Navigating the Transition: From Service to Retail in the Pool Industry

In this episode of Mondays Down Under on the Talking Pools podcast, host Lee, along with Shane from Pukka Pools and industry veteran Peter Legaz, delve into the intricacies of transitioning from service-based businesses to retail in the pool industry. They share personal anecdotes about their journeys, highlighting the natural progression many businesses experience as they expand their service offerings. Lee recounts her unexpected entry into the pool industry, initially starting as a mobile service provider before successfully branching into retail. The discussion emphasizes the importance of understanding customer needs, building strong supplier relationships, and managing data effectively to ensure a smooth transition and sustainable growth.

The conversation also touches on the evolving landscape of the pool industry, with insights into how businesses can adapt to changing market demands. The trio discusses the significance of data management, the challenges of staffing, and the potential for growth through diversification. They encourage listeners to view the pool and spa industry as a long-term career path, filled with opportunities for professional development and innovation. Overall, the episode serves as a valuable resource for those looking to navigate the complexities of business transitions within the pool sector.


Keywords

pool industry, business transition, retail, service business, data management, customer needs, staffing challenges, career opportunities, pool maintenance, entrepreneurship


Takeaways

"Moving from a service business to retail is a natural progression."
"Data is the most valuable part of your business."
"You should feel comfortable asking for the right advice."
"The pool and spa industry is a long-term career, not just a short-term job."
"It's important to have the right systems in place to avoid theft and mismanagement."
"Building strong relationships with suppliers can help your business thrive."
"Many pool builders are starting maintenance companies to capture recurring revenue."
"The job of a service technician is multifaceted and often undervalued."
"Good service is what customers want, not just the lowest price."
"You need to sell the industry as a career to attract new talent."


Sound bites

"Moving from a service business to retail is a natural progression."
"Data is the most valuable part of your business."
"The pool and spa industry is a long-term career, not just a short-term job."


Chapters

00:00 Introduction to the Podcast and Guests
01:02 Transitioning from Service to Retail
03:28 Personal Journeys in the Pool Industry
05:42 The Importance of Data Management
10:49 Challenges in Staffing and Business Operations
18:53 The Evolving Landscape of Pool Maintenance
26:07 The Multifaceted Role of Service

BufferZone
BufferZone has been created by a frustrated pool maintenance company

The Pool Shop Coach
an online store offering industry-specific business mentoring, coaching, and training programs

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:53

Good afternoon, good evening, good morning, good whatever time of the day it is. It is time for Mondays Down Under on the Talking Pools podcast. Thanks for joining us. It's great to have you here listening with us. My name's Lee. I'm the pool shop coach and I am joined today by Shane of Pucker Pools in Auckland, New Zealand, and our esteemed sponsor of the show, Peter Legaz from Buffer Zone. But today he doesn't have his buffer zone hat on. He is a longtime industry stallwart. Let's call you that.

SPEAKER_03 1:26

A veteran. Stall war's better than veteran. Thanks, Shane. If you're really old when you say veteran, it would be it would be not misguided and this uh you know misplaced in this context. So probably a veteran.

SPEAKER_02 1:37

Pete has worn many hats in the industry over the years. So um let's um jump into today's show. Hey Shane, how are you?

SPEAKER_04 1:44

Yeah, good, thank you. Good, good. Another day in paradise. I can't complain. A good topic today would be, yeah, as you mentioned, Lee transitioning. What sort of transitioning are we talking about here, Shane? We were uh we were actually looking into another business to buy last year. It was a mobile service company with a retail shop. We were thinking about expanding, and the price was good. One thing led to another, we ended up pulling out for multiple reasons, but it's still in the pipeline for us at some point. I thought um it'd be good to ask your opinions on this because you've both been in retail. Lee, you started from mobile service, moved into retail. Pete, I think you were just born straight into retail, pretty much.

