Jon sits down with Aizik Zimerman, who bought J. Blanton Plumbing three years ago at $6 million in revenue and has since grown it to a $25 million run rate—without acquiring a single company. His secret? He doesn't think he runs a plumbing company at all.
"We're a consumer sales and marketing business," Aizik says. "We just happen to install plumbing." This mindset shift explains why he has two full-stack developers, a fleet of overseas recruiters, and runs 10 marketing events per week across Chicago.
Jon talks to Aizik about his unconventional approach to the skilled labor shortage. While competitors struggle to find plumbers, he's built a 40-person global team handling everything from inbound calls to permit pulling. This allows him to pay his field technicians $4-6 above market rates without raising prices, creating what Jon calls "labor specialization at $10 million instead of $200 million."
They dive deep into the power of obsession. Aizik admits he listens to home services podcasts for fun and treats business like a game where you need to master both consumer branding and blue-collar labor management. As Jon notes, channeling Naval: "It's hard to be the best plumber in the world, but straightforward to be the best plumber-marketer combination."
They also break down bet sizing, multichannel marketing density, and why organic growth beats acquisitions when you're printing money. Aizik's approach is to find what works, then do 10x more of it.
Key Topics: (05:40) From 20 to 130 Employees: The Growth Story (13:51) Solving the Skilled Labor Crisis with Global Talent (18:56) Single-Task Global Employees and ROI (22:37) Labor Specialization: The $10M Company Secret (25:27) Revenue Stair-Steps: $6M to $25M Journey (32:21) Multichannel Marketing and Geographic Domination (35:17) The Naval Principle: Being the Best Combination (44:21) Bet Sizing and Risk Management
Stay connected for more insights and strategies by following: Jon: @MatznerJon on X and at lazyleverage.beehiiv.com Peter: @pslohmann on X and at peterlohmann.com
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