Ideas & inspiration for business owners

Busy routes don't always mean a profitable business, here’s what every pool pro needs to know about their numbers: Full routes and steady revenue feel like success. But with labor, fuel, chemicals, and equipment costs still rising, more revenue doesn't always mean more money in your pocket. If your costs climb faster than your prices, your margins can shrink without you noticing.Niki Acosta sat down with Ryan Marcinik, founder of Happy Pool & Spa, Conor Chang, VP of Finance and CPA at Happy Pool & Spa, and Amanda DaSilva, Director of Payments and Expansion at Skimmer, to break down the financial fundamentals every pool service owner should understand. You don't need to be an accountant, you just need to know which numbers to watch.  Key takeaways: Aim for 45% gross margin and 20% EBITDA. Ryan's "guiding light" for a healthy service business is at least 45% gross margin and no less than 20% EBITDA. Keep overhead (SG&A) under 15% of revenue, and closer to 10% as you scale. Kn

Wanted to share what we're seeing across our client base going into 2026, because GBP rules have shifted hard in the last 12 months and what worked in 2024 isn't what's ranking now.I've audited 200+ pool service company GBPs in the last year. The companies winning the local map pack right now are doing things most pool companies haven't even heard of yet. Here's the actual playbook. 1. Service categories: Most pool companies use 1 or 2, you have room for up to 10Google lets you set 1 primary category and up to 9 secondary categories, 10 total. Most pool companies set up "Pool Cleaning Service" or “Swimming Pool Repair” as primary, maybe add one more, and stop. That's leaving up to 8 secondary slots empty.Add every secondary category that legitimately matches what you actually offer. For pool companies, the verified categories worth considering are:Swimming Pool Contractor (only if you actually build or remodel) Swimming Pool Repair Service Swimming Pool Cleaning Service Pool Cleaning S

We sat down with three owners who've done it for an honest conversation about the road to $1M, and learned that there's no single lucky break. It's a stack of smart decisions on pricing, people, and routes that add up over time. Watch the replay for real-world advice on:Why the business gets hard around 70–110 pools, and what to build before it does Tier-based pricing and points system for balancing routes Tracking why customers cancel, and the process to win back home-sale accounts Building a written advancement path that keeps good techs longer How to lower customer acquisition cost Live Q&A on hiring sites, acquisition costs, and target profit margins  👉 More resources for you: Presentation slide deck  Cancellation reasons chart Pool assessment tracker Career advancement path On-demand access to webinars featuring Casey Graham:  From 0 to 1000 Pools in 365 Days: Strategies for Growing Your Pool Service Business.  The 5 Revenue Stages of Pool Business Growth Double Your Prof

Not every integration actually saves you time. The right ones can eliminate duplicate work, reduce manual errors, and help your day-to-day operations run smoothly. We put together a guide highlighting what makes an integration valuable, what to look for when choosing one, and the questions to ask before adding another tool to your tech stack. Read the full article here: https://www.getskimmer.com/blog/pool-pros-guide-to-software-integrationsWhat integrations have made the biggest difference in your business? I’d love to hear from you in the comments. 

Google is retiring the standalone Local Services Ads dashboard. Starting with a phased rollout in early August 2026, LSA campaigns will move into the main Google Ads interface as a new campaign type Google calls Performance Max for pay-per-lead goals, with the migration continuing in waves through 2027. Google announced the change in its Ads documentation, and Search Engine Land covered the rollout details on July 20.For pool companies, this lands close to home. The first migration wave covers a small group of US advertisers in pet care, home services, wellness, and education, and pool service sits squarely inside the home services bucket. Whether your account moves in August or next spring, you will get advance notice from Google, and there is one thing you need to do before that notice arrives. We will get to it in a moment, because it is the only part of this change with a real deadline. Quick AnswerLocal Services Ads are not changing how they work. They are changing where you manag

 On July 23, 2026, Axios reported (Source) that Yelp signed a licensing agreement with OpenAI. Yelp’s reviews, ratings, photos, and business details now feed directly into ChatGPT’s answers, and Yelp’s Request a Quote feature is coming to the chatbot so users can ask a local service provider for pricing without ever leaving the conversation.If you run a pool service company, this is the most consequential change to pool service marketing since Google rolled out the Local Pack. A homeowner who used to type “pool cleaning near me” into Google and scan three map results can now ask ChatGPT “who should I hire to service my pool in Chandler” and get a shortlist, complete with star ratings, photos, and a quote request button.You are either on that shortlist or you are invisible. What Yelp and OpenAI Actually Agreed ToThe deal is a content licensing arrangement. Yelp supplies the local business layer, OpenAI decides how it appears inside ChatGPT, and Yelp branding travels with the content. Fi