SPEAKER_03 2:30

Yeah, by the time I was born, we already had the retail store as well as a service business for the pools. But uh yeah, so I was I was born into both of those. That's right. And then we dropped the retail later on for various reasons, but yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 2:44

So how that how did that go for you, Leo? I mean, starting from a service company, a mobile service company, and then moving into the retail aspect.

SPEAKER_02 2:53

Okay, so firstly, I was never meant to be in the pool industry.

SPEAKER_01 3:16

No drama. Green pool night let's do a filter gone, but we'll tell you straight, no worries, just trust.

SPEAKER_02 3:35

Okay, so firstly, I was never meant to be in the pool industry.

SPEAKER_03 3:39

None of us were supposed to be.

SPEAKER_04 3:42

But now there's qualifications, people are gonna start they're they're gonna stop saying that.

SPEAKER_02 3:47

Had anybody told me 27 years ago, or let's let's go a little bit further because I have now been in the industry 27. Let's say if you told me 30 years ago that I was gonna be in the pool and spa industry running my own business, I would have thought you were absolutely crazy. Um, so yes, it did start as a mobile service company. Um, I was actually in real estate, couldn't get anybody to look after the pools um on my rental um list. And went home and was whinging to my husband one night about it. And he went, Oh, I wouldn't mind doing that. So being a stickler, crossing the T's, dotting the I's, wanted to do things the right way. We um made inquiries and um went through sparsa and and all sorts of things over that transition period of finding out what we should do to start up. And we um did actually buy a little bit of a service run that was coming to our area. The guy was nearing retirement and um basically it exploded. So I ended up having to give up my job after 12 months. The plan was never for me to give up my job. I was going to stay in what I was doing. My husband was just going to have like a pool run that he was just going to do a couple of days a week and he was gonna stay at home and raise the kids. Well, none of that happened. I had to give up my job, ended up in the business well and truly entrenched, and love it. I wouldn't change it for the world. So while it wasn't what I had planned, it's definitely been um great choice for us, great lifestyle with the family. But yes, and then we transitioned from being a mobile service business into a retail store. We did actually have our service business about seven years. I call it the seven-year itch, seven years before we opened our retail store. We would have done it sooner had the right space been available. And yeah, the rest is history. 25 years later, or 25 years after we started it, we sold it. So it was a long run, a very successful run, and very profitable. So yeah, it was a good choice. BufferZone Systems are the pool and spa industry specialists with a complete range of software for pool shops, service companies, and commercial aquatic facilities. With more features and integrations than any other pool industry software, you really need to reach out for a one-on-one demonstration. Contact BufferZone today.

SPEAKER_00 6:15

That's bufferzone.info. UFFERZONE. That's bufferzone.info. What are you waiting for? Don't be a bludger go to buffer zone now.

SPEAKER_03 6:27

I think from yeah, I'm sure it's not reverse. Um, I think from what I see, I have to say that moving from a service business into a service and retail business is a first of all natural progression. And I see it quite regularly with my customers. It does become something that they do. For me, that is the uh the best option. If you're going from a pool shop and they're trying to add on a service business. Not that that's a problem, I think that that's also a good option, probably less likely. Most pool shops already have a service division on them, but I say I do see it quite often. And I I feel like if you get the right advice, it can be a really smooth, smooth transition. And that's I don't know when it's we're not spruking our businesses here, Lee, but that that's where someone like you would would come in perfectly for this sort of scenario. You've done this before, um, and and you've got a lot of industry knowledge and and all that sort of stuff. Um I when I again not specifically talk about my business, but but when I started buffer zone, I went, I'd been in the pool industry already at that stage for for decades. And I went to a fancy university uh and did a 10-day course over there about starting new businesses within existing businesses, right? Because I I wanted to educate myself on the pitfalls or the challenges or the like trying to foresee the obstacles. So I did this this stupidly expensive course. It was a great experience. But what you would be doing if you were doing this is not untrodden ground. What I was doing was probably a little bit out of the ordinary in in terms of going to a software business from a pool business. But what you would talking about, what we're talking about here, is not untrodden ground. So you should feel comfortable in knowing that if you're asking for the right people for advice, that it is certainly something you could be doing if you feel the time is right for you. And people like you, Lee, with that sort of experience are invaluable when it comes to to making this sort of move.

