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Book a call with Pest Control Millionaires https://api.leadconnectorhq.com/widget/booking/vrM0lerytBSUboog8BCB A private group of 300+ pest control owners learning to get more leads, close more of them, and buy back their time. Luke Lewis left the FBI, started Native Pest Management in 2015, and grew it to $24 million a year with 150 employees, with no acquisitions and no door to door. He breaks down how running the company from 500 miles away forced him to work on the business, why the lead source other owners called a scam became his best one, and how Native uses AI to answer calls 24/7. Luke earned a master's in accounting at the University of Florida and spent almost three years as an FBI intelligence analyst in Tallahassee. When a 2013 hiring freeze stalled his path to becoming an agent, he went home to West Palm Beach to work in his dad's landscaping business. When the FBI wouldn't take him back, he started Native doing lawns and soon added home pest control. Native now runs six offices across Florida, has made the Inc. 5000 six years in a row, ranks No. 63 on the PCT 100, and grew 30% last year. In this episode, Luke and Dan get into how Luke learned marketing through the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program, Neil Patel, and blogging with Semrush and Moz, and why COVID became his breakthrough. Luke explains why HomeAdvisor (now Angi Leads) was his best lead source, how calling every lead within seconds beat the competition, and how Native tracks speed to lead with GoHighLevel, Zapier and Slack. They also cover what he learned from Tommy Mello, why imperfect action beats perfection, AI call answering and the AlphaGo lesson on testing, ranking ideas by dollars per hour, promoting a technician all the way to company president, and why he tells owners to raise their prices this month. Pest Control Legends is where Dan Leibrandt interviews the most successful owners in pest control about how they built their companies. Subscribe for more conversations like this. CHAPTERS 00:00 Intro 00:43 From FBI intelligence analyst to pest control owner 08:08 Running a pest control company from 500 miles away 11:50 How to work on your business, not in it 15:37 How COVID sparked fast growth 17:53 Which pest control lead sources actually work 19:58 Speed to lead and why HomeAdvisor was his best lead source 24:25 Lessons from Tommy Mello 28:23 Why imperfect action beats perfection 31:15 How Native uses AI to answer calls 24/7 37:51 How to manage 150 employees 43:29 Key hires and promoting from within 50:16 Growing 30% a year with no acquisitions or door to door 53:17 Why you should raise your prices FOLLOW LUKE LEWIS Native Pest Management: https://www.nativepestmanagement.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nativepestmanagement/ Email: [email protected] Text: 561-389-5531 FOLLOW DAN X: https://x.com/danleibrandt Website: https://pestcontrolseo.com Music licensed through Soundstripe. Code: PZ7KVNSX8DOGUCTM #PestControl #PestControlBusiness #PestControlMarketing #SpeedToLead #HomeServices

Book a Milecraft demo https://milecraft.ai Milecraft is a sponsor of Pest Control Millionaires. Christian Ludwig sold Aruza Pest Control to private equity in an eight-figure exit, and he says you should never build a pest control company to sell. He breaks down putting on 33,000 accounts in three years, growing Nativa Pest Control to $1.14M in ARR in eight months, and cutting technician miles 62% with AI routing. Christian started selling pest control door to door in Atlanta, where he serviced 396 accounts in about 12 weeks, a rookie record at the time. He went on to recruit at Alterra and Aptive, then joined Solomon and Jordan as a co-founder of Aruza Pest Control in Charlotte, North Carolina. Aruza made the Inc. 5000 three times and the PCT 100 three times before selling to private equity in 2022. Today he owns Nativa Pest Control in Upstate South Carolina and founded Milecraft, a whole-month route optimization platform for pest control companies. In this episode, Christian and Dan get into what makes a great door-to-door rep, how to spot sales talent, and what it took to fund Aruza's growth, from selling his house, car and boat to personally guaranteeing $450,000 in loans. Christian explains why building a company to sell makes it less attractive to buyers, how Nativa earned 275+ five-star reviews and an 85% top impression rate on Google LSA, and why he treats his Google Business Profile like a social media page. Then they dig into Milecraft, the routing app he built with his developer friend Nick, how it averages 62% fewer recurring technician miles than intelligent routing in tools like FieldRoutes, how many stops a day a tech should run, quarterly versus bimonthly service, MCP and Grok Bot setups, and whether software is dead in the age of AI. Pest Control Legends is where Dan Leibrandt interviews the most successful owners in pest control about how they built their companies. Subscribe for more conversations like this. CHAPTERS 00:00 Intro 01:31 How Christian got into door-to-door pest control 08:49 What makes a great door-to-door salesperson 19:16 Putting on 33,000 accounts in three years at Aruza 24:41 Why you should never build your company to sell 27:42 Why he started Nativa Pest Control 30:29 Why customer experience beats marketing spend 34:14 Treating your Google Business Profile like social media 40:24 Why he built Milecraft 47:05 How AI routing cut technician miles by 62% 52:09 How many stops a day technicians should run 58:03 Is software dead in the age of AI 1:02:32 How Milecraft pricing works FOLLOW CHRISTIAN LUDWIG Milecraft: https://milecraft.ai Nativa Pest Control: https://nativapest.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/christianl.u.d.23/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidchristianludwig/ FOLLOW DAN X: https://x.com/danleibrandt Website: https://danleibrandt.com Music licensed through Soundstripe. Code: PZ7KVNSX8DOGUCTM #DoorToDoorSales #PestControlBusiness #PestControl #HomeServices #PestControlMarketing

