We just finished the highest-revenue month we’ve had in four years. The pool building climate has just dramatically changed here this spring. Every segment of our business has just taken off in every direction — remodels, new pool builds, and there’s a resurgence in maintenance and repair. We don’t work in the low end, but the high-end side has just been popping, and the mid-range business has been pretty brisk as well.
I’ve been networking with most people here and it’s ubiquitous — it’s across the board.
We’ve been waiting for this to come, and it’s been quite welcome! We really struggled the last three years trying to maintain the status quo and had dismal results since 2008. This spring has been almost hard to imagine.
There are two mitigating factors that I can put my finger on: Financing has freed up recently for both residential and commercial projects, and there’s a huge pent-up demand. I think people are at least placated with the economy, so they’re willing to spend the money for the first time in four years.
Before, as a result of the economy, people were willing to spend money for staycations and getting their pools renovated or fixed. But they were extremely cautious about how much they spent. Now I’ve seen a resurgence of people who are willing to take that next step up in quality or do something a little special, even in the mid-range projects. We’re starting to see a lot more premium finishes and high-end tile, which we hadn’t seen in a while. Automation equipment and hybrid heating systems have started to take off. That’s been really good for us.
We’ve actually tripled our staff in the last three months, and I’m afraid the supply of people is starting to dwindle and we’re going to have a rough time finding qualified help over the summer. We’ve been hiring temporary, mostly subcontract, labor. We’re not willing to bite off permanent employees yet. Three months does not make a year’s worth of revenue!