SPEAKER_02 8:23

Yeah, I have actually had a couple of customers, or cli I should say clients, coaching clients, that are looking at doing that. So one looked at doing it, decided it wasn't the right time, but did a version of the other one has it in the pipeline. So yeah, so there's definitely something that comes up quite a bit. Even deal with people that are just starting up service businesses. So I I get a variety actually. I've got people that have been in the industry for ages and just stuck um and looking at how they can improve their businesses, people who are looking at transitioning, extending their service offering, or again, um just starting out. So variety of different situations. I think I'd bring a lot to all of them, so which is really good.

SPEAKER_03 9:13

You would definitely, you definitely would. And and I guess from my point of view, having seen uh a lot of these these things happen over the years, I feel like it's important to get, I guess if we're talking about specifics, it's important to get comfortable with your suppliers and have them help you. They will, if you if you, you know, if you're they're a good supplier, they will maybe not give it to you for free, but they'll help you fit out your business with with signage and all that sort of stuff. It's important to make sure you're you're setting out on the right foot with your data. Data is the most important, the most valuable part of your business is your data. So you need to make sure that you've got a clear path forward in how you're gonna manage your data. Whether it's uh and and I'm again, I'm not saying it's it's buffer zone that you have to be using. There are other software out there that you should be doing the right thing by yourself and investigating the right software for your business. But you want to make sure your data is being moved smoothly from your water testing program to your CRM if you're gonna use one to your accounting package and not you're not creating duplicates, you're not creating dirty data as we call it, because that is just a snowball effect and becomes more and more problematic that the the bigger you get. And if you don't deal with it properly at the beginning, then then down the track it's just gonna be a nightmare. The data, like I said before, is the most valuable part of your business. If you ever go to sell it, the new owner will want the data because that's where your customer base is. So those two things are getting making sure you get the right people behind you and building those good relationships with your reps and the people that you feel comfortable with. Price, yeah, price, the one might be more expensive than the other, but if you've got a good relationship with the rep, sometimes that you know price isn't always the most important thing. And like I said, yeah, just making sure you've got your right systems in place, whether it's right right down to you know the barcode scanner that you're using in the the payments terminal, make sure it all works for you the way that it should be working for you.

SPEAKER_02 11:05

We are singing from the same hymn sheet, Peter. Absolutely. Any data is one of the things that I hate the most.

SPEAKER_04 11:12

Yeah, you brought that up a few times, Naily, haven't you? Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 11:16

I have. I have. So um, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 11:19

And quite rightly, I mean, especially if you're buying into a business as well. I mean, if they've got 10,000 clients on their books and they do have dirty data, and then once you start weeding down and it turns turns into 2,000, 3,000, you know, is it then a profitable business to actually buy?

SPEAKER_02 11:38

I've had that exact situation, Shane, where I had a client come to me and they wanted to they wanted to market to their client base. And I said, okay, well, you've got data. Like you've got people move, pools don't. Every address that's got a pool, that pool is still there, unless they're on the very, very small percentage of pools that have been pulled out. Not very likely. So you've got the address, you've got the pool information. That is an address you can market to. So when we actually dove into this particular person and I part of the pun on that, when we dive into their data, they had like, I think it was something like six or seven thousand listings, but only two thousand of them were actually usable, like that were actually not duplicates, that weren't triplicates, quadruplates. Like they had four of a few things. And it it just makes it unusable. And then filling in the gaps, making sure that you've got the email addresses and the mobile phone numbers. But with going off track here, sorry, I'm really passionate about data, as you guys know. Sorry. But look, yes, it is a natural progression from a service business to a retail space. And like Pete said, there probably is very few pool shops that don't have a retail service division. The two do very much go hand in hand. Though, Pete, I understand like your parents started with a service business. Is that correct? Pete, I understand, like, your parents started with a service business. Is that correct?

