From Man in a Van to $100M Empire: Ben Jordan’s Blueprint for Massive Growth
Timestamps are as accurate as they can be but may be slightly off. We encourage you to listen to the full context.
Podcast Summary
This episode features an incredible conversation with Ben Jordan, the mastermind behind Action Plumbing, Heating, Air, and Electricity - a $100 million home services company. Ben shares his remarkable journey from being one of 14 kids to building a massive business empire across Utah and Arizona with over 175 employees. The discussion dives deep into his transformation from a 400-pound entrepreneur struggling to make ends meet to a successful business owner who lost 145 pounds in 16 months. (01:14)
- Core focus on scaling service businesses through innovative systems, building strong company culture, and separating sales from installation teams to maximize efficiency and customer satisfaction.
Speakers
Ben Jordan
Ben Jordan is the operator behind Action Plumbing, Heating, Air, and Electricity, a rapidly growing $100 million home services company recognized for its innovative sales systems and company culture. Coming from a family of 14 children and losing his mother at age 13, Ben learned work ethic early by helping in his father's appliance repair business. After serving a two-year mission in Southern Spain at age 19, he entered the trades industry and purchased his first business at 23 with no money down through owner financing.
Paul Alex
Paul Alex is the host of the Level Up Podcast, focusing on entrepreneurship and personal development. He runs multiple companies and emphasizes the importance of mindset, implementation, and rapid growth strategies for ambitious professionals seeking mastery in their fields.
Key Takeaways
Separate Sales From Installation for Exponential Growth
Ben revolutionized his business by creating distinct sales and installation teams rather than having technicians handle both functions. (31:14) Traditional plumbing companies have technicians who sell and install, which creates a bottleneck - a salesperson capable of generating $20,000 in daily sales gets bogged down for an entire week completing the installation work. Ben's system allows sales professionals to focus purely on customer relationships and selling comprehensive solutions, while dedicated installation teams handle the fulfillment. This separation enables same-day or next-day service completion, dramatically improving customer satisfaction and allowing for exponential revenue growth. The result: Ben's company grew by $15 million in one year after implementing this system.
Culture Transformation Creates Immediate Revenue Impact
Ben experienced a dramatic business transformation when he shifted focus from purely operational excellence to building a strong company culture. (15:24) After joining with Andy Elliott's organization and learning about intentional culture building, Ben's company saw an immediate $1 million per month increase in revenue within just one month of implementing cultural changes. He emphasizes that most trades companies completely lack intentional culture, which explains why they remain stagnant year after year. The key is bringing employees into a shared vision and giving them clarity about what culture actually looks like in practice.
Health Directly Impacts Business Performance
Ben's personal transformation from 400 pounds to 223 pounds fundamentally changed his business capabilities and mental clarity. (24:07) He describes his previous state as having zero mental clarity, being constantly exhausted, and only thinking about staying alive rather than growing the business. The turning point came when his knees buckled while trying to jump into a three-foot hole, making him realize he couldn't even play with his growing children. Through consistent swimming, weightlifting, eliminating soda for five years, and eating only protein and vegetables for a year, he lost 145 pounds in 16 months. Ben explicitly states that his business didn't start growing until he began taking care of his body, demonstrating the direct correlation between physical health and entrepreneurial success.
Promote High Performers to Multiply Their Impact
Rather than keeping his best salesperson in the field indefinitely, Ben promoted his $6 million annual producer to sales manager, multiplying his impact across the entire team. (19:57) This counterintuitive move initially seemed like losing his best performer, but the promoted manager now conducts weekly ride-alongs with all technicians, provides ongoing coaching, and essentially puts his $6 million skill set into every service vehicle. The result is transforming multiple technicians into high-level performers rather than relying on just one superstar. This strategy requires looking beyond immediate revenue to long-term organizational capability building.
Speed of Implementation Determines Success
Ben emphasizes that successful people share one common trait: rapid learning and implementation cycles. (46:45) He compares business growth to a train that's either going up or down, with no plateau state existing. The key differentiator between successful and stagnant individuals is how quickly they can learn something new and immediately put it into practice, rather than getting comfortable with current knowledge. Ben applies this "speed to lead" principle throughout his business - the faster they can respond to customer calls, the higher their closing rate. He advocates for continuous forward momentum, constantly learning and implementing new strategies rather than becoming satisfied with current achievements.
Statistics & Facts
- Ben lost 145 pounds in 16 months through disciplined diet and exercise, transforming from 400 pounds to 223 pounds. (24:30)
- The trades industry will face a shortage of 10 million jobs by 2030, while simultaneously experiencing a steady decline in skilled workers. (44:06)
- Only 3% of baby boomer-owned trade businesses are expected to sell, meaning 97% of their customer bases will return to the market as these business owners retire. (43:58)
