The 5 Best Home Service Businesses to Own During a Recession

The 5 Best Home Service Businesses to Own During a Recession

Not every home service business survives a recession the same way. In this episode of JackQuisitions, Jack Carr ranks the five most recession-resistant home service businesses to own based on one simple question: What do homeowners still pay for when money gets tight? From plumbing and HVAC to restoration and septic, Jack breaks down which businesses continue generating revenue during economic downturns, why emergency services outperform discretionary work, and what acquisition-minded operators should look for before buying. If you're thinking about buying a home service company, expanding your portfolio, or simply want to understand which trades are built to weather any economy, this episode is your playbook. The best businesses aren't just profitable when times are good—they keep printing cash when times get tough. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ In this episode, Jack covers: → His ranking of the 5 most recession-resistant home service businesses → Why urgent repairs outperform discretionary projects → How recurring maintenance creates stable cash flow → Why plumbing takes the #1 spot → The role insurance plays in restoration businesses → Where HVAC, electrical, and septic fit during downturns → What buyers should prioritize when evaluating acquisitions Breaking $5M Workshop Join John Wilson and Jack Carr in Akron, OH for a hands on workshop built for home service owners ready to scale past $5M. Get the proven playbook, tour Wilson's operation, and connect with other growth minded contractors. Register here: https://www.ownedandoperated.com/upcoming-events/oao-workshop-breaking-5-million  [https://www.ownedandoperated.com/upcoming-events/oao-workshop-breaking-5-million ] Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2518396/fan_mail/new] Jackquisitions Newsletter — Your favorite source for how to buy small businesses. Real insights, smart strategies, zero gurus. 🖊️ Sign up HERE for more insights [https://www.jackquisitions.com/] 📢 Enjoyed the episode?  ✅ Like, Comment & Subscribe for weekly insights on business acquisitions, deal flow, marketing, and growth strategies! 📌 Disclaimer: Some links may include UTM parameters or affiliate relationships, meaning we may earn a commission if you make a purchase. Episodes may feature sponsors, but all opinions expressed are our own.

The 8 Home Service Businesses I'd Never Buy

Not every boring business is worth buying. In this episode of Jackquisitions, Jack Carr breaks down eight home service businesses he would never acquire, from pressure washing and window cleaning to handyman services, dryer vent cleaning, and even dog poop pickup. He explains why some businesses create great incomes for owner-operators but fail as scalable acquisitions, and the common characteristics that make him walk away. If you're evaluating acquisition opportunities, this episode will help you avoid businesses with limited market size, low ticket values, weak operating leverage, and business models that depend too heavily on the owner. Great acquisitions need the fundamentals to scale tomorrow. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ In this episode, Jack covers: • The eight home service businesses he would never buy • Why owner-operator success doesn't always translate into a great acquisition • The biggest red flags he looks for before buying a business • How seasonality, low ticket sizes, and weak recurring revenue hurt valuations • Which businesses work as add-on services but fail as standalone companies • Why scalability—not just profitability—is the deciding factor in every acquisition ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Follow Jack for More Acquisition Insights 𝕏: https://x.com/thehvacjack [https://x.com/thehvacjack] Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2518396/fan_mail/new] Jackquisitions Newsletter — Your favorite source for how to buy small businesses. Real insights, smart strategies, zero gurus. 🖊️ Sign up HERE for more insights [https://www.jackquisitions.com/] 📢 Enjoyed the episode?  ✅ Like, Comment & Subscribe for weekly insights on business acquisitions, deal flow, marketing, and growth strategies! 📌 Disclaimer: Some links may include UTM parameters or affiliate relationships, meaning we may earn a commission if you make a purchase. Episodes may feature sponsors, but all opinions expressed are our own.

How to ACTUALLY Start a Septic Business in 2026

Starting a septic business isn't about picking a name or designing a logo. It's about getting the fundamentals right before you spend your first dollar. In this episode of Jackquisitions, Jack Carr breaks down exactly how he'd build a septic business from scratch in 2026. From licensing and permitting to startup capital, marketing, hiring, and buying your first truck, he walks through the order that matters most and the common mistakes that sink new operators before they ever gain traction. If you're thinking about launching a home service business or want a practical framework for starting in a regulated industry, this episode lays out a step-by-step roadmap to help you avoid expensive mistakes and build on a solid foundation. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ In this episode, Jack covers: • Why licensing and local regulations should come before buying equipment • How much capital he'd want before starting a septic business • Whether it's better to buy an existing company or start from scratch • How to allocate your startup budget across equipment, marketing, compliance, and working capital • Why Google Business Profile, reviews, and Local Services Ads should be your primary marketing focus • When to hire your first employee and how to structure the role for growth ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Follow Jack for More Acquisition Insights 𝕏: https://x.com/thehvacjack [https://x.com/thehvacjack] ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Breaking $5M Workshop Join John Wilson and Jack Carr in Akron, OH for a hands on workshop built for home service owners ready to scale past $5M. Get the proven playbook, tour Wilson's operation, and connect with other growth minded contractors. Register here: https://www.ownedandoperated.com/upcoming-events/oao-workshop-breaking-5-million  [https://www.ownedandoperated.com/upcoming-events/oao-workshop-breaking-5-million ] Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2518396/fan_mail/new] Jackquisitions Newsletter — Your favorite source for how to buy small businesses. Real insights, smart strategies, zero gurus. 🖊️ Sign up HERE for more insights [https://www.jackquisitions.com/] 📢 Enjoyed the episode?  ✅ Like, Comment & Subscribe for weekly insights on business acquisitions, deal flow, marketing, and growth strategies! 📌 Disclaimer: Some links may include UTM parameters or affiliate relationships, meaning we may earn a commission if you make a purchase. Episodes may feature sponsors, but all opinions expressed are our own.

