Episode 160: Know Your Costs - Business Tip of the Month with Bryan Banta of National Pool Partners
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Episode Summary
In today’s edition of Business Tip of the Month, we’re joined by second-generation swimming pool company owner Bryan Banta of B & B Pools.
With labor and many products in short supply and skyrocketing prices, it’s more important than ever to know your costs, including on a per-client or even a per-visit basis.
Listen in as Bryan gives his take on tracking and optimizing chemical usage. He explains the importance of having a system and focusing on margins if you want your business to thrive.
Bryan speaks on identifying problem pools and knowing which customers you need to fire. He then addresses the shortages and how the industry has adapted to newfound challenges and limitations.
Finally, Bryan touches on how to not let all of these rising costs run you out of business.
Topics Discussed
00:48 - A brief introduction to Bryan and B & B Pools
03:16 - Why is it so important to know your costs?
05:48 - Setting up your system to gain more freedom as a business owner
08:30 - Why is it so important to track chemical usage?
13:07 - Why do you need to identify problem pools?
18:20 - How pool professionals have adapted to the shortages
23:14 - How to not let costs run you out of business
Key Quotes From Episode
[Knowing your costs] has never been more important than it is right now. For years and years, we’ve enjoyed consistency and plenty of availability of the chemicals we use. We took a lot of that for granted. Now we’re having to really struggle with that around the country.
Great businesses fail not because of the business or the owner, but because of low margins.
Being able to identify those problem pools is equivalent to a price increase if you can get rid of them.
It’s an extremely challenging time in our industry. I personally think, five years from now, we’re going to look back on this and it’s going to be the best thing that’s ever happened to our industry, because a lot of companies are raising prices and those prices won’t come back down
