As the sole operator for nearly 15 years, Juan Herman now understands how to manage a business that can withstand a recession.
The high-energy owner of Total Wells — Pumps and Filtration LLC in Monroe, Washington, focuses on two factors to ensure his company is hitting its revenue goals.
“I take specific note of what I’m selling consistently,” said the 40-year-old, second-generation water well contractor who also is a project engineer for a Seattle homebuilder, “whether it’s the pump side of things or the filter side of things, especially maintenance like regular service, I make sure that I’ve got my 1/2 horse [horsepower] through 2 horse [horsepower] control boxes. I make sure that I’ve got a few extra SubDrives or utility drives or whatever for my constant pressure systems.
“The risk of it on the front end is that [stock] sits there and collects dust, but I mean it really hasn’t hurt me yet. As far as just keeping that stuff in stock, it’s been a huge benefit for me. Pressure tanks is another one. Again, the regular service stuff, having all that stuff established and even some of the stuff put together in advance so the turnaround time for installation on my end is even quicker.”
Herman’s second factor is determining what makes the most profit in the field and then dedicating his time and effort to it. He charges a flat rate for everything he offers and uses QuickBooks Online which gives him the ability to tag jobs so he can track them during a set period (30-day, 60-day, 90-day, etc.). He also communicates with his accountant who monitors how the business is doing via QuickBooks.
“I can really see where I’m making money and that can influence the stock I’m stocking up on, which I’m a big advocate for that, especially stuff on the filtration side,” Herman said. “Service components can be a way’s out. A UV bulb can be four weeks out right now.”
With supply chain issues still lingering, Herman notes that it’s critical to maintain good communication with one’s client base — both large and small customers. He even suggests giving special attention to the smaller clients who can possibly become generational customers for one-person or small family operations.
“I use the word ‘intentional’ a lot, especially when it’s tight and money is not coming in,” Herman shares, “so you have to be very intentional about your time and intentional when planning, so you’re not just running out a control box when you can plan it that one day and swap out a control box and service.
“It’s a lot of small things where you can group them together and make $1000 or $2000 a day as opposed to just going out and it was like, well, today was $350, tomorrow is going to be $250, and you’re just wasting time and fuel. You’re not letting yourself be available for an emergency call that may come in or at least it’ll be a lot more stressful if it does.”
Herman’s first attempt at running a business in 2009 ended in 2011 due to the lingering effects of the recession. He reopened and rebranded his company in 2015 with a fresh perspective on how to stay in front of his customers’ minds.
“How I’ve accomplished that in the past is ensuring that any kind of free marketing that I can complete, a social media presence or a Google Business listing [Profile], is updated and current,” he said.
Herman, whose main revenue streams come from emergency work and filtration, recommends a Google Business Profile have customer reviews posted to it at least once a month. This increases organic search engine optimization (SEO) on Google, which is the main web browser most customers use. His company has 20-plus reviews dating back to 2015 and dedicates 40 minutes a month to maintaining his company’s online and social media presence.
“It’s a really big aspect of business that I’ve delved into,” he said. “Just keeping myself in front of individuals so when it comes time, they’ll contact you and not just the top person at the search.
“One of the biggest advantages that we have is social media platforms and Google Business listings and there’s personal practices that people can do — again being intentional — where you’re just keeping that stuff fresh and updated. If you’ve ever visited a person’s social media page and you look at their business site and the last time they posted was 2017, you wonder if they’re still in business or what happened. Why abandon this?
“It’s one of those things if you keep your social media going, you’re letting people know that you’re active and that you’re staying very active.”
Likening it to department stores frequently updating their storefronts with new seasonal clothes, Herman believes the same principle holds true for social media. Herman works in multiple cities and posts once a month or every couple of weeks on their respective city or community Facebook pages.
“You just highlight a nice photo, a short video you made, an informational post, those kinds of things,” he recommends. “So, when somebody thinks, ‘Aw, my pump is out, or my well is going out, or I want to get filtration, or I wonder how much this would cost,’ they’re going to go online, they’re going to go on Google or whatever web browser they use, or if they’re like, ‘Oh, you know what, what was that page that I saw? Yeah, Total Wells.’
“Honestly, a lot of business I’ve generated has been that way. Just my local community, just people like, ‘Hey, I saw your video,’ and that can turn into a $6000 phone call because they’re interested in filtration. Or ‘Hey, I’m going to sell my house, would you come and inspect my well?’ Okay, there’s $500 to $600, but you get your stickers up there and can hand them your card. Then when they have any questions, they think Juan over here just inspected the well. They negotiate and maybe you come out of there with a $3500 project.
“It’s just the mindset of believing it’ll make you money.”
— by Mike Price