Playing the Penny Game to Guarantee Business Growth and Profitability with Patrick Long

Patrick Long has helped companies from a million dollars and up, and stresses that growth comes from a never-ending progression of figuring things out through experience and mistakes.

Put checks and balances and real processes in place — he'd rather a team member spend two days building an automated report than repeat a manual one-hour report every day.

Investing up front in systems and automation pays exponential dividends by giving you back your time and freeing you from the day-to-day of the business.

Win customer trust by asking plenty of questions about their concerns, educating them, and being honest and truthful rather than pushy.

The cost of plumbing and electrical services keeps rising as equipment and labor get more expensive, so your pricing has to keep pace.

Many owners and technicians fall into negative equity fast because they spend before accounting for all expenses — framing costs as monthly payments makes budgeting easier.

Recruiting should be treated exactly like marketing: use an 'ask' approach (à la Ryan Levesque) to learn what makes A players tick, and then sell them on the job.

You must keep score financially every week — know exactly what's coming in and out, when to cut advertising that isn't working, and when to cut employees who aren't performing.