Jason Carpenter built Environmental Pest Management into the largest multifamily pest control company in the Midwest, then sold it to Anticimex. We talk about how one bed bug job got him into multifamily, how he wins property management accounts, and why EBITDA beats revenue when you sell.Jason Carpenter is the founder of Environmental Pest Management (EPM) in Columbus, Ohio. He started as a pest control technician around 1990, launched EPM in 2003 with a second mortgage on his house, and grew it into a PCT Top 100 company with about 90% of its business in multifamily. He recently sold EPM to Anticimex as their platform company for the Midwest.Jason explains how one bed bug job turned into a $300,000 account, how he used the Columbus Apartment Association to win over the top ten people in his local apartment industry, and why he built his own software, Pest Genius, for property managers. We also get into why he spent only 0.5% of revenue on marketing and put the money into customer experience instead, what Entrepreneurs' Organization (EO) and his mentors taught him about vision and profit, running a family business with his son Brandon, working with Paul Giannamore and The Potomac Company on the sale, why EBITDA and net profit matter more than revenue, closing the Anticimex deal in less than 90 days, and how to tell your team you're selling.Pest Control Legends is where Dan Leibrandt interviews the most successful owners in pest control about how they built their companies. Subscribe for more conversations like this.CHAPTERS00:00 Intro00:43 From pest control technician to starting EPM02:24 How a bed bug job led him into multifamily pest control05:43 The hardest parts of multifamily pest control08:29 How to win property management accounts10:30 Building Pest Genius software for property managers15:33 Running a family pest control business17:21 Joining EO and the mentor lessons that changed EPM25:53 Why customer experience beats marketing spend35:38 Selling EPM to Anticimex40:52 Why EBITDA and net profit matter more than revenue48:45 How to prepare your team when selling your business51:30 Advice for pest control business ownersFOLLOW JASON CARPENTERLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-carpenter-11a6779/FOLLOW DANX: https://x.com/danleibrandtWebsite: https://danleibrandt.comMUSICMusic licensed through Soundstripe.Code: IVIGXS3Z6R6IJDEH#PestControl #PestControlBusiness #PestControlMarketing #Acquisitions #HomeServices

On this episode of Pest Control Legends, Dan Leibrandt interviews Brent Agee, CEO of AXN Growth Partners. Brent is a second-generation pest control operator who started out digging termite trenches for his dad, got kicked out of high school, and spent two years working for competitors before coming back to the family business. He launched his own company, Master Tech Pest Solutions, grew it past $1 million in about three years, and then merged it with his parents' company to form ACTION Termite and Pest Control. Today ACTION is the foundation of AXN, a Shore Capital-backed platform that has completed 14 acquisitions in just over two years. Brent and Dan dig into how private equity actually works and what separates the good firms from the bad ones. Brent explains why AXN keeps founders involved after the deal, how rolling equity can multiply a seller's payout, and why he will pay a higher multiple for a company growing 20% than for one that cut its marketing to inflate EBITDA. He also shares why termite work is the best way to fund your marketing, how much of revenue AXN puts into marketing, and how to find exactly where your lead process breaks before you scale spend. On the growth side, Brent breaks down the first lever AXN pulls in almost every new brand: a dedicated inside sales rep. He explains why your CSRs shouldn't be selling, what personality type to hire for sales, why A players always want to see the scoreboard, and how AXN has inside reps closing over $170,000 a month on the phone. If you're thinking about selling your company someday, or you just want to grow faster without door knocking, this episode is for you. Brent Agee, Owner of AXN Growth Partners: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brent-agee-24ab371b8/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brent_agee_/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brent.agee.7 Website: https://axngrowthpartners.com/ Dan Leibrandt, Host of Pest Control Legends: Facebook: https://facebook.com/DanLeibrandtOfficial   LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/danleibrandt/    Twitter: https://twitter.com/DanLeibrandt    Website: https://danleibrandt.com Pest Control Legends Platforms: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@PestControlLegends  Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/46XRaco5nPWcqHWIoQ2eZ5 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/pest-control-legends/id1768175212 Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/b060991d-e5d5-4683-b83f-8db469714ba7/pest-control-legends  Podcast Chapters: 00:00 Introduction 00:43 From high school dropout to CEO 06:02 How he grew to $1M in three years 09:18 Why termite work pays the bills 13:13 Starting AXN Growth Partners 14:51 What private equity actually is 19:36 How AXN keeps founders on after the deal 27:56 What buyers pay more for when you sell 31:26 How much to spend on marketing 33:42 The fastest way to grow: dedicated salespeople 42:14 Brent's day to day and KPIs 49:01 Where the industry is headed 51:59 How rolling equity multiplies your payout 58:02 Brent's vision and final advice #pestcontrolmarketing #pestcontrolbusiness #pestcontroladvertising #pestcontrolleads #pestcontrolads #pestcontrollegends #danleibrandt #pestcontrolowner #pestcontrolpodcast

On this episode of Pest Control Legends, Dan Leibrandt interviews Brian Lunsford, owner and CEO of Kingfish Pest Control in Jacksonville, Florida. Brian is a second generation operator who, in 2005, bought his dad's Atlanta pest control company with his brother Brandon when it had only a couple of employees. They grew it into a 100-person PCT Top 100 business and sold it to Terminix in 2019. Brian then started over with Kingfish, alongside a home inspection company and a holiday lighting company called Joy Lights. Brian shares how the Atlanta company got its name out there by running loss-leader deals on Groupon and Angie's List, responding to every review with class, and answering the phones themselves until the chaos forced them to figure out hiring. He explains the spending rule he and his brother used to settle disagreements, why Google Ads is the engine behind Kingfish's growth today, and what five years as an official partner of the Jacksonville Jaguars actually did for the brand, from the "Swat That Kick" chant at the