Meet the President: Successaholic Drinks in the Sweet Nectar
by Kyle Gargaro
April 26, 2010
In almost any field, the most successful business people give at least some thought as to what their legacy will be when they are done. The HVAC industry is no different, and contractor Lenny Siers in Niceville, Fla., is building a legacy of which anyone would be proud.
“We all want a legacy. We want to spend quality time with our family as the kids grow up and make sure they are on the right side of the fence. You want them to be a productive asset of society,” said Siers.
The pillars on which Siers is building that legacy include working harder than everyone else, being the first to help those in need, and spending quality time with his family. “I have never worked a day in my life. I have found that performing work activities in my work environment is my life,” he said. “It has allowed me to live my life to the fullest by helping others and making a difference. I believe the more you help others, then the more you will find life helping you. If you help enough people get what they want, you will get what you want.”
Siers brings his enthusiasm and leadership style to his newly elected position as president of the One Hour Heating & Air Conditioning franchise. And, like most good leaders he has seen both sides of success.
Siers is very happy with the side of the road he is on today. But, not that long ago he was searching for a smooth superhighway instead of a rutted out trail that everyone else had been following like a herd of cattle — including him.
After seven years learning about the HVAC trade in the Air Force, Siers decided to become an HVAC contractor. He opened his business in 1995. The only problem was that although the Air Force taught Siers how to turn a wrench, they did not teach him how to be a business owner.
For more than a few years, Siers was seeking answers about running a business, but didn’t find the answers that would help him. “I could not find those answers anywhere. Every rock I looked under, I found nothing,” he said. “I did all the wrong things like getting into new construction residential and new construction commercial, and tried to follow what everyone else was doing. I lost a lot of money. I worked real hard and I did a good job, but I did not understand the way to manage numbers and people.”
All that changed in 2001 when Siers opened up a piece of direct mail from Jim Abrams at AirTime 500. After going to a Profit Day, he joined the organization and for the first time, he found the guidance and wisdom he needed to become a successful contractor. Siers made the jump to opening a franchise in June 2005 with the One Hour Heating & Air Conditioning brand. The payoff was almost immediate. “I was looking for one uniform way, like we had in the military, where everyone had a common goal and a common purpose,” said Siers. “I hired the right people, got a lot of training, and as a One Hour branded business owner, I started seeing success on both my bottom and top line.”
After joining One Hour, his company really took off. In 2006, they did $1.6 million worth of business with a healthy bottom line of 7 percent. In 2007, Siers did even better when his revenues doubled to $3.2 million with a bottom line of 11 percent.
“We increased the top and bottom line at the same time by using the system and brand, and initiating a multilayered marketing plan that I have lived by ever since,” said Siers.
What makes these numbers even more impressive is the market in which Siers is accomplishing this. There are only 66,000 households in his county. That is really getting a lot of money out of a small community.
GIVING BACK TO THOSE IN NEED
While Lenny Siers enjoys the working experience, he still has an opportunity to get a good amount of family time.
Although Siers moved back to Niceville a year later for family reasons, his experience with Clockwork helped prepare him for his latest endeavor — to be president of the One Hour brand. This is the first time the franchisees have elected presidents, who will serve two-year terms, for the respective brands. “Being able to be president of the brand allows me to help others while at the same time support my family in the manner in which it would be balanced in my life,” said Siers. “It feels good to be chosen by my peers. I spent 60 hours the first week on the phone and on e-mail doing the presidential position tasks of helping others and working on a plan of how to grow the brand and make sure every one of our franchisees achieves success.”
Since it is the first time One Hour has had a contractor president, there is a lot of work to be done. Siers is working with the support and management team at Clockwork Home Services to help develop a franchise support system to ensure success by polishing or improving current systems. He is working together with the home office to make a good system even better.
The contractor has a pretty simple litmus test to find out if he will have a successful run as president. “Did our consumers win? Did they see a better product? Did our brand win? Are we out there with a stronger message building our brand? And finally, did our franchisees that have invested in building the brand — the time, the money, the resources — win? If all three are in a winning situation, then my time in the presidency is highly successful. If any of those three lose, or don’t succeed, then I have not done my job,” said Siers, who added that the great part of his new presidency is that he can step away from his own business because of its proven track record as a well-oiled machine.
Siers believes that there is no great secret to success, it lies in hiring good people and letting them to do their jobs. “I have allowed my management team to mature and do what I hired them to do. I give them the opportunity to succeed on their own. You need to let your employees grow and step up to the plate,” he said. “I am able to dedicate 100 percent of my time to being a president without any distractions from my company because I have hired the right people and coached them the right way by following the One Hour system to the point where it is automatic. It is a smooth running, profitable organization.”
The company had revenues of $4.8 million in 2009.
So while others use the extra time One Hour has provided to travel the world, the never-stop-working Siers has used that time to help others. “One Hour has provided me with financial security for my family and my kids’ families. My only vice is that I have no limits on helping others and working. Life is too short to be working around people you don’t like or doing something you don’t want to do.”
Kyle Gargaro
