Ideas & inspiration for business owners

Discuss ideas and opportunities with other business owners and dive into topics like financial management, marketing, hiring, team engagement, and more.

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JustineThe Pool Deck Community Team

published in Ideas & inspiration for business owners

Virtual Owner Meet-Ups — Don't Miss Out On These Discussions

We launched Groups in The Pool Deck to connect members with other entrepreneurs in their surrounding community to discuss topics related to owning a pool service business specific to their region. So, it's time to gather our group members, make introductions, and start having discussions to share learnings, collaborate on new ideas, and solve some challenges. If you have already joined your regional group, respond to the meet-up post in your group forum to save your seat and join this industry brain trust's initial gathering. If you haven’t joined your regional group yet, connect now so you don’t miss this opportunity to expand your local network – click here to check out the current groups. Discussion topics will be prioritized by the group but will include a mix of:Marketing strategy Employee engagement Customer experience Pricing Operational efficiencies Skimmer optimizationIn my experience, these discussions always provide so much value, so I hope you can make the time to join th

sharonburchSkimmer Verified Partner

published in Ideas & inspiration for business owners

NOW AVAILABLE: QuickBooks Online Course with Skimmer Integration

I am thrilled to announce the launch of a specialized QuickBooks Online course for Skimmer users, with a unique opportunity for the first people to register! By joining now, those going through the course will be actively shaping the course content by asking questions related to Skimmer usage in QuickBooks. These questions will be answered through personalized video additions to the course while giving you the answers to your specific questions. Additionally, exclusive live Q&A office hours on Zoom will provide further support and guidance. See below for course details and click the registration link for more information: Register Now Course OverviewTraining Videos and Checklists:How to set up QuickBooks to generate reports specific to a pool service business Custom Chart of Accounts for the Pool Service Business How to set up invoicing in Skimmer integrated with QuickBooks How to reconcile payments received in Skimmer in QuickBooks How to book income in QuickBooks (invoice or sa

JustineThe Pool Deck Community Team

published in Ideas & inspiration for business owners

On-demand access - Mindset Mastery: Overcoming Fear and Unlocking Pool Business Growth in 2025

Now is the time to get unstuck and step into 2025 with a clear, growth-oriented mindset! In this webinar replay, @nikiacosta sits down with @Michelle Kavanaugh, a seasoned consultant specializing in the pool industry, to explore strategies for overcoming mental blocks to support business owners in scaling their operations and setting goals that align with their vision.Watch to learn how to identify and tackle limiting beliefs to create a powerful vision for your business and develop actionable steps to achieve sustainable growth:A proven framework to shift from fear to confidence in decision-making Practical tools to set clear priorities and stay focused on your goals Insights into building systems and delegating effectively to free up your time Inspiration and actionable tips to take bold steps toward growing your business Also, check out the poll below and weigh in on what your biggest challenge as a business owner is right now. Here are the results from our live webinar:35% Recr

KtwoGeneral Member

asked in Ideas & inspiration for business owners

Skimmer for repair only

Hey community, I do Liners, repairs and landscaping only. Would skimmer be a good solution for The liner and repair portion of this. Any insight would be helpful thank you everybody.

Adam at Gregg's Pool WorksNew Member

asked in Ideas & inspiration for business owners

What is everyone doing to manage inventory?

Hey fellow pool pros!I was curious what everyone out there is doing to manage their inventory? Does anyone have any good solutions or systems that work for them that they would be able to share? Thanks!

JustineThe Pool Deck Community Team

published in Ideas & inspiration for business owners

Free Workshops to Fuel Your Business Growth in 2025

As everyone starts ramping up again for 2025, we’re offering interactive workshops in The Pool Deck on various business topics over the next few months. Led by our contributing experts, these sessions aim to help you with your planning and goal-setting by sharing their proven playbooks.Here are January’s workshops, click the links to get more information on what you’ll learn and to register:Mindset Mastery: Overcome Fear and Unlock Business Growth in 2025 on January 23, led by @Michelle Kavanaugh Future-Proof Your Plan: Exit Strategies and Financial Security for Pool Pros on January 28, led by @DavidSPL Attending these workshops is FREE, as our community is all about providing programming, expert insights, and resources. Additionally, we aim to connect you with your peers to support each member with access to industry knowledge, best practices, and product training. Plus, sometimes, you need a space to exchange ideas and find inspiration on your entrepreneurial journey, so you don

JustineThe Pool Deck Community Team

published in Ideas & inspiration for business owners

Between Two Stops Episode 4: Dressing for Success (and Comfort!)