stadium to the bucket list moments on the team plane. He also makes the case that radio and other branding do work, and that owners who judge them by the source codes in their CRM are measuring the wrong thing, since most of that traffic shows up as "Google." The conversation then turns to hiring and culture. Brian explains why a red flag in an interview is almost always right, how every email, text, and meeting builds your culture whether you mean it to or not, and why he puts faith and family ahead of the company. He tells the story of a technician who offered to give up half of his commission to support a coworker going through a serious health situation, and how simplifying his portfolio this year, including shutting down a handyman business and turning a 12-month lighting company into a six-week one, reenergized his whole team. He closes with his message to pest control owners: there is no magic bullet, big results come from small actions repeated over a long period of time, and you are in the right industry. Brian Lunsford, Owner of Kingfish Pest Control: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brianlunsford21/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-lunsford/ Website: https://www.kingfishpest.com/ Dan Leibrandt, Host of Pest Control Legends: Facebook: https://facebook.com/DanLeibrandtOfficial   LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/danleibrandt/    Twitter: https://twitter.com/DanLeibrandt    Website: https://danleibrandt.com Pest Control Legends Platforms: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@PestControlLegends  Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/46XRaco5nPWcqHWIoQ2eZ5 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/pest-control-legends/id1768175212 Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/b060991d-e5d5-4683-b83f-8db469714ba7/pest-control-legends  Podcast Chapters: 0:00 Intro 0:50 Leaving TV to take over his dad's pest control company 3:47 The first year: Groupon, Angie's List, and loss leader deals 7:26 Biggest mistakes: hiring anyone and overspending on radio 10:10 Partnering with his brother and the 2019 Terminix exit 13:06 Do those growth strategies still work today? 16:12 Becoming an official partner of the Jacksonville Jaguars 19:57 How important is branding? 21:26 Does radio actually work? 23:00 "Swat That Kick" and why branding shows up as "Google" 25:00 Trusting your gut in hiring 27:11 Red flags to look for in interviews 29:20 How to build culture 37:24 Faith and leadership 42:25 Simplification: cutting companies to focus on pest control 48:24 Using the realtor channel to drive pest leads 49:54 Lessons from building and selling the first company 54:16 Brian's message to pest control owners 56:36 Where to find Brian #pestcontrolmarketing #pestcontrolbusiness #pestcontroladvertising #pestcontrolleads #pestcontrolads #pestcontrollegends #danleibrandt #pestcontrolowner #pestcontrolpodcast

On this episode of Pest Control Legends, Dan Leibrandt interviews Kyle Turner, founder and CEO of Pro Active Pest Control in Roseville, California. Kyle grew up doing landscaping for his dad and always assumed his own business would be a landscaping company, but after watching a cousin and a friend succeed in pest control, he took a pay cut to become a technician, got his California license before anyone would hire him, and spent two years in the field before launching Proactive in 2014. Twelve years later the company runs multiple locations in California and Arizona with more than 140 employees serving over 30,000 customers. Kyle is honest about how rough the start was. The first six months brought lawsuits, self-doubt, and a plan to sell his handful of accounts back to his old employer and ask for his job back, until one day on one street he sold and serviced ten accounts and the momentum never stopped. He explains why Yelp was the engine of his early growth when there were no ads on the platform, why it is still his second biggest lead source behind Google even though most owners in the industry hate it, and what it actually takes to win Yelp leads when you are competing against four other companies on every message. The second half is about people and culture. Kyle hires on attitude rather than resumes, promotes only from within, and runs the company on one simple question: what would I want if I were the employee? That thinking produced the annual top performers trip to an all-inclusive resort, the spring kickoff, summer picnic, and Christmas party, and a team that hangs out on weekends. He walks through how he stepped out of the day-to-day with just three weekly direct reports, why he still calls his own office most days posing as a customer and as a new lead, why every manager should do a ride-along when they run out of things to train on, and where he lands on profit margins and the Profit First model. Kyle Turner, Founder of Pro Active Pest Control: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyle-turner-260208b0/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/turnerkyle12/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/turner.kyle.7 Website: https://www.beproactivepestcontrol.com/ Dan Leibrandt, Host of Pest Control Legends: Facebook: https://facebook.com/DanLeibrandtOfficial   LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/danleibrandt/    Twitter: https://twitter.com/DanLeibrandt    Website: https://danleibrandt.com Pest Control Legends Platforms: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@PestControlLegends  Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/46XRaco5nPWcqHWIoQ2eZ5 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/pest-control-legends/id1768175212 Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/b060991d-e5d5-4683-b83f-8db469714ba7/pest-control-legends  Podcast Chapters: 00:00 Intro 00:50 From Landscaping to Getting Licensed Before He Had a Job 03:11 The Brutal First Six Months and the One Street That Changed Everything 05:06 How Yelp Built Proactive Before There Were Ads 06:28 Why Yelp Is Still His Second Biggest Lead Source 10:03 Google LSA and GMB, and Why Door Knocking Stopped 11:23 Why Most Owners Get Stuck at One Technician and Kyle Never Did 14:39 A Players, Hiring on Attitude, and Promoting From Within 20:34 The Top Performers Trip and Building Culture Every Quarter 27:48 Residential vs. Commercial and the Accounts to Avoid 31:07 Scaling Past $1M With Territory, Specialty Services, and Arizona 36:21 Stepping Out of the Day-to-Day With Three Direct Reports 38:41 Secret-Shopping His Own Office and Doing Ride-Alongs 43:45 What a Good Profit Margin Looks Like 44:43 Setting Your Pride Aside 47:42 Kyle's Message to Pest Control Owners 49:02 Where to Find Kyle #pestcontrolmarketing #pestcontrolbusiness #pestcontroladvertising #pestcontrolleads #pestcontrolads #pestcontrollegends #danleibrandt #pestcontrolowner #pestcontrolpodcast

