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HVAC Masters of the Hustle
Episode #292- Gabe Garcia-Owner
00:33:04
HVAC Masters Of The Hustle podcast would like to welcome Gabe Garcia into the Hot Seat on Episode 292. On this episode Gabe talks about starting his HVAC company 2 years ago and his growth has been impressive! One of Gabes nuggests was when you first...
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- [00:02]
A
This is H Vac Masters of the Hustle with your host, Jacob Moneymaker.
- [00:10]
B
Looking at the city like I already own it.
- [00:38]
A
What is up? You are listening to H Vac Masters of the Hustle podcast. Here's your host, J Dub Moneymaker and welcome to episode 291 and I got a great episode. This episode is brought to you by the one, the only, the best thermostat out on the market, Nuva. And this is the thermostat that is made by the contractor for the contractor. You talk about personalized your brand and brand recognition in front of that client's face, retaining your clients as well as I saw a very cool thing today, sending personal messages. Meaning if you need a mate in a maintenance, a filter replacement, it is going to contact you and send you a message. Or you could also send promotions that you have going on. Maybe a complimentary water heater flush, it could be displayed as well as on the thermostat. And again, I'm super excited about this episode because this podcast we got a young hustler. We talk about grinding. First off, taking the leap of faith, right? This has been almost a two year journey for this gentleman. And you know, watching his journey the last years when I was introduced, it's been exciting because being a new business owner, I understand what the grind, the hustle is like. And this gentleman, I gotta say, he's making it look easy. Let's go ahead and welcome the one, the only, Mr. Gabe Garcia. What is up?
- [02:16]
B
What's up brother? How's it going?
- [02:18]
A
Good, good. So you are the owner and operator of Apollo Air located in San Antonio, Tex. And I gotta say man, you've been doing something really special the last couple years. I'm not gonna talk about it, I'm gonna let you talk about it, but talk to my listeners real quick. How did you get introduced to the trades of H Vac?
- [02:43]
B
Yeah, man. First off, thank you for having me on this show. You've had a lot of great guests and what you're doing for the industry, you've heard it, bro, and I know you're just gonna keep crushing it. As far as how I got my start, I'm actually third generation, so my dad owns another AC company in San Antonio. My grandfather was a. I love when.
- [03:06]
A
It'S generation after generation after generation.
- [03:09]
B
Yeah, my grandfather was a licensed contractor. My grandmother, I don't really count this one, but she built units for Frederick's Air Conditioning many, many years ago, you know, so it's always been in my lineage. Not what I planned on doing, I went to college, it didn't work out for me. Started in H Vac in 2019 full time. And I started with my father and helped him out through his operations. Got exposed to what we need to be doing there on a small level. Went through some really good programs like build a tech through Linux. You know, I don't hear that one too much out here in the trades, but that was a really good program that fast tracked me. And after that I took every class I went to. I took the back two pages of my notebook and I focused it on implementations to a certain degree. I started getting capped out and as much as I can implement with my dad's company. So I did decide to go look for bigger opportunities. So I started with the largest air conditioning company in San Antonio. And from there I was exposed to what a process can do, man. I was exposed to service MVP training and just implementing that little bit to my, to my game as service tech. It changed, changed my income. So after a year there, I started my air conditioning company in March of 2023.
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A
March of 2023. So let's, let's back up a little bit. So let's talk about one thing that you're doing right right now. Being a new company starting in just a couple years back. You're investing in yourself. You know, before we went live, we were talking about where you're at. You're in Orlando, Florida right now. You just invested, you and your team going out to an event. Let's talk about the event and investing in yourself and going to these things because you got to really understand by communicating actually what's possible from this event.
