11–20 of 201 posts
Consider being a platform coop with regional operators as members. See https://platform.coop/
GTM? Does that mean Get The Money? Assuming everyone knows your acronyms is just not a good writing style. Since I couldn't understand how s/w was going to get opossums out of anyone's basement, I think the correct decision was made: hands on! You deserve accolades for making this choice. Good Job! Like any physical trade, this is by it's nature a local only endeavor. So a web presence that is primarily visible to ge…
GTM is ubiquitous on the business side.
If you read his post, there's significant effort not "catching opossums" but waiting or churning through admin overhead - wasted time, which maybe he can translate into $. This much inefficiency is...common in many businesses.
GTM? Does that mean Get The Money? Assuming everyone knows your acronyms is just not a good writing style. Since I couldn't understand how s/w was going to get opossums out of anyone's basement, I think the correct decision was made: hands on! You deserve accolades for making this choice. Good Job! Like any physical trade, this is by it's nature a local only endeavor. So a web presence that is primarily visible to ge…
For residential / consumer markets, referrals are the gold standard and I agree to an extent about the local focus. A lot of PE (private equity) backed roll-ups result in a worse customer and worker experience as they try to force scale too fast.
Some PE companies will open a local market by initiating acquisition conversations with all local players, low ball everyone, buy some and for a short period dramatically reduce pricing to force the hold-out cohort to sell at an even lower price. Not good for communities.
The unlock to balancing scale and customer / worker experience is creating the right incentives for people to adopt the behaviors you're after. This is why bolting on SaaS or AI to established companies is tough, as the staff often don't want to change and will leave - which is bad in a tight labor market.
Searching for home services online is totally broken and is a tax on buyers and operators. HVAC contractors pay on average $600 for a closed lead from online ads, and close about one in four / one in five leads.
GTM? Does that mean Get The Money? Assuming everyone knows your acronyms is just not a good writing style. Since I couldn't understand how s/w was going to get opossums out of anyone's basement, I think the correct decision was made: hands on! You deserve accolades for making this choice. Good Job! Like any physical trade, this is by it's nature a local only endeavor. So a web presence that is primarily visible to ge…
I liked that you picked a service that has a relatively low barrier to entry. The real asset are local operators and referrals. Making them more efficient without being controlled by a big company would be a boon for everyone involved. Consider being a platform coop with regional operators as members. See https://platform.coop/
The operating license holder is also on the hook for legal action if (when) things go wrong.
"Control" is interesting and I have found in all trades that people value their freedom. The good companies don't monitor employees too tightly, and are rewarded with loyalty and longer tenures generally. Of course you have to run a good recruitment and referral process to find the good people!
I'd love if this ends up being he gets a 1m/y pest control empire going and quits tech startups as he prefers the sweaty kind.
I liked that you picked a service that has a relatively low barrier to entry. The real asset are local operators and referrals. Making them more efficient without being controlled by a big company would be a boon for everyone involved. Consider being a platform coop with regional operators as members. See https://platform.coop/
Yes, the barrier here is the desire to study and pass the exam. If willing, you are up and running relatively quickly - but only as a technician under someone else's operating license. To get the operator license (eg to be a full on pest control company) requires 2+ year documented experience and another set of exams. The operating license holder is also on the hook for legal action if (when) things go wrong. "Contro…
I'd love if this ends up being he gets a 1m/y pest control empire going and quits tech startups as he prefers the sweaty kind.
This is going to be the route for a lot of white collar people as they lose their jobs to AI.
GTM? Does that mean Get The Money? Assuming everyone knows your acronyms is just not a good writing style. Since I couldn't understand how s/w was going to get opossums out of anyone's basement, I think the correct decision was made: hands on! You deserve accolades for making this choice. Good Job! Like any physical trade, this is by it's nature a local only endeavor. So a web presence that is primarily visible to ge…
Interesting pivot. What I don't understand is how the SaaS software fits into it or helps grow a pest control company.
The software for businesses like this is tightly intertwined with operations. Hence, it's less of a SaaS and could be more like a franchise model.
Some franchising platforms (window cleaning is a good example) don't offer much beyond sales and marketing support and some nicely designed uniforms. There's not much to window cleaning other than basic equipment, so a person's route can easily be disrupted by a new entrant who doesn't have the franchise rake to contend with.
There's a model between employment, ownership and franchising that will probably emerge as sales, marketing, ops gets easier technically.