Scaling Up: Making the leap from owner-operated to multi-inspector firm

December 1, 2022

Doug Johnson knows running a business isn’t for everyone. It has, however, been great for him. He’s the owner of a growing home inspector team in Alabama, Inspect Mobile, and an ASHI Certified Inspector and ASHI Board Member.

“Some people are amazing technicians and don’t have ambitions to be the owner or just don’t want the stress of handling taxes and insurance paperwork,” he said. “There is nothing wrong with either. It’s the care for the customer that matters.”

Today Johnson runs a five-person home inspector team (four of them full-time). He is the 2021, 2022 ASHI Mobile Chapter President and on the current ASHI Board of Directors. We recently talked with Johnson about his time as a home inspector and how that’s evolved.

What made you want to start a home inspection company?

Growing up I frequently saw my dad doing home repair projects around the house, and that got me watching TV shows like Hometime with Dean Johnson and later shows like Mike Holmes’. Then a friend of mine bought a house. I was installing some can lights in his living room and noticed some issues in his attic. Come to find out, his inspector did not mention those. I thought to myself, “I could do better.” So I looked up the requirements and started my own inspection company that year—at 25 years old.

How long did you work on your own?

I was on my own the first six years before I hired two additional inspectors. Now we are up to five inspectors.

How did you decide to scale up?

Going to inspection conferences, I learned from experienced guys I was too busy because I would frequently be booked out seven to 10 days. After raising my fee a few times and after about a year of searching, I finally found my first additional inspector and, soon after, my second.

Doug Johnson (front) with his three employee inspectors on a roof—Michael Werneth (left), Jonathan Pierce (middle), and Brian Loften (right).

How did you make your first hire?

Before I hired my first inspector I interviewed or talked to 10 people over several months. I knew I could train the right person if they had the soft skills to do a good job and show up on time. It ended up being that I had a friend helping me with some home renovations, and that part-time help became my first W2 employee.

What was the biggest challenge about this growth?

I’d say the hardest part of bringing on employee inspectors was convincing real estate agents to trust my team. I remember at one point I called one of my inspectors the next best thing to a clone of me. I already had good systems in place for order taking, and I was in communication with my attorney and accountant about the process.

Doug (left) and Jonathan (right) prepare to inspect a house together.

What was the biggest lesson you learned?

It’s funny. Some of my business friends said that I should never get employees, that they were worse than children. I don’t have any kids, so I didn’t know what I was getting into. But having patience was tremendous with employees.

How has growth changed your business?

The world is constantly changing, whether we adjust with it or not. In Alabama, I am seeing a shift away from single inspector companies to multiple inspector companies. I was just ahead of the times. By the time the state changed the license requirements to need ridealongs, I was already experienced in that from internal practices.

Employee Jonathan Pierce looking at an electrical panel.

Any advice for other inspectors considering scaling up?

Think long and hard before growing. What is your end goal in taking on additional inspectors? If you want to make more money, there are less stressful ways. If you want to find a replacement so you can retire, it might be different than wanting to transition into a management role and stay in the business for another decade. When I was in college I knew I wanted to be a business owner one day, but I had no idea in what industry. When I started my business, I intentionally did not put my name on it, so one day the name would mean more than just me.

Even in the early days when it was just me, I projected an image of a larger company to the public. Small things like saying “when I get back to the office I will get that to you” instead of saying “when I get home and look at my laptop” make a difference.


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