- [05:18]
B
Yeah, man. Ever since any event that I've gone to where there's other people around the country there, I pick up, I pick up nuggets, man. And I dedicate, like I said, the last two pages of my notebook to what I want to implement when I get back. And I've consolidated down to just like a top five, you know, that way I don't overwhelm myself. These events are real good at getting me out there as far as exposure to what best practices other people might be doing and that we might be behind on in San Antonio. So I do take that investment to, to better ourselves and get with better competition, man, because these are other service areas. So it's not like they don't mind putting us on game. And that's one thing about the trades though. It's. We've become a lot more helpful to each other than where we used to be, but especially when it's strangers, man, and it's people from around the country. You get to meet a lot of top performers. Some dude could be sitting at a bar and you don't know that he's operating a $65 million operation, man. They, they don't know who you are. So it's a good chance to get to know them and what they're doing and then bring some of those nuggets back home and implement them.
- [06:30]
A
Yeah, and one thing that you and I were talking about is that with the event that you just got done with, you were able to talk to another company that has been around for two years and they've been able to grow themselves to a six million dollar operations in the two years that they've been in business. And I always tell everyone these events are good because what they do is they allow you to see what's possible. Not just the networking, but just the communication of seeing what's possible within the trades of what other people are doing. Right. Like minded people surrounding yourself with winners that want to, to see the industry go up. And that's one thing that I want to talk about because a lot of people do go to these events. And Gabe, when they go to these events, they don't go back and implement. Right. One thing that you talk about is not overwhelming yourself, but taking five keynotes and going back and implementing those five things. So talk to the people about going to these events, but not just attending the events, going back and really, you know, putting in the effort and the work to start implementing these different things.
- [07:41]
B
Yeah, man. First off, shout out climate heroes in Atlanta. They're killing it. And it was a lunch. It's a bunch of strangers. They sat down, two co owners and they're killing it. And that taught me that I'm shooting a little too low. So I will say that's one thing, man. Set your goals higher. Whatever they are, push them even higher because it is obtainable and I guarantee you someone else is getting it done. If you're anything like me, it kind of pisses you off a little bit because it's like a little bit of fomo, you know, you could do it, so why not do it? As far as the events going to them and coming back to implement, there's a lot of partying going on, man. It's a good time, but you got to stay focused, you know. So I would go back to my room as soon as I was done and I would just digest it and think about it. You know, don't immediately get distracted by the events going on outside of it. Yeah, it is a great social opportunity, but naturally, I'm an introvert anyways, so I have no problem going back and just getting focused and thinking about what I just heard and what I just indulged. And like I said, writing it down, figuring out where I need a. Where I need to implement this and where our weak points are. So, look, be very introspective when you're hearing these other people talk and focus on where that could be applicable to you and your organization. The other thing, though, man, is don't compare yourself to others, bro. You know, whoever it is listening to this, don't. When you go to these events, you're gonna see guys that are just killing it. Don't. Don't beat yourself up, man, because they're. They're there. They put in a certain level of work that you might have just didn't, you know? So you're going to these things to better yourself, and as long as you implement it, by next year, you could be there too, man. So don't beat yourself up when you go to these events and you realize you really ain't. But that's okay. So these guys weren't either at one point in time.
- [09:42]
A
Yeah. And I like that mindset, right? How do you. You know there's there As a business owner, right, you take a lot of beatings weekly, daily. How do you shift your mindset or your team's mindset? Being a new owner, what have you find or found to work to develop your team.
- [10:09]
B
Man, really, it's leading by from the front, you know, you as a owner, operator, especially these early years, they got to see you out there, boots on the ground. So first and foremost, I am an installer. I'm a service tech. I'm a maintenance tech. Do I plan on doing those things for another three to five years? Absolutely not. But I do want my guys to see that I'm right there with them, you know, elbows to elbows. That way, they're that much more receptive. I need my guys to be able to respect me on a level where they know they can count on me. Whether it's with their family, personal lives, or work lives, they know they can count on me as a brother number one. From there, it's a lot easier to have them receptive and buy into our culture. And I tell them, you know, hey, man, we went to this event, and I'm sending them pictures while I'm here. I'm like, I'm So excited to get back and implement with these, bro. Implement this with you, bro. Because we're going to kill it. And they're on board, right? So you give them that vision, direction. They know we're out here looking to improve our company and they're fully bought in because they know they're going to reap those direct benefits.
