[the_sleaze_]

As long as customers choose services based on quality.

The HVAC for example - the large firms around you do not run HVAC/plumbing/electrical, they run marketing companies that happen to schedule and bill H+P+E service appointments.

That being said I've never heard or encountered a single services company in the US that can't find business, in fact it's the opposite. They're trying not to drown themselves in front of a fire hose.

[quickthrowman]

> The HVAC for example - the large firms around you do not run HVAC/plumbing/electrical, they run marketing companies that happen to schedule and bill H+P+E service appointments.

Maybe if you’re talking about the small residential market, that’s not where the money is.

The large HVAC/Electrical/Plumbing contractors in my area all perform their own work, including the one I work for. Large contractors do commercial and industrial work, not service calls for homeowners. Doing service calls homeowners sounds like a nightmare, personally.

Bain Capital just bought Service Logic which is a holding company for HVAC contractors. They own a couple of the local HVAC shops and they all have their own PMs, sales, estimating, and field staff.

[mbesto]

> As long as customers choose services based on quality.

If the market doesn't reward this then maybe quality isn't important to the customer. Could be price, location, availability, etc. - PE can absolutely create that value even when they roll up 70% of your local HVAC market.

[donmcronald]

I think part of it is that as the incentive for new entrants goes up, some of those entrants are downright awful. So, there’s a risk of getting someone terrible, the reward of getting someone awesome, and the existing choice of getting predictable mediocrity.

A lot of small business owners in the trades are pretty bad at the business side of things, even if they do great work.