If anyone needs help building a multi-inspector firm...

Following is a copy of a conversation with myself and Geff of Hawks Eye Home Inspection out of Washington. Hope it’s helpful for you too.

When you started out were you the only one running things? For the most part, yes; my husband was our first home inspector.

**What was your marketing strategies? ** In the beginning we focused mainly on home shows and building a reputation (through BBB, our local Chamber of Commerce, yellow page ads and online presence). A significant shift occurred when we began marketing specifically to Realtors by joining local real estate associations, meeting with brokers and setting up presentations. We purchased box lunches and hosted a meet and greet. Once we established a rapport with multiple agencies the business took off. As time went on we hired another inspector, then another, and over a year ago, another. Yellow pages, not worth the investment. Home Shows, we spent well over $8K creating an awesome marketing booth; not worth it. The biggest investment you can make is allowing your time in building the relationships. We began participating in charitable events (mostly golf) that benefited causes we believed in. This enabled us to contribute our time, money and effort in our own marketing campaign and all for a good cause. This wasn’t a driving force, but law of attraction.

What was your budget for marketing? It’s important to have a budget yes; however, our first year we went overboard not really knowing the niche; (home buyers vs. Realtors). The niche is to market to Realtors. However, that being said; marketing to home buyers is valid, yes; (If I knew then what I know now; I would have focused on the “Move-in Certified” InterNACHI offers) for more information go to www.moveincertified.com. InterNACHI also offers the “We’ll Buy Your Home Back” program which is a phenomenal opportunity for new inspectors in building their reputation and business. For more information go to www.nachi.org/buy

How long before you hired your first inspector? I would say about eight months into the business. By then we were averaging a minimal of two inspections per day and we needed the help. My husband, (now a CMI), recruited his brother (a general contractor) to come on board. We got him certified through the same InterNACHI process and boom we were off and running. This same process occurred with the other CPIs as well.

How many inspections did you perform in the first year? If you have an intention on running a successful business, you must know what business you are doing and maintain your stats. Very important. At the end of our first year (and we started in April of 2010-the midst of an economic downpour) we averaged about 3-4 inspections per week.

**Were you planning on becoming a multi-inspection firm right outta the gate or ? ** No, not particularly. However, once the business was actually launched, my brain started considering the calculations and a goal was implemented…To be the largest, most professional home inspection company in Northern California.

And I must state that Nick’s book, “How to Run a Successful Home Inspection Business” was my bible. I read that book backwards and forwards (even down to having a RED phone). If you don’t own this book, I highly recommend it. Go to www.inspectoroutlet.com/successful and get your copy today.

Sorry if these have been addressed before.I’m 6 months in and have done roughly 45 inspections. **Thanks,Geff ** Hang in there. You must believe you are capable of achieving all that you desire, irregardless of what may be going on around you. If you set an intention on performing x number of inspections per month, you can create it; but you must first believe you can, before you can see it.


hawkseyehomeinspection@gmail.com
Wa.state lic#1131
Seattle Bellevue Everett Tacoma Wa. Home Inspector

Well I spoke with Sheilenna today. What a great person! She helped reassure that I’m on the right path. I also got some great tips! I’ve needed to expand for several years and I’m finally going to pull the trigger! Thanks again Sheilenna!!

Sheilenna,

Can you post a link to your inspection business website please? I just transitioned about 9 months ago into a multi inspection firm and I would like to see how you are promoting your business. Right now I get multiple calls per day (including weekends at times) and I’m booked 4 to 6 days on average most weeks (not just the busy season). In addition to the second inspector I have a college student who just started hitting 10 to 15 real estate offices every Tuesday and sometimes on Thursday and another college student who keeps up my social media and thank you emails and she adds all my new contacts to my newsletter. I just started hitting the RE offices. I am #1 in my area for almost all types of inspection related searches on Google, Yahoo, Bing and I am a paid member for top searches on Angies List for my area… I am finding it hard to keep up. Keep in mind I have got to this point without ever really advertising my services to realtors. I’m afraid if I hit realtors to hard I am going to grow out of control and have to start turning down lots of jobs. Just a few weeks ago I had to turn down a 60 house project because I simply didn’t have the man power to do it and keep up with demand for my inspection business. I did a 22 house project for a local university and I knew better from that experience. I guess my question to you is where would you go from where I am if you was standing in my shoes? What would be your next move? My biggest problem is trusting others to do inspections when I’m not present with them. How do you get past that point? Thank you for your time.