- [11:17]
A
Yeah, I like that. Now also, you know, you being a new company, one thing that you said is that you wear a lot of different hats, right? Install service, probably answering the phone, dispatching. Have you sat down and created an OR chart of what it would look like within your company, of what positions you need to step out and what those roles would look like to bring someone in?
- [11:45]
B
Yeah, absolutely. And that's coming to a theater near you very soon. We got nine employees currently and good job employees. Teammates, man, you know, you hear that a lot. They really are teammates. They're like family. And yes, we are departmentalizing as we speak. So we have two service techs, two maintenance techs, a lead installer, we got an office manager, right? Everybody has their role in position to free me up, to free Matthew, my partner up. So that way we can focus on either pushing the company forward, handling day to day operations or doing what we're good at. And for some of us, that sells, you know, getting out there and getting opportunities and closing them for high average tickets. You know, I, I don't limit myself from being on a sales call either. Whether that's via Zoom, whether that's having flip texts that qualify my time and they know my time is valuable to make sure it's a qualified lead, I think that's real important. So I don't limit myself from getting out there on a sales call either. And nor do I plan on doing so in the next year or two. That's something I think I will still maintain. And wear that hat.
- [13:04]
A
Absolutely. You know, one thing that I want to talk about is as a new business owner, it's really hard to start hiring people, right, to envision growth. Maybe some of the listeners are at that point where they've been doing business and they're still in a truck. Maybe they're a one truck operation, maybe they're a two man show. And they're at the point where I see the growth, I see the vision. I also think that. Hang on, sorry. I see the growth, I see the vision, but I also am fearful, fearful to, to bring on a family because if I bring someone on right, that's another family to feed as a business owner. So what Was the process like, like when was Gabe able to figure out, like, all right, now's the point where I could bring someone on because that's a hard decision to, to start bringing people onto your business, having people understand as a startup what your vision looks like.
- [14:08]
B
Yeah, that is a great question. That's actually one of my favorite points right here, Jason, and reason why. My family is going to be good regardless, bro. They're going to be taken care of. But when somebody else trusts me with their family, that's huge to me. So I got a guy, man. My goal was to have a six figure employee this year. He's going to clear six figures, six months, he's cleared 75 grand. So he's definitely on track to clear his role. He's got a, he's got a mortgage, he's got two kids and a beautiful wife. They're taken care of, bro. And that's my why right there. Now, as far as getting them to trust me, he's coming from the largest AC company in the nation. You know, he was their lead installer in San Antonio. He trusted the vision. He saw what we are doing over here and he really didn't want to miss out on that. He wanted to get boots on the ground early. And any of the guys that are here with me today, they all trusted me and took that leap of, leap of faith with me. And I don't, I don't think of that lightly, man. I don't treat that lightly. And those are all going to be as long as they want it to be. They're going to be my day ones, man, and they're going to grow with us. They're going to come up to the top with us and they see that vision, they see that direction. They have a plan. So it's a lot easier for them to operate day to day knowing where they're going to be going tomorrow, you know what I mean? So it wasn't, it wasn't too hard to get them to trust us to come on board because it was, it was going to happen. Irregardless, man, we're going to make it. And if you want to come and get it, let's do it, bro. And let's have a great time on that journey. So they were excited for that and to see it day to day. They love it, bro. Just a bunch of hustlers that are bought into that vision and I can't wait to see where we go together as a team.
- [15:54]
A
Love it. I love it. We're so, I know that you're third generation. One thing that I noticed is you have a great vision, a mission and you guys have a great logo, brand, everything like that. Let's talk about your branding and what it looked like before, you know, second to third generation, first. Second to third generation. Talk about what the company look like and what the growth look like as well.
- [16:20]
B
Yeah, man. And real quick on employees and teammates. I will warn you for like a young business owner who might be listening to this, you know, before you get employees, don't be afraid of it. Number one, you got to have the leads to be able to support that. So figure out how you're managing your leads and getting them and know what levers to pull in order to get them more work. But the work will always come. God will always provide, man. As long as you're doing the right thing.
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A
Amen.
