SUCCESS STORY: HVAC Success Allows Charity to Prosper
by Kyle Gargaro
March 16, 2010
Wesley Holm (holding left side of check) and his company contributed $22,470 to the Disabled American Veteran organization, and will be making this an annual fundraiser.
Many contractors join AirTime 500 because they are drowning in their business and need a life preserver. Wesley Holm joined AirTime 500 because he wanted his already successful business to be taken to the next level. For Holm, the next level meant having a successful company that enabled him to do more than just earn a living and provide a great place to work. He wanted to be able to contribute to his community.
How does someone get from never having worked at an HVAC company to operating one so successful that he can fulfill his dream of philanthropic community involvement? In 2005, Holm teamed up with AirTime 500. Holm got involved in HVAC by way of an accounting degree from the University of Cincinnati.
“After those four years, I knew one thing for certain: There was no way in hell I wanted to be an accountant,” Holm said.
Enter the HVAC field. His father had retired but wanted to take a stab at purchasing a tiny HVAC business whose accountant was also the head of the University of Cincinnati accounting department. The company was doing gross sales of $183,000.
“My dad learned in a very short time that he did not want to be involved in this at all. He brought me on board as an indentured servant. I bought him out shortly thereafter. We were the one-room heating company — literally. We worked out of one room. We could not afford the ‘g’ in those days, so we were just a heatin’ company,” Holm joked.
That is when the AirTime 500 light bulb went off at a Profit Day event.
GIVING BACK
Wesley Holm
With a business that is now a finely tuned machine, operating with AirTime 500 programs, Holm has discovered the time and money to spend on himself. But more importantly, he uses his standing to give back. Take, for instance, the recent fundraiser for the Disabled American Veterans.
Thompson designed a program for August and September, months Thompson Plumbing, Heating, and Cooling call their shoulder months, when it is more challenging to get calls. What the company did is add $10 to the price of a tuneup and $50 to the price of every piece of equipment. It set that money aside for the organization, and at the end of those two months, they had $22,470.
“It was pretty cool. We had budgeted for $18,500, so it really exceeded our expectations,” Holm said. “It put us at a national contributor level. We presented them on Veterans Day with the biggest check they have received this year. The outpouring from the community was incredible. Two television stations broadcasted live from the presentation. We had an open breakfast and over 150 veterans were there. The looks on their faces were incredible. We were on the cover of the Cincinnati newspaper the next day and were mentioned on radio stations and who knows what else — amazing how successful that was. We could not have bought that kind of press for four times that amount of money. We are going to make it an annual event.”
LOOKING FORWARD
Due to Thompson Plumbing, Heating, and Cooling’s success, Wesley Holm is involved in his community and is able to take two months off a year.
“This year we had 52 percent growth. There is something supposedly called a recession out there, but we have not seen it,” Holm said. “We literally took a vote a year ago [Sept. 2008] and voted not to participate, and we have not. Profits are up over 300 percent. Life is good.”
KEYS TO GROWING
Four AirTime 500 keys that Holm credits for his firm’s growth are planning, training, marketing, and sharing among other AirTime members.
Key 1: Planning. “Like Terry Nicholson says, ‘Plan your work and work your plan.’ One of their fantastic tools is the complete budgeting module — a total of 46 interactive spreadsheets for the HVAC side alone. It’s the most eye-opening experience a team leader can have. The first time we did it, it was a nightmare. We spent several months on it. Now after doing it a couple of times, it gets easier. It is incredibly productive. Without all this planning, there is no way we could expand at the rate we are.”
Key 2: Training. “We have been the AirTime Training Company of the Year in ’06, ’07 and ’08. We really believe in training. We have done more training in 2009 than ever before. We have a new service center. We have devoted a tremendous amount of space to training. This is a huge help.”
Key 3: Marketing. “On the marketing side, I can say that the AirTime tools work very well. About one-half of our marketing budget is direct mail — directly out of AirTime. Great stuff.”
Key 4: Sharing. “We have a smaller, separate group of AirTime members we call the “Profit Platoon” that gets together three times a year: the day before the expos. We book a private room for the day, set an agenda, and share. In essence, we talk about where we are most successful and our biggest challenges. We share ideas. We also send out financials once a month, line item by line item to the bottom line for every department. We have a spreadsheet with everyone’s financials. We can see who is knocking a certain aspect of the business out of the park, and we can call up and see how they are doing it.
“On top of that, we visit each other’s companies. If someone is starting something cutting edge, we go out and see it. Some companies have even lent out their staff to others in this group to help implement a procedure.”
“AirTime 500 works ... What else do you need to know?” Holm said. TSC
Kyle Gargaro
