We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Galen Wood. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Galen below.

Hi Galen, thanks for joining us today. Are you happier as a business owner? Do you sometimes think about what it would be like to just have a regular job?

Being a business owner is never going to be an easy endeavor. Randi Zuckerberg (Mark Zuckerberg’s sister) has said, after witnessing her brothers company from start up to its current iteration as Meta: “Work, sleep, family, fitness, or friends: Founders can pick only three.” You work long hours, do the work no one else wants to, and at the end of the day are responsible for putting out any fires that arise within the company. Adding to that, not many of your friends or family will understand:

“Must be nice, you’re the boss, you can clock out whenever you want.”
“Why are YOU so stressed? Just take a day off since you call the shots.”
“You need to work less.”
“Man that must be the life. Just delegate the work, bill your clients, get paid.”
“Just hire someone, that’ll take a lot off your plate.”

These are all comments I’ve heard, and they couldn’t be further from the truth. Business owner’s never “clock out”, or truly have days “off” like you do with a regular 9-5. Because of that, you likely won’t have much time for a social life for quite some while after launching your own business. This lack of time, plus the misconceptions surrounding business ownership, means you could lose a decent amount of friends, and drift even from family.

There are bad days. There are days, hours, or even minutes that can be so distressing and overwhelming you wish you could shrink down to the size of dust and just be carried by the breeze. In these times, of course I consider going back to a regular job. Multiple times I’ve been offered to be bought out, folded into a larger company, and stay on with a nice 40-hour work week and a handsome salary. I always entertain the idea.

But I always end up turning it down. All of that may sound daunting, and like a whole lot of “Nope!” to a lot of people. It may even give the impression I’m not happy as a business owner. Well, I have good news for anyone thinking of launching their own business: I’ve never been as fulfilled, content, and happy with my life as I am now.

There is no amount of money that can be transferred into my bank account that can purchase the feeling of triumph from overcoming the hard times, when you reach success against all odds, or helping someone in your community by providing your services in the way only a business owner can. I run a small business in the Swimming Pool industry, and while a swimming pool may seem insignificant to many, I’ve gotten many a heartfelt thank you from clients who’ve been jerked around and scammed by others for taking care of their issues in a prompt and professional manner.

I’ve been able to donate used parts and my time and labor to struggling single mothers, underprivileged households with children, and the elderly. That, combined with being able to earn my place in my community and society, is worth every bad day, hour, minute, or month. Tenfold.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I got started in the swimming pool industry just about 10 years ago, right out of high school. Through high school I was couch hopping, and living a majority of the time with a buddy of mine, Alex, and his dad. At some point shortly after high school, Alex moved in with his step-dad to work for him in his pool service company. Some things happened, and I ended up living with Alex at his step-dad’s house. I was working at Autozone as a parts sales manager at the time, while running a mobile mechanic business on the side.

Alex’s step-dad offered me to come work with them on some jobs to help cover my rent there. Already having experience working on automotive and computer (I’m a tech nerd by hobby) systems, I figured I’d have a good amount of transferable knowledge and skills, so I agreed. I worked with them on my days off doing small repairs, and during the summer would help Alex service a small route of pools.

I ended up moving out, and left pools for awhile. Alex ended up moving out and working for who is now my previous employer, as did our high school friend Ivan. Through most of my early twenties any time I was in between jobs, or needed a little extra cash, I’d ride with Ivan or Alex and help them out. Eventually, I was working an office job for a very large tech/payment processing company and was just tired of being in the same 4 walls, every day, day in day out, for hours at a time. I decided to buy Ivan’s little truck off of him for $1500 (still thankful to this day for the good price and help) and contacted their employer to ask about a full time position.

I started working for his company full time, and after about 4-5 years went off on my own (with my employer turned mentor’s blessing).

Now, I run my own service company offering pretty much any service that could be needed with a swimming pool. I specialize in customizing service plans and product packages for each client I work with. After all, an elderly couple that swims occasionally for exercise has a lot different needs than a large investment group with 10 airbnb properties, which is very different than what a large extravagant Paradise Valley or DC Ranch property needs. I’ve attended hours upon hours of classes, in field training, and multiple events to stay up to date with the newest offerings from manufacturer’s and best practices with anything and everything swimming pool related.

A lot of successful company’s have been built on the “cookie-cutter” method of service and product packages. Much like cookie-cutter homes, or one size fits most garments, they do adequately service about 80% of people. Using my expertise to not only cater to that other 20% of people (and ensuring their needs are properly met and everything looks and functions exactly how they want,) but also to find and train talent that is capable of upholding such standards, is what separates my company from the rest. That’s why I chose the name: Picture Perfect Pool Services.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

B2B: Business-to-business work and networking. Find something you can offer your peers; people that are where you want to be. Industry adjacent B2B is also phenomenal for growth. I’ve worked with a lot of real estate agents, property managers, marketers, loan officers, etc. I pay peers for leads outright, I do repair and technical work under them for their clients, and when I was first starting out I would find other fresh starts and offer them sales advice, technical advice, any knowledge I have that might be helpful for them. Anytime I’m at a distribution hub or wholesaler, if I overhear conversation I can help with I’ll offer it. I’ve often heard people say “man I’m just way too busy with work and don’t have time to get to all of my repairs” “my tech’s are out sick” “I don’t know how to pitch this to the client” on the phone, and I’ll patiently wait for them to finish their conversation and introduce myself and offer any help I can. Never underestimate the power of establishing a network of individuals in your industry and in industries adjacent.

Has your business ever had a near-death moment? Would you mind sharing the story?

This probably isn’t going to sound great to possible future investors, but there’s been more than a couple! I started this business while living in a 1993 Lexus LS400 Sedan, 3 years ago. I’ve had to claw my way up to where I’m at now, and while I’ve had a TON of help along the way I will forever be grateful for, it certainly hasn’t ever been certain or easy. There’s been times I covered payroll just to be 4 or 5 days late on my own rent payment. I always find a way to make it work, but it sure can be scary.

The closest call was probably just before Christmas of last year, 2022, when I hadn’t quite worked out exactly how I wanted to do down payments for jobs yet. It was a regular client of mine, and trusted them. Oops. I got the job done, but the product was defective from the factory and the client refused to even cover the cost of the product until the issue was rectified. This was a pretty expensive job, and essentially I had to float not only the cost of the product, but the cost of payroll for the job as well for about 6 weeks. I was, and in some ways still am, very early into my business, and did not have the cash flow or capital to cover everything. Well, owners get paid last, so I simply covered payroll and worked double days for those 6 weeks, finding any odd job I could to make the difference. If I’d had kids, they wouldn’t have gotten a Christmas.

Always get down payments!

Contact Info:

• Website: pictureperfectpoolsaz.com
• Facebook: Facebook.com/pictureperfectpoolservices