John Wilson

Many home service companies get stuck at $5M. It's common. So, we (@OwnedxOperated) built a workshop to show exactly how to break through it. May 5–7, 2026 At my HQ in Akron, OH I’m hosting the Breaking $5M Workshop with @thehvacjack. We’ll walk through the $5M Flywheel, sit in on our real sales huddle, tour the shop, and spend 3 days with other HVAC, plumbing, and electrical owners. This is our 5th breaking $5M event. Every single one has sold out. More: ownedandoperated.com/upcoming-event…

@heatpumpnetwork Tryin!

@WilsonCompanies Thanks for putting on a solid show!

Not done yet but proud of the mark I’ve made on my industry. Just filmed podcast #300 and we are consistently ranking top 150-175 for Business podcasts. Millions of listens and downloads over four years all while building a real business on the industry. Thanks for the ride yall!

@hustlewithcm Out here bro

@WilsonCompanies 300 episodes while building the empire. That's the juice right there. Watched you put in the work while most just talk.

@jarydesign Brb gotta answer the phone

The HVAC companies that grow the fastest have one thing in common. They don't have better technicians. They don't have lower prices. They just answer the phone. I manage enough accounts to tell you: the gap between a $600k/year HVAC company and a $1.4m/year HVAC company is usually right there. One of them has a real system for answering calls and responding to leads within 5 minutes. The other one calls back when they get a chance. Same city. Same competition. Same trucks. Just one of them figured out that the first callback wins the job.

@farrowhardy1 Happy to share the journey! It’s been a ton of fun

@WilsonCompanies You’ve helped out our business a lot by sharing things that would have taken us a long time to figure out ourselves. Appreciate you John!

@A_LastingLegacy We track both but good callout

@WilsonCompanies Beautiful! Does that hide any potential problems of calls going uncooked but being made up for in 2X bookings?

Inside our business: We started measuring booking rate above 100%. If we book 2 appointments on one call, we count over 100%. Aiming at 150% booking rate - currently sitting at 117%.

@A_LastingLegacy Ayoooo Dude come up to Akron and let’s talk about it on the pod

@WilsonCompanies Last year we did 7.6MM and 1.3MM Ebitda. Planning to Crack 15MM this year!

😞I'll call these guys in 6 months when they've had a cool refreshing glass of reality...

@Nads_Shariff Thanks Nadeem - I appreciate it!

@WilsonCompanies Dude I love the podcast. So many awesome episodes.

@HeySamPreston Usually we go straight to GBPs

Plumbing/HVAC owners— If your calls dropped this week… what’s the first thing you check?

@bradsmith Im not sure about surprising - but one of the most impactful conversations I had was with Chad Peterman as he described his multi market strategy. We have re released it once because it was so powerful and believe it’s worth a relisten.

@WilsonCompanies That's great, what was the most surprising interview you did?

@smbvirginia @_scrappystartup I appreciate it - it’s been fun to share

Good job John. Your podcast is excellent. I own and operate businesses outside of HVAC, Plumbing and Electrical but most experiences you share are just as applicable and has challenged us to think and execute differently. Your point on marketing as a percentage of gross profit was great food for thought.

@_scrappystartup I dunno about that but I’ve made a dent!

@WilsonCompanies You are an inspiration brother

@MelissaCoharbor @Hayden__Slack I appreciate this perspective. Most advice I’ve received is that if I recruit from too large a co they will tend to not do well in a smaller company without the same resources/support. Sounds like you’ve got the opposite perspective and I’d love to hear more about it

@WilsonCompanies @Hayden__Slack I ran a $1b biz in corp to bought a small business 4y ago. I 10x it. I just hired a Sales Director who 10x a company few yrs. My number to where I want to be. Price tag to pay. Leveled up the company in just 3w. I’d rather reign in stallions than whip mules 🤷‍♀️

Starting a CFO search, where should I be looking? 10M EBITDA, 200 employees, 3 states, 4 locations. Halp!

@KurtisCarman Let’s talk! John@thewilsoncomp.com

@WilsonCompanies We should talk. I know some people.

@therobertbrooks Nice work

Another passive day running a small HVAC company… My Operations Manager of 10 years realized he couldn’t adapt to the pace we’re moving and gave notice. I kept him on for a couple days to transition things, and walked him out today. That’s the reality of growth. Not everyone can go where you’re taking it. Only 2 of the 10 employees from the acquisition are left. At the same time… We hired 2 people today: #1 – A proven selling tech from one of the largest PE-backed HVAC platforms in the country. #2 – A 15-year home services sales pro (roofing + solar) who lives off door knocking, referrals, and relationships. I’ll teach him HVAC. He’ll bring a whole new playbook on generating his own leads. (And yeah… part of me is thinking… do we add roofing? I’ve done roofs in a past life.) Then I spent the evening in the office until 10:30 PM building out inventory + purchasing integrations with our top vendors in ServiceTitan… Automating what used to be half of an operations role. And the kicker — We’re already at 110% of last March’s total revenue… mid-month. With 9 working days still left. Start all over again in 6 hours.

@dsrose Im talking to Steve i believe I appreciate your referral and response!

@WilsonCompanies Awesome. In addition to Ken, Gustav and Steven H are my key contacts there. My first name rhymes with rug. Good luck and let me know how I can help.

@Will_Schryver What’s your core biz current size will

This is a first Broker: ~$450k EBITDA HVAC opportunity, asking $2 million Me: Where are the rest of the financials? I only see 18 months. Broker: He bought the business 18 months ago Me: So he just bought it and is now trying to flip it for ~4.5x on <$500k EBITDA? Broker: Yes

@MelissaCoharbor @Hayden__Slack My suspicion is that he is extraordinarily talented and has too much horsepower for my opportunity if that’s his background.

@WilsonCompanies @Hayden__Slack I know a guy. Ran larger than this. Fortune 50 guy. Seeking employment. Where can I send a resume?