@T’Boo Ted Marshall, I'm glad this thread popped back up. I'd been wondering about you too. Sounds like you're doing all the right things to set a solid foundation. I'm also intrigued about your thoughts around outside investment. I'm at a crossroads right now regarding that exact concept.
On our side, I finally landed my HVAC master with an A license. He starts next Monday. Rounded out the MEP. I may hit you up offline to talk shop regarding a few things. I'm expecting this to be the 800-lb gorilla of our service arm, and I want to be prepared as we get him up to speed.
We're kind of facing the opposite issues that you noted. I'm building this from the ground up, so we have NO processes in place. We've bumped our head a few times on the electrical side after a really solid start, and we've experienced higher than anticipated turnover there. The Sparkies have proven to be a different breed. But, plumbing has been solid. We were obviously bolstered by the "snowpocalypse" which essentially allowed us to self-fund our capital investments for that division. I've since hired two more master plumbers, and we're booking 3-4 weeks out. I've been skeptical of what I had to pay to get them on-board, but they've both delivered in spades so far. I'm of the mindset that, since I'm not a license holder, I pretty much need to have two license holders for each trade at all times. I can't afford to have someone get bent out of shape and jump ship with their license in tow without a plan B.