Adding a second trade isn’t a revenue decision. It’s an operations decision, and that’s where most owners get blindsided. We assumed plumbing and electrical would run like HVAC. They don’t. Different processes, different management, different playbook entirely. If your primary trade still has headaches, you’re not ready. Sort that out first, then research the second one like your business depends on it. Because it does.
@officialchadpetermanTranscript
Adding a second trade looks great on a spreadsheet, and then Monday happens. When we've added plumbing and electrical, it adds complexity to the business that I don't know that we were expecting. We always thought, "Well, plumbing, it's just like HVAC." Well, electrical, it's just like the other two. Boy was I wrong. They're all completely different. Do they go together in some ways? Yeah, of course. Cross-selling sounds great, and this is going to add increased revenue to the business. All of these things sound great in theory. But they take time to develop different processes, different procedures. How are we going to run this job? Well, it looks a lot like an HVAC job, but maybe it isn't. Before you add a second trade, really think, really investigate what it's going to take to lift another trade. The other piece of that is, are you ready to add a second trade? A lot of businesses I see are not ready at all. They don't have the right management. They've already got a bunch of headaches with the primary trade. But your primary trade sorted out and then do a ton of research to figure out how to properly add the second.
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