My First Million
The best business ideas come from noticing what's working and doing it better, faster, or for a different audience.
Scale local service business from $13M to $140M revenue
Service business owners in HVAC, plumbing, electrical, or similar trades
7 yearsWhat Success Looks Like
10x revenue growth while maintaining service quality and building systematic training programs
Steps to Execute
Acquire father's existing $13M HVAC business in 2016
Systematically identify and address operational bottlenecks
Create 'Hoffman University' - dedicated training facility for employees
Implement additional holiday policies to improve retention
Scale through systematic process improvement rather than just hiring
Document and share learnings through content creation
Checklist
Inputs Needed
- Existing profitable service business
- Capital for training facility investment
- Willingness to systematize operations
- Long-term commitment to the industry
Outputs
- 10x revenue growth over 7 years
- Systematic training programs
- Industry leadership position
- Employee development pipeline
Example
“Chris Hoffman took over father's St. Louis HVAC company at $13M revenue in 2016, built Hoffman University training facility, implemented systematic improvements, grew to $140M by 2023 while sharing journey on Twitter.”
Related Knowledge
Audience-Accelerated Business Acquisition
Investment strategy where you buy existing profitable businesses and use your audience/influence to dramatically accelerate their growth rather than starting from scratch.
Influencer-Business Synergy Multiplier
Strategic combination where a mediocre-to-good business paired with the right influencer creates exponentially greater value than the sum of parts.
CEO Management Error Classification
Framework for determining when to intervene with hired CEOs by classifying potential errors as either fatal (business-ending) or non-fatal (learning opportunities).
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