We were lucky to catch up with David Noffsinger recently and have shared our conversation below.

David, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Your ability to build a team is often a key determinant of your success as a business owner and so we’d love to get a conversation going with successful entrepreneurs like yourself around what your recruiting process was like -especially early on. How did you build your team?

My company, NCWaterHeaters.com LLC and it’s sub DBA’s, NCPlumbingServices, NCHomeRemodeling, NCHomeElectric were founded in 2013 by myself and my wife Cyndi Aragon. We also acquired Accurate Backflow a couple of years ago to fill out our multi-trade company to 5 divisions total.

At the beginning of the company it was just myself, Cyndi, and one helper but we were fortunate enough to have a fairly established network in the Raleigh area with some key realtor firms and customers. These realtor accounts gave us the cushion we needed to grow quickly and add on 2 more trucks and employees by the end of the first year of business. We were able to consistently grow each year since to where we are currently with 22 employees and 15 trucks on the road.

Through the growth over the years there has been many challenges and obstacles to overcome. Particularly when it comes to hiring, which can be one of the most difficult areas of owning your own small local business. This is especially true when dealing with trade companies. With the emphasis of public school systems focusing primarily on pushing kids to college as the be all answer for a career, there is a major shortage of new candidates coming into the industry. Couple that with our modern world of technology that continues to expand into the products used for trade based companies, the need for proper training and experience in trades is at an all time high. At the end of the day it leaves the industry at record lows for new hires and that can complicate the expansion/growth of any trade company. I commends those such as Mike Rowe and his foundation for helping to raise awareness for trade based careers across the United States. I would also welcome more emphasis being placed on these types of jobs at the middle and high school level as well.

The process of recruitment is very similar to most businesses out there. We do expect a nicely written resume highlighting employment history and any special skills, certifications, and trade licenses acquired. Although it seems to be ignored these days with most resumes we receive, a cover letter that offers a brief summary of the potential candidate will certainly gain my attention and stand out from other resumes received. An interview will follow for those candidates of interest. Aside from the obvious experience and skillset a potential new hire may have I am also looking for those who show that they legitimately love the trades and want to pursue their own growth and knowledge. That they have goals for their careers and milestones to reach. Ambition and drive can sometimes outweigh previous experience if I feel they will dedicate themselves to being better than they are now.

I will say that we at NCWaterHeaters and it’s DBA’s have been very thankful to have built up a solid team of technicians, office staff, and management. Though it seems to take a long time to find a new hire that will fit our needs to continue our expansion we are very thankful that we have the right fit ultimately. We will always take quality over quantity.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Although at this point in my career most people wouldn’t know it, I didn’t exactly set out to find a job in the trades. It was more of taking advantage of an opportunity at a time in my life where I felt I needed a major change. My first legitimate experience in the trades came from Chip Mims (CBM Enterprises) based in Raleigh. Chip is a multi-trade contractor who gave me a chance to prove myself and not only helped me to learn and cross train across a variety of trades but also helped me to obtain my master plumbing license. As my mentor helped me I do my best to help my employees just the same and to give them a foundation to have a long lasting career in the trades.

In 2013 my wife and I decided it was time for me to branch off and look into a new chapter of my career. Luckily for me, she also felt it was time for a change from her previous role as VP of a software company and the beginnings of NCWaterHeaters.com was formed. As with most small trade based companies we started off working out of our garage but quickly grew to having the need of an official office and warehouse.

We are often questioned on what services we provide and there are sometimes questions related to how we named the companies that we own and why. When we started off and were brain storming ideas for a company name, we were trying to consider how most people search for trade services in the modern era of cell phones and internet. We noted that generic naming would usually end up 10 pages back on Google searches and we were trying to find a way to make our search results land higher up without having to spend obscene amounts of money with paid advertising on search engines. The initial idea was to name the company with the web address included so that our organic results on google would work to our benefit. NCWaterHeaters.com LLC is the official title of the parent company and how we are listed with the state. Our DBA’s are also listed as web address and having multiple cross linked web pages tends to help give the relevancy of our company an added boost as well.

