Keith Nash

I'm Keith and I own the Chattanooga, TN territory of Voda Cleaning & Restoration. We opened our doors in February of 2024. I'll be sharing my journey as a new business owner. If you'd like to join me for the ride, give me a like and a follow!

Out of context HVAC Jack is the best

@connorpera My wife hates it when we’re at an event and I’m networking. One never knows where opportunities will pop up. Case in point, my kid played basketball with a kid whose dad is involved in house renovations. Just chatting him up lead to some deal flow.

Earlier this year I judged a business plan competition at a local university. I ended up meeting an entrepreneur whose business might become a vendor, a partner, or something bigger. Every room you're in is deal flow if you're paying attention. I’m one of those people who thinks a multimillion-dollar deal is a possibility every time I go to an event. I’m wrong almost every time, but it doesn’t mean they don’t exist. When the opportunity does strike and it hits, one event can pay for hundreds that were a “waste of time.”

@FiSurgi I’m a franchisee. You’re buying a business in a box and it’s great to go from 0 to operationally efficient in months, not decades using the playbook. I’m happy to share my experience with you if interested

I’ve thought long and hard about buying a franchise, and honestly from a small business investing standpoint it’s starting to make more sense.

@tmoneysig @FiSurgi Mind sharing the handle?

@FiSurgi Have you been following the smoothie king dude? He has some dope content

I am always unabashedly and unapologetically me in every situation. A guy in my BNI group just called me. I’ve spoken with this guy like 3 times face to face. We spoke like old friends. I think clients and peers respect and respond to the authenticity and genuineness of my personality.

All of my drying equipment is in use right now, which means that the restoration side of my business is billing at maximum capacity. It also means that if another emergency call comes in tonight, I’ll have to rent some more from a supplier or turn the job down. Fun times

@JackieHirsch_ @moseskagan That sounds like an interesting story. I’d love to hear more details. How’d the buyer react? How’d the landlord handle it?

The craziest mom and pop landlord story is the one where the landlord tried to extort $100,000 from the business owner selling the business and brought a huge scary guy to a nighttime (dark outside) meeting to intimidate him. However, the seller surprised the landlord by bringing the new buyer of the business to the meeting.

We have a strict policy against advances and loans for employees. It never ends well and is best avoided.

@tannerdripjobs Hard No. I had a guy ask me for an advance during his first week. I told him no but that I’d pay him for an extra 5 hours on the previous pay period. He didn’t last 30 days.

The comment section is out of this world in my group... how would you handle this?

When the property manager tells me, “Disregard the cost, do what it takes to dry it as quickly as possible,” I’m a little skeptical. But I did as they asked and overloaded the space with drying equipment and got them to sign a release of liability.

@SmugFecundity You’re lowballing yourself here

I’ve got a 2003 Honda element with 200k miles available for $10million. Only rolled once, drove away.

We shoot for a 60-90 minute response time on emergency calls. Had this sent to me at 5:45pm yesterday. We were on site and extracting within 58 minutes.

@therobertbrooks Amen!

One of my techs came back from a service call today with a story. ​The customer had seen my posts on X—specifically the ones about our $1,000,000 bank balance and my new Raptor. ​They made a comment: "I guess I know why your pricing is what it is." ​(Mind you, this was said next to the Rolls-Royce parked in their driveway, so maybe it was a joke... but it stuck with me.) ​Here’s the reality of what that $1M and that truck actually mean: ​1. The $1M in the bank isn't profit in my pocket. It’s 14 months of squirreling away every dollar to protect this company. In November, our seasonal business drops by 60%. That cash float is why I don't have to panic about payroll. It’s why every single person on my team gets healthcare, a 401(k), and competitive wages year-round. Every dime of that money is getting reinvested into hiring better service managers and training our team to serve our customers better. ​2. The Raptor wasn't bought with HVAC profits. My previous F-250 was fully paid off long before I bought this company. Trading it in covered the vast majority of the Raptor. ​3. I take home a fraction of what I used to. Before stepping into home services, I was the Global Head of Data & AI Products for the largest HR firm in the world, operating across 45 countries. Today, I pay myself roughly 25% of my former market rate. Most weeks, 70% to 80% of my technicians make more money than I do. ​4. Nothing was given to me. No college degree. Just a stint as a USMC combat veteran, and a job in 2009 working the midnight shift as a security guard making $8/hr under the table in an empty parking lot. ​Today, I put in 90-hour workweeks and drive a 144-mile daily commute because my incredible wife with her own fantastic career supports the vision: building a company that treats its employees and customers with the respect they deserve. ​Pricing doesn't line my pockets. It protects my people, guarantees our service, and keeps our doors open for the long haul.

We added trauma and crime scene remediation to our services this year because we do a lot of multifamily work and I got a few requests for it. Went to an estimate right after lunch today. That was a mistake…

@erealander @trentjhughes As one should be at the height of the season

@trentjhughes Still here, posting less grinding more

What happened to Rolling Suds?

All of Chattanooga is under a flood watch. It’s going to be a busy day for the team and me.

Work day ended with a call from one of our commercial property management clients. Sewage back up at a local sports club’s HQ. I’m gonna see if I can barter for some free tickets.

Wednesday morning is my BNI meeting. I’ve been in this group for about 2.5 years and closed a ton of business out of it. More importantly, it’s helped me build a network and become a single point of contact for my customers who need other services. Can’t recommend BNI enough for business owners.

I make good money removing that smell from multifamily units and homes about to hit the market. It’s not easy but it’s lucrative. Trick is to treat the affected areas before build back begins.

@MarketReferee I make a lot of money removing that smell from multifamily units and homes about to hit the market. It’s not easy but it’s lucrative.

The worst part about residential real estate? Cat piss.