How does a pest control business keep the cash flowing and employees paid and retained during the slow winter months? Host Dr. Christopher Fasano sits down with Scott Young, president of Certified Lights, to discuss how he successfully added holiday lighting services to his pest control business and eventually evolved from Certified Pest to Certified Lights. The two discuss the original company’s expansion into new branches, their sale to a larger pest control company, and evolution over the years into Certified Lights.
You’ll learn how Young added holiday lighting services to his pest control business after getting tired of laying people off during slow times only to struggle with hiring later. You’ll also see how that change led to unprecedented growth, and how it eventually led to the creation of a new business focused on training others to do the same.
In this Field Famous episode, Scott Young and host Dr. Christopher Fasano discuss:
6:28 From $400K to $2 million in five years and the evolution of Certified Pest
11:13 The next phase and pivoting to include holiday lighting services
15:03 How to expand into holiday lighting: training, margins, expenses, and more
17:06 Labor retention and growth during slow times, including the great recession
20:53 The Certified training opportunity
24:25 Lease vs. sell model by the numbers
29:20 The Certified Lights process and support model
35:10 Growing to sell and what buyers look for
Useful links from this week’s show:
The Pest In Class podcast from FieldRoutes is your destination for hearing insight, inspiration, and stories from fellow pest control industry leaders and entrepreneurs. Pest In Class host Amanda Salvatore will interview a new leader each episode as FieldRoutes celebrates the success of its customers while delivering software solutions to help them along their growth journey.