On this episode of Pest Control Legends, Dan Leibrandt interviews Paul Giannamore, managing director of The Potomac Company. Paul is recognized by institutional investors, Wall Street analysts, and the largest companies in the industry as the top global authority on pest control valuation and M&A. He started his career as a tech banker at Lehman Brothers and Credit Suisse before moving to the buy side at American Capital, then founded Potomac at 25 years old. He fell into pest control almost by accident when a friend asked him to sit in on due diligence for a deal near his home, and two decades later his firm has advised on hundreds of transactions and more than $10 billion in volume, handling more sell side pest control deals than every other advisor in the world combined. Paul walks through the full history of pest control valuations, from the duopoly era when Terminix and Orkin were the only buyers and companies changed hands at four to five times EBITDA, to the arrival of Rentokil's North American strategy, Anticimex entering the US in 2016, and the flood of private equity that pushed premium assets past 15 times. He explains why revenue multiples are a resultant number that describes a deal rather than drives it, why cash flow is the only thing that actually matters, and why multiple expansion in pest control has flattened in a way it has not in other industries. He breaks down what separates a premium business from a cheap one, including 80% or higher recurring revenue, top line growth at double the rate of inflation, and gross margins in the high 50s to high 60s, and he is blunt about the fact that the 2021 window where anything would sell is closed. The conversation then turns to the part of the job Paul says now takes up most of his time, which has less to do with structuring processes and more to do with preparing owners emotionally for what a sale actually does to them. He explains why selling a company you built is closer to a divorce than a transaction, why the team that feels like family stops feeling that way the moment you are no longer signing the checks, and why he has watched sellers leave millions on the table to protect people who were, from their side, doing a job. He also shares what separates the leaders who scale from the ones who stay stuck, why the owner of a $5 million company can genuinely know more than the CEO of Rollins, and closes with his message for 2026, which is to stop letting your organization arise by accident and start designing it on purpose. Paul Giannamore, Managing Director of The Potomac Company: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulgiannamore/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@POTOMACTV Website: https://potomaccompany.com/ Podcast Chapters: 00:00 - Intro 02:07 - From Lehman Brothers and Credit Suisse to Pest Control 06:57 - Why He Went All In on One Industry 10:25 - Why Owners Were Selling for Far Less Than They Should 15:05 - What EBITDA Actually Means 17:31 - Why Bigger Companies Don't Always Get Better Multiples 20:25 - Scarcity Value and the Platform Acquisition Trap 23:19 - Where the Market Is Right Now 25:32 - The 2021 Peak and What Killed It 28:30 - Why High Valuations Cut Both Ways 33:32 - The Biggest Mistake Owners Make 36:20 - The Recurring Revenue Debate, Settled 40:42 - Why M&A Advisory Became Psychology 44:25 - Your Team Is Not Your Family 48:12 - Preparing Yourself for the Divorce 52:30 - What the Biggest Operators Do Differently 57:18 - Paul's Message to Pest Control Owners 1:01:58 - Where to Find Paul #pestcontrolbusiness #pestcontrolacquisitions #mergersandacquisitions #acquisitions #pestcontroladvertising #pestcontrolleads #pestcontrolads #pestcontrollegends #danleibrandt #paulgiannamore #pestcontrolowner #pestcontrolpodcast

On this episode of Pest Control Legends, Dan Leibrandt interviews Brandon Sizemore, owner of Mint Pest Control. Brandon is a licensed CPA who spent 12 years in accounting before walking away to start a pest control business in 2020. He pulled the equity out of his home, took a line of credit, and bet everything on it. Six years later, Mint is a $7 million company with four locations growing through door to door, inside sales, SEO, and one of the most recognizable brands in the industry. Brandon walks through the journey, starting with the three weeks he spent knocking doors in college and deciding door to door was not for him. He explains why he chased a partnership after being rejected several times, why failed partnerships and cash flow are the two biggest risks to a young business, and what it was like launching in the first weeks of COVID with cops called on his reps daily and a 15 person sales team cut in half. He also makes the case that his growth came far more from focus and effort than from capital. The back half gets into what the CPA lens actually gives him. Brandon explains why benchmarking your gross margin against another company is usually meaningless, why the real work sits in the leading indicators rather than the KPIs everyone already tracks, and how he thinks about door to door acquisition costs. He breaks down why the branding investment behind the mint truck was worth the risk, closes with the PRIME framework Mint uses to hire, and makes the point that what this industry really sells is trust. Brandon Sizemore, Owner of Mint Pest Control: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandon-sizemore-cpa-a6a3173a/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brandon.s.sizemore Website: https://mintpest.com/ Dan Leibrandt, Host of Pest Control Legends: Facebook: https://facebook.com/DanLeibrandtOfficial   LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/danleibrandt/    Twitter: https://twitter.com/DanLeibrandt    Website: https://danleibrandt.com Pest Control Legends Platforms: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@PestControlLegends  Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/46XRaco5nPWcqHWIoQ2eZ5 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/pest-control-legends/id1768175212 Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/b060991d-e5d5-4683-b83f-8db469714ba7/pest-control-legends  Podcast Chapters: 00:00 - Intro 00:46 - From CPA to Pest Control 05:30 - Betting the House on the Business 10:33 - Why Focus Beats Funding 15:58 - Why He Chose a Business Partner 22:49 - How a CPA Looks at a Pest Control Business 29:00 - The Numbers Most Owners Get Wrong 35:05 - Getting to the First Million During COVID 40:15 - Why the Mint Truck Works 43:41 - Making the Numbers Work on Door to Door 54:33 - Hiring and the PRIME Framework 59:48 - Brandon's Message to Pest Control Owners #pestcontrolmarketing #pestcontrolbusiness #pestcontroladvertising #pestcontrolleads #pestcontrolads #pestcontrollegends #danleibrandt #pestcontrolowner #pestcontrolpodcast

