 min
The End of Google Search? How Home Service Companies Win in the AI Era
AI search is changing how homeowners find HVAC, plumbing, and home service companies.John Wilson sits down with Julie Phan of Big Reputation to break down how ChatGPT and other AI…
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43 min
The State of Home Service Marketing in 2026: Google Ads, Meta & LSA
What’s working in home service marketing in 2026?John Wilson and Sam Preston break down Meta Ads, Google Ads, LSAs, speed to lead, call centers, and how contractors can find their…
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36 min
How to Grow Your Home Service Business With Google Business Profiles
John Wilson sits down with Julie Phan, founder of Big Reputation, to break down how home service companies can use Google Business Profiles to expand into new markets.They cover ho…
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1 min
Owned and Operated with John Wilson | Podcast Trailer
John Wilson has spent the last decade growing a home service company from $1M to $53M in revenue.On Owned and Operated, John breaks down what it actually takes to build and scale a…
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49 min
The 2026 SBA Playbook: How to Buy a Business With 10% Down
The SBA rules for buying a business are changing in 2026. Here’s what buyers and home service operators need to know.Jack Carr sits down with Alan Peterson from First Internet Bank…
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26 min
What Is EBITDA? How to Value, Grow & Sell Your Home Service Business
What is EBITDA, and why does it matter so much when building, financing, or selling a home service business?John Wilson and Jack Carr break down EBITDA in simple terms, including h…
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51 min
Why Roofing Is a Beautiful Business: Marketing, Sales & $20K Jobs
What does it actually take to buy and grow a roofing company?Nicholas Riley left Deloitte to buy Driftwood Builders Roofing, a 20-year-old roofing company in Austin, Texas. After r…
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57 min
Ismael Valdez: How I Built a $108M Home Service Company & What I’m Building Next
Ismael Valdez built NexGen Air Conditioning & Plumbing from $0 to $108 million in just 6.5 years. Now he’s back on Owned and Operated to share the blueprint for his next $100M home…
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42 min
How We’d Turn $5M Into $10M in 12 Months
How would we turn a $5 million home service business into a $10 million company?In this episode of Owned and Operated, John Wilson and Jack Carr break down how they’d invest $1 mil…
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47 min
How We’d Start a Plumbing Company From $0 in 2026
If John Wilson and Jack Carr lost everything and had to start a plumbing company from scratch, what would they actually do?In this episode of Owned and Operated, John and Jack brea…
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60 min
There Are Millions Hiding in Your Customer Database
Your customer database might be worth more than you think.In this episode of Owned and Operated, John Wilson sits down with Faraday founder Alex Coleman to break down how home serv…
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25 min
How to Survive Slow Season in Your Home Service Business
Slow season doesn’t have to wreck your home service business.In this episode of Owned and Operated, John Wilson and Jack Carr break down how they prepare for shoulder season when i…