New Contractor Group On The Horizon
In a meeting designed to inform potential founding partners about the group, Lee Rosenberg, owner of Lee Rosenberg HVAC Consulting Group, Inc., told attendees that Service Nation will be geared toward smaller-volume contractors and will have a high-tech twist to it.
“This group will use the Internet to communicate and educate the members,” he said. Rosenberg, the former owner of San Antonio-based Metro-Tech Service Co. and former national president of ACCA, cited the importance of presenting the idea before such a “distinguished audience.”
“This is a huge brain trust,” he said. “There is enough experience in this room that if we look at every group we have been involved in, we can decipher what appeals to us and what rubs us wrong.”
THE BUSINESS PLAN
Rosenberg stated that the business plan includes four key elements:1. A large number of contractor members;
2. No exclusivity;
3. Low cost; and
4. Internet-based technology.
Rosenberg cited some industry stats that would support the need for this type of group. “Fifty percent of contractors do less than $500,000 in annual sales, and 69 percent do less than $1 million,” he said.
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“There are a lot of these people who don’t belong to any group but they are looking to join one that they can afford.”
Rosenberg also listed some of the characteristics of the hvacr trade that he said further the basis for the formation of Service Nation.
Although an exact number of potential members is unknown, the total could reach into the thousands. Service Nation plans to make membership affordable to contractors and plans to assemble an all-star lineup of officers, board members, and investors, Rosenberg said.
The date for the Service Nation launch for hvacr contractors is a couple of months away, and the group plans to make a big splash when it rolls out a key ingredient for its success — its website. According to Rosenberg, as Service Nation grows, it will expand into other industries, including plumbing.
Prospective contractor members will also be given the option of “sampling” Service Nation services for a low cost. This is all part of the overall plan to educate, inform, and raise the level of service among smaller-revenue hvacr contractors.
“We want to help people in their growth path,” said Rosenberg. “Very few contractors manage to establish business processes and systems.”
For more information on Service Nation, contact the organization at info@servicenation.com (e-mail).
Publication date: 04/29/2002
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