SPEAKER_03 13:42

Yeah. So they started um Yeah, so my my father was an immigrant at the time. Um I can't give you all all the the boring history of the Spanish man moving to Australia and all this sort of stuff, but um but but he was working for a guy who owned pulled doctor at the time, and then and that man passed away. And so my father, it was a service business, and my father bought the business off his family. And then they moved into retail. I'm simplifying the story a bit because it's um unnecessary to go into too much detail, but that they they moved into retail at the time and they managed that retail business for for many years. Uh, as long as I can remember from being a child, it's been in my family at that time, and and they sold it in the they they ended up unfortunately and and I guess this is a good lesson to learn. My my mother would run the pool shop and my father was doing the service work. Now, my mother heard her back from lifting all the salt and the chlorine and all that sort of stuff over many years. And so they tried to step back from the retail side and just put managers in. Uh, at the time that didn't that didn't work out for them. They couldn't get the right fit for a for a manager. So, uh, and at the time there was, you know, a bit of theft and all that sort of stuff from the staff. So my parents ended up selling the retail side of the business off to the to a family member, member to my uncle who was involved in it right back in the beginning anyway. And so, and and they moved just back to service. I think if you are looking to go from service into retail, that lesson is an interesting one. Like it's great that you might want to run the business yourself or within the family, but you need to be have the right systems in place to have staff in there and make sure you're not getting ripped off by your staff and make sure that you're choosing the right staff for a long, a long and prosperous relationship between you and your staff that'll make the business prosper itself. Because as I learned in that course that I did, you just don't know what you don't know. And so take on as much advice as you can, but starting off on the right footing and getting the systems right so you're not gonna have theft, getting your processes right so that you're hiring the right people, getting all those things lined up are important to make sure that you're gonna have a successful run. Because if you do those things right, the customers will come. They're not gonna nitpick too much on pricing. They may, if there's a store next door to you and you're$5 more for a bag of buffer or for maybe not for the buffer, but for chlorine and salt, because people look at those headline products. But if you provide good service, that's that's what people want. If you've got good staff, that's what people want. So it's about systems and making sure you're ready to go and heading out in the right direction. Because I I yeah, I've I've seen it a few times where people are always struggling for staff and can't get it right.

SPEAKER_02 16:17

And so going back to your transitioning story, we so your dad kept the service business, but your uncle bought the shelf. Yep.

SPEAKER_03 16:27

That's correct. Yeah. Yeah. So we had a we had an agreement at that stage, because we were all sort of family, we had an agreement that we would still go to the shop and get our service-run chemicals from my uncle at a heavily discounted price. And but then we moved into storing a bit at home. We had a quite large home and we still use my uncle for parts and stuff. But then when I bought the business, excuse me, I bought the business, I moved the retail business into a separate warehouse and ran the business as a bit more less of a family-run business and more of a split, like a proper little entity and and run that way. Yeah, so so that but that is what happened. The business was sold off as a part to my uncle, and he ran the shop and then started his own service business from that shop as well.

SPEAKER_02 17:11

And so you bought his shop? Is that what you said? You bought his shop?

SPEAKER_03 17:15

No, no. I moved the I never moved back into retail. I stayed in service only. I moved my business into a warehouse. My uncle kept his shop and separate businesses. We helped each other out and all that sort of stuff.

SPEAKER_02 17:25

So you took over your dad's business.

SPEAKER_03 17:27

That's right. I I bought the business off my parents and my uncle remained friendly competition for for many a year. Um that's that's that's that's good. That direction was a really good relationship because whenever one of us went away, the other one would step up and help them and all that sort of stuff. It's always nice to have those sorts of relationships with your local competitors, whether they're family or not, if you've got good relationships. One of the biggest advocates for my business was the pool shop up the road. He used to, he could never get the right staff. It's another example of not being able to get the right staff. He he just could not get them. And I would think that he would refer two to three hundred thousand dollars worth of work to us a year. He had his own service division, but he could not manage it. And he was pumping work to us all the time. So um, yeah, it's always good to stay friendly. Better the devil, you know.