In this episode, we chat with Sonja Sawyer of Revdup Apparel, a company that makes high-quality, lightweight, stretchy, and chemical-resistant branded apparel for pool professionals.Sonja discusses the importance of branding and the design process and offers a special discount for Between Two Stops listeners.Check out RevUp Apparel's eye-catching designs at www.revdupapparel.com and find them at an upcoming trade show!Plus, you can order this custom shirt they designed especially for Skimmer: ORDER NOW 😎Fully Sublimated Long Sleeve Jersey. UPF50+ with MaxDri Moisture ManagementListen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts or by clicking here 🎧 https://betweentwostops.com, or you can also view the video 🍿

CoastalbluepoolRookie Member

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When Is the Right Time to Expand a Pool Service Team?

Hi everyone,I’m looking for advice on expanding my pool service team. Currently, it’s just me and one employee (who is leaving soon to go back to school after two years). I handle all the repairs myself, but I’m also in the middle of taking over my father’s pool building company, which is taking up a lot of my time. My question is: How do you determine when it’s the right time to hire additional employees for service routes? I know it depends on business finances, but is there a guideline or rule of thumb for knowing how many service routes you should have before pulling the trigger?I want to make sure I grow responsibly while still managing everything effectively. Any insights would be greatly appreciated!

John NelsonNew Member

asked in Ideas & inspiration for business owners

Cash or Accrual?

Do you guys typically look at your P&L on a cash basis or accrual basis? Also, do you pay sales tax on a cash basis or accrual basis? Thanks!

JesTeam Skimmer

published in Ideas & inspiration for business owners

On-demand access: From 0 to 1000 Pools in 365 Days Strategies for Growing Your Pool Service Business

When it comes to growing a business, there is a LOT of information out there. And with so many different ideas floating around, it’s hard to know just how to go about it. To give pool pros some actionable ideas to help fuel growth, Skimmer recently chatted with Casey Graham, CEO and co-founder of Yummy Pools, and author of ‘The No BS Small Business Book’ to get his tips for growing your pool service business.In this webinar, Casey covers 5 strategies for growing your pool service business:1. Focus! Do a few things really well2. Don’t be afraid to give up control3. Think creatively about customer acquisition4. Take care of your employees5. Don’t be afraid of technologyWatch the whole webinar to hear Casey’s insights on how to grow.

KerrySSkimmer Verified Partner

posted in Ideas & inspiration for business owners

Get Ready for 2025: Financial Tips to Boost Your Bottom Line

Happy Holidays, Everyone!As we near the end of 2024, I hope you're feeling that sense of holiday cheer! I know the joy of this season can quickly shift to worries about how your business is doing and how you'll navigate the year ahead. But as I sit here, with the soft glow of white lights twinkling around my office window, I want this read to feel just as warm and inviting as my cozy setup, while also offering you practical tips that you can start using right away.The key to sustained growth and profitability is effective financial management. By streamlining your finances, trimming unnecessary expenses, and planning ahead for seasonal variations, you’ll set yourself up for success in 2025. In this article, I’m sharing four essential tips to help you boost your bottom line and confidently navigate the challenges and opportunities ahead.1. Get a Clear Picture of Your Current Financial HealthBefore you can improve your financial position, it’s crucial to understand where you currently st

JoeNew Member

asked in Ideas & inspiration for business owners

Marketing by Pool Monopoly

Considering using Pool Monopoly. Does anyone here use them? What’s been your experience?

JustineThe Pool Deck Community Team

published in Ideas & inspiration for business owners

On-demand access - Harnessing Financial Insights to Maximize Profits in 2025

As we look ahead to 2025, Skimmer’s @nikiacosta sat down with our Pool Deck’s QuickBooks expert @sharonburch to discuss how to prepare your financial reporting to improve the tracking of your business performance and success in the new year. They overviewed how these reports will empower you to make strategic, data-driven decisions that will improve your overall financial health. BONUS—Register now for @sharonburch’s hands-on workshops on December 18, 2024, or January 15, 2025, to learn more about setting up your reporting with QuickBooks and Skimmer. Feel free to invite your bookkeeper and accountant so it’s easier to take the next steps together.REGISTER NOW Watch the on-demand recording to learn about:QuickBooks Best Practices: Customize for accurate and actionable reports. Key Metrics You Need: Track profit and loss across services, repairs, and chemical sales. Automated Financial Tracking: Maximize Skimmer’s QuickBooks integration. Tax Season Made Simple: Maximize deductions

Happy PoolsGeneral Member

posted in Ideas & inspiration for business owners

Automating Your Business- What do you do?