- [16:47]
B
Your employees are there. It's like, it's like a ball of energy that just builds up. It's gonna be there. Now as far as logistically like, you know, business wise, hire a peo, hire a adp, someone to manage your payroll. Don't get stuck with these payroll taxes. That's a lot of. That's a big mistake young business owners make. I know it's not, I know it's boring. It's not something some might want to hear, but somebody may need to hear this because you, you'll definitely around and get stuck with six figures.
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A
Find out.
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B
Yeah, man. So hire, hire professionals to help you manage your pay your employees. It's an investment to feed. Don't look into that, man. They're saving you time, energy and headaches. So get that in place before you hire anybody. And if that's not in place, get you some subcontractors and figure out with your CPA how you're going to pay them properly and start there. Back to the branding. Yes, we're a kick charge client, you know, so we started with the best early. And the reason why is I am building this company to sell. Regardless if I sell or not, I'm building it to sell. And for some firms, that's literally a check on their boxes. Are they a kick charge company? Because companies that have a brand, it could be kick charge, it could be condivided regardless who it is, a brand, a story, a theme, it's going to take you very far very quickly. It's going to reduce your cost per lead significantly and it's going to make you seem a lot bigger than you actually are very quickly. So one thing I'll touch On the brand. I'm at Disney World right now, man. The restaurants, right, it's space themed. The menu, space theme, the drinks, everything is themed. So whatever your brand is, theme your company, out with it. So we're Apollo Air. So we're space themed. Out of this road service, our maintenance plan is the Cosmic Care membership, right? Our installs their rover, Celestial Voyager, whatever it might be.
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A
I love it.
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B
Yes. Create a brand. It doesn't have to be your last name and sons, right? It can be the most random, bro. But as long as you can create a centralized brand around that, it'll be a lot easier to grow into it. So that's what we did. There's no attachment to ApolloAir. I just created that and we branded around it because it was easy to be space themed. So mainly focusing on a theme that you can blow up and have adhesion to the customer is going to take you a lot further, a lot quicker.
- [19:20]
A
Let me ask you a question, Gabe. What's the bigger impact that you want to create? So you have a great company, you're doing really well, you're helping employees, you're helping your community. But what is the bigger picture that you want to use your platform for.
- [19:41]
B
Man? It starts with my people, bro. I want them to do extremely well. I want to keep it, in a sense, I want to keep it small so we can share that wealth and. But in a sense I want, I got to start going out and getting more people already, you know, so we're going to start introducing strangers to the family. I want to be able to grow that family, man, and pick from the outside in, show somebody that the trades, it can really provide you a six figure salary easy within the first year, man. So I want to show myself my guys what's possible and have that deeper financial impact on the trades, showing people what they can do. Because that, when I had that and that light bulb click for me, man, it tripled my income, right? So it, it creates discipline, it creates a process, but it, the money is just the scorecard, bro. And it's everything that got them to their, their higher salaries. And money is not everything, but at the end of the day, I think that's very important to most of us.
- [20:44]
A
Absolutely.
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B
Just showing what the trades can do to our people, man.
- [20:48]
A
I, I love the mindset that you have about showing what's possible, right? Being able to triple your income and things like that. And that goes to my next question. You know, I want to talk about, we're, we're talking about dreaming and dreaming Big and what's possible. I want to talk about what are your goals and your visions for yourself rolling in or. Or as we're ending 2024 right. We should be starting to start envisioning and making our roadmap for 2025. What is your end goal and what is your goal going into 2025?
- [21:24]
B
Yeah. 2025. Yeah. Going into 2025. We just got on service titan so I want to get that fully polished out. We're transitioning from house call pro. Excuse me simply because we outgrew it tracking the data, things like that. So as we make that transition I want it to be completely fluid going into 2025. I want my office manager to be fully immersed in it. Know it like the back of his hand by the time it's ready to roll out. So that's number one getting our CRM on point. We are working with and this is again for anybody looking for new work. Man, look up clear result. They are going to partner with any metro utility provider for free tune ups. Right. So they're going to pay you 200 bucks in net 45 and they'll provide you hundreds, thousands of tune ups through utility customers.
- [22:19]
A
Who is this?
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B
That's clear result. So they work in San Antonio with CPS Energy and you become a trade ally. So it's a really good credibility statement man. You're involved with the utility provider.
