Swordfish Pool Care
How persistence and passion propelled Florida-based Swordfish Pool Care forward
At the outset of his career, Jacob Grozier’s path seemed uncertain. He had a hunch he wanted to run his own business but was unsure what that might mean. Unfulfilled by his stint in a restaurant, he stumbled upon an opportunity to enter the pool service world through a friend.
Cleaning pools and rising quickly through the ranks at a local pool service company, Grozier’s dissatisfaction with his position prompted a return to school. However, this missed the mark, as well.
“I hated being in school and trying to get a ‘real’ job,” Grozier recalls. “I wanted to have some flexibility and be able to go to the beach or go see bands and go to music festivals, and it didn’t really gel with what I was trying to do.”
The allure of flexibility drew him back to pool cleaning, this time as a subcontractor. Eventually, it spurred him to launch Swordfish Pool Care.
Building a Business
Grozier’s entrepreneurial leap of faith wasn’t an easy feat; within the first week of going solo, he broke his foot.
“[Doctors] were telling me I probably needed surgery, or if I didn’t want surgery, I couldn’t put any pressure on my foot for four months,” he says. “And I’m like, ‘How am I supposed to clean pools without putting pressure on my foot?’ ”
Not one to take this challenge sitting down, Grozier devised a way to make it work. He hired someone to help drive the truck and perform some tasks until he could handle things on his own again. And it paid off.
“Not only did we keep up the status quo — I started gaining accounts because people saw me out there on a peg leg,” Grozier says. “Property managers and other people saw me grinding away even with a broken foot. They said, ‘This kid will do whatever needs to be done.’ And I started to gain a reputation. From there, we’ve just steadily grown.”
Starting with 65 pools, Swordfish Pool Care now services over 400 with nine employees. The resilience displayed during the period of Grozier’s injury helped foster trust and loyalty among clients, and the service boom during COVID added to the company’s numbers.
Situated in Florida, the state with the highest number of residential pools, Grozier knows there’s plenty of room for growth. He is working to continue raising the standard for Swordfish with a focus on quality over quantity. Undeterred by the saturated professional landscape in Florida, he’s also considering adding building and remodeling in the future.
“I know the industry well,” he says. “I’m sure I could go put these skills to use somewhere else and maybe make more money. But I also feel like there is untapped potential down here in the pool industry.”
Words of Wisdom
For those new to the industry or looking to strike out on their own, Grozier recommends closely shadowing someone.
“Watch people, but watch everything,” he says. “Not only do you need to watch what they do to make them good, you need to watch where they mess up. [In my experience], not only did I see what the guys did well, I saw what they did wrong, and I tried to improve on that.”
He also advises furthering one’s knowledge of the pool industry, like getting a CPO certification and attending industry-specific classes. Trade shows and industry events can be beneficial he says, recalling the impact the first trade show he attended had on his career.
“I was blown away,” Grozier says. “I saw the possibilities. I saw guys who looked like me and talked like me and had tattoos like me. And these guys are driving F-250s and nice $80,000-$90,000 trucks, and they’re talking about their boats in their backyard. Because they take it seriously.”
