The Home Service Expert Podcast

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https://homeservicefreedom.com/

Most home service companies don't fail from a lack of opportunity — they fail because they lose focus.
Tommy sits down with Yarin Gaon, a growth advisor who has mentored over 397 businesses through Chicago and SCORE and helped company after company break through the $1M–$10M plateau. 
Yarin's framework is built on one core idea: the path of least resistance always wins. In this episode you'll learn:
— Why your current business model might not be the version worth scaling
— How to find the 20% of your operation driving 80% of your profit
— The growth canvas replacing vision traction organizers for home service leaders
— What "path of least resistance" actually looks like applied to your business
— Why you need to pause before your next quarterly session and design Version 2 Yarin's free playbook: fractional.partners
— no lead magnet, no catch. Just the framework. 

-- 🕐 TIMESTAMPS 🕐 --
00:00 - Introduction
00:51 - Yarin's Background and Story
05:06 - Hustle vs Focus
06:08 - What Vision Actually Means
08:20 - Defining Your Real Success Metric
10:39 - How to Build a Monopoly in Your Market
12:11 - Military E-Commerce Business Breakdown
15:49 - Diversification Mistakes and When to Cut
21:17 - The Wrong Growth Model
23:51 - Growth by Addition vs Subtraction
30:50 - Profitability Before Capital
33:41 - How Private Equity Values Your Business
37:47 - What the Best CEOs Have in Common
39:53 - Better Decisions Equal More Profit
1:05:46 - Why Franchising Fails in Home Service
1:07:09 - The Explicit Decision Framework
1:09:45 - The Growth Model Framework
1:12:48 - Free Playbook and Book Recommendation
1:13:32 - Path of Least Resistance Explained
1:15:14 - Build a Machine That Prints Profit

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Live Q&A ⟶ https://homeserviceexpert.com/questions

🚀 FREEDOM 2026 Get your Tickets Today!
https://homeservicefreedom.com/

💎 Top 5 Takes for this Episode!

1. People overestimate what they can do in one or two years — and massively underestimate what they can do in five to ten. Stick with the boring work.
2. Blue collar is the new rich. AI won't replace the trades. Private equity loves scalable home service. Most people couldn't name three flooring companies. That's the opportunity.
3. The real game isn't revenue — it's enterprise value. Lifestyle businesses extract cash. Legacy businesses build an asset worth selling.
4. Master the mundane. Discipline over dopamine. Repetition over inspiration. That's the only secret.
5. There's nothing more dangerous than a wealthy man who gets bored. The same hunter energy that builds empires can destroy everything. Channel it right or it eats you alive.

-- 🕐 TIMESTAMPS 🕐 --
00:00 - Introducing Cody Sperber — The Clever Investor
01:30 - From Navy vet to flipping houses off a napkin
03:39 - 14 months, $30K in debt, and one deal that changed everything
04:57 - Collapsing time: 14 months to 2 months to 3 weeks
06:09 - From wholesaling to rentals to real estate education
07:47 - Why real estate teaches entrepreneurship faster than anything
10:03 - Real estate is a people business — AI can't replace that
11:36 - Why Cody was the best marketer in real estate
16:02 - Why blue collar is the new rich 
17:16 - Why Cody chose flooring: most people can't name two companies
18:10 - Selling the education business: first time playing the right game
18:27 - Enterprise value vs. lifestyle business
19:00 - Getting emotional at the Service Titan debate about private equity
20:03 - Why taking chips off the table was about parents, not profit
22:01 - The American dream is still real — immigrants prove it
41:24 - Why authenticity beats selling courses every single time
46:17 - Having kids doubled his income — the hunter mindset intensified
46:42 - The upfront conversation every entrepreneur needs with their partner
48:34 - The system that made marriage and business work together
50:37 - 18 years and a divorce: 'We friendzoned each other'
52:06 - The most dangerous thing a wealthy man can do when he gets bored
53:26 - Having everything on paper and feeling completely empty inside
55:11 - The year and a half that rebuilt his character from the ground up
58:05 - One piece of advice for your 20s: Master the mundane
58:35 - People overestimate 1-2 years. They underestimate 5-10.
59:22 - Why Cody loves failure and what he tells his team
1:00:47 - If you had $10M and your network — what would you build?
1:22:29 - Floor Daddy at 2 years: three crash and burns, $1M+/month
1:23:53 - Tommy's close: financial discipline and the 15% EBITDA rule
 
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Live Q&A submission form: https://homeserviceexpert.com/questions

🚀 FREEDOM 2026 Get your Tickets Today! https://homeservicefreedom.com/

💎 Top 5 Takes for this Episode! There are two types of business owners — those who build for cash flow, and those who build enterprise value to sell. 