Hi Bill,

You are doing many things right and deserve credibility where it is due.

Call me, let’s chat. (707) 548-7633

My wife and I are new to the inspector industry and a little nervous on how to get our business up and running. I contacted Sheilenna after reading these post. She was very helpful and gave good pointers on how to get off the ground. She also motivated me even more. Anyone new to the industry should contact her and also download Nick Gromiko’s book “How to run a successful home inspector business”. I have been glued to this book.

Thank you,
Gabriel Portillo

did you sell the business? why would you give up a sweet gig to come work for Nick??

Business is still active. My gig just got sweeter working with InterNACHI; I enjoy what I do.

Was skimming through this thread and seen some discrepancies or for anyone looking to become ‘‘multi’’ inspector firm, I’ve got some input.

Sheilenna,

You said its important to know your stats. You then said you averaged 3 or 4 inspections per week your first year? Which one was it 3 or 4? Big difference in your revenue or bottom line.

Then you said about 8 months in you were averaging 2 inspections per day? You then needed help? Did you actually do any inspections? So out of your 4 inspector firm you have yourself and 2 family members? Or all 4 family members?

For me if you have to hire someone because you are averaging 2 inspectors per day or 10-14 per week it would make more since from revenue standpoint to take that work myself. One inspector can handle 600 full inspections per year. How many inspections does your multi-inspector company now average? Let’s just use the past 2 years, since you’ve only been in business a little over 4 years. I would rather do 600 inspections myself vs. having 3 sub-contractors getting a slice of the 600 total inspections.

Also using a 60/40 split and taking your first years numbers of the multi-inspector firm I would say you averaged 150 inspections (just guess). Times that by $400 inspection average = $60,000. Take a 60/40 that’s $24,000 to you. Minus all the expenses, insurance, advertising and taxes. Even take a multi inspector firm that averages 600 inspections per year with 3 sub-contractors. Take $400 per inspection average. $240,000 - the 60/40 split.

Either way there is just not enough money there for me. There’s not enough money there for my sub-contractors, especially if you are making them sign a no compete clause.

To each their own but the only way I’d do it this way or Russell H’s way is if I were to build the business up and plan on selling within a 3-7 year window.

Only way you are going to make silly money as Nick G calls it in this business is if you are out in the field yourself and charge a premium of which one is worth. There are only ways outside of residential inspections but I’d care not to get into them :wink:

Maybe I’m not seeing it but please Sheilenna give some stats of your best year in terms of inspections and average fee per inspection.

Nick what was your best year take home profit in the inspection business?

Wow. My response was handled in a private message.

I’m in Kansas City. Over the past 24 yrs we’ve had 2 companies get to 3 inspectors + the owner. We have 4-5 companies with 2 inspectors (father / son; 2 brothers; hubbie / wifie; etc). NEVER had anybody do better than that.

My answering / scheduling service answers for inspectors from Florida to New York and out to the West Coast. They tell me that Florida, Houston, the upper east coast are strong BUT the California market is in a zone of its own; They talk about inspectors out there being booked out 2 weeks in front. In KC even in the mid summer IF the typical EXPERIENCED inspector is booked out 3-4 days in advance, the REA’s will simply tell clients they can’t wait AND move the clients to a part-time, newbie, cheapo inspector, etc.

Around here the typical hired inspector stays maybe 2 yrs … Then out on his own.

AND in KC very few of our inspectors average 2 a day year in / year out.

Having been President of both the Kansas AND the Missouri state associations at differing times in the past 20 yrs I can say that MOST of our EXPERIENCED guys in KC have nose-dived and averaged 180 to 275 jobs a year since 2008.

I’m willing to take care of everyone 's inspection needs with No more than a few days notice. Let’s do it.

Sheilenna, obviously you were offended with my post, that was not the intention. You decided to send me a PM and resorted to name calling? I wont repeat what you said. Again it wasn’t my intent to upset you. You provided much of the information I was already noting in my post, I just took those numbers and pieced them together but some were conflicting. I’m just trying to help some of the newer inspectors here see different options and possibly go by some actual numbers. Many here post inspection numbers… many. Number of inspections per year. Average fee per inspection. All kinds of stats. Hell, Nick does it all the time. You even shared inspection numbers of one inspector that did 45 inspections in 6 months.

