The Customers You Choose Shape the Plumbing Business You Build
- Sandra Wallmann
- Apr 16
- 6 min read
Updated: 6 days ago
*Affiliate Disclosure: Some links on this page are affiliate links, which means I may earn a commission if you purchase through them, at no additional cost to you. I only recommend tools I personally use or have thoroughly vetted and confidently stand behind to help service business owners build structured, profitable companies.
When I first started Pete’s Plumbing & Heating with my husband, who is the master plumber, we said yes to every customer who called.
At that stage of business, that feels normal because you are trying to build a company from nothing. Every phone call feels important. Every job feels like an opportunity to grow the business. We handled residential plumbing, commercial accounts, restaurants, emergency calls, equipment installs, water heaters, drain issues, and almost anything else customers needed.
Like many newer plumbing business owners, we believed that more work and more customers would continue creating more growth for the company. And in many ways, it did. The revenue increased as Pete’s Plumbing & Heating grew. But what we eventually learned was that growth also creates operational complexity that has to be managed differently as the business evolves.
At the beginning, my husband handled most of the plumbing work himself. As the owner and master plumber, he could solve almost any plumbing problem that came his way. That flexibility helped us grow quickly because customers trusted us and knew we would find a solution no matter what the situation was.
What I did not fully understand yet was that every type of plumbing customer creates a different type of plumbing business.
The Day the Schedule Started Falling Apart
As Pete’s Plumbing & Heating grew, we started handling more commercial plumbing accounts while continuing to grow our residential customer base at the same time.
At first, I thought this was exactly what success was supposed to look like. The phones were ringing constantly, the schedule stayed full, and we were bringing in more revenue than ever before. But behind the scenes, the business was becoming harder and harder to manage operationally.
We would have residential plumbing appointments scheduled throughout the day while suddenly getting commercial emergency calls that needed immediate attention. Restaurants could not simply wait until tomorrow if they had a plumbing issue. If water needed to be shut off or equipment stopped working, their business was being affected every minute the problem continued.
That changed the pressure level of the entire day.
One commercial emergency could completely disrupt the residential schedule. We would reroute plumbers, call homeowners to reschedule appointments, reorganize materials, and constantly adjust the schedule while the office tried to keep everything under control.
The business was growing, but the complexity of running it was growing just as fast.
Commercial Plumbing Created a Completely Different Operational Structure
One of the biggest things I learned while growing Pete’s Plumbing & Heating was that commercial plumbing was not simply larger plumbing jobs.
Commercial customers created an entirely different operational structure for the business.
Some of our commercial customers included restaurants like McDonald’s. If they purchased new equipment, the plumber often needed to review specifications beforehand, inspect the existing plumbing systems, and determine whether the current setup could support the installation properly.
Many commercial jobs involved permits, inspections, specialty parts, nighttime work, and emergency scheduling. Some work had to be completed overnight because restaurants could not shut off water during business hours.
That type of customer affected the company differently.
Commercial work created more pressure on scheduling because many issues needed immediate attention. It created more stress on the office because schedules constantly changed throughout the day. Mentally, it also affected plumbers differently because emergency commercial work often involved higher pressure situations, after-hours scheduling, and complicated coordination.
None of these things made commercial plumbing bad. In fact, commercial work can become extremely profitable and create strong long-term relationships.
The issue was that I started realizing commercial plumbing required a very different business structure than residential service work.
The Realization That Changed How I Structured Pete's Plumbing & Heating
For a long time, we kept trying to handle every type of customer the same way.
That eventually stopped working.
The issue was not residential plumbing versus commercial plumbing. Neither one was wrong. The real issue was that as Pete’s Plumbing & Heating continued growing, I needed to intentionally structure the company around the different operational demands each type of customer created.
That realization completely changed how I looked at growth.
Residential plumbing often created more predictable daytime scheduling, smoother routing, repeat customers, and easier day-to-day operations. Commercial plumbing could create larger invoices and valuable long-term accounts, but it also required faster response times, more preparation, more coordination, and much more operational flexibility.
There was no right or wrong answer.
The real question became:
What type of plumbing business did I want to build?
The Solution Was Building Separate Teams
As Pete’s Plumbing & Heating continued growing, I realized we needed a better operational structure if we wanted to successfully handle both residential and commercial plumbing customers.
So we changed how the company operated.
We eventually built two separate teams of plumbers. Certain plumbers focused more on commercial work while others primarily handled residential service. That decision dramatically improved scheduling, reduced operational chaos, and made the business easier to manage day to day.
Commercial emergencies stopped constantly disrupting residential schedules. The office became more organized. The plumbers became more comfortable because they were handling the type of work they were best suited for most often.
Most importantly, the company finally started feeling more intentional instead of constantly reactive.
That was one of the biggest operational shifts I made as the business grew.
At Pete’s Plumbing & Heating, we encountered these problems ourselves. The systems and solutions we created came directly from running a real plumbing company through real growth challenges over many years.
That is why I talk so much about structure and systems today.
Because once a plumbing company reaches a certain size, organization is no longer optional. It becomes the thing holding the entire business together.
Every Plumbing Customer Shapes the Business You Build
This is something I think many plumbing business owners do not fully realize early enough.
When you choose customers, you are also choosing:
scheduling expectations
office workload
emergency demands
technician stress levels
inventory requirements
operational complexity
profitability structure
and ultimately, the lifestyle of the business owner
That is why growth eventually forces owners to make intentional decisions about how they want their plumbing company to operate.
Some plumbing companies are built entirely around residential service. Others focus heavily on commercial work. Some companies successfully do both. But doing both well usually requires stronger systems, better scheduling, separate workflows, and very intentional operational structure.
One of the biggest lessons I learned running Pete’s Plumbing & Heating is that there is no perfect plumbing customer.
There is only the type of plumbing business you want to build.
System Reframe
Many plumbing business owners think growth simply means getting more customers.
What I learned running Pete’s Plumbing & Heating is that growth eventually becomes about building the right structure for the customers you choose to serve. The more intentionally you structure the business, the more stable, organized, and manageable growth becomes over time.
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If your plumbers are busy but your business still does not feel as profitable as it should, it may be time to look at more than just the number of calls coming in.
Consider the following:
Where the calls are coming from.
The type of work those areas create.
How much drive time your plumbers are losing.
Whether your current service area is helping or hurting your profitability.
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*Affiliate Disclosure: Some links on this page are affiliate links, which means I may earn a commission if you purchase through them, at no additional cost to you. I only recommend tools I personally use or have thoroughly vetted and confidently stand behind to help service business owners build structured, profitable companies.
Sandra Wallmann
35+ Year Service Business Owner | Founder of Sandra’s Business Guide
Sandra Wallmann has spent over 35 years running Pete’s Plumbing & Heating, building systems that support consistent revenue, strong client retention, and long-term growth. She is also the owner of Hit the Spot Treats, a corporate gifting business focused on client appreciation and retention.
Through Sandra’s Business Guide, she shares real-world strategies to help service business owners move from daily operations into true ownership.
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