Charlie Hall may call his sewer and drain-cleaning operation a “redneck enterprise,” but there is no smirking about the way he has grown his business.
In seven years, Mr. Rooter of Southern Colorado has gone from three service vans to seven, five employees to 19, and one camera system to nine. From first-year revenue of $700,000, he has grown to a projected $2 million for 2010. On the way, he has added a variety of services for his primarily residential customers, including line locating and trenchless repair.
Hall, who spent 25 years with Coca-Cola in marketing and sales, bought an existing Mr. Rooter franchise in Colorado Springs in 2003. “My son Nick, who was a technician with the franchise, informed me that the owner was going to sell,” Hall says. “Initially Nick was going to be a partner, but he moved on to other things.” Hall’s wife Delene, has worked in the business, but is now taking some time away.
Before making the purchase, Hall did a lot of “tumbling the numbers” with Mr. Rooter Corp. and decided there was a lot of room for growth and for expansion of the services. “Not actually knowing the industry, I realized I had to specialize in several facets to help generate income,” he says.
“We needed to get our arms around jetting, and we had to get into excavation, which the former owner had not done. We also needed to get into pipe lining and pipe bursting. We needed to grab some tools to do these needed processes.”
