Quality human resources and technology spells success for L.A. Hydro-Jet & Rooter Service

"We sell our maintenance contract so one guy's whole job is to do the jetting. He's very motivated to finding new business, properly servicing the maintenance contract, and building a long-term relationship with the customer."

Baldwin adds that when he finds a new service tech, he prefers to hire one with service experience, but not necessarily in his industry. "That way we can train them how we want them to operate, without first having to overcome any of their preconceived notions. We can train a newcomer our way, have him doing things our way."

Quarterly service contracts make up the bulk of L.A. Hydro-Jetting's service mission. "But, I will warn anyone thinking of buying a jetter and adding it to his plumbing or rooting service to keep that machine busy. If he buys a jetter and just parks it in the yard, waiting for a phone ring, it will be a loser. You have to aggressively market your services. If the jetter is to be used only upon need, it's going to rust.

For this reason Dan keeps his jetters hooked to the service trucks. "We have two jetters, seven drain trucks plus another truck with the camera and line locator. Again, each truck is the meal ticket for the operator. He's paid by the work he does, not by the passing hours. Each tech keeps his machine clean, and his truck spotless as we cover the greater Los Angeles area."

As he looks to the future, Dan expects on the next two years or so L.A. Hydro-Jetting Services will have an annual volume on $2.5 to $3 million. As with other successful line cleaners, Dan knows not only does he need to cover his market more thoroughly, but he also needs to invest in more equipment so he can serve that market more widely.

Also, like other successful businesses, L.A. Hydro-Jetting Services is determined to make maximum use of the home market before it decides whether to begin servicing other areas. "We're going to get into municipality work, so we're buying a bigger flushing unit and pumping truck. We're also adding grease trap pumping to out services because it fits well with line maintenance.

He tells Cleaner, "My long-term goal is if it can go into a drain we can take care of it. We'll keep trying to run this business by doing quality work at a fair price and with a lot of value-added services.

"As I said before, we're looking for customers who are looking for relationships. People buy from friends, from people they can count on that will take problems away from them. We'll keep solving other people's drain problems, which will continue to help us succeed."

So it is that L.A. Hydro-Jetting Services pins its future success on win-win situations, which means that for them the future is bright indeed.

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