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Episode Summary
Tersh was very kind to offer some of his time to sit with Zach and discuss his journey in the trades.
Tersh was a tinker in his youth. That led him to take up engineering at Georgia Tech. After school, he meandered a bit before realizing he was best suited for a job in the trades.
From there he started with Tri-Star Heating, Air, and Plumbing. He was fortunate enough to form a great, symbiotic partnership at Tri-Star.
Tersh’s affection for providing extraordinary service then led him to another venture, starting a boutique, high-end HVAC company targeting a very different clientele. In 2019 he founded Service Emperor with the idea they were going to build a very different business from Tri-Star, which was high-volume, low-margin.
Tersh founded Service Emperor focusing on all the little things his other clients (landlords and such) didn’t care as much about. It was the details that mattered. The technicians always wear rubber booties and work on protective rubber mats. They move the mats to wherever their workstation is to protect their surroundings. Additionally, Tersh wanted to ensure every technician was clean, courteous, and very respectful of customers and their homes. After all, he was going into some of the nicest homes in Savannah.
After a few years podcasting about the inception of Service Emperor, he got the itch again and found his true passion and calling: Podcast Host of Service Business Mastery Podcast.
With the demands of travel and being a full-time host, Tersh found his other businesses weren’t getting the attention they needed.
Tersh’s passion was clearly in the podcast, he needed to make sure the other two businesses were operationally functional and not resource constrained without his full attention. That’s when he brought in another partner, a long-time confidant and co-worker.
Tersh wanted to make the process of bringing him on as straightforward as possible, so he decided to offer 25% equity—12.5% as sweat equity and the other 12.5% in cash.
As Tersh told us, “Where you Focus, Where you Grow” and he wanted to focus and grow as a podcaster. Tersh’s podcast now has over 200,000 downloads a month.
Connect with Service Emperor – lower volume / higher margin
Website: www.serviceemperor.com/
Connect with TriStar Heating, Cooling, Plumbing, and Electrical
Website: www.tristarsavannah.com/
Connect with Service Business Mastery Podcast
Website: www.servicebusinessmastery.com/podcasts/
The Boost, a podcast for home service contractors.
Join CMO of Lokal, Zach Wilson, as he explores leaders & innovators in HVAC, Plumbing, and Roofing, their personal journeys, thoughts and experiences with buying, selling, and succession planning.
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