Buyers and Builders
00:33:17 · Sam Allsopp, Mikk
[00:33:17] S1: We have been profitable every year. I'll say that. You know, a high growth doubling year over year and and investing a ton in the marketing and sales, sometimes that could burden your, you know, your profitability even a little bit, but... And it has. I mean, you know, we're not... We're... We were... We wouldn't quite be where we were if we were like, hey, we just wanna stay constant, grow five, 10, 15% a year. Like, obviously, we could be more profitable if we did that, but because we're growing so fast, we're constantly reinvesting into marketing that next month and kind of reverse engineering where we wanna land at the end of the year. So marketing spend and then just hiring ahead of of the curve is is is definitely important, and you gotta kind of decide as a business owner if that's you're comfortable doing that or if you wanna kinda just more so maximize profit and grow a little bit slower. We went the latter. But we've been profitable every year. This year, we're... We really doubled down on, alright, let's get this EBITDA to where we want it to be, and we've executed. You know, obviously, 36 to 50, not as much growth as we have in the past as a percentage, but we've been able to pretty much double our profitability and still still grow. [00:34:29] S0: Now can you share what what percentage per revenue have you have you spent on marketing and which moments you were, like, more confident, okay, let's let's go and spend even more, and which moments have been, okay, let's let's slow it down a bit?
00:34:29 · Mikk, Sam Allsopp
[00:34:29] S0: Now can you share what what percentage per revenue have you have you spent on marketing and which moments you were, like, more confident, okay, let's let's go and spend even more, and which moments have been, okay, let's let's slow it down a bit? [00:34:42] S1: We average around 7%. So marketing as a percentage of revenue is around 7%. That's obviously like an average over over the entire year. So we're looking at seasonality. We're looking at demand. We're constantly looking at our at our cost per lead, cost per booked appointment, cost per opportunity, return on ad spend. So, you know, some months we might shoot up to 12% if we're really, really pushing it and trying to fill that backlog, and then we might pull back and try to close the backlog in. But, yeah, we we typically will average around 7%. I don't know. I mean, I've heard so many different preferences on what that number should be. I think it's so specific on your vertical and your territory and what you're doing, but... And how fast you wanna grow, but that's that's worked for us. [00:35:30] S0: Maybe I ask, but when you come into the office in the morning opening your laptop, your computer, what are what are the first things you're you're looking at? And and when you see something good, something bad, what what are you gonna do next?
00:35:45 · Sam Allsopp
[00:35:45] S1: Good question. I mean, this morning, it was what is our what is our calendar look like today for for appointments booked. Right? So, like, that's one of the biggest drivers. If I can hold my cost per booked appointment to where I kinda know I want it to be, you know, so that's obviously the second thing I would probably track is what we spend yesterday, how many appointments did we book. As long as my opportunities that day kind of land at that target, and this is something we said at the beginning of the month, we just literally divide our way from our goal, then divide our way back to, like, what does every single number need to be for every single KPI every every day and hold the leaders accountable to that, but as long as my opportunity is on the board that day are on track and and going towards our goal, as long as my average ticket and my close rate can maintain, I should be good. Right? I should end the month and and hit hit the goal that we set, and if it's not, okay, what do we need to do? What do we... How do we... How are we gonna catch up? Can we catch up? Do we have the capacity to catch up? Right? Do we need to hire more salespeople? Do we need to increase marketing spend over here? Right? Do we need to push harder on our pipeline? How... What does our sales pipeline look like right now? Are we doing the follow-up required to hit the close rate that we need to hit? So it's really just... It's that. I mean, yeah, to answer your question this morning, it was what what does the board look like today?
00:37:00 · Mikk
[00:37:00] S0: What have been some of the realizations for for yourself when when going through this process of starting a small business and growing to where it is today? Like when you look at the day to day, obviously, responsibilities, the people, but on your on your personal side, what what has been something, like, significant which you would which you would bring out?
00:37:22 · Sam Allsopp
[00:37:22] S1: It's hard because when you're in it every single day, you know, you don't really realize, like, how far you've come. Something that I've been working on a ton just personally, I I I don't know this 100% the the question, but, like, I'm very much so... I I set a goal that feels like a a contract that I make with myself, and then I have to go fulfill it, and then I have to move on to the next contract. And I don't even get a second to be like, hey. We're we're now on track for 50,000,000. We were at zero five years ago. Right? So, I mean, something I'm working on is just trying to enjoy the process a little bit more, not be as intense. You know, still obviously holding everyone accountable, but, enjoying the process a little bit more, understanding that this business, roofing, home services, it's not always up into the right. Like, it's not always going to just be a perfect slingshot to, you know, where you're trying to go. You're gonna have days where you're thinking what the heck is going on. Right? And and a little bit of that is good. You need to you need to have... You need to care. Right? You need to go dig in and see why your booking rate wasn't where it needs to be, why your close rate's not where it needs to be. But trying to have a little bit more softness and kinda compassion for the journey and and confidence that, you know, we... We've proven that we can continue to do this, so there's no reason to get too too too caught up on a day to day basis. But, yeah, I mean, looking back to Sam five years ago, I would probab... I mean, I said I was gonna do this. It's just pretty cool that it actually happened.
00:38:45 · Mikk, Sam Allsopp
[00:38:45] S0: What comes to mind if I say incentivizing people, like hiring and incentivizing people, and what have [00:38:51] S1: you learned [00:38:52] S0: maybe over the years?