- [22:34]
A
Only in the the San Antonio area. Is this nationwide?
- [22:38]
B
It's nationwide. They work in several metros. So I would look up whoever's listening to this, look up your metro clear result and see if they're in your city because they very well may be. We've turned over several jobs from those leads. You're going to get paid 200 bucks net 45. So it's better than a $69 foot in the door. You're going to have to buy your imanifold equipment but it's still good to have. It's good to. It shows value for the customer, for their, their clients or yours and which they become your clients anyways and it's going to show you everything. I don't want to get into what imanifold does. Most people know but it's a really good opportunity. So I want to hire two more maintenance techs to handle six more leads a day through that because I can, I can email someone right now and get 600 plus leads to my, to my portal and we've already flipped multiple of those to twenty thousand dollar units and we've gotten customers for life through It. So that's, that's one thing because being a new company, I don't have thousands of memberships to hit on. Right.
- [23:46]
A
I think this is impressive and I think this is gold right here for all you companies. And I'm sorry I'm cutting you off, but yeah, please. Me being a, a new business owner, I haven't heard about this. Right. And so I'm always talking about being a student. So now, Gabe, you're teaching me and I'm going to have myself and my team look up clear results in my metro area because I mean, this is a great opportunity we're talking about.
- [24:15]
B
It is, man. It's not a home warranty. It's, you know, the clients may have a home warranty, but it's a lot better than a home warranty lead might bring you. Or even just a free tune up. Right? Just telling people, hey, a free tuna, please. Let me, let me come show you what I can do. You're literally getting invited into their home and it's still of no cost to them. So that is a really good program. I want to hire two more techs for that program and that's going into 2025. As far as going into the next year. And beyond retention, I want to focus on retaining my existing clientele. So we just ordered some home plates for the thermostats. Nuve. It's a great product. Smart ac, that's another one. You know, a lot of retention pieces that are out there. Whatever it may, may be, focus on the initial cost, whatever it is, the investment, if you see the ROI is going to be there, send it and commit to it. So that's what we're going to focus on is retention of our existing clients as we build. And we want to hit that really hard. That way we have a database to constantly harvest when we need it. Yeah, I want to grow to, to 7 million dollar company in the next by 2025. That's where we want to be at. That's. I raised my goal to that. But after Pantheon and being out here, I realized that's obtainable. So I want to get there by the end of 2025. That's where we want to be.
- [25:45]
A
I think it is very obtainable and I always tell everyone, dream big. Right? And I like that you are young because you and I are talking about, you know, you selling it, you're growing it to sell it as well as myself with royalty. Right. What my goal and my mission is is 1.5 first year, 3 million second year, then 6 million. 12 million. And then we're gonna flip it at 20. I want to have about Eida. We'll say about 18 to 20%. And then I'm. I'm hoping that the multiples go up and we could flip at like 14, 15.
- [26:25]
B
Yeah, man. And talk about the multiples going up. That just shows what the trades can do, right? We are appealing to white collar firms, too. People who have no idea what we do, but they know we're recession proof. They know we're Covid proof another pandemic is going to come, and it's going to be a great time for those that are ready. Another recession is going to come. It's going to be great for those that are growing. Right. So that's why I started. When I started, I didn't have my rent for the next month, but I had my license. I had just passed my licensing exam, and I prayed for that. So I was like, man, if God's going to bless me, I'm going to go all in on this. Right? Months, a month. As great as the trades were, Yeah, I was still month to month. It is what it is. But we went in all in on it and just grew it from nothing. I didn't even have a truck. I bought a $6,000 truck and probably did a quarter mil revenue out of that truck within the next couple of months. By myself, we did 760 the first year. Our goal this year was 1.8. We just cleared 1.6. And that was too low, bro. I should have. I should have shot that way higher because once I realized we were hitting our goals, all my budgets and marketing costs kind of stayed the same. You know, that company in Atlanta I was telling you about, they spent over 100 grand in marketing in June. Right. They weren't. They weren't afraid to bet on themselves. That was a little bit of a learning lesson for me is, you know, you. I'm spending 10% of what I want to make according to my goal, and we were hitting it. So why not just raise that bitch? You know, I got the brand, I got the process. We got the. We have. The quality of our workmanship is great. I mean, that is one thing I pride myself in. So why not bless more customers and get out there and get more market share in our area, you know, so I'm going to bet on myself big next year. We're going to have everything set in place, ready to go, and I'm excited for it. As far as exiting, man, talking about that real quick, if you're growing to sell. One thing I just learned, you know, you gotta talk to some of these PE firms if you can, you know, get some of their information and ask them what they're looking for. That way you can build. It's just like a test. That way you can review for your test if you want to sell it, see what they're looking for. So you can do it year over year.
