David Hawes is all about numbers. “Just about anyone can clean a pool, but it’s how you handle the business end that will make or break you in the future,” says the president of the Independent Pool and Spa Service Association and CEO of H&H Pool Services, Inc. in Dublin, Calif.
He aims to teach other techs — as well as retailers, distributors, builders and anyone else — to be good businesspeople. He’s been doing it for a few decades now, and has been pushing even harder since he joined the board of the Foundation for Pool & Spa Industry Education (FPSIE) and became president of IPSSA.
Portrait of a young entrepreneur
If anyone understands how to run a profitable business, it’s Hawes.
After all, he’s been doing it since he was 12. His parents owned a pool retail business; he started with his next-door neighbor’s pool and soon began picking up accounts in the neighborhood, where he rode his bike with racks for the chemicals. Even back then, he knew the service was in demand.
“I always joke that people will push a lawn mower and a vacuum cleaner, but the pool guy has chemicals,” he says. “Most people don’t want to touch that.”
The value of pool service became even more evident through the years, as the economy dipped up and — especially — down. “It used to be, all the glory belonged to the builders,” Hawes says. But during those times when people couldn’t afford to build or renovate, they depended on people like Hawes to maintain their pools and spas.
As a young entrepreneur, Hawes kept up his service accounts through college. He could do this by scheduling classes around his pool-service days, which were Thursdays and Saturdays. He studied finance and accounting, which proved to be highly useful later on.
After graduating, he took up a job at Hewlett Packard as an accountant and kept up his pool-service schedule on the weekend. He lasted six months at Hewlett Packard. “I remember looking out my window and wishing I was outside,” Hawes says. “I really liked working outside.”
Hawes took his finance and accounting background, plus his pool-service knowledge, and decided to launch a business and make a career out of it. Pretty quickly, the company “grew and grew.”
He opened a second office, grew his accounts to nearly 1,000 pools, then split the company up and sold the portions to his employees, who still operate them. He kept one for himself, grew that to about 1,000 accounts, then split that up, again. Today, he manages about 600 pools, “a good comfortable size for the number of personnel.” He takes care of bids and estimates, and still likes to go on-site to make repairs.
Growing involvement
Meanwhile, he spends a lot of his time working with the various organizations, including running IPSSA, teaching through FPSIE, and directing the Pool Industry Expo (PIE). He also is working to launch an apprenticeship program in the state of California. In his leadership, he emphasizes the importance of sustainable financials and keeping up with technology, as well as trying to recruit younger people to work in the industry.
He is often seen leading a course or seminar. “I just have a knack for teaching,” he says. “I always wanted to be involved in the direction the industry was going, do some positive things for the industry. I hate to sit back and not be involved.”
When Hawes joined the board of IPSSA, the first thing he did was look at the financials, naturally, to make sure its model was sustainable. He says the group made changes to the dues and corporate structures. He helped trim the number of committees from 13 to six, which he says was far more productive.
Hawes also said that the group introduced technology to the association, including video conferencing. “All committee meetings are done by Zoom, so these committees are now able to get all their work done prior to the board meeting,” he says.
Before, committees would meet on a Friday before the board meeting, which meant a rushed few days to accomplish any extra work. Now they have about three months to mull over ideas, do research and plan. The association has also swapped out one of its annual in-person meetings for a virtual one, which saves nearly $20,000 to $30,000 on the bottom line in travel expenses and other in-person logistics.
Agent of change
Hawes has big plans for the organizations he oversees.
As president of IPSSA, Hawes plans to shift money towards education and to partner with the Pool and Hot Tub Association (PHTA) to provide opportunities for members. He also wants IPSSA to become even more involved in the area of water safety, and to grow membership beyond the Sun Belt.
IPSSA has boosted its social media presence and encourages chapters to submit news and announcements, and is looking to build a new website with a more user-friendly association-management system. The association also hired a new executive director.
“I get a little giddy, because I’m really looking forward to the changes we’re seeing out there and the direction we’re going,” says Hawes.
“I want to leave my industry and association better than when I got into it.”