On this episode of Pest Control Legends, Dan Leibrandt interviews Jeff Stafford, president of Innovative Pest Solutions. Jeff has been in the industry over 40 years, starting in the field the day after his 18th birthday. In 1994 he launched Bird Solutions International, which has handled some of the largest bird jobs in the country including 1.2 million square feet of netting at SeaTac Airport, the San Onofre nuclear plant, Pearl Harbor, and Petco Park. He ran the same specialist playbook again with Bed Bug Solutions, then rolled everything into Innovative Pest Solutions, a family run company serving Southern California that grows about 30% a year. Jeff explains why niching down is the single thing that blew his company up, from choosing bird control when almost nobody was doing it to naming a division Bed Bug Solutions so it would stand out next to quotes from Orkin and Terminix. That division outproduced his entire pest control company within three months. He also makes the case for commercial over residential, and gets candid about selling his first company out of panic in 1999 and why debt is the biggest thing he warns new owners about. The back half goes tactical. Jeff breaks down his ten dog canine program and warns that most companies who buy a detection dog end up with a $15,000 pet. He walks through the $750,000 West LA VA contract and the phorid fly investigation behind more than 90 canceled surgeries. He closes on how his partner wins entire property management portfolios by asking for all of them up front, and why industry consolidation has created more opportunity for small and mid sized companies than ever. Jeff Stafford, Founder of Innovative Pest Solutions: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeff-stafford-48b624/ Website: innovativepestsolutions.com  Dan Leibrandt, Host of Pest Control Legends: Facebook: https://facebook.com/DanLeibrandtOfficial   LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/danleibrandt/    Twitter: https://twitter.com/DanLeibrandt    Website: https://danleibrandt.com Pest Control Legends Platforms: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@PestControlLegends  Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/46XRaco5nPWcqHWIoQ2eZ5 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/pest-control-legends/id1768175212 Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/b060991d-e5d5-4683-b83f-8db469714ba7/pest-control-legends  Podcast Chapters: 00:00 Intro 01:12 Growing Up in the Industry and Learning From Bob Keith 05:31 Starting With $1,500 and Betting on Bird Control 07:07 Why Commercial Is a Necessity and Selling Out of Panic in 1999 10:52 Splitting Bird Solutions Out and What It Did to the Books 15:15 Don't Make Decisions Out of Fear, and the Case Against Debt 18:21 The Numbers Jeff Tracks and Paying to Keep Good People 21:41 How Niching Down Blew Up Innovative Pest Solutions 24:41 Why the Name Bed Bug Solutions Beat Orkin and Terminix 27:49 Rocket Growth, Miguel Garcia, and Pivoting Through COVID 32:16 Ten Detection Dogs and Why Most Companies End Up With a $20,000 Pet 39:28 Inside the $750K West LA VA Contract and the Phorid Fly Mystery 47:29 Winning Big Accounts, Multifamily, and Building Real Relationships 54:07 Jeff's Message to Pest Control Owners 58:03 Where to Find Jeff #pestcontrolmarketing #pestcontrolbusiness #pestcontroladvertising #pestcontrolleads #pestcontrolads #pestcontrollegends #jeffstafford #danleibrandt #pestcontrolowner #pestcontrolpodcast

In this episode, Dan sits down with John Speed, owner and president of Kilauea Pest Control. John founded Kilauea in 2002 with his wife Jennifer and built it from the ground up into one of the largest pest control companies in the country, projected to do $13 million this year with a team of more than 100 across Oahu, Maui, and Molokai. Kilauea is the only local Hawaii based company ever ranked on the PCT Top 100. John shares what it takes to build a pest control company in Hawaii, from the brutal cost of living to why recruiting operators from the mainland almost never sticks. He walks through his unconventional journey, taking 11 years to hit his first million while optimizing for surfing and lifestyle, then scaling from $1 million to $13 million in the 11 years since. He also breaks down the terror barrier concept, why the scariest bets on people and acquisitions are usually the ones that build the business, and the story of spending his first $20,000 windfall to recruit his termite manager back from the mainland. Tactical takeaways include lessons from 7 pest control acquisitions over two decades plus 3 pool route acquisitions last year, why timing and relationships matter more than anything in buying companies, including one deal 15 years in the making, what he learned inside Alex Hormozi's workshops and the three plays their team gave him, why Google reviews are still Kilauea's best lead source, how he's expanding into pools and other recurring route based home services, and his message that success is whatever you and your family decide it is. John Speed, Founder of Kilauea Pest Control: LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/johnspeed808 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/johnfspeed/ Website: https://kilaueapest.com/ Dan Leibrandt, Host of Pest Control Legends: Facebook: https://facebook.com/DanLeibrandtOfficial   LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/danleibrandt/    Twitter: https://twitter.com/DanLeibrandt    Website: https://danleibrandt.com Pest Control Legends Platforms: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@PestControlLegends  Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/46XRaco5nPWcqHWIoQ2eZ5 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/pest-control-legends/id1768175212 Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/b060991d-e5d5-4683-b83f-8db469714ba7/pest-control-legends  Podcast Chapters: 00:00 Intro 01:19 From Texas to Hawaii and Into Pest Control 04:24 Starting Kilauea in 2002 08:34 Building a Company in Hawaii vs the Mainland 14:33 The Surfing Years: Lifestyle Over Growth 18:23 The Shift to Going All In on Business 22:26 Expanding Into Pools and Other Home Services 28:48 11 Years to $1M, Then $1M to $13M 30:37 The Terror Barrier and a $20,000 Bet 39:12 Takeaways From the PCT Top 100 47:44 Inside Alex Hormozi's Workshops 52:54 The $35,000 Takeaways for Kilauea 58:18 Family First: The Business Is Not the End 59:49 Lessons From 10 Acquisitions 1:06:16 Google Reviews as the Best Lead Source 1:07:25 Final Message to Pest Control Owners #pestcontrolmarketing #pestcontrolbusiness #pestcontroladvertising #pestcontrolleads #pestcontrolads #pestcontrollegends #danleibrandt #pestcontrolowner #pestcontrolpodcast

In this episode, Dan sits down with Ryan Tate, owner of Rogue Pest Solutions out of Huntsville, Alabama. Ryan has spent nearly two decades in pest control, working his way up from technician to branch management before helping build Wayne's into a $28 million regional company ahead of its exit in 2019. Today he runs Rogue alongside his four partners, and since joining in mid 2023 the company has grown from around $1.5 million and 14 employees into a multi-state operation with 34 employees. Ryan breaks down the culture, strategy, and execution framework he learned from his mentors at Wayne's, why strategy is the biggest gap in the pest control industry, and the builder relationship model that drives 95 percent of Rogue's growth. He explains why people only buy pest control for two reasons: they see bugs or they move. Chasing the movers through new construction termite work puts Rogue in a blue ocean while everyone else fights over the same Google leads. Tactical takeaways include how Ryan builds partnerships with builders doing 150 to 2,000 homes a year, why bullets stop working past $1 million and how to find a cannonball lead source that actually scales, what he learned consulting for pest control companies stuck between $1 million and $3 million, how his faith shapes the way he leads and why he sees the business as an impact building tool, and how Rogue structures a five-partner team where each partner runs his own market and owns one company-wide role, plus his rule that a ten year partnership requires knowing someone for ten years. Ryan Tate, Cofounder of Rogue Pest Solutions: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ryan.tate.651111/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryan-tate-a-c-e-80206b258 Website: https://www.roguepest.com/ Dan Leibrandt, Host of Pest Control Legends: Facebook: https://facebook.com/DanLeibrandtOfficial   LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/danleibrandt/    Twitter: https://twitter.com/DanLeibrandt    Website: https://danleibrandt.com Pest Control Legends Platforms: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@PestControlLegends  Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/46XRaco5nPWcqHWIoQ2eZ5 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/pest-control-legends/id1768175212 Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/b060991d-e5d5-4683-b83f-8db469714ba7/pest-control-legends  Podcast Chapters: 00:00 Intro 00:36 How Ryan Got Into Pest Control 02:25 Lessons From Wayne's: Culture, Strategy, and Execution 07:10 Leading With Why and Inspiring People 11:45 First Principles and Strategic Thinking 16:25 Thinking Like a Businessman and Getting Out of the Truck 22:16 The Story Behind Rogue Pest Solutions 24:59 People Buy When They See Bugs or When They Move 28:38 Building Relationships With Builders 33:31 What Builder Partnerships Look Like in Practice 38:00 Consulting Lessons: Nobody Is Coming to Save You 41:21 Bullets vs Cannonballs and Scalable Lead Flow 47:44 Navigating a Five-Partner Business 53:24 How the Partners Divide Their Roles 57:20 Final Message to Pest Control Owners #pestcontrolmarketing #pestcontrolbusiness #pestcontroladvertising #pestcontrolleads #pestcontrolads #pestcontrollegends #danleibrandt #pestcontrolowner #pestcontrolpodcast

On this episode of Pest Control Legends, Dan Leibrandt interviews Tony Carder, owner of TruNorth Pest Control. Tony got his start at Active Pest Control, the company his father founded in 1985, working termite jobs as a teenager before steadily moving up through sales and into leadership. He bought the business outright in 2006 when it was doing roughly $4.4 million a year, scaled it into a 15 branch operation generating $24 million annually, and sold it in 2019 after 34 years in the industry. Now he is back at it, building TruNorth from scratch alongside his two kids, Cody and Kaylee. Tony breaks down exactly how he scaled Active from $4.4 million to $24 million, including the acquisition playbook he used to turn a $300,000 route into a million-dollar branch within 12 months by cross-selling termite, pest, and mosquito services to an existing customer base. He explains the relationship-first marketing model that still drives his growth today, why TruNorth spends around $30,000 a month building relationships with realtors, and the 24 month timeline it takes for a new location to gain real traction. He also makes the case for door hangers and yard signs as the cheapest advertising in the business, explains why he does not run a door knocking operation, and shares how his 26 year old son took a brand new branch from $3,100 in its first month to nearly a million dollars a year. The conversation goes well beyond tactics into what Tony actually optimizes for, starting with his decision to walk away from a $24 million company to build a family business where his children earn their place the same way he did. He opens up about putting Christ first, why he believes every principle of business traces back to scripture, and how customer service really comes down to answering the phone and getting there fast. Tony also shares his approach to building wealth through real estate and consistent saving, why he tithes religiously, and closes with the message he keeps coming back to: take care of your people, because your own two hands