On October 7, American Service Partners announced it was bringing together home service companies across more than 15 states. The group includes A-One Refrigeration, John Stevenson Plumbing, and Howze Plumbing, along with other businesses that have served customers for generations.
What caught my attention wasn’t the size of the deal. It was something American Service Partners plans to bring to these companies: real-time performance management. In plain English, that means using business numbers to find problems, spot opportunities, and make better decisions.
It reminded me of Elmer Zubiate, an HVAC business owner we worked with at DataTurk. He learned the value of that approach while he still owned his company, and more than a year later, he sold it for significantly more than it would have been worth before.
He also became an investor in DataTurk.ai. But what makes his story interesting is that he didn’t need new software or a better dashboard to get started.
Elmer Had the Numbers. He Just Didn’t Know What They Could Be Worth.
Elmer ran Elmer’s Home Services, an HVAC company that also handled other trades. Like most owners, he had customers to serve, employees to manage, and problems that couldn’t wait.
He also had software full of reports. The numbers told him how his business was doing, but they didn’t tell him which improvements could make him the most money.
That’s where we helped. We used the numbers he already had to find opportunities, estimate what those improvements could be worth, and help him decide where to focus.
He didn’t need to fix everything. He needed changes that made sense, to see what worked, and to keep improving.
Your Dashboard Shows You the Numbers. What Are They Worth?
Suppose your HVAC company closes 40% of its estimates. You know you’d like that number to be higher, but how much would a small improvement actually be worth?
Let’s say you give 2,000 estimates a year, with an average sale of $2,500. At a 40% close rate, that’s $2 million in yearly sales.
Now move that close rate to 42%. You’re only closing two more jobs out of every hundred estimates, but that’s another $100,000 in annual revenue if your estimate volume and average sale stay the same.
Of course, that’s revenue, not profit. You still have to pay the cost of doing those extra jobs, but now you have a dollar amount to work with. You can decide what that improvement is worth to your bottom line and whether to pursue it.
That’s something your dashboard probably isn’t telling you.
You Don’t Have to Earn an A to Make More Money
Most owners know their businesses could be better. They also know they can’t fix everything while they’re running the business.
That’s why we built UpScore around grades and the value of small improvements. If one part of your business earns a C, getting to an A might take years. But what if moving to a C+ could add $360,000 a year in profit?
That figure is just an example, but the idea matters. When you can see what moving up one grade could be worth, you can decide better where to spend your time.
And sometimes your worst number isn’t your best opportunity. A problem that looks big might cost a fortune to fix, while a smaller change somewhere else could put more money in your pocket.
UpScore helps you compare those opportunities in dollars so you can focus on the improvements that make the most sense.
Why Wait for Someone to Buy Your Business?
That’s why the American Service Partners announcement is worth paying attention to. Big buyers see value in using business numbers to guide their decisions, and they’re making that approach part of how they run the companies they acquire.
But you don’t have to sell your company to benefit from the same kind of thinking.
Elmer didn’t. He used the information he already had to find opportunities, act on them, and build a stronger business. More than a year later, he sold his company for significantly more than it would have been worth before.
Many things affect what someone will pay for a business, but Elmer saw enough value in DataTurk’s approach to invest. He’d experienced it as an owner before deciding to invest his own money.
What Could Moving Up One Grade Be Worth to You?
You may not be planning to sell. Maybe you want more profit, less stress, or a business that doesn’t need you to solve every problem.
Whatever your goal, your numbers may hold opportunities you’re missing. The challenge is knowing which improvements are worth your time and what they could mean in dollars.
That’s what UpScore is built to help you find. You don’t have to make your business perfect to make it more profitable.
Before you worry about getting an A, wouldn’t you want to know what moving up just one grade could be worth?
If you are curious to see how UpScore can help you like it helped Elmer, check out our 2 minute demo.