SPEAKER_02 18:12

Well, I'm gonna say, I'm glad you stayed friendly with your uncle because that would have been a very awkward Christmas dinner.

SPEAKER_03 18:17

Yes, exactly right. Yeah. He did move to Queensland. I wonder if he's trying to get away from here. Sure. No, no. No, he's uh yeah, he's he did he did sell out uh that shop about six years ago now and and retired up at Queensland.

SPEAKER_02 18:30

And look, I think that's probably something that a lot of businesses, especially those that are been in their business maybe for a little while, they're mature aged, they can't physically do that the service work themselves, maybe through injury or or through age, and they can't get the staff to um operate the service side of the business. So then they just keep the retail space. And as long as they've got good contacts for service, because obviously it's something that you constantly asked for in a certain retail space. People come in because they've got a problem. But yeah, it's for me, I found it was the natural progression, obviously, going from service into into retail and having both sides. They complement each other, they both support each other. You've got some customers that are just service customers. They they're not interested in doing anything themselves. They just want to pay you to come and do it and solve all their issues. They just want to swim in the pool, they don't want to have to do anything to it. And then you've got other customers that are just straight retail customers. They're the DIYers, they're happy to have a go at everything themselves. They just need somewhere to buy the stuff and maybe somewhere to get a bit of advice. But then you've got the people in the middle that actually do like to have some service and have some retail as as well. So it's good if you've got both sides of your business that you can actually then cater to all of that and meet the needs of your clients. It's all about meeting their needs, isn't it?

SPEAKER_03 20:02

Yeah, definitely. And and actually another model that I'm seeing more and more of, probably not so much, maybe maybe not your uh demographic of business, but a lot of pool builders are now starting pool maintenance companies as well. I'm seeing that a lot. Because they're doing these builds, they do however many pools a year, and they're just handing over the recurring revenue afterwards to another pool maintenance company where they're now a lot of them, certainly two or three in New Zealand, Shane, have come on the buffer zone recently who are who just like, well, why are we giving up all this revenue revenue? So they're starting pool maintenance companies off the back of their of their construction.

SPEAKER_02 20:36

And I think some of that is born from warranty. So knowing that the shell is it's the pool's being chemicalised and kept within the design parameters to honour the warranty that uh them uh as builders, they as builders hold. And so it's sort of yeah, covering their own butt and being paid for it at the same time.

SPEAKER_03 21:00

Yeah, that's right, yeah. That's good.

SPEAKER_02 21:02

So it's it's certainly interesting.

SPEAKER_04 21:06

And then if you were to say, for instance, move from retail into software development.

SPEAKER_03 21:14

Don't do it. Uh no, reach the reads working for another challenge. Uh as a yeah, look, I I uh uh more power too if you want to have a crack at pool business software, but uh it'll aid you, that's for sure. I can tell you now it'll aid you and stress you out. So but yeah, look, if you're gonna do something like that, you should be doing um a fair bit of research into what you want to do and make sure, again, you get a good team behind you. But um, as with all of those sorts of things, but uh I would strongly suggest that that's uh it's not it's not the if you want to have a stress-free life, it's not the way to be doing it. So yeah.

SPEAKER_02 21:56

There's been quite a few businesses, well not I shouldn't say quite a few, but a few businesses that have developed apps for the convenience of their customers, whether that be water testing, whether that be placing an order, booking a service. It's just a really a convenience app more than anything. And so I have seen a couple of them pop up. As to how long lasting they are, I do know a couple from a couple of years ago that were very short-lived. Whether they were actually getting the use was really another matter. Did it actually warrant the investment that that business put into it at that time? I don't know about you guys, but I'm a bit over apps. Many of them on my phone, I don't know what they will do.

