How to Grow Your Home Service Business With Google Business Profiles

Julie Phan (0:00)

Just because you launch a new GBP, it doesn't mean that you're expanding. You still have to sustain it, is gonna be the biggest thing.

John Wilson (0:05)

You should try to buy GBPs for a business that we bought six years ago. Has generated like millions and millions and millions of dollars.

Julie Phan (0:13)

Can your current operation support that new GBP? So again, you don't want to dilute any of the signals because then it kind of hinders your growth rather than supporting it. Do an audit on your current one now and see.

John Wilson (0:24)

Are you even doing it well?

Julie Phan (0:25)

Correct.

John Wilson (0:26)

How should we be thinking about like, GBPs as a strategy?

Welcome back to Owned and Operated, a top 150 US business and entrepreneurship podcast. I'm your host, John Wilson. And on this show, we talk home service companies, talk about my own home service company in the Midwest. And we also talk to my friends about how they're building and buying home services or around the home service industry. Today, I'm joined by my good friend, Julie Phan. Welcome back to the show.

Julie Phan (1:00)

Hi, everyone.

John Wilson (1:02)

You're with Big Reputation.

Julie Phan (1:03)

Yep.

John Wilson (1:04)

You founded it? You're running it?

Julie Phan (1:06)

I'm doing the damn thing.

John Wilson (1:08)

You're doing the damn thing. This has been a lot of fun.

So yeah, so today we're talking about a question that you get, I think, a lot. You want to cue us off with what we're getting into?

Julie Phan (1:21)

Yeah, so today we're going to be talking about how and when to launch a new location. We'll briefly go through the SOP, and just basically the back end, what to expect, and just pretty much the setup.

John Wilson (1:34)

Yeah. So we're at our breaking 5 September 26th or 26th, and I honestly think that this is one of the most repeat questions.

So just like to state it again for the listener, this is when should we open a new GBP location?

Julie Phan (1:55)

And how and the steps.

John Wilson (1:57)

When and how and yeah, all of that stuff. This comes up so much. Like somebody reads it on Twitter, and then they're like, well, now I need to go launch Zillion, which I mean, it is good. It is a good thing. We've always just been pretty hesitant to talk about it on the show, because I feel like if you do it wrong, then like you're messing with Google's terms of service, and I want to make sure we're advising people right.

Julie Phan (2:19)

Yeah, of course, and then like as of when we're kind of talking about this, the big disclaimer is Google will change things from time to time, so what may be true today might not be true a year from today, two years. So just so that your audience knows we're not staring them in the wrong direction.

John Wilson (2:37)

That makes sense.

Before we dive in, I want to talk about the whole new service location thing. So we bought a number of companies over the years. And then we've like organically launched our own GBP locations. So I'm just like giving context to the to the listener.

Julie Phan (2:55)

I think we have like 20 or John's golden nuggets. Yeah.

John Wilson (3:00)

Yeah. Yeah. You know, that could be a session on the show. It could be good.

But what has been really interesting is like the power of these GBP locations is kind of crazy. Like we have one for a business that we bought six years ago.

And that phone number, which is only on that Google Business profile, has generated like millions and millions and millions of dollars. Like, frankly, more than we ever expected to get out of that business. And like, we already got that money from the customer list. And like, we felt like we made a good investment regardless, because we got the team, we got inventory, we got a customer list, we got all the other stuff that came with it. But the Google Business location, to me, is becoming one of the prime assets that you can buy in an acquisition, because the organic power of that thing is crazy. I'll try to find it, and then I'll show it later. But Central is the name of that GDP. And it is, yeah, it's wild. Anyway, so we're big believers. I think I actually don't know how many we have.

Julie Phan (4:07)

I believe the Wilson specific ones you guys have four.

And then you have Buddies and then you have other, not like Wilson Associated, but not directly Wilson. So you guys have a few.