Know which one you are before you start. More marketing never fixes a broken operation. Fix your booking rate, cancellation rate, and conversion rate first. Then scale spend. A players today can become C players in two years.

The business grows, the people don't always grow with it. Watch for it. Never take on work outside your lane just because it's a big dollar. Scope creep creates liability, inflates AR, and distracts the whole team. 

"Everybody wants the views, but very few people are willing to take the hike." — the one quote that defines the cost of real success.

-- 🕐 TIMESTAMPS 🕐 --
00:00 - Introducing Jordan White and Seek One Roofing
01:13 - The hardest thing in business right now
03:13 - Building a business as an asset vs. a cash flow machine
04:50 - Year by year: $2.5M to $28M in four years
07:32 - What salespeople don't know when they start a company
09:57 - Why some industries are impossible to scale
12:37 - Building trust and credibility before you have a brand
13:25 - What happens at $28M — private equity, roll equity, or rebuild
17:52 - How faith shows up in real business decisions
20:49 - Protecting integrity while training salespeople to win
22:20 - The marketing formula nobody talks about
23:30 - Why adding more marketing spend right now is a mistake
24:44 - Building a real-time data dashboard with custom metrics
26:58 - Why you should own a market before you enter a new one
29:47 - When to walk away from a market (we pulled out of 7)
31:35 - The hardest leadership lesson Jordan learned
33:17 - Turning down an $8.3M commercial job and why
36:31 - Aaron Stokes tribute — the plane accident and what it meant
38:53 - What loss teaches you about enjoying the journey
41:47 - If you don't enjoy the journey, the destination won't change it
43:01 - Don't tie your identity to your business
43:12 - What changes as a leader when the company outgrows you
45:57 - The CFO who sees around corners
1:04:30 - Colin's story: from Tractor Supply at 19 to $273K in year one

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Live Q&A submission form: https://homeserviceexpert.com/questions

Learn more about Lace.ai here: https://lace.ai

Boris Valkov is a seasoned software engineer and entrepreneur with a track record of building and scaling products at some of the world's most influential tech companies. He previously worked at Facebook and Slack, where he contributed to high-impact systems used by millions of users globally.

He is the co-founder of Lace.ai, an AI-driven platform focused on helping businesses unlock insights from their data and improve performance through automation and smarter decision-making.

With deep expertise in artificial intelligence, machine learning, and scalable systems, Boris brings a practical, builder-focused perspective on how technology is reshaping modern businesses. His work sits at the intersection of AI, operations, and the future of work, helping companies move faster and operate more efficiently in an increasingly automated world.

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My other podcast:
Home Service Expert ⟶ https://open.spotify.com/show/4WHQ3ldGThHsP1cfzNF33G

Live Q&A submission form:
https://homeserviceexpert.com/questions

David Peterson is Senior Vice President of Sales at Annuity, a powerhouse in the home improvement industry. With over 15 years of experience, David has scaled multi-brand platforms to nearly 1,000 sales representatives and helped grow Mad City Windows from a regional player to a $300 million+ powerhouse before its acquisition.

David is a proven expert in in-home selling, KPI-driven management, and building repeatable sales systems that deliver consistent results. From overcoming early career challenges to leading a billion-dollar company's sales strategy, David shares insights on leadership, sales culture, financing in home improvement, and the power of humility in success.

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Tiktok ⟶ https://www.tiktok.com/@officialtommymello
Instagram ⟶ https://www.instagram.com/officialtommymello/
Facebook ⟶ https://www.facebook.com/thomasmello/

My other podcast: Home Service Expert ⟶ https://open.spotify.com/show/4WHQ3ldGThHsP1cfzNF33G

Live Q&A submission form: https://homeserviceexpert.com/questions