I was just trying to get some more details. I’ve done this for over a decade. I’ve had sub-contractors and matter of fact still do. I’ve hired family members as well. Per one of the posts and questions asked I noted a few discrepancies. Just looking for clarification.

Many here are very intelligent and need or would like much more than just some basic information about starting or looking into multi-inspection firm. I’m not into fluff and am not a BS’er, everyone knows that. What really defines a multi-inspector firm? Hiring one part time sub-contractor, does that make you a multi-inspector firm? Regardless of titles and what type outfit or operation an inspector runs, a bottom line for most is how profitable is your business? Can it sustain my lifestyle? Can it meet my families needs? We could all grow our business and have 40 subs or employees but at the end of the day if your business is running a loss what good does that do? Granted some businesses actually want to show a loss on paper but I don’t think that’s the goals of most inspectors.

Its all about perspective. If you again if one can do 600 inspections @ $400 average and handle that volume you are better off financially doing that than hiring 2 sub-contractors paying them 50/50 60/40 or 70/30.

I’ve always been in the field. I was looking for perspective of someone who was not in the field but ran an multi-inspector firm. That’s really what I was wondering I guess if I had to boil it down. So I apologize if I offended, I’ll even remove the post. But really no need to send PM’s and take shots, it doesn’t do any good. Maybe it reaffirms my thoughts and experience in this business that my business model is the most profitable. I don’t know for sure, hence the discussion. I know Nick wont be shy about how he ran his inspector business and some numbers to correspond.

My mind works the same way Ray. I like to put real numbers and scenarios together that I can make sense of. It is almost automatic, when I see numbers, to do the math, for me. :slight_smile:

Yes, indeed; numbers are very important. Do you post YOUR numbers on this forum? My entire motive here is to offer suggestions to the point of my own experience. Of course, the numbers are vague and if anything low key; I’m not attempting to appear competitive, only YOU know what works for you. It this is not serving you then bypass the message, I don’t feel the need to justify my credibility in my experience of launching a multi-inspector company by providing my detailed tax information. This posts was not intended to be a debate; only to help, serve and inspire. Should you be interested in that, please email me at sheilenna@internachi.org.

Life’s too short…enjoy…:slight_smile:

Can you email me? I have a lot of questions & concerns

600 inspections a year working a 48 hour week comes to 4 hours per inspection for everything. Drive time, inspecting, producing and delivering the report.

That’s 48 hours a week of only inspections to hit 600 in a year. It doesn’t include one minute of marketing or office work. Something else more important in life is getting put on the sidelines in order to live that schedule. No thanks.

If the inspections lasted 60-90 minutes I might buy that. Well, not literally.

I work 48 hours a week, twice a week, every week… and love it.

Wow an interesting thread indeed.
I think a one man show doing 600 inspections is the excess of what a man can and would want to do, without burning himself out completely. Some personal and family time is important.
I will complete just shy under 400 this year. Mainly because the last 2-3 months will be dead with my relocation. I could have done more, but I personally didn’t want to.

Shielenna I am a little disappointed… Name calling is a little childish. I value Ray’s opinion and found him to be quite capable in his abilities. I also understand he may have been probing your posts a little too deep, but if your going to put this info out on the public forum you better expect someone to tear it apart. Its not going to be all a bunch of baby birds looking up at you with open mouths. Some of these guys have already done why you have, and then some, and then forgot half of it.

I am sure you have your own stores of information, but if this thread was designed to help nachi inspectors then why was it started in the open to begin with.

I personally feel you have some good valuable info and would like to chat with you as well, since i am currently starting over, but its not going to be in the open for everyone to see. I will give you a call next week.

I’m a little late to this discussion. I would like to make 3 points:

  1. If you set schedules, and you inspector does the job by your standards, and wears your logo, they are an employee. You better pay payroll taxes, workers comp, unemployment, etc.

  2. Non-compete agreements are very hard to enforce, especially in CA. Basically worthless unless you have some unique technique, which you don’t. Plus you won’t spend the money to enforce it in court.

  3. The secondary reason to build a multi-inspector firm is to build something of value with an exit strategy. Something you can sell. A single person shop is worth little because he is the business. You will get a few bucks for your phone number and website, but no one will pay you big dollars for it.