can only do so much. Tony Carder, Founder of TruNorth Pest Control: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tony.carder.716186 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tony-carder-695a9564/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/successbeforebreakfast/ Dan Leibrandt, Host of Pest Control Legends: Facebook: https://facebook.com/DanLeibrandtOfficial   LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/danleibrandt/    Twitter: https://twitter.com/DanLeibrandt    Website: https://danleibrandt.com Pest Control Legends Platforms: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@PestControlLegends  Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/46XRaco5nPWcqHWIoQ2eZ5 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/pest-control-legends/id1768175212 Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/b060991d-e5d5-4683-b83f-8db469714ba7/pest-control-legends  Podcast Chapters: 00:00 - Intro 01:27 - Growing Up in the Family Pest Control Business 03:25 - Should You Go to College? 06:24 - Taking Over and Buying Active Pest Control 09:21 - Scaling From $4M to $24M 11:06 - The $30K a Month Realtor Strategy 15:26 - Getting Out of the Truck and Into Relationships 25:21 - The Acquisition Playbook: $300K to $1M 28:45 - Door Hangers, Yard Signs, and No Door Knocking 31:00 - Putting Christ First and Finding Faith 34:48 - Why Every Home Service Is the Same Business 40:03 - Momentum and Living Off the Crumbs 47:24 - Setting Expectations and Rewarding Your People 52:45 - Growing From $15M to $24M in Three Years 57:44 - Selling the Company and the Legacy Conversation 01:01:37 - Lessons and Mentors That Shaped Him 01:04:42 - Building Wealth Through Real Estate and Tithing 01:10:57 - Final Message to Pest Control Owners #pestcontrolmarketing #pestcontrolbusiness #pestcontroladvertising #pestcontrolleads #pestcontrolads #pestcontrollegends #danleibrandt #pestcontrolowner #pestcontrolpodcast

On this episode of Pest Control Legends, Dan Leibrandt interviews David Poplin, CEO and founder of CDS Services, the parent company of Legion Pest Management. David is a U.S. Marine veteran with more than 30 years in the pest control industry, and his service-disabled veteran-owned company now holds over 62 federal government contracts and provides pest control services to roughly 20% of all VA medical centers in the country. He also co-founded a trade school that trains veterans and the unemployed for careers in pest control. David walks through how he moved from a 100% residential and commercial model to roughly 95% government work, a shift that started with nine straight months of submitting bids and losing before he landed his first contract. From there the wins snowballed, and he explains the service-disabled veteran-owned set-aside that gives qualifying companies an edge on federal and state contracts, why the lowest bid does not always win, and how experience and CPARS ratings carry real weight with the government. He also shares how his business grew 20% during COVID with zero contracts put on hold, proving just how stable government pest control work can be. The conversation gets tactical on how David subcontracts with veteran-owned and family-owned companies across the country while keeping the government's trust, and how he landed and kept all those VA medical center contracts through referrals and high CPARS ratings. He breaks down what actually earns a strong rating, why responsiveness and communication matter more than most owners realize, and how he uses his trade school to bring transitioning veterans and underemployed workers into the industry. He closes with a hard truth every pest control owner should hear: you do not own your customers, and the relationship is something you have to keep earning. David Poplin, CEO of Legion Pest Management: LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/david-poplin-ace-5255064b Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FootballRef951/ Website: https://legionpest.com/ Dan Leibrandt, Host of Pest Control Legends: Facebook: https://facebook.com/DanLeibrandtOfficial   LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/danleibrandt/    Twitter: https://twitter.com/DanLeibrandt    Website: https://danleibrandt.com Pest Control Legends Platforms: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@PestControlLegends  Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/46XRaco5nPWcqHWIoQ2eZ5 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/pest-control-legends/id1768175212 Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/b060991d-e5d5-4683-b83f-8db469714ba7/pest-control-legends  Podcast Chapters: 00:00 - Intro 01:16 - From the Marine Corps to Pest Control 05:40 - The Veteran-Owned Set-Aside Explained 07:23 - Switching From Residential to 95% Government 08:34 - Nine Months of Losing Before the First Contract 17:28 - Landing 20% of VA Medical Centers 20:39 - Finding the Right Subcontractor Partners 27:54 - Scaling the Team and Restructuring Leadership 35:39 - Terminix Lessons and the Case for Outsourcing 40:55 - The Truth About Door-to-Door Sales 47:02 - Training Veterans and the Career Path in Pest Control 52:46 - Final Message to Pest Control Owners #pestcontrolmarketing #pestcontrolbusiness #pestcontroladvertising #pestcontrolleads #pestcontrolads #pestcontrollegends #danleibrandt #pestcontrolowner #pestcontrolpodcast

In this episode of Pest Control Legends, Dan Leibrandt interviews Jonas Olson, who built Pest Badger past $10 million in just over five years, about the exact revenue levels where pest control owners get stuck and how to break through each one. Most pest control businesses don't fail, they plateau. They hit a ceiling, sit there for years, and never figure out why. Jonas walks through every stage, starting with the technician trap that keeps solo operators frozen at $250K to $300K, then the first hire that feels terrifying but has to happen, and the move to buy back your time with a CSR before you ever add another technician. From there the conversation gets into what it actually takes to scale. Jonas explains why you need real systems and SOPs to break past $1 million, why so many owners get bored and chase shiny objects right around $1.5 million, and how buying genuine A-player talent is what gets you to $3 million and beyond. Underneath all of it are the mindset shifts that separate a lifestyle business from real growth, including treating your