How I Built a $1.7B Business Repairing Garage Doors
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What inspired Tommy Mello to start his garage door business?
We're going to spend $4.3 million this month in marketing. And here's what I've learned. Tommy Mello. Tommy Mello. Tommy Mello.
The founder of A1 Garage Door. You're doing this blue collar thing, but at this really big scale. And I love that combination.
A1 Garage Doors, we fix, we repair, we maintain, and we replace garage doors. A1 from day one. The original valuation was... Now the business is north of $80 million a year. No shit. I've read hundreds of books on sales and even more on marketing. So ring, ring, I pick up.
How did Tommy learn the importance of persuasion in business?
What are you telling them? You never say the cost. You say the investment. You never say the most expensive.
What blueprint did Tommy find for scaling his business?
You say top of the line. You never say the cheapest. You say builder grade. These words matter.
Tommy, giving us the sauce. What other businesses have you seen in the services industry that you are shocked at how big they are? Most of what I've done is repeatable.
What lessons did Tommy learn about leadership and training employees?
It's not like this crazy thing that only works in garage doors. Don't overcomplicate it.
Dude, I've known you for 27 minutes and I love this guy.
Tommy, what do you suck at? What is your weakness right now? I was going to go broke. There was a stripper living in our Dallas warehouse with my manager.
We were doing so well and then Tommy went to jail.
There it is. There's the weakness. I feel like I can rule the world. I know I could be what I want to. I put my all in it like no days off. On the road, let's travel.
Tommy, have you ever listened to MFM, My First Million, this podcast?
Yeah, I listened to a dozen. What do you think? I love the come-up stories. I hate how every single guy is pushing entrepreneurship because it's cut out for 45% of the population. You won't be able to handle this.
What are the seven principles of success in home services?
The rejection, the failure, the five years of taking a loan against your house, the people that quit and cheat and lie, the canceled appointments, the long drives, the... The hard nights, the walking out of the movie theater to go run a job, like, I just, I don't feel like everybody's cut out for it. And some people that invest in a Bitcoin early, like, they don't know what it's like.
So who do you think is cut out for it?
How do you know? Well, there's this thing called Driven.
How is AI being utilized in Tommy's business operations?
It's a book. My buddy Gary wrote the book.
What other home services businesses does Tommy see potential in?
And it's actually, if you're a hunter, it's in your DNA. It's literally a different chromosome. And there's so much more. Usually it's ADD. Usually you're dyslexic, some people, but it just means you have a high tolerance for failure.
What are the six 'Fs' that Tommy emphasizes for business success?
You're okay working a lot. You don't ever mention the words work-life balance. You're off balance on purpose and there's seasons of life and you actually have a bigger why. And by the way, you can't quit. The goalpost always moves. There's no like finish. There's no end zone. So if you're going to start from nothing, the chance of success is less than 10%.
So for the audience, you started this thing called A1 Garage, which at this point, I think does north of 300 million in revenue. You took some chips off the table. You sold about half or a little bit less than half of the business recently for I think north of a billion dollar valuation. Is that right?
The original valuation was about 540 million. We were at 27 million of EBITDA. Now the business is north of 80 million of EBIT. So now it's worth close to 1.7. Wow. And how long ago did you start the company? 2007. So the first 10 years were practice.
And explain, what does the company do? So people understand who you are and what you do.
A1 Garage Doors, we fix, we repair, we maintain, and we replace garage doors. And we do this in now 23 states, 37 markets. We run... on average, 25,000 jobs a month.
And give us the origin story. We don't usually like the origin stories because you can, you know, you can get those elsewhere. But I got to ask. I got to know. This is, I mean, the end point is so interesting. I got to know the beginning.
You know, when I was a kid, my mom was a real estate agent. My dad had a transmission shop. He didn't pay the IRS, so that got taken. They got a divorce. So I learned to shovel, snow mow lawns in Michigan. I got a job when I was 12, washing dishes at $4.05 an hour.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What inspired Tommy Mello to start his garage door business?
0:00–0:31
2
How did Tommy learn the importance of persuasion in business?
0:31–0:36
3
What blueprint did Tommy find for scaling his business?
0:36–0:50
4
What lessons did Tommy learn about leadership and training employees?
0:50–1:37
5
What are the seven principles of success in home services?
1:37–2:00
6
How is AI being utilized in Tommy's business operations?
2:00–2:03
7
What other home services businesses does Tommy see potential in?
2:03–2:17
8
What are the six 'Fs' that Tommy emphasizes for business success?
2:17–1:14:16