Anyone here in or know of anyone (friend/family) in the pool service business?! I'd appreciate an introduction if so. Just networking and wanting to ask some general questions about running and growing the business.

You already in the business?

Hit me up! I know a thing or two.

I may be a bit slow to respond, so apologies in advance.

Hdenbar at gmail

My buddy started his last year. He has about 65 pools right now.

My biggest piece of advice is if you're starting one, get ready to work hard.

If you're buying one, be ready to jump in and clean pools when one of your guys decides he's "sick" that day or no shows for work.

You're going to live and die by how well you keep the pool clean. Algae blooms will more than likely get you fired. My buddy's goal is to not only keep pools clean but to keep the water balanced on the LSI.

feel free to email me with any questions. I build & remodel pools but we do not service them.

corps.ag12 at gmail dot com

Where do y'all build?

What are y'all paying/charging for basic weekly chem service?

Nom de Plume said:

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What are y'all paying/charging for basic weekly chem service?

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That is a very nuanced question!

Pricing is VERY different depending on the market you're in. As an extreme example, our average monthly bill to a customer in Austin can be more than 2.5x our average monthly bill in central Florida.

Also, "basic chemical service" is vague. Are you asking about someone just coming and adding chemicals to your pool weekly or are you describing "full service" where the company cleans your pool, checks on your equipment, and balances the chemistry?

MPython43 said:

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Where do y'all build?

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We can travel but mostly west Fort Worth, Aledo, Benbrook, Granbury, Azle, etc

MPython43 said:

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We lose you Spider?

For context, I've gone from just me and a truck for the first five years in business to touching close to 20,000 pools per week in recent years.

Happy to help!

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This guy knows his stuff, we're on another Aggie site. Unfortunately I'm not in his area but I have a great pool team, husband and wife plus college age grandkids. Latter two do the work, husband comes to my place only for major problems, like a pump replacement. If they retire I'm SOL unless the grandkids take the biz, they're hard working kids going to TCU. Once you find someone be nice to them, give them water, Christmas bonus, etc. They have great stories of walking in backyards full of naked teenagers when parents are gone.

MPython43 said:

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We lose you Spider?

For context, I've gone from just me and a truck for the first five years in business to touching close to 20,000 pools per week in recent years.

Happy to help!

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Wow, that is awesome and congrats - that is a lot of pools. Did you grow organically or acquire some existing operations? Just curious as there seems to have been some consolidation in this service area like others in HVAC, plumbing, etc.

Regardless, that's awesome to get to that big of an operation.

For the OP, lots of advice on being prepared to work hard, deal with finnicky workers and even finnickier customers. We have been with our pool service guy for 15+ years and watched how he has grown from him just splintering off to the point where I regularly see his trucks around town. Good dude, hard working, honest and always on top of the water balance to ensure the pool is always at the ready.

Our good friends followed the same sort of path in the Mandeville, LA area by splitting off and doing their own business. They have done well financially and grew bigger at one point then trimmed back to achieve a balance with where they want to be both financially and with enjoying life. But they have always worked HARD, including cancelling at the last minute a visit with us because the office lady's husband passed and they had to circle the wagons both for the family of the lady but to keep the pools clean during the height of summer.

Best of luck. Seems like there are a couple of solid folks already chimed in to answer your questions!

MPython, I'm talking basic weekly balance, treat for algae bloom as necessary, backwash if necessary, empty pump basket and skimmers. Many weeks it's a 5min visit. I pay a little shy of $150/mo near Boerne.

Find Coach Sumlin, he had a guy.