time like it's already worth what your company will be one day, reinvesting profit instead of pulling every dollar out, and reinventing yourself every six months. Want to grow your pest control or lawn care business? Join the Pest Control Millionaires program, with over 300 owners, 20 hours of courses, and weekly group coaching calls with Dan, Jonas, and Jake, at pestcontrolmillionaires.com/program. If you're not ready to join yet, search "Pest Control Millionaires" on Facebook and fill out the form to get into the free group. Grab the book Zip Code Kings on Amazon, and follow Jonas on YouTube at Pest Control Millionaire and on Facebook and LinkedIn. Jonas Olson, CEO of Pest Badger: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@UCRyMCZtwf9sgBNOKcF-FNig  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jonas.olson.18/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonas-olson-00b34b8b/ Pest Badger: https://pestbadger.com/ Pest Control Millionaires: https://pestcontrolmillionaires.com/ Dan Leibrandt, Host of Pest Control Legends: Facebook: https://facebook.com/DanLeibrandtOfficial   LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/danleibrandt/    Twitter: https://twitter.com/DanLeibrandt    Website: https://danleibrandt.com Pest Control Legends Platforms: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@PestControlLegends  Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/46XRaco5nPWcqHWIoQ2eZ5 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/pest-control-legends/id1768175212 Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/b060991d-e5d5-4683-b83f-8db469714ba7/pest-control-legends  Podcast Chapters: 00:00 Intro: Jonas Olson and the $10M Pest Badger story 02:30 Where pest control businesses plateau 04:00 Plateau 1: The technician trap ($250K to $300K) 07:00 Making your first hire and why it's the scariest 11:00 Who to hire first (and why not friends) 12:30 Plateau 2: $500K to $750K and buying back your time 15:30 Why your time is worth $30,000 an hour 18:30 When to finally get out of the truck 21:00 Jonas's lawn care company and 2 years stuck at $250K 23:00 Plateau 3: $1M and the systems you need 26:30 Video SOPs and building the business the right way 29:00 Busy vs growing, and knowing your number 30:30 Plateau 4: $1.5M and learning to manage managers 31:49 Evolving as a person: health, reading, and mentorship 37:00 Why you should spend 5% of revenue on yourself 40:30 Lead by example and your circle of five 43:30 Plateau 5: $3M and buying A-player talent 47:30 How Pest Badger hires and filters for talent 50:30 How to join Pest Control Millionaires #pestcontrolmarketing #pestcontrolbusiness #pestcontroladvertising #pestcontrolleads #pestcontrolads #pestcontrollegends #danleibrandt #pestcontrolowner #pestcontrolpodcast

In this episode of Pest Control Legends, Dan Leibrandt interviews Tony Hoffman, co-founder of Rumble Pest Solutions, and Greg Lake, Rumble's CEO. Tony and his three partners started the company in Springdale, Arkansas in 2017 with a $40,000 investment, $10,000 from each founder. They were cash flow positive in two months and profitable in six. Nine years later, Rumble is doing $12 million in revenue and just landed on the PCT Top 100 for the first time. Greg joined as CEO in August 2025 after two decades scaling TruGreen from $200 million to over $1 billion and running 200 branches with 3,000 door to door reps. We get into the actual mechanics of how Rumble scaled: the door to door playbook, why they keep sales teams small at 12 to 15 reps per market, and the 18 month retention cliff that determines whether a customer stays long term. Tony breaks down how he thinks about partnerships and why he treats his four way co-founder relationship like a marriage. Greg walks through what he learned running pest control at scale and how it applies to a growth stage business now backed by Dynamic Core Capital Partners. We also cover their acquisition scorecard, their greenfield expansion model for two new markets, and how private equity values door to door companies differently than digital-grown ones. The back half of the conversation gets into culture and people. Greg explains the difference between internal and external customers and why every operational decision at Rumble runs through both. Tony talks about the hiring profile that has worked best for them in door to door (small town kids with manual labor backgrounds over flashy talkers), and the pressure test he uses for every business decision: whether his technicians are proud to wear the logo to their kid's soccer game. We also get into Greg's framework for consistency across branches, why pursuing excellence means refusing to be mediocre, and how culture functions as the personality of the organization rather than a poster on the wall. Tony Hoffman, Co-founder of Rumble Pest Solutions: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthonyhoffman/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/anthony.j.hoffman.1 Website: rumblepestsolutions.com Dan Leibrandt, Host of Pest Control Legends: Facebook: https://facebook.com/DanLeibrandtOfficial   LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/danleibrandt/    Twitter: https://twitter.com/DanLeibrandt    Website: https://danleibrandt.com Pest Control Legends Platforms: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@PestControlLegends  Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/46XRaco5nPWcqHWIoQ2eZ5 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/pest-control-legends/id1768175212 Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/b060991d-e5d5-4683-b83f-8db469714ba7/pest-control-legends  Podcast Chapters: 00:00 Intro 00:51 Tony's Path Into Pest Control and Starting Rumble 06:01 Is Door to Door Required for Pest Control 07:30 Greg's Journey From TruGreen to Rumble 14:36 Customer Obsession and Internal vs External Customers 22:59 Scaling From $1M to $10M Through Retention 26:56 Consistency Across Branches 31:26 Advice for Operators Under $1M 37:00 Partnership Dynamics and the Four Co-Founders 39:08 Greenfield Expansion and Private Equity Backing 44:02 Door to Door Tradeoffs and the 18 Month Cliff 48:47 Hiring for Door to Door and Management 52:02 Building Culture 54:36 Final Message to Pest Control Operators #pestcontrolmarketing #pestcontrolbusiness #pestcontroladvertising #pestcontrolleads #pestcontrolads #pestcontrollegends #danleibrandt #pestcontrolowner #pestcontrolpodcast