With all 5 divisions of the company we are a multi trade and licensed company that provides a complete package of plumbing, electrical, and remodeling services.

For our plumbing divisions of NCWaterHeaters.com and NCPlumbingServices.com we specialize in all types of water heating, filtration, general repairs, fixture replacements, pumps, and more.

Our electrical division, NCHomeElectric.com provides services for repairs, upgrades, fixtures, panel box change outs, and most recently we have expanded into EV charges which has proven to be a growing part of the industry.

On our remodel division, NCHomeRemodling.com, we specialize in custom bathrooms, kitchens, as well as finishing out attics and basements. Although bathroom remodels have proven to be a very solid part of the remodel industry over the past several years we have also seen an increase of interest through the pandemic to convert spaces to home offices. Our customers love that we can offer remodel services without having to deal with lots of subcontractors in their home. We are a one stop shop that handles the entire project for them with a higher level of quality control and scheduling.

Our final division, Accurate Backflow was a small company we acquired a couple years ago and has a focus on backflow certification, repairs, and replacements. This is an area of plumbing that we identified some time ago that will continue to grow as more homes and businesses will be required to have a protective backflow device to prevent contamination of municipal water supplies.

We pride ourselves on 3 key components. Quality work, reasonable pricing, and building relationships with our customers. We believe that if you can maintain those 3 elements you can build sustainability in the market. Our goal is to treat all of customers with respect and provide superior services. This in turn means that the majority of our customers become repeat customers and typically refer to to their neighbors, friends, and family. Our ethics will always remain a priority and we consistently reinforce the importance of honest work with all of our employees.

Let’s talk M&A – we’d love to hear your about your experience with buying businesses.

Four of the five divisions of our company were founded and built by my wife and I. However, in 2022 we decided to take advantage of an opportunity to purchase a backflow company which was locally owned and built up over the course of 20 years. This was a big step in the door to expanding our plumbing services into a market that we had previously not done much with. The process of purchasing the company was new to us and did take a bit of time to understand what the proper steps would be. We worked with an attorney and the seller and to make sure everything was done correctly but even then there were a few issues we had on a local level with municipal permit offices once we had things going. Now that we are 2 years into it we seem to have most of the hiccups worked out and we are seeing our Accurate Backflow division gaining traction on both profits and operational efficiency.

Backflow devices are used on the main incoming water supply to your home or business as well as gray water systems for irrigation. The purpose of these devices is to prevent the potential of water being siphoned from the home or business back into the main municipal water supply. This prevents contaminants such as bacteria and other potential pathogens from contaminating the water supply. A number of years ago we saw an increased requirement for backflow devices from all of our local municipalities. These cities require that the backflow devices are tested and certified and that they are in proper working order. Certification renewals may vary from city to city and the type of application it is being used for. As we move forward I anticipate that the number of backflow devices for both new construction and existing homes and buildings will be a larger portion of business that plumbing companies will need to accommodate.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

As with most start up companies there seems to always be 10,000 problems looming over your head and it can get difficult to keep track and prioritize them all. My wife, Cyndi, found a program called “90 io” and a book, “Traction” that made a big impact in how we manage our business. We opted to hire a coach who specialized in the process to get us going and now we manage it ourselves in house. The basic concept of the system is to take those 10,000 issues and break them down into identifying the problem, discussing the problem, assigning ownership of the problem, and placing a priority level to them. It’s a software based system that has many features to keep all of your management and employees on the same page. Breaking down issues to immediate vs quarterly and giving the business a way to see and manage issue solving and setting goals. I will say that personally I was a bit objective to the idea of bringing in this system but I have since learned that not only has it become a great asset to the company, it was needed for us to continue to grow our business. You can visit their web site here: https://www.ninety.io

Contact Info:

• Website: NCWaterHeaters.com, NCPlumbingServices.com, NCHomeRemodling.com, NCHomeElectric.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NCWaterHeaters

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