From Environmental Cleanup to Roofing: One Entrepreneur's Masterclass in Service Business Scaling
If you’re a service business owner looking to scale, or if you’ve ever wondered whether you can bounce back from failure and build something even better, this episode of Home Service Headquarters is packed with raw wisdom. Host Jack sits down with Teddy Slack, an entrepreneur who’s built—and sold—multiple service businesses, generating over $75 million in revenue along the way.
Teddy’s journey isn’t just about success; it’s about the hard lessons learned from spreading yourself too thin, the power of systems and processes, and how to build a business that actually works without you.
Here's What You'll Learn in This Episode
From the Trenches to the Boardroom
Teddy’s entrepreneurial journey started young—really young. At just 3 or 4 years old, he was on job sites with his father, who ran a commercial environmental business. Fast forward to age 23, and Teddy was given a desk, a phone, and a yellow pad (no computer!) to start a residential division of his father’s company.
Within the first year, Teddy built that division to $1 million in revenue. His secret? Digital marketing was just emerging, and he jumped on Google PPC advertising early, dominating before most competitors even knew it existed.
The Dangerous Success Trap
After that initial success, Teddy did what many ambitious entrepreneurs do—he went in too many directions at once. Between 2009 and 2018, he ran multiple businesses simultaneously: residential oil tank services, hazmat spill response, house flipping (24 properties in two years!), door-to-door energy sales, and even a fracking equipment business in Ohio.
On paper, things looked incredible. Teddy was generating millions in revenue with more than 70 employees between multiple companies. But as he candidly admits: “I was chasing top line revenue. I didn’t know any better… I spread myself too thin.”
The wake-up call came when his Ohio fracking venture collapsed. Despite doing $300K in monthly revenue, he couldn’t factor his invoices as planned, leading to a shutdown that affected his other businesses. That moment forced Teddy to completely restart and rethink his approach to business.
The Pivot: Building for Value, Not Ego
In 2018, Teddy hit the books. He devoured resources like Built to Sell by John Warrillow and Simple Numbers by Greg Crabtree, learning about EBITDA, systems, and building businesses for valuation instead of lifestyle.
This education transformed everything. Teddy started Simple Tank Services with a clear goal: build it right and sell it within three years. The results speak for themselves:
- Year 1 to 3: Grew to $4 million in revenue
- Achieved 43% EBITDA (approximately $1.6 million in profit annually)
- Extracted himself completely from day-to-day operations
- Sold for a 5x multiple in 2022
How did he do it? Systems and processes. Teddy created video training for every single task in his business—from cutting checks to writing 300-page environmental reports. This documentation made it easy to train employees and prove to buyers that the business didn’t depend on him.
Service Business Scaling: The Real Keys to Growth
Throughout the conversation, several critical themes emerged about service business scaling:
Focus matters more than you think. Teddy’s biggest regret? Not concentrating on one business earlier. “If I really just concentrated on the one business and I really went really hard… I would’ve been way better off,” he reflects. The lesson: Resist the temptation to chase every opportunity.
Know your business model’s scalability. Not all services businesses scale the same way. Teddy’s oil tank business was highly profitable but had limited growth potential due to:
- Specialized licensing requirements
- Significant equipment costs (half a million dollars to do a $1,500 job)
- Regional regulations that varied by township
- Limited market size
That’s why he pivoted to roofing, a business with simpler licensing, no permits or inspections in New Jersey, and a massive subcontractor network already in place.
Track your time to find your freedom. One of Teddy’s most actionable tips: Do a two-week time audit where you track everything you do in 15-minute increments. Then identify what you hate doing and systematize it so you can delegate it. “You’ll begin to love your business again,” he promises.
Content is your competitive advantage. In 2020, Teddy started a YouTube channel for Simple Tank Services despite no one else in the industry creating content. Customers would call specifically asking for “the guy in the beard” they saw in videos. The content helped explode his business during COVID, when everyone was glued to their phones.
The Roofing Pivot: Building Business Number Six
After selling Simple Tank Services, Teddy took time off before consulting with roofing business owners. He quickly realized roofing offered everything he was looking for in service business scaling:
- Simple business model (no permits, inspections, or complex regulations in New Jersey)
- 95% subcontractor model in his market
- Massive scalability potential
- Private equity interest for eventual exit
But Teddy’s approach to his new roofing business is what makes him stand out. He’s not just building another roofing company—he’s creating an ecosystem.
The Innovative Networking Strategy
Teddy built an in-person podcast studio in his office to host the New Jersey Home Pro Podcast. His plan? Interview 100 home services contractors in his first 12 months, from window cleaners to driveway installers to chimney specialists.
Each contractor gets:
- Free exposure through podcast content
- A spot on his directory website
- Short video clips driving traffic to the directory
- The opportunity to pay a few hundred dollars monthly for continued promotion
In return, Teddy gets:
- A network of referral partners (with a $500 referral fee for roofing leads)
- SEO value from 100+ contractors driving traffic to his site
- A community of local businesses
- Positioning as a connector in his market
It’s brilliant blue-collar networking with a digital twist.
Hit or Miss: Rapid Fire Wisdom
Service businesses run on hustle, not systems: HIT (but shouldn’t be). Most businesses operate this way, but it’s not sustainable for long-term growth.
Hiring is the most difficult part of scaling: MISS. Hiring becomes easier when you market yourself properly. When Teddy started creating content, people began reaching out wanting to work for him—he didn’t have to chase talent.
You need to niche down your services to be successful: HIT. Teddy firmly believes in doing one thing extremely well rather than offering multiple services. Simple Tank Services only did oil tank work, and his new roofing company will only do roofing.
Not every business can scale: HIT. Some business models have inherent limitations. Teddy’s oil tank business was incredibly profitable but couldn’t easily grow beyond $4-5 million due to licensing, equipment, and regulatory constraints.
Final Advice for Service Business Owners
When asked for his number-one piece of advice for someone starting out, Teddy offered two critical points:
- FOCUS. Don’t chase top-line revenue in multiple directions. Concentrate on your most profitable service and go deep instead of wide.
- Do a time audit. Track every 15-minute increment of your day for two weeks. Identify what you hate doing, then systematize and delegate those tasks. This is how you extract yourself from the day-to-day and actually build a valuable business.
Service Business Scaling: The Big Takeaways
Teddy Slack’s story is a masterclass in resilience and business evolution. His journey proves that:
- Early success doesn’t guarantee you know everything.
- Spreading yourself thin across multiple ventures can derail even profitable businesses.
- Education and systems are what separate lifestyle businesses from sellable ones.
- The right business model matters as much as execution.
- Content creation is no longer optional for service businesses.
- You can rebuild and come back stronger after failure.
Whether you’re just starting your first service business or you’re on business number three, four, or five, Teddy’s insights on service business scaling offer a roadmap for building something sustainable, valuable, and eventually sellable.
Want More?
Listen to the full episode for deeper insights into Teddy’s journey, including the specific books that changed his perspective and the detailed systems he implemented at Simple Tank Services.
Connect With Teddy Slack:
- 🎥 YouTube: @TeddySlack / Modern Contractor TV
- 📸 Instagram: @Teddy_Slack
- 🎙️ New Jersey Home Pro Podcast: @JerseyHomeProPodcast
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Have an idea for an episode or want to get your business story featured on the show? Reach out to us at homeserviceheadquarters.com.
