Early in his time as owner of Rooter-Man in Charleston, S.C., Nelson Huggins offered video services to plumbing contractors at a discount. It gave an immediate boost to the bottom line, but Huggins found there was a disconnect. Too often, once customers had a line cleared, they did not see the value in using the camera.
“If everything was flushing, they would say no,” Huggins says. “It was with the repeat problems where we would use the camera.” After about a year in business, he decided to inspect every line and include the cost in the package price. That policy eliminated the callbacks and also increased sales.
“We found that by always using the camera, we could identify problems from broken pipes to bad joints to lines that needed replacement,” Huggins says. “We now inform the customer of the repairs needed. The customer gets peace of mind. When the problem is on the monitor, the customer sees it and says, ‘Let’s get it fixed.’ We make more money in the end.”
Huggins started the business in 2006 with one van, which he drove. The plan was to do emergency service for commercial and residential customers. “That was our niche,” he says. “To give our customers service – to have it done today. It has served us well.”
Within eight weeks, he had hired a service technician and had generated enough calls to buy a second van. In just 24 months, he had grown the company to a fleet of six trucks and five full-time employees.
Starting small
Cameras have been a big part of the business from the beginning. Huggins got into the field after 17 years as a high school teacher and football coach. When he suddenly faced high medical costs for a family member’s illness, he had to make a career change. After searching for a stable, profitable business offering independence, he settled on a Rooter-Man franchise.
He opened his shop in 2006 with one new Ford E-250 van and a recommended package of equipment, mostly from General Pipe Cleaners, and including a Gen-Eye Junior camera. As the company grew, the cost of a camera for every van was a concern – but it was also a necessity.
“I knew I needed the cameras,” Huggins says. “One camera would not take care of all the jobs. We needed a camera on each truck.” Huggins ultimately chose three cameras from South Coast Equipment, two from Bill’s Video of Fargo, N.D., and one from Rothenberger USA.
All are push cameras, used in laterals from 30 to 100 feet long, typically 3- and 4-inch lines. The Gen-Eye and the Rothenberger go out on specialty jobs where technicians need a record of the inspection and an included locator. Huggins often operates these cameras himself or has a designated technician do so. “I don’t want these valuable items on the truck on a regular basis,” he says.
More the better
While locating was not a high priority at first, Huggins quickly saw it as another compatible service. He purchased equipment, an LF2000 model from Prototek, offering the service to customers and at a discount to plumbers. He has just the one locator, which goes out once or twice per week on request, such as to find a sewer tap in an older neighborhood.
For jetting, Huggins uses a Hurricane 3010 trailer unit (3,000 psi/10 gpm) from Triple R Specialty. A cart-mounted unit, also from Triple R, handles smaller grease traps and restaurant lines. He also has a converted pressure washer (2,000 psi/4 gpm).
“Jetting is not something the consumer here is knowledgeable about,” Huggins says. “We don’t get a lot of requests for jetting. We find we have to explain the benefits. We put the camera down, find the problem, and fix the problem, but once that’s done, if the line is open, that’s basically what the customer wants.
“We can show how the pipe is coated with grease or scale, and the only way it comes off is by jetting. However, they tend to be penny wise and pound foolish. I wish we were using the jetters more often. We have to work on that.”
Branching out
As the fleet grew, Huggins needed a more suitable location. Within six months of opening his business, he rented office and warehouse space, where he has 2,500 square feet, plus parking. There is a garage area to house the jetters and one or two trucks. The trucks include a Ford E-250, four Ford E-150 vans, and a Ford F-150 pickup.
Huggins expanded by purchasing additional territories. He also opted to be licensed and to offer a full slate of plumbing services. “Our goal is to service everything all the way up the coast, to build the business from Georgia to North Carolina along Interstate 95,” he says. “After two years, we’re on track.”
Covering such a large and diverse area means a variety of sewer systems in older and new neighborhoods. Technicians see everything from terra cotta to Orangeburg to PVC. On one side of the street there might be septic, and on the other city sewer.
In growing the business according to plan, Huggins tracks the number of incoming calls every week. Staff members track requests and record any reasons the firm doesn’t get the job. While all dispatching comes out of Charleston, the concept is to keep overhead down and expand by having technicians in the new locations.
Huggins finds the employees and supplies the van and all basic equipment. The technicians take everything home at the end of the work day. That’s the paradigm Huggins will follow as he grows the business.
Training for the coach
While Huggins wanted a business that would not depend on the economy, there have been impacts. One big one is the price of fuel, as he serves a 40-miles radius in each territory. “We debated, and at first we absorbed the cost,” Huggins says. “But we decided to add a fuel surcharge on every trip. We haven’t had anybody complain.”
Huggins’ past career brought attributes that have served him well. “You are serving the public, and you are dealing with all types of people on a day-to-day basis,” he says. “Some are glad to see you, and some are not. It was a definite plus being in education and being able to communicate. Teaching others how to do it has been a plus in growing a business.
“In business you look at it as a team,” Huggins says. “Everybody has a role, and everybody must contribute to the bottom line. We try to reward the guys according to what they produce. Also, as a coach, you sometimes have to call people in and say, ‘This isn’t going the way we want it to go to get the results we want.’ The coaching part is being able to deal with people and come up with a game plan. Business is a game plan. You have to be able to adjust. When plan A doesn’t work, then you go to plan B.”
Huggins definitely has a plan, and he is following it aggressively and in a carefully managed fashion. It’s all about the team and executing the plan. It’s about winning. You might say it’s his plan A.