- [28:43]
A
Yeah.
- [28:44]
B
But also look into what it's going to be like for when you do exit. That way you can build your company out accordingly. If it's a platform company, like a ars, Right. You're going to stay on board for a while. And if you just wanted to sell and just get out, that's going to kill your valuation a little bit.
- [29:01]
A
Yeah.
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B
So if that's the case, get you a person, a gm, someone that you're going to train up to pass that torch. Yeah. That way that is your, your exit strategy there. You're leaving them with leadership. It's obvious, right? They want a good brand, they want market share, they want a leadership team. So you're going to have to develop and create that leadership, leadership team early. That way they're ready by the time that day comes. For those that are looking to sell in the near, you know, in the near term.
- [29:31]
A
Yeah. You know, Gabe, I mean, you're absolutely just spitting it out right now. Dropping fire, dropping bombs, man. As a new owner operator. For those of you that are listening, that are thinking about starting a new company, or maybe you're in the season that you just started a new company. Everything that Gabe is saying is things that y'all need to start taking action, start investing in yourself, start implementing, start with the little wins. Right. It doesn't have to be the big wins. You don't have to over show or prepare or compare yourself to somebody else. You know, Gabe, as we're ending this podcast, I always ask, you know, what is it that you want to get out of this episode? To the business owners, dispatchers, CSRs, technicians, installers, sales professionals, what's the big message?
- [30:24]
B
Yeah, man. To the business owners, like I was saying, don't compare yourself to others. You're gonna have to put your ego aside on a lot of things. You don't need that fancy office, bro. You don't need that training facility yet. You got two employees, you got three employees. You don't need none of that yet. You're gonna get there and it can happen quick. You can build that up quick. Keep your overhead lean, keep everything lean. Don't go buy A bunch of vehicles at one. At one time. That will come where it's beneficial. Keep everything as lean as possible so you can bet on yourself to the technician, man, keep grinding. And when you start to have that entrepreneurial seizure and you realize you want to start, I will tell you, it's not. It's not for everybody. Until you're the best at what you do, don't even think about it. And one thing I will say is buy a house first. Get your credit right first, actually have a savings. Because if you want to buy a house, don't go start a business, because they're not going to like that change in income. You know, I know it sounds obvious. I know it's boring, but these are all learning lessons that I had, and I kind of wish I had waited a bit. I don't regret it by any means, but if I would have just been more patient, I would have been at least accomplished the more personal goals. And for everybody else, man, beyond work, the day that you're on right now, you prayed for that. You know, the moment you're in right now, you prayed for that. At some point, whether it's good or bad, be present. As business owners, it's really hard to be present, man. And that's something that I'm working on with two kids and one on the way is actually being present there for my family and being actually there whenever they're with me. So if your son comes, pulls you on the couch and wants to show you something, go put the phone down and just go be there. You know, that's. As business owners, it's really hard to do, but I would encourage everybody to focus on enjoying the time that they have here with them today.
- [32:10]
A
Absolutely. I mean, Gabe, I think you dropped some powerful messages in this podcast. It's an absolute honor to have you in the hot seat. You know, I just want to say for those of you that. That are starting out just like Gabe said, man, dream big, dream even bigger. Understand that skies is not the limit, man. You guys can go out there and conquer the world. And if y'all are in some type of dark season right now, just know, fall forward, don't fall back. Until next time. Y'all take care. Late.