What is your pool service business actually worth?It's not just your revenue, and it's not a number you can guess. So how do buyers decide?We sat down with Kris Wiig, CEO of Weld Valuations, to break down how pool service businesses actually get valued, and the moves that can add real money to your eventual exit, at any size. Exit planning isn't about selling tomorrow. It's about understanding what you've built and giving yourself options, whether you sell in a year, hand the business to your kids, or just want the freedom to step away for a month. Most owners assume revenue sets the price. It doesn't. As Kris put it, "just looking at your annual revenue, your EBITDA, in and of itself is not going to tell you how much your business is worth." Plus, get your free business value assessment from Weld Valuations. Find out what your business is worth and the factors driving your value.  Watch the replay 👇  What you'll learn about how buyers value your business 👇 What your business is real

YOUR PHONE SALES ABILITY CAN MAKE OR BREAK YOUR BUSINESS! - AND MOST OWNERS / MANAGERS DON’T EVEN REALIZE THEY CAN IMPROVE THEIR BUSINESS BY SIMPLY IMPROVING ON THIS ONE SKILL.  We’ve listened to hundreds of phone sales calls and one of the biggest realizations we’ve had, is that the person responsible for taking those calls can drastically improve ROI on Ads or Inbound Leads just by doing some training and having a phone call game plan. This can dramatically impact your ability to scale the business, especially if the owner isn’t on the phones anymore. We know what the comments will say “I’m the best, I can close anybody”. And for some of you, that might be true, but for most of you, we can add a few steps to improve your process. While operators and managers are usually great at running the day to day and know everything about pool maintenance, most of them need a little help developing these important phone skills and systems. This was our framework that was very successful for us a

  Living in Florida means hurricane season is something we deal with every year, but I've noticed there's still a lot of misinformation about how to prepare a swimming pool before a storm.One of the biggest myths I hear is that you should completely drain your pool before a hurricane. In most situations, that's actually one of the worst things you can do. A pool is designed to hold water, and removing too much of it can create structural issues if the surrounding ground becomes saturated.Here's the checklist I recommend before a hurricane arrives:✅ Keep the pool at its normal operating water level (don't drain it). ✅ Test and balance your water chemistry. ✅ Raise chlorine slightly to help offset contamination from heavy rain and debris. ✅ Vacuum the pool, brush the walls, and empty the skimmer and pump baskets. ✅ Clean or backwash the filter if needed. ✅ Secure or bring inside patio furniture, umbrellas, floats, and pool toys. ✅ Remove loose equipment that could become airborne. ✅ If f

What separates a million-dollar pool company from everyone else? It's not longer hours, a bigger market, or being the cheapest. So what is it?We sat down with Hal Denbar, who went from one-poler to running a national operation he sold to private equity to break down what high-performing pool companies do differently, and how you can do the same at any size. Companies that cross a million dollars aren't grinding harder. They've built systems that capture every opportunity, create visibility across the team, scale without chaos, and keep cash moving to fund growth. As Hal put it, "you can run out of profit many times, but you can only run out of cash one time." Watch the replay👇  What you’ll learn about how million-dollar businesses operate differently👇Capture every opportunity:  85% of pool owners won't call back after they hit voicemail, and documented repair recommendations win more approvals, while most of your hidden revenue is already sitting inside the customers you have. Create

 Artificial Intelligence is quickly becoming one of the biggest technology shifts the pool industry has seen in years.On a recent podcast with Niki Acosta and Hal Denbar from Skimmer, we discussed how AI is beginning to impact pool service companies, customer communication, operational efficiency, and business growth.One of the most interesting takeaways was that many pool companies are still losing customers simply because they can't answer every phone call. Research across home service industries consistently shows that customers often hire the company that responds first—not necessarily the cheapest company or the one with the most reviews.With new tools like AI Phone Agents, pool companies can now answer calls 24/7, capture lead information, route urgent issues appropriately, and ensure fewer opportunities slip through the cracks.We also discussed how AI is helping pool companies:• Analyze business data using natural language questions• Improve customer communication• Forecast chem

