From Zero to HVAC Hero: How Jack Carr Built a Thriving Business After Losing All His Employees

When Jack Carr bought an HVAC business in Nashville, he never expected to lose all his employees on day one. But through determination, clever tactics, and a willingness to learn, Jack was able to not only save the business but grow it exponentially. In just two years, he increased revenue 4x and is on track to hit $5 million in 2025. Here's how he did it.

The Rocky Start

After success in the wine industry and a lucrative exit from a Bitcoin mining venture, Jack decided to buy an HVAC business. He found a small company doing about $780,000 in annual revenue and purchased it for around $600,000 using an SBA 7(a) loan.

But disaster struck immediately. The day before Jack took over, the previous owner let slip to suppliers that he was selling the business. This caused all three technicians to quit, leaving Jack with just a part-time customer service rep.

"I was fairly furious," Jack recalls. "I just bought this business, I just paid a ton of money to get here, to move my life - this is it."

But Jack didn't have time to dwell on his anger. With no employees and customers still calling, he had to figure out how to run an HVAC business - fast.

Becoming the Technician

With no other options, Jack decided to become an HVAC technician himself. He woke up at 3:30 am every day to study HVAC basics on YouTube. Then he'd go out and run 3-7 service calls daily.

"It's a sink or swim moment and I'm putting in the work and the hours to know," Jack explains. His engineering background and electrical troubleshooting experience helped, but there was still a steep learning curve.

For four months straight, Jack worked 11+ hour days learning and doing HVAC work. It was grueling, but it allowed him to keep the business afloat and gain invaluable hands-on experience.

Smart Acquisitions Fuel Growth

Once Jack got his feet under him, he started looking for ways to grow quickly. He realized acquiring other small HVAC businesses could be a great opportunity.

Within 6 months, he found a $600,000 revenue HVAC business for sale. But instead of paying hundreds of thousands, Jack was able to acquire it for just $12,000-$13,000.

How? By focusing on the customer list rather than buying the whole business. Jack explains his valuation method:

"I take their last three years of customer base and I say these are customers that have called you or if you've called them and gotten out there in the last three years, these are your customers. I'm going to take 50% of that."

He then values those customers at his typical customer acquisition cost. This gives him a fair price while building in a buffer for customer attrition.

Jack made a similar deal a few months later, acquiring another small HVAC business for around $25,000. These savvy acquisitions allowed him to rapidly expand his customer base at a fraction of the cost of traditional marketing.

Retaining Acquired Customers

Of course, acquiring customers is only valuable if you can retain them. Jack implemented several tactics to keep acquired customers:

• Having the previous owner record a voicemail explaining the transition
• Sending text blasts, emails, and mailers to all customers
• Offering free maintenance visits to build trust
• Keeping the previous company's Google Business profile active

Through these efforts, Jack was able to retain 70-80% of acquired customers - far above the 50% he budgets for.

Mastering Digital Marketing

As Jack rebuilt the business, he realized digital marketing would be key to sustained growth. He focused heavily on building up Google reviews and optimizing his Google Business profile.

"Our storefront ends up becoming our Google business profile," Jack explains. "Everybody goes to Google, it's the one place we all meet to look at home service businesses."

In just over two years, Jack grew the business from 60 reviews to over 500. This dramatic increase helped them dominate local search results and fuel organic growth.

Key Lessons for Entrepreneurs

Jack's journey offers several valuable lessons for aspiring business owners:

1. Buy smart: Be wary of paying high multiples for small businesses without proper systems and processes in place.

2. Build it your way: Don't be held hostage by existing employees or processes. Build the business the way you think is best.

3. Acquisition beats starting from scratch: Buying an existing business, even a small one, gives you a huge head start over starting from zero.

4. Network and learn constantly: Join mastermind groups and network with other owners to accelerate your learning.

The Road Ahead

After growing to $3 million in revenue for 2024, Jack is aiming for $5 million in 2025. He's proven that with the right mindset and tactics, even the rockiest start can lead to entrepreneurial success.

For those looking to follow in his footsteps, Jack offers this advice: "Get in the game, play. No business is going to be perfect, just find one that works and then you'll be open to a slew of opportunities."

By embracing challenges, constantly learning, and seizing opportunities, Jack transformed a failing HVAC business into a thriving enterprise. His story shows that with enough determination and clever strategy, it's possible to overcome even the most daunting setbacks in business.

Article created from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhipYb3EjwQ