I have been working a lot on automating different parts of my business to streamline it. We are pretty small now with 3 techs but as we grow I want to limit the amount of support/admin staff we need, so I’m working on it now. What have been the most impactful things you have done to automate your business??What is one thing you would automate if you could, but haven’t been able to figure out? For me the most impactful has been automating lead follow up. I have workflows scheduled in my CRM to send text messages and emails at certain intervals for the first week after first contact. It has made a big difference because it’s less sporadic and people get followed up with without me having to remember to follow up. One thing I haven’t been able to figure out is how to automate the entering of receipts into quickbooks. I know there are tools that can enter the general data but I am looking for something that can look at each line item and decide if it’s chemicals, a part, gas, etc. I have

JustineThe Pool Deck Community Team

published in Ideas & inspiration for business owners

On-demand access - Proven Paths to Scaling Your Pool Service Business: A Panel Discussion

This week, Skimmer’s own @nikiacosta hosted a panel discussion with three distinguished experts, each with a proven track record of successfully servicing hundreds of pools. Watch the on-demand recording to learn from their experiences and insights and how they are using Skimmer to scale and succeed!The best part is that we can keep the discussion going here in The Pool Deck, as we are lucky to have all three of our panelists as members!So tag our panel in this post with your questions, and let’s keep sharing and learning from one another, as that’s what community is all about ✨Thomas Diaz aka @365Pools_77 , Founder of 365 Pools, serving Brevard County, Florida Chantel Dooley aka @dazzlepools , COO of Dazzle Pools, serving the Fountain Hills area, Arizona Kyle Peter aka @KPeter , Owner of Nevergreen Pools, serving the Sacramento area, California

Michelle KavanaughSkimmer Verified Partner

posted in Ideas & inspiration for business owners

Keeping the Main Thing the Main Thing in 2025: How to Stay Focused and Achieve Your Business Goals

Keeping the Main Thing the Main Thing in 2025: How to Stay Focused and Achieve Your Business GoalsAs a business owner, you’ve likely heard the phrase, “Keep the main thing the main thing.” But in a world filled with endless distractions, shiny new opportunities, and unexpected challenges, staying focused on your #1 goal can feel like an uphill battle.2025 is the year to change that. It starts with identifying your main thing—your top priority that will move your business forward the most. This could be scaling operations, improving profitability, building a stronger team, or implementing a game-changing system. Once you’ve defined it, make it the cornerstone of your business plan.Why It’s Hard to Stay on TaskMany business owners get sidetracked by the excitement of new ideas or the pressure of juggling day-to-day operations. Without a clear plan, these distractions can pull your energy in countless directions, leaving your most important goals unaddressed. The culprit? A lack of focus

JustineThe Pool Deck Community Team

published in Ideas & inspiration for business owners

What’s on Your Nightstand? Share Your Favorite Business Reads 📚

I'm curious to learn what business books you've read or are planning to read that have helped you navigate the entrepreneurial challenges of owning a pool service business and inspired a growth mindset, both professionally and personally.One of the most helpful ones I keep going back to is "Atomic Habits" by James Clear. Change can sometimes feel overwhelming, and I really like his framework for how small, consistent changes can lead to significant results over time to improve daily productivity and build better habits that stick. If you can get 1% better each day for one year, you'll end up 37x better by the time you're done!The other classic that still holds up for me is "Start with Why" by Simon Sinek. He breaks things down to a clear, actionable "Golden Circle" framework to help define your "why" and how doing so can transform how you lead your team and connect with customers.Sinek’s model helps to frame your company's future by establishing ground rules & intrinsic purpose fro

bradengeis6New Member

asked in Ideas & inspiration for business owners

What does everyone use for their vac? Riptide or Hammerhead?

nikiacostaTeam Skimmer

published in Ideas & inspiration for business owners

Between Two Stops Episode 3: A New Wave of Opportunity with Derek Callow of Swimply

Episode 3 of Between Two Stops is now available, and this time we’re joined by Derek Callow, the CEO of Swimply! Swimply is a platform that helps homeowners rent out their underutilized home amenities, primarily private swimming pools. This is presenting pool professionals with a new opportunity to create new service offerings to fit the needs of hosts, as safety and water quality are important considerations for hosts and guests. Listen in to find out more about Swimply, and how you can create service offerings to address the growing need for professional pool care of privately owned pools. Learn more about Swimply at https://swimply.com/ Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, or by clicking here: https://betweentwostops.com Or, view the video below! Have an idea for an episode? Drop a comment below or email us at podcast@getskimmer.com

JustineThe Pool Deck Community Team

published in Ideas & inspiration for business owners

QuickBooks reporting workshop—you need to join live to learn!