In this first video of the AI series, I walk through how I’d set up Claude from scratch for a pool business and use it as a real operational tool, not just a novelty.I show how to start with a simple interview-style prompt so Claude can learn your business, services, tools, and workflow. From there, you can begin using it for things like upsell scripts, missed call and voicemail text replies, review responses, weekly Google Business Profile posts, and even winter revenue ideas.The bigger goal is to train AI to understand your business well enough to help save time, tighten operations, and support growth.I also touch on why it matters to feed Claude more context over time, including your writing style, customer communication patterns, and even real text or email examples so it can sound more like you.If you’re a pool pro who wants to start using AI in a practical way, this is a great place to begin. Create a free account at https://claude.ai. Watch the full video for the exact framework

What does it really take to run a tight operation when you're at full capacity? We sat down with Sarah Hoopes, Director of Operations at AE Pool Services, and a 10-year pool industry veteran who helped grow one company from 300 pools to 700+,  to talk through the real-world systems and habits that keep businesses running smoothly when things get crazy. Sarah has spent a decade in the pool industry, including 7 years helping grow a company from 300 pools and 9 employees to 700+ pools and 23 employees, and has held just about every role in a pool service business. The big idea she kept coming back to: efficiency isn't about working harder. It's about building systems that work for you — in the field, in the office, and with your team — so that growth doesn't just mean more chaos. Watch replay👇   We covered:Know your numbers — building a break-even model, understanding your true cost of service, and why cash flow (not P&L profit) is what actually keeps the lights on Price your servic

AI is rapidly changing how homeowners search for pool service companies — and the businesses adapting fastest are gaining a serious advantage.In this episode, I sit down with Jonathan Johnson and Ed Shahbazyan of Pool Profits (AKA ​@PoolProfits1) to talk about the future of pool service marketing, including SEO, GEO (Generative Engine Optimization), AI-powered search, customer acquisition costs, and what pool pros need to do now to stay competitive online.They break down:✅ How AI tools like ChatGPT are changing customer search behavior✅ Why traditional SEO alone is no longer enough✅ The future of AI-driven booking and pricing searches✅ How to structure your website to generate more leads✅ Real marketing budgets and customer acquisition costs✅ Why answering the phone quickly still matters✅ Common mistakes pool companies make with marketing✅ How to think about ROI, CAC, and long-term growthWhether you're an owner-operator or scaling a large route business, this episode is packed with pra

Busy season is here, and we know keeping your team going strong through it is one of the hardest parts of running a pool service business.Our team dug into the research and put together a post on what actually causes burnout, and more importantly, what you can do about it before peak season peaks.  👉 Read here 👈 What's your go-to for keeping your team (or yourself) from burning out during the busy months? Drop it below 👇

The pool companies that come out of the busy season ahead aren’t always the biggest. They’re the most organized. Join us for a free live webinar featuring Sarah Hoopes, Director of Operations at AE Pool Services, who will share the operational systems she uses to run a 725-pool, 23-employee operation efficiently under pressure. From go-back reduction and route optimization to cross-training and daily communication, this session is built for pool pros who want real answers about:Operational changes that save time at every stop Go-back reduction through training and inventory management Route optimization for efficiency and profitability Cross-training technicians to build resilient teams Communication and time management workflows for busy seasonLive Q&A included. Recording sent to all registrants.👉 Register now! About our guest:‍Sarah Hoopes is the Director of Operations at AE Pool Services, bringing 10 years of industry experience — including hands-on leadership of a company that

In this episode, I sit down with a familiar face in The Pool Deck, ​@Justine, Skimmer’s Director of Community!We explore why community might be the most underrated growth lever in the pool service industry. From her roots in the beer industry to building one of the most engaged communities in the pool service industry, Justine brings a fresh perspective on what real connection can do for your business and how that’s amplified with an in-person experience at the Skimmer Pro Summit.🎧 In this episode, you'll learn:Why community is a game-changer for business owners What makes the Skimmer Pro Summit different from traditional trade shows How real conversations with you peers lead to real growth The value of networking, mentorship, and shared experiences What to expect at this year's Skimmer Pro Summit in San Antonio (October 16-17!)Whether you're a solo operator or scaling your business, this conversation is a reminder that connection, not just technology, can take your business to the ne