When I first bought the magazine, I had grand ideas for new products and changes I wanted to make right away. About five months into ownership, though, I realized they were unrealistic in the timeframe I had envisioned. I’ve since realized that changes in business, at least in ours, look more like this: Create goal,…
In 2018 we wrote an article about running a stress test on your business (January/February 2018 “How Low Can You Go”). That article posited that if sales stopped or slowed tremendously, there were certain actions you’d need to take to survive. The last couple of years have shown us that threats to small business are…
The guys from Pool Nation are tired of answering one question about their business: “ ‘How profitable is it? How are you gonna make money off it?’ ” says founder Edgar De Jesus. As hard as it may be to believe, De Jesus and his partners John Chakalis, co-owner of J&J Flawless Pools in the…
Anyone in the pool industry knows the importance of design in making an appealing product. If you can’t put your finger on why PoolPro feels a little different this issue, it’s all thanks to our art director, Brittany Alloway. We’re keeping the same overall structure, but Brittany cut the clutter and made the magazine more…
I’ve been to a lot of trade shows — and after a while, they all start to run together. Exhibiting is a ton of work, even for a small booth like ours. In the past, I’ve had a love/hate relationship with trade shows: I love to be there and see everyone, and I have some…
Remember when we were supposed to have a commercial issue last year, but instead there was a pandemic and everything we planned went out the window? Yeah….me too. So instead of 2020 being our inaugural commercial edition, we are launching it in 2021. For a few years, I’ve been tossing around the idea of becoming…
Edgar De Jesus remembers being at a pump for 45 minutes, stressed out, calling people because he couldn’t get the pump to work. He felt he had nobody to turn to. That experience, and others like it, made him passionate about helping other new pool pros. That passion became Pool Nation, which encompasses a podcast,…
Water always shows level — a truth that everyone in the pool industry knows. Unfortunately, you can’t eyeball the health of your business, whether you’re making money, heading in the right direction or sloping downward as your foundation shifts. For many in the industry, the foundation has shifted. The way businesses have operated for decades…
Thanks to all who took our survey on the state of the service industry. They can be a drag to fill out, but that information helps us better serve you, our advertisers and the industry as a whole as we try to make sense of the pandemic’s affect on business now and down the road….
When most of you read this, the 2021 pool season will be about to kick off in earnest. There are so many unknowns this year: Will this pandemic go away? Will you be able to get the products you need? Will your costs go up dramatically? Will a natural disaster hit your community? We cover…
Scott Petty had used every car metaphor he could think of to describe the benefits of variable-speed pumps. But when new Department of Energy WEF ratings for pool pumps take effect in July, he’ll need some new ways to explain. “With the DOE terminology and metrics, I hope the benefits are clear to the pool…
If you’re like me, you never felt caught up in 2020. Every time I thought things were about to get back on track, something would happen. School was open. School was closed. The babysitter had to quarantine. There was an ice storm. And I had it easy compared to many. But when I look back…