Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Lisa Botts. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Lisa , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. How did you scale up? What were the strategies, tactics, meaningful moments, twists/turns, obstacles, mistakes along the way? The world needs to hear more realistic, actionable stories about this critical part of the business building journey. Tell us your scaling up story – bring us along so we can understand what it was like making the decisions you had, implementing the strategies/tactics etc.

I had been in the industry for about seven years when I began to become disillusioned with the way the big firms that I had worked for treated their customers and their employees. I don’t know if it’s something about being huge, or about being publicly traded…but the founder’s vision for these companies was no where near what was still being provided and as a middle manager who really was not in a position to effect meaningful change in such large companies, I began to envision myself running my own company and treating the customers, and my employees with respect.

When I finally started this firm in 2017, I was in the enviable position of not needing to work any more. My husband was making enough money, and all of our children were grown and out of the house so our expenses had dropped significantly. I began slowly, by servicing friends and family and they all referred me to their friends and family, and that growth was slow and steady, but not significant. When Harvey hit, my husband’s job was literally washed away in the flood waters and suddenly, my business had to grow, and it had to grow fast. I tried everything, print advertising, radio advertising, sponsoring little league, and the local high school sports teams (I still sponsor the high school), hiring an SEO company, knocking on doors, mailing fliers. It helped, but the ROI was virtually non-existent.

Then I learned how to network with other business owners, and that opened the flood gates. When you have other businesses that you know like and trust, who know, like and trust you in return, you build a group of like minded people who you can refer business too, and they refer back. Networking works.

From my networking, I found a business coach. The right coach can be a game changer, and my coach, Jen Gaudet, is amazing. In one year I hired two employees, put another truck on the road and more than doubled my business. A good coach helps you realize that you need to work on the business, not in the business if you want the business to grow. Think like a CEO and become a CEO. Plan strategically, focus on what’s next and always be moving forward.

You have to spend money to make money as the saying goes. But I believe that new business owners often spend money the wrong way. Someone with experience in business is vital to helping a new business owner learn what they don’t know. We used to call these people mentors, and if you didn’t know someone who would mentor you, you were kind of out of luck. But now we have coaches, and they are available to everyone. Finding the right one is important, and making sure they have the credentials is important. When you find the right one, you will grow.

At the end of 2020, I started a second company, Women In Pest Control. The purpose of the company started out as a safe place for women in a male dominated industry to get to know each other and bounce ideas off of each other with an annual conference and grants to women who wanted to further their education or career. Now Women In Pest Control is a coaching firm. We still host the annual conference which has attendees from around the world. We still give grants and scholarships to women in our industry, and now we’ve added a line of coaching for women who want to open their own pest control companies.

I think a lot of business owners are afraid of competition, but if you embrace your competition, help your competition, refer your competition, you grow and so do they. There is plenty of work to go around, and a lot of niche markets. Find your niche, find your coach, and grow your business!

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

I got into pest control completely by accident. In 2008 as a newly single mom, I needed a job and a large company was hiring sales people and that’s how I started. Through the years I have been in commercial sales and service, residential service, and termite service. Last year I became an Associate Certified Entomologist through the Entomological Society of America. I am certified in many different types of audit ready accounts and I personally train my employees.

Now my company, Peacock Pest Prevention has been open since 2017. We specialize in keeping the bad bugs dead, the good bugs (like bees and other pollinators) protected, and staying educated on the newest trends, products and services to provide the best pest control in the safest possible way. We are specialists in getting rid of German Cockroach infestations in restaurants, homes and apartments. I am most proud of our reputation as a company. We do the right thing, every time, all the time.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

I believe that reputation is built on a number of things.

First, do what you say you are going to do. Show up, do the thing, do it well, and make sure the client is happy.
Second, follow up and ask “are you happy?” If you don’t ask, you don’t know.
Third, help others. Call it karma, or the law of attraction or what ever you choose to call it, but when you help others, that comes back to you. People remember you, and want to help you in return.
Fourth, never lie. If you don’t know something, say so. You can be the expert in your business and still not know everything there is to know. Sometimes, it is perfectly ok to say “I don’t know, let me find out.” People appreciate honesty.

Any advice for managing a team?

Managing a team and maintaining morale comes down to knowing your employees. What motivates them? It’s not always money. How can you accommodate that motivation?

Do they want more quality of life? Can you make their schedule more flexible? Can you ensure they are always home when the kids get off the bus? Can you set a policy that they can always have requested time off if they give X amount of notice?

Do they want growth opportunity but you are too small for them to become “management?” How else can they grow? Can they get more education? Can they open a satellite/franchise location? Can they earn their way to becoming part owner or partner?

If their motivation is money, how can they earn more? Can they sell from a service position? Can they service from a sales position? Can they help you save by streamlining or automating something and you can share the savings with them?

Think outside the traditional boxes, especially if you are hiring in today’s tough market. It is a tough market for finding employees. Making your company a place people want to work for is not about having snacks in the break room for free for everyone, it’s about knowing what each individual needs to feel like this is the right fit for them. That may mean different schedules, different pay grades, different benefit packages, and/or different titles.

If you don’t know your employees and learn their motivation, they are just numbers, not people.

Contact Info:

• Website: peacockpestprevention.com
• Instagram: peacockpestprevention
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/peacockpestcontrol/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisa-botts-a-c-e-30620010/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8PSK2hJDuQxgpv8VU99geg
• Other: Tiktok peacockpestprevention

Image Credits
The head shot in the black shirt is credit to https://www.facebook.com/MichelleHapple The shot of me in front of the truck is credit to https://www.facebook.com/AlwaysPhotogenicPhotography