Why solar installers need to niche down to win

▶ 0:00Happy Saturday evening everyone. I'm in a great mood. I've got a Domino's Pizza on the way. In fact, it's currently in the oven. And I wanted to just take a moment while I've got 15 minutes or so to go over something that I think is particularly important for getting results as a solar installer. And that is actually being a solar installer and niching down. So all too often we come into businesses that are stuck in this cycle whereby they know that solar has a higher margin.

▶ 0:29They know that it's more scalable. They know that typically the customer demographic and profile is typically easier to work with. And they want to be installing solar. But unfortunately, they are held back by the fact that they continue to take on electrical work that is significantly lower ticket value. And of course, there is an element you want to help people 100%. But we find that businesses that just take the plunge and go all in on renewables are the ones that typically tend to really win

▶ 0:58win out over others. And the sooner you can make that jump, if that's something you think you're going to do in the future, the better. And I have these conversations all of the time with business owners that are kind of in that middle ground, right? Oh, we just got an update on a double check or a tracker quality check. Oh, this is exciting. So I'm just going to break a couple down.

▶ 1:19For example, business and I'm going to break down businesses that were previously electrical companies but made that jump. So right off the bat, Actorsmart were previously heavy to do with CCTV and things like that. And they're pushing more and more and more on to the renewable side. AJ Renewables was actually fire protection at one point and is now, of course, AJ Renewables.

▶ 1:41It couldn't be more clear. Some other ones to call out current renewables, again, was electrical and is now focused almost entirely on the, well, actually entirely on the renewable side. And it was literally saying to me earlier how when he's in the home and all of his awards are to do with solar specifically, you know, he's got, you know, Southwest solar installer of the year.

▶ 2:04And all of his imagery on his website is to do with solar. All of his reviews mentioned solar. They're not talking about changing light switches. They're talking about actual EcoFlow solar installations, right? That is the difference. And that is what he thinks is why he comes out on top a lot of those times against other electrical firms.

▶ 2:20Any others to call out, for example, let's have a quick look. Let Renewables was previously electrical company. I had 255 star reviews from being an electrical company, but realized that while that was fantastic and he'd helped a lot of people in doing so, Lewis thought, you know what, solar is really where I can have the biggest impact. And if I can just build all my systems around that, I'm going to, I'm going to win out in the long run.

▶ 2:43My was exactly the same, built a fantastic electrical business over 10 plus years. Literally, we had a map of all of his customers in Derby and I could have sworn every second house he'd done electrical work for, but he knew that to scale the business to the extent that he wanted to, he needed to, to really niche down and go into just renewables. Right. Same with a few other on this, on this list.

▶ 3:08Um, I'm sure there's others. Don't, don't be offended if I, if I missed you out, but, um, it's super important that you just make that jump. I really think so because solar is one of the most competitive home improvement niches going. And if you're not all in, you are in part all out. It really is that simple. And I think that as soon as you make that, that jump and that decision, you can, everything becomes easier. Uh, it's the same with us.

▶ 3:33We've very much productized our service. So, um, everyone on this list gets here or there, the exact same service that we provide. And you might think that that's, that's lazy, but the reason we've done that is so that we can improve the service as a whole and our entire business and the value we can provide, as opposed to improving the bespoke set of little things that we're doing for one specific client.

▶ 3:56Of course, it's easier said than done because if you're in that position, you've likely got a team of people working for you that you need to continue to provide work for and keep busy. Um, but if you need the confidence, uh, typically that stems from having the demand that kind of forces your move, right? Um, if you've got people banging your door down to have solar installed, then it's going to be quite a lot easier to say no. Uh, or unfortunately turn down the switching a light switch that is 40 miles away. Right. Um, it's.

▶ 4:25It's the, it, it, it typically does stem from the demand. So if you're looking to make that jump and you already do have a track record with solar installations, it's not like it's a completely new thing for you, but you're just this little bit away from getting rid of everything else and going all in or sober, then we'd love to help you.

▶ 4:43Um, we found that a lovely sweet spot is businesses already doing about eight installations per month. We can really add jet fuel to that business and get it to 16 installs a month, very quickly. Um, with meta advertising, if you're doing four, uh, a month, then typically the first problem that arises is that you can't handle the leads, but beyond the first kind of four deals that, that land through.

▶ 5:05And you need to work on a lot of operational things, which obviously we can do. But if you're at the eight mark, you've normally already fixed some of those problems. And to get to 16 is actually not that difficult. Um, in terms of like operational complexity. So, yep, that's about it from me right now. Let's see where the pizza is. Uh, we're still on quality check taking a little while, but it's going to be good. I just know it. So, um, I will, uh, I'll catch you in the next one, but hopefully that was useful for anyone in that situation and more than happy to put you in touch with any of these clients that have made that jump, um, to see if they can give you some words of wisdom. I know Chris loves, uh, love sharing about his experience making that transition. So there you go.