HVP 31 - Your business 4 years from now
The UK government announced the first lockdown to begin on Monday, March 23rd 2020. Can you remember what your business was like before the lockdown? Do you think your business has improved in the last 4 years? Or do you feel like you are walking around in circles?
In any given month, I will speak to many heating engineers and business owners at live events, via Zoom calls, and through social media messages.
Just this week, I had a call with a fella looking to change his business direction. Listening to his story reminded me of my own journey, which I then explained to him, hoping it would help him focus.
Learning the pipes
Like many people in the industry, I did not leave school at 16 as an apprentice plumber. I left school not knowing what to do but ended up managing an old-school record shop at the age of 24 before deciding I needed a trade behind me. Pre-financial crash in 2006, it seemed the banks were giving money away, so getting a loan for £7k fund qualifying as a Corgi gas engineer was pretty easy.
The state of the economy in 2007 and the financial crash of 2008 meant there were no jobs available for fast-track, unqualified plumbers with little work experience, which, like many people reading this article, forced me down the subcontract route, working for landlords, builders & wannabe property developers. Sound familiar?
It wasn’t until 2012 that I finally figured out how to get the phone to ring. Fast-forward 18 months, and I had built my team to four people. From paying my fast-track course fees in 2006 to taking on my first employee in 2013, it had taken seven years of struggle to see my business finally heading in the right direction.
Teaching others
Over the next six years, this same team continued to grow, helping 14 people qualify as gas engineers and installing over 1500 boilers. The experience of building and leading a team of people then led to the next change of direction.
Around Easter 2018, we started building a Facebook community called The Boiler Business to support heating engineers and discuss the business side of the trade while writing a marketing and sales training programme for the heating industry.
The following January, ten plumbers from around the UK arrived in a Sheffield hotel conference room to launch Dominate Marketing. Over the following fifteen months, we delivered two live training events every month until one Friday afternoon after finishing an event at that same Sheffield hotel; Boris Johnson announced that all pubs should close immediately and not reopen the following day.
On Monday, March 23rd, 2020, the first UK lockdown began, which clearly put the breaks on our “new” live training business model. Like all businesses at the time, we had to evolve and accept “the new normal.” Over the next two years, our training, like many other businesses, moved to live zooms & eventually, we built the first online course on the boiler business website.
Forever evolving, in early 2022, I started my third company (Digital Toolbag) and now work full-time, supporting the HVAC industry with training, mentorship, and marketing services. I constantly evolve what I do.
Your evolving business
The financial crash of 2008, the EU Referendum in 2016, the COVID lockdown in 2020, the Ukraine war in 2022, and the cost of living in 2023 are all events outside of our control that will affect your HVAC businesses in one way or another. Although we can not change future events like the ones listed, we can prepare for uncertainty whilst still finding the time for the evolution that successful businesses must embrace.
We can all see the political landscape and the heating industry moving towards a renewable revolution. For many people, installing green technologies will be their direction, but some may feel that something other than installation is the right move for their business, family, mind, and body. The future of the HVAC industry will still need experienced engineers for non-installation works. Regardless of your age & experience, your business can evolve so much over four years if you focus and consistently invest your time.
Find out more
You can find out everything you need to know about the boiler business community, built-to-last courses, live events & membership over at
Tom Lee-Zmuda
Hey buddy. My name is Tom, a former heating engineer turned marketing Jedi. My team and I specialise in helping local HVAC and Solar business owners dominate Google and sell their most profitable services. We are committed to building the best ROI through local SEO, kick-ass websites & sales communications that attract, sell and keep your best five-star customers.
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