SPEAKER_03 22:40

Yeah, it's it's funny. We had a we have a chemical distributor in the US that uses that uses one of the feet wanted to use one of the features of our software. And uh he I won't bore you with all the details, but it's sort of the homeowner. And they wanted to us to make a couple of tweaks and and push it out nationally across the US. Um and we were do we were talking about it, and he goes, I want to keep this web-based. People are sick of apps. And I go, that's that's great, but I can guarantee you within three months you'll come back to me and ask me to build an app for you. And that's exactly what happened. Yes, apps, people have had enough of apps, but the convenience that does come with an app is is uh it's hard to it's hard to hard to get past, unfortunately. So it's uh now a fact of our life that we have apps something we have to deal with. And you're right, 70% of the apps on my phone, I don't even know what they do anymore.

SPEAKER_02 23:30

I just spent the last weekend going through my apps and apps and putting them in folders because I just had page after page after page of apps. And I'm clicking on them, going, what the hell are you? Like, I don't know what you do. And I'd click on it and then it and it'd try to open it, it'd be like this has been superseded or this does like is no longer available. And I okay. So I actually had a few that I could delete, but yeah, there's certainly do have a convenience as long as they actually do something and they add value to our lives. So if you're creating an app, do make sure that it really does pack a punch and does meet the needs and the expectations of your clients and make sure you keep it up to date and active because if you're not doing that, there's no point. Yeah, that's it. Um but then there's I know industry people that have gone on to to sell their business or maybe left the not the industry, but left being a service technician, and have gone into being reps. How many a lot of reps have been and I think that's great because they bring so much to the table. They've been at the coalface, they've been on the other side of the counter, they can really bring some value to the businesses that they're dealing with because they can really relate to what they're going through. I think that's it it is a really valuable, I can't say asset, but attribute they they they bring to that role as a as a rep.

SPEAKER_03 24:58

Yeah. Yeah, I agree with that. Yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_02 25:00

And and look, they can go on to manage aquatic facilities, resorts, caravan parks, all of those sort of things because of the experience. I do say to people that are working in the pull and spa industry, don't think of it as like a long a short-term thing. A lot of people seem to see the pull and spa industry as a short-term career. Now look at the three of us. I don't even want to count how many years of experience are on the screen at the moment.

SPEAKER_04 25:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 25:30

Quite a lot.

SPEAKER_04 25:30

And there's so many avenues to go down. There's so many avenues to go down yet.

SPEAKER_02 25:35

Yeah. And that's the thing, like there's so many different avenues. We I think we get very insular in our business and only think that I'm one man with a pole and a vehicle, and I I go around servicing pools, and that's all this job is. But this job is actually so much more than that. You are a chemist. You understand elements of physics. We're talking hydraulics and filtration and water chemistry, and we're dealing with electricity and plumbing and computers and God knows what else. Like it really is a very diverse role that we actually fill as service technicians or in the swimming pool and spire industry. And I think it is very underrated and undervalued, even by ourselves at times, and even by the employees that are filling those jobs. So it's important for us, and we've talked here today about staff shortages and people not finding people for the jobs. And maybe it's how we're selling it. We've got to sell it as a career. It can be a career. We all know people that have been in the industry for decades. It is a career, a multifaceted career that can take you down lots of varied paths. So look at it as a long-term picture, not as a two-year job.

SPEAKER_04 26:53

Yeah, definitely.

SPEAKER_02 26:54

Well, sadly. Sorry, passion comes in there again. You cannot not say that I'm not passionate about the industry.

SPEAKER_03 27:01

No one would dare say that about you, Lee. That would be the complete opposite of what the situation is. So it's great. It's great to hear that passion come through. It's nice.

SPEAKER_02 27:09

Well, thank you very much again for joining us, Pete. It's been great to have a board. And um, thanks to Shane as always. I couldn't do it without you, Lee. So thank you to our listeners for joining us again this week. We hope you have got some value out of today's podcast. Remember, if there's anything that you would like us to discuss, any topic suggestions or any questions, just drop an email to talkingpools at gmail.com and we will assign that email to the most applicable pod show host. Until next week, again, thank you for joining us. We look forward to talking to you next week. Thanks, guys. Thank you. Thank you.