We were lucky to catch up with Mark Walsh recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Mark, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

I started in the hot tub industry in Phoenix, AZ of all places, at Arizona Pacific Spas. Once I made the decision to move to Olympia, WA, the owner of that company decided to start a hot tub cleaning program for their existing customers. The cleaning program was so popular so quickly, that the company had to hire more staff right away. I thought about this the whole time I was moving to Olympia. I started working at SpaDepot.com in 2002, and by 2004 I started my hot tub cleaning business. At the time I came up with the name Walsh’s Hot Tub Care. Like many young business owners I wanted my name in the business name, and I liked the acronym WHTC. Since I knew Arizona Pacific Spas hot tub cleaning program had exploded right out of the gate, I knew if hot tub owners in the great Olympia area learned about the service, it would sell. The best part was there was no other company in the area offering this service.

It was difficult and frustrating to begin with. Trying to find a way to advertise a niche service in a niche industry proved difficult. I did everything I could, I advertised in the phone book, back when there were phone books. I tried trading a hot tub cleaning for advertising at a drive-up coffee stand in the parking lot of a very popular golf course. I even went to all the local hot tub business and asked if I could put hot tub cleaning gift cards on their counter. They were happy to help since what I was doing didn’t compete with their sales. Almost none of it worked. We offer a single cleaning service and a yearly cleaning service which includes 4 cleanings, once every three months. My business plan was simple: get as many yearly customers as I can. Between 2004 and around 2012 I probably had a dozen yearly customers. The business was working out well enough, after all my intention was supplemental income working weekends, or after my regular job during the summer when the day’s are longer.

From 2013 to 2017 business increased. As the business got bigger I realized that if it ever gets big enough to sell that Walsh’s Hot Tub Care isn’t the best name, so I changed it to Clean Hot Tub. In 2017 I hired a local advertising company to advertise exclusively on Facebook. That year I grew the company 400%.

Between 2017 and February of 2020 Clean Hot Tub did so well I quit my job at SpaDepot.com and started working for myself. In January of 2022 I hired a long-time friend of mine as my business partner, and in August of 2022 we hired our first employee. Between 2021 and 2022 the company grew 70%, and we’re still growing strong.

Mark, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Like many I started working packing groceries at a grocery store. I quickly realized I loved meeting new people and striking up conversations. I also loved helping people and I was good at it. Since then, every job I’ve ever had focused on customer service. I’ve worked in restaurants and offices and found that being honest and sincere goes a long way when you need to help solve any problem that any customer may have. After moving to Phoenix and quitting my restaurant job, I struck up a conversation with the technician that was fixing my mom’s hot tub in 1999. During that conversation he said “I’m actually the manager, I wouldn’t even be here if my guy didn’t call is sick.” I replied with “Well, I need a job and I never call in sick.” He told me to go to the office and fill out an application and they hired me on the spot.

Although Clean Hot Tub is primarily a hot tub cleaning service, we help our customers in every way we can. Customer Service is paramount to anything else in our business. When it comes to customers service we are the best. Most companies that sell hot tubs want to do just that and only that, sell hot tubs. Any service or support after selling the tub is almost nonexistent. I spent 18 years at SpaDepot.com talking to hot tub owners in all 50 states, and I can say with confidence this is a problem from coast to coast.

What I want people to know about our company is that we’re happy to help with their hot tubs however we can. We often help people who call or email for free. I’ve spent many years learning just about everything there is to know about all the hot tubs in the US, and I’m happy to share that knowledge with anyone that needs it.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

I can say with confidence that the book that has had the biggest impact on my life in business, and in my personal life is How To Win Friends and Influence People. I found out at a very young age that I love people. I’m from a large family and when we were young and playing outside, I would approach people with my arm extended for a handshake while my brothers ran away. Reading this book taught me new ways to talk to people, as well as reiterating things I already knew.

When it comes to business, establishing good relationships and mutual respect for coworkers and bosses is priceless. This book absolutely helped me with that. For a customer service-based business like ours, forming genuine relationships with your customers is invaluable. Word of mouth is still one of the most successful types of marketing, and I’m confident that at least a third of our growing customer base is from word of mouth. I don’t believe that would have happened if I hadn’t read this book.

There are lots of people who think that book is a cliché or just silly, and frankly those are the people that could benefit most from reading it. The lesson that book attempts to teach I use almost every day. I believe I have read it at least 4 times. I truly believe that anyone who reads this book and simply tries to apply some of the tip and tricks within, would improve their lives and the lives of those around them.

We’d love to hear about how you met your business partner.

Although I opened my business in 2004, I’ve known my business partner since 1997. GP and I met through mutual friends and became fast friends ourselves. As soon as I met him, I was very impressed with his quick wit and charisma. GP worked for a company that helped house people with disabilities. He was only in his 20’s and he was running the business. After opening my hot tub cleaning business if memory serves, I told him I would love to hire him for my business one day.

I quit my day job at the beginning of 2020 to focus on my business. The benefit for my business that year is that hot tubs are outside so social distancing was very easy. When you’re managing a business where you have a staff of a couple hundred providing housing and care for thousands of other people, a global pandemic is disastrous. It was at that point where my subtle comments to GP about hiring him over the last 20 or so years were about to pay off.

Towards the end of 2021 GP had come with me on several hot tub cleanings, and in January of 2022 he accepted my offer to make him my business partner. Business has been booming ever since.

Contact Info:

• Website: CleanHotTub.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/cleanhottub
• Facebook: facebook.com/cleanhottub
• Linkedin: linkedin.com/company/19132821
• Twitter: twitter.com/CleanHotTub