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Most home service businesses don't have a profitability problem. They have a leadership problem. In this episode of Home Service Roundtable, we sit down with Mike Disney, a business coach, speaker, and growth strategist who has worked with hundreds of home service companies. Mike breaks down what strong leadership actually looks like, why owners get stuck working in the business, and how better systems, people, pricing, and accountability can change the trajectory of a company. The conversation also covers the growth plateaus that contractors face, finding great talent, the future of sales, coaching, and the mindset required to keep growing. We talk about:

• Why leadership problems show up across every line of the P&L
• Why vision and core values are the foundation of leadership
• What leadership should look like at different revenue levels
• Why owners need to get out of the day-to-day and become CEOs
• The difference between managing a business and actually leading it
• Why leaders should produce growth and profitability, not just maintain the status quo
• How training and onboarding can replace the founder being in the field
• Why contractors need strong SOPs and accountability
• The daily KPIs Mike looks at to understand the health of a business
• Why every KPI needs someone accountable for it
• Why pricing is one of the biggest problems holding contractors back
• How the right people, onboarding, training, and compensation impact profitability
• Why many contractors think they're making 5% profit when they're actually losing money
• What contractors are wasting money on and how to vet outside advice
• Why coaching is an investment only when you're willing to implement what you learn
• The mindset changes required to get out of your own way
• Why gratitude can change the way business owners lead their teams
• The daily habits Mike uses to help owners focus on what actually moves the needle
• Why $1M, $3M, $5M, and $7M can create very different growth challenges
• Why $7M can become a major turning point for a home service business
• Why growth sometimes means saying goodbye to people you've worked with for years
• Why the talent pool isn't the problem and contractors need to change how they recruit
• How business owners can recruit talent from their own communities
• Why trades can offer young people a powerful career path
• Mike's prediction that traditional comfort advisor sales could change dramatically
• Why salespeople need to prove their value as technology changes the buying process
• The importance of humility and asking, "What if that's not true?"
• Mike's recommended book for business owners

Whether you're trying to break through your first million or scale beyond $10 million, this episode is about building the leadership, people, systems, and mindset required to keep growing. Watch the full episode to hear Mike Disney's perspective on what separates businesses that scale from businesses that simply stay busy.

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Most home service companies don't have a marketing problem. They have a tracking problem. In this episode of Home Service Roundtable, we sit down with Lou and Andrew from Add Leverage to talk about what it really takes to build a marketing strategy that produces measurable results. The conversation goes beyond generating leads and focuses on tracking the entire customer journey — from the first click and phone call to the booked appointment, sale, and long-term customer value. Lou and Andrew break down why marketing and operations have to work together, how contractors can identify which channels are actually producing profitable customers, and why relying on surface-level metrics like blended ROAS can lead to the wrong conclusions. We talk about:

• Why marketing and operations need to work together
• How to track leads from the original source through the sale
• Why a lead isn't the same thing as a booked job
• The key metrics contractors should track, including booking rate, close rate, average ticket, and customer acquisition cost
• How marketing strategies change as a company grows from $3M to $50M+
• Why contractors shouldn't blindly copy another company's marketing budget
• How Google Local Services Ads and lead aggregators can help smaller companies fill the board
• Why local community involvement and authentic social media can still drive results
• How much home service companies should actually spend on marketing
• Why there is no universal marketing percentage that works for every contractor
• The danger of relying on blended ROAS
• Why branded and non-branded traffic can completely change how marketing performance looks
• How a call center's answer rate can impact marketing performance
• Why contractors need to measure the entire customer journey
• How to maximize revenue from every lead and every neighborhood
• Why existing customers can be one of the most valuable marketing opportunities
• How CRM data can identify aging equipment and reactivation opportunities
• Why retention and reactivation should be part of the marketing strategy
• How outbound departments can turn missed opportunities into additional revenue
• Why speed to lead and continuous testing are critical
• How diversifying marketing channels can create more scalable growth
• Why the cheapest lead isn't always the cheapest customer acquisition
• How smaller contractors can compete without trying to outspend larger companies
• Why authentic, owner-led content can outperform polished advertising
• The importance of tracking every lead back to its actual source
• The marketing KPIs contractors should be discussing every week

Whether you're running a $2 million company trying to fill the board or a $50 million organization looking for the next stage of growth, this episode breaks down how to make smarter marketing decisions using real data instead of assumptions. Watch the full episode and learn how to track your marketing from the first lead all the way through revenue — and build a strategy that can actually scale.

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DESCRIPTION: At 19, Payton Patterson was already running jobs. Today, at 29, he's building P2 Electrical and Mechanical Contracting into a multi-trade business spanning electrical, plumbing, and HVAC. Payton started his first year doing roughly $150,000 in revenue. By year two, the company reached $500,000, followed by consecutive seven-figure years. Now, he's working toward the eight-figure mark while thinking far beyond revenue — focusing on EBITDA, company multiples, recurring revenue, vertical integration, and eventually development. In this episode of Home Service Roundtable, Payton opens up about what it takes to grow a contracting business while still being deeply involved in the work, the biggest bottlenecks holding the company back, and the lessons learned from nearly a decade in the trades. We talk about:

• How Payton grew from $150K in year one to seven-figure revenue
• Why bigger contracts brought bigger risks — and bigger rewards
• The biggest bottleneck in P2's growth: Payton himself
• Why reviewing every estimate and invoice can eventually limit scalability
• How P2 expanded from electrical into plumbing and HVAC
• The strategy behind becoming a one-stop MEP contractor
• Why Payton is focused on EBITDA and the multiple, not just revenue
• How recurring service revenue can affect the value of a contracting business
• The long-term vision for vertically integrated development
• How lightning damage can create a unique opportunity for electrical contractors
• Why social media is helping P2 attract both customers and potential employees
• How Payton's own Instagram helped bring a new employee into the company
• Growing up as the owner's son and learning the importance of accountability
• The relationship between Payton and his father after building his own company
• Why passion for the trade can be more valuable than rushing to get out of the truck
• The three daily habits Payton credits with making him more successful
• Why 30 minutes of silence every day helps eliminate loose ends
• How cleanliness and organization became part of the company's culture
• How P2 is using AI to monitor inventory and automate supplier quote requests
• The biggest leadership mistake Payton made by getting too close to employees
• Why business owners need to separate friendship from leadership
• How Payton learned to become more selective with hiring
• Why he wishes he had listened to mentors earlier
• How a devastating house flood and mold exposure changed the direction of his business
• How getting a GC license opened the door to development
• Why vertical integration became part of Payton's long-term vision
• The future of monitoring technology across plumbing, HVAC, and electrical
• How contractors can increase homeowner lifetime value beyond the initial installation

From running jobs as a teenager to managing a growing MEP company, Payton's story is a look at what happens when trade experience, entrepreneurship, technology, and long-term thinking come together. Watch the full episode to hear how Payton is building P2 — and where he plans to take it next.