Inheriting a small (30ppl) HVAC company, suggestions/advice?

An HVAC company is only as strong as the techs who you employ.

A customer base and advertising gives you opportunities, but if the techs can't perform in a way that addresses the customers needs and fills them with confidence than you are SOL.

A company with weak techs spends a lot of time spinning their wheels:

Wasted time figuring out problems, guessing about failures, acquiring parts and replacing parts only to discover that the real problem is somewhere else. Management talking down angry customers. Etc...

On the other hand, a strong tech force makes your business flow smooth and easy:

Calls are resolved quickly, customers are happy and tell their friends, warranty issues get resolved in intelligent ways, etc...

It all comes down to the techs......

If I were in your position I would perform an honest assessment of your techs strengths and weaknesses. I would then invest in increasing the strengths by:

Cross training: Send the guys out in teams (this is appears to be a waste of money for service, which can be done by one tech alone)

Mix it up: Try to dissolve cliques by mixing up who you put with whom.

Inspire your crew: if a tech feels he can't learn anymore or he is being shut out from the inside clique, or he is stuck, he will seek other employment, and he will take customers with him! (Customers always identify with the tech who fixes their problem). If your techs are dissatisfied with their pay, the community, or their learning opportunities they will leave and your business will suffer. You need to inspire them: they need to feel that staying with you is the best thing that they can do for themselves.

The way you do this is different for top guys than for new guys.

New guys need to feel that they have access to the opportunities and knowledge of the top guys.

Top guys are much more complex: if they feel like they are being milked for knowledge in perpetration for replacement, than they will clam up, and/or preemptively leave, or worse, begin to work against you.

One way to prevent this disaster from happening is to make them feel like leaving is a bad move. The best way is with pay.

HVAC is very profitable, if it's not than you have other problems (see above), if your top guys see you living like a king while they drive around in an old truck on bad roads, for average wages.....well....you should get the drift by now.....

/r/HVAC Thread