Last week, we had our first series of QuickBooks workshops with @sharonburch, and the feedback from those who could join us was extremely positive, as they all had practical takeaways they could start using immediately.Reminder: These are only offered as live events; no on-demand recording is available. So, if you missed the November date, don’t worry—more are coming up in December and January, so register now using the links below. And, if you aren’t sure if this workshop is a valuable use of your time, then check out this video for a summary of what we cover: To save your seat, choose a session from the options below and register using that link👇 All registrants will automatically be sent an email confirmation with the Zoom link, and don’t forget to add the workshop to your calendar 📅 Date: Wednesday, December 18, 2024Session Options: 1. Per visit invoice (chemicals added) - invoiced in arrears Time: 2:30 - 3:15 PM ET / 1:30 - 2:15 PM CT / 11:30 - 12:15 PM CLICK HERE TO REG

jpandlGeneral Member

posted in Ideas & inspiration for business owners

Pricing Presentation and Structure Matters/Change My Mind

I think that the way that you present the pricing to a customer matters. Specifically, in recurring services here in Florida. The two services here that have very dominate price presentation “ways of doing it’’ are lawn mowing and pool maintenance. Just look at the Skimmer Service Rate Index and you can see that 94.1% of all skimmer users are presenting with a monthly flat rate with chemicals included. Here in Florida when a customer asks you for your price on mowing or pool services, they are already expecting to receive a monthly flat rate number, with no asterisks or caveats. I like to think that this is happening in a Pavlovian way. Meaning that the customer has been trained or conditioned to expect the price presented in a specific way. I am not concerned with the “how we got here” in this situation, rather I wanted to discuss the history only so that we can solve the problem of how to fix the problem of flat rate pricing in pool service. I am new to the pool industry

AtlasPoolsGeneral Member

asked in Ideas & inspiration for business owners

Building your own direct mail list

Kudos to Skimmer for doing so much for the industry, not just in the product, but the webinars and other resources available. One marketing option that doesn’t seem to get much detail on is direct mail. My highest return has been in quality postcards sent to a very highly targeted, self generated list. Using software like Propstream (built for real estate investors), you can target exactly where and who you want to be talking to and create a list specific to your business. In my case, I’m looking for homes worth $850k+, with pools, in specific zip codes. You can be more precise and even draw out your target area if desired. I download that info, do some spreadsheet magic to dumb it down for Vistaprint then design a postcard and send out about 2500 pieces per mailing using Vistaprint’s inhouse mailing system. Not the cheapest way to go, but it is easy and relatively fast. Typical cost is $100 per month for Propstream (if you want to generate new lists often, otherwise buy a month then c

nikiacostaTeam Skimmer

published in Ideas & inspiration for business owners

Between Two Stops Episode 2: Building a Great Business with Eric Fotenberry of JobTread

In this new Between Two Stops episode, we chat with JobTread CEO Eric Fotenberry. Eric shares how JobTread was started and offers tips on building a great business through efficient processes, driving productivity, fostering transparency and communication, and knowing when and how to make necessary changes. About JobTread: JobTread empowers pool builders and rennovation pros with simple yet powerful project management and construction estimating software to help tackle projects more efficiently. Get organized, complete your projects on time, and increase your profits. Learn more at www.jobtread.com.Between Stops is available in video format on Youtube and via audio-only on all major podcast platforms. To subscribe, visit http://www.betweentwostops.com. Have an idea or want to be a guest? Drop a comment below!

JustineThe Pool Deck Community Team

published in Ideas & inspiration for business owners

On-Demand Access: Level Up Your Operation with Automation

In this webinar, @nikiacosta and our friends at Pentair joined forces to help you create a plan to leverage pool automation to grow your business.Here’s an overview of topics covered during their discussion:The importance of pool automation for the modern pool owner What automation solutions are available from Pentair Leveraging IntelliCenter® Upgrade kits to grow your business A Technical Introduction: parts and installation preview And much more!Click play to learn from the best and get some ideas and inspiration about how to take your pool service business to the next level 🍿 Scroll down for links to the rest of the resources and feel free to drop your questions in the thread below👇