The Ups and Downs of Fast Growth: Welcome to the Amusement Park of Home Services

Fast growth in plumbing, HVAC, electrical, and drain cleaning companies feels a lot like stepping into an amusement park. It’s loud, fast, unpredictable — and full of wild stories. Some days feel like you’re strapped into a roller coaster, climbing fast with adrenaline pumping. Phones ringing off the hook, vans rolling out before sunrise, customers lined up and grateful for the help. It’s thrilling, energizing, and the whole team feels like the business is on a powerful upward track. But just like every amusement park ride, the climb is followed by a drop. Growth isn’t just about the wins. It also brings some truly stomach-turning moments.

The Highs of Fast Growth

Growth means more opportunities: technicians secure steady work and the chance to learn new skills, owners see revenue increase, and the company gains credibility in the community. The energy is contagious, and when everything clicks, it feels like the team can handle anything.

The Pains of Fast Growth

Here’s where the ride gets bumpy:

Scheduling Chaos: When calls are flooding in, dispatch feels like a juggling act. Jobs stack up, technicians are stretched thin, and one missed appointment can throw the whole day off track.

Cash Flow Crunch: Growth eats money. More vans, more tools, more people…the bills arrive before the extra revenue settles in. It can feel like running twice as fast to keep up.

Training on the Fly: New hires come in quickly, and there isn’t always time for proper onboarding. That means technicians are often thrown into the field before they’re ready, and customers notice when service feels inconsistent.

Culture Strain: When a small, tight-knit team doubles in size, it’s hard to keep the same family feel. The risk is losing the values that made the company strong in the first place.

Burnout: Long days, back-to-back calls, and little downtime wear down even the toughest team. Owners and managers are not immune either. They are managing growth while putting out fires on a daily basis.

The Drop: Phones don’t stay busy forever. After a stretch of non-stop calls, there will be slower weeks. And when things suddenly get quiet, it makes everyone nervous: technicians worry about their hours, and owners wonder if the momentum and money are gone.

I remember one month where it felt like the ride was going full speed. Phones wouldn’t stop ringing, technicians were hustling non-stop, and everyone was running on adrenaline. Then, almost overnight, the calls slowed to a trickle. We double-checked the phones, thinking something was wrong with the lines, but no, it was just one of those lulls that always come after a surge. That’s the amusement park of fast growth: thrilling climbs, sudden drops, and the challenge of staying steady through both.

Finding Balance

The truth is, fast growth is both a gift and a test. The companies that thrive are the ones that don’t just enjoy the rush; they prepare for the turns. That means structured pricing, stronger systems, steady training, protecting culture, and pacing the workload so the team and owners alike don’t burn out. Because the ride doesn’t stop, phones will ring off the hook again, the vans will roll non-stop again, and the team will feel the energy of the climb. The key is being ready so each turn of the track takes you higher than the last.

A Ticket to the Ferris Wheel

Rodney Koop, our founder’s, book Why Won’t They Pay Me What I’m Worth? Uses powerful analogy: throwing money at problems is like buying a ticket to the next ride on a Ferris wheel — you go around and around, but never really move forward. Fast growth can tempt owners to spend their way out of chaos, but without addressing the root issues — pricing, systems, training, culture, and workload — the ride repeats. If you want to break the cycle and build a business that earns what it’s worth, this book is a must-read.

Grab your copy here: https://www.amazon.com/Why-Wont-They-What-Worth/dp/1548509965

Want to Chat?

Give me a call at 706-309-1978.