The $3M ➔ $10M Playbook

If you’ve run a service business for any length of time, you know the feeling… You hit a certain size (maybe $2M-$3M in revenue) and you just get stuck.

The phone rings constantly, the schedule is packed, but you’re not really growing. You’re just running faster on the same treadmill.

You’re burned out from trying to muscle your way to the next level. 

So, how do you break through?

I had Jim Hinshaw from Service Nation on the podcast and I asked him this exact question. Jim’s a legend. He grew his own HVAC company from $1M to $6M back in the 90s, when $6M was a ridiculously big number. Now, he’s consulted with over 5,000 service businesses.

Here’s the four-step playbook he laid out for scaling from $3M to $10M and beyond.

The first step is the hardest, especially if you came up as a tech.

You have to get out of the truck. For good.

Jim says the biggest obstacle for owners is the instinct to jump back into the field the second a problem arises. You know you can fix it faster and better than anyone else. But every time you grab your tools, you’re stealing time from your most important job: running the business.

You can’t steer the ship from the engine room.

To break the ceiling, you have to stop working in the business and start working on it. Your first move? Hire a service or installation manager you trust. Someone who can run the field so you can focus on financials, strategy, and growth.

Predictable revenue is the key to weatherproofing your business. Jim is a huge believer in maintenance agreements, but he insists you call them something else.

"I'd call it a club agreement," he told me.

The psychology is different. A "maintenance agreement" sounds like a chore. A "club membership" sounds exclusive and valuable.

The pitch isn't just about preventing breakdowns. It’s about catching a small problem before it becomes a big one. 

Jim shared a powerful example from the field: a condenser fan blade can develop a tiny, unnoticeable crack. It might run like that for years, but one day (usually in the middle of a July heatwave) it shatters. That single point of failure can destroy the entire condenser coil, a major part that often isn't in stock and could leave a homeowner without A/C for weeks.

That’s the moment to explain the value. A tech on a routine maintenance visit would have spotted that tiny crack and replaced the blade before it ever failed. The membership “club” turns a potential multi-week disaster in the middle of July into a simple, preventative fix.

Jim advises you to structure it as a small monthly payment. "$25 a month is under the radar on a credit card bill. You're not looking for the $25 charges." It’s a low-friction way to build a base of loyal, recurring revenue.

If your processes only exist in your head, your business isn't scalable. It's just a job that depends entirely on you. To grow, you have to document everything.

Create a written playbook for the entire customer journey:

Of course, a playbook is useless if your team isn’t motivated to follow it. This is where you connect your procedures to your team's paycheck.

By implementing an incentive-based pay structure, you align everyone’s KPIs with actions that drive business growth. So your techs earn more for selling club memberships, getting great reviews, and hitting efficiency targets, the very things your playbook is designed to produce.

Once your internal systems are solid, where do you focus your energy? Well before you think about expanding geographically… 

First, you dominate your local market.

As Jim says, you can't outspend private equity, but you can "out-community" them. You build a local fort they can’t touch.

This isn’t about plastering your logo on a little league banner. It's about genuine involvement. Support first responders. Volunteer at the local shelter. Become a pillar of the community.

Jim told the incredible story of Andy, a contractor in Phoenix. Andy started a nonprofit called "One Bag at a Time" after giving a water bottle to a homeless man. Today, he and his team regularly distribute thousands of bags with water, snacks, and toiletries. They bring in barbers for free haircuts and Verizon for free phone calls.

This isn't a marketing gimmick. It's real. And it has built a level of trust and goodwill that has helped grow the family business to over $25M.

People want to do business with people they know, like, and trust. Your community is your ultimate competitive advantage.

Scaling past that $3M ceiling isn’t about working harder. It’s about working smarter.

This is the blueprint for building a real, scalable business — one with systems, a soul, and a clear path to that $10M mark.