The 8 Best Boring Businesses to Buy in 2026

Thinking about buying a small business? These are the best boring businesses to buy in 2026. In this episode of Jackquisitions, Jack Carr ranks eight of the best service businesses and small business acquisition opportunities, breaking down recurring revenue, valuation multiples, route density, and the operational advantages that make certain businesses better investments than others. From pest control and garage doors to dumpster rentals, appliance repair, and septic pumping, learn what makes a business worth buying and where buyers should be careful during due diligence. If you're looking to buy a business, grow through acquisitions, or invest in a profitable home service company, this episode explains what experienced operators look for before making an offer. The best acquisitions aren't always the biggest names. They're the businesses most buyers overlook. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ In this episode, Jack covers: * His ranking of the 8 best boring businesses to buy * Why recurring revenue matters more than flashy industries * The role of route density in building profitable service businesses * What valuation multiples he'd pay for each business * The biggest risks buyers should watch for during due diligence * Which businesses private equity has already driven up in price * Why septic pumping is his #1 acquisition opportunity ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Follow Jack for More Acquisition Insights 𝕏: https://x.com/thehvacjack [https://x.com/thehvacjack] Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2518396/fan_mail/new] Jackquisitions Newsletter — Your favorite source for how to buy small businesses. Real insights, smart strategies, zero gurus. 🖊️ Sign up HERE for more insights [https://www.jackquisitions.com/] 📢 Enjoyed the episode?  ✅ Like, Comment & Subscribe for weekly insights on business acquisitions, deal flow, marketing, and growth strategies! 📌 Disclaimer: Some links may include UTM parameters or affiliate relationships, meaning we may earn a commission if you make a purchase. Episodes may feature sponsors, but all opinions expressed are our own.

The Best Home Service Businesses to Build a $10M Company

The Best Boring Businesses to Build a $10M Company Not every "boring business" is built to scale. In this episode of Jackquisitions, Jack Carr ranks four home service businesses that can realistically grow into $10M+ companies and explains why so many others stall out long before they get there. From recurring revenue and route density to hiring, middle management, and acquisitions, Jack breaks down what separates a lifestyle business from a business with real enterprise value. If you're thinking about buying, starting, or scaling a home service company, this episode will help you understand which business models have the strongest long-term potential, and where each one tends to break. The best businesses aren't just easy to start. They're built to scale. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ In this episode, Jack covers: • The five characteristics every scalable home service business shares  • Why plumbing ranks ahead of HVAC for long-term growth  • How recurring revenue changes the value of a business  • The biggest scaling challenges in pest control and landscaping  • Why most companies get stuck around the $2M mark  • What buyers look for in businesses that can grow past $10M  • How leadership, systems, and middle management drive enterprise value ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Follow Jack for More Acquisition Insights X: https://x.com/thehvacjack [https://x.com/thehvacjack] ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Sponsors Breaking $5M Workshop Join John Wilson and Jack Carr in Akron, OH for a hands-on workshop built for home service owners ready to scale past $5M. Get the proven playbook, tour Wilson's operation, and connect with other growth-minded contractors. Register here: https://www.ownedandoperated.com/upcoming-events/oao-workshop-breaking-5-million [https://www.ownedandoperated.com/upcoming-events/oao-workshop-breaking-5-million] Quick Staffers Hire trained HVAC and plumbing CSRs without the overhead of traditional hiring. Save $500 on your first placement with Quick Staffers: https://www.quickstaffers.com/ [https://www.quickstaffers.com/]  Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2518396/fan_mail/new] Jackquisitions Newsletter — Your favorite source for how to buy small businesses. Real insights, smart strategies, zero gurus. 🖊️ Sign up HERE for more insights [https://www.jackquisitions.com/] 📢 Enjoyed the episode?  ✅ Like, Comment & Subscribe for weekly insights on business acquisitions, deal flow, marketing, and growth strategies! 📌 Disclaimer: Some links may include UTM parameters or affiliate relationships, meaning we may earn a commission if you make a purchase. Episodes may feature sponsors, but all opinions expressed are our own.