Most contractors built a business that runs them, not the other way around. Escape the One Man Show is for trades business owners and contractors who are done being the bottleneck in their own company. Every episode Derek Cormier, founder of Climate Experts, a multi-million dollar home services company in Florida, breaks down the real tactics, leadership lessons, and culture shifts that helped him build a business that runs profitably without him in the truck. No fluff. No gurus. Just raw honest conversation from someone who has held the tools, run the calls, and built the team.
Escape The One Man Show
Claim This Podcastby Derek Cormier
17 episodes
Updated Daily
Accepts GuestsHas SponsorsLocation 🇺🇸
Podcast Overview
Most contractors built a business that runs them, not the other way around. Escape the One Man Show is for trades business owners and contractors who are done being the bottleneck in their own company. Every episode Derek Cormier, founder of Climate Experts, a multi-million dollar home services company in Florida, breaks down the real tactics, leadership lessons, and culture shifts that helped him build a business that runs profitably without him in the truck. No fluff. No gurus. Just raw honest conversation from someone who has held the tools, run the calls, and built the team.
Language
🇺🇲
Publishing Since
4/1/2026
1 verified contact email on file for Escape The One Man Show
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Recent Episodes
July 22, 2026
You Did $3 Million Last Year and Kept None of It
<p>You did three million dollars in revenue last year. Your bank account looks like you did three hundred thousand. Where did it go?</p><p>In this episode Derek Cormier pulls apart a real profit and loss statement layer by layer and shows contractors exactly where the money disappears between the top line and the bank account. One month of peak season produced ninety eight thousand dollars in gross margin that walked out the door — and most of it left through a line item nobody tracks.</p><p>Derek then breaks down the three numbers every trades business owner should know from memory: gross profit, net profit, and cash flow. Not the numbers your accountant brings up in April. The three that decide whether you keep a single dollar of what you make. Including the math on why twenty percent net profit is impossible for most contractors at their current overhead, and why your profit and loss statement can look great on the exact same day your account is empty.</p><p>What You Will Learn: Where the money actually goes between three million in revenue and what you take home. Why discounting and financing fees are the largest untracked expense in most trades businesses. How to read your gross margin by department against real industry benchmarks for plumbing, electrical, HVAC service, and HVAC install. Why field managers control gross profit and owners control overhead, and why confusing the two means nothing ever gets fixed. The exact math behind hitting twenty percent net profit and why selling more will not get you there. Why profit is an opinion and cash is a fact. How trucks, loan principal, and inventory hide on the balance sheet and make your profit look higher than your reality. How to diagnose whether your margin problem is labor, materials, or pricing.</p><p>Topics Covered: Contractor profit and loss. HVAC gross margin benchmarks. Net profit for trades businesses. Cash flow management for contractors. Overhead as a percentage of revenue. Discounting and financing fees. Departmental budgeting. Job costing. Home service business financials. Contractor pricing strategy.</p><p>Who This Episode Is For: This episode is for HVAC contractors, plumbers, electricians, and home service business owners who are producing real revenue and cannot figure out why there is nothing left at the end of the year. It is for owners who have never compared their departments against industry benchmarks, owners who use their bank balance as a financial system, and any trades business owner who wants to understand their numbers well enough to actually change them.</p><p>About Escape the One Man Show: Escape the One Man Show is a podcast for contractors and trades business owners who are tired of being the bottleneck in their company. Host Derek Cormier shares the leadership lessons, systems, marketing strategies, and operational frameworks that helped build Climate Experts into a multi million dollar home service business.</p><p>Have a question you want answered on the show? Call 321-495-7788 and leave a voicemail. Your question may be featured in an upcoming episode.</p><p>Keywords: contractor profit and loss, HVAC gross margin, net profit trades business, cash flow for contractors, overhead percentage revenue, HVAC benchmarks, contractor financials, discounting HVAC, home service profitability, contractor budgeting, job costing HVAC, trades business numbers, Derek Cormier, Escape the One Man Show, Climate Experts, HVAC owner podcast, contractor coach, home service business growth, profit and loss contractor, HVAC business finance.</p>
July 15, 2026
Ranking Every HVAC Marketing Channel S to F Tier — I Spent Over $1M So You Don't Have To
<p>Every HVAC contractor is spending money on marketing. Almost none of them know which channels actually work. Billboards or truck wraps? Google ads or direct mail? Yelp or... anything else?</p><p>In this episode Derek Cormier ranks all 15 marketing channels he has spent real money on over 14 years building Climate Experts from one truck to a multi million dollar home services company. Every channel goes on the tier board, S tier to F tier, based on actual results, not theory. Some placements will surprise you. At least one will make you angry. And two channels get sent to F tier with no mercy, including the lead sellers taking money from contractors every single day.</p><p>Derek also reveals the one marketing channel almost nobody in the trades is talking about yet, why the money pit tier eats budgets alive, and why the two best lead sources on the entire board cannot be bought with a credit card.</p><p>What You Will Learn: Which marketing channels actually produce booked calls and which ones just produce invoices. Why buying leads from aggregators puts you in a footrace against four competitors for the same customer. The difference between the two sides of Google and why one is an A and one is a B. Why billboards and radio only work at a spend level most contractors cannot sustain. How AI search engines are becoming a lead source and why getting there early matters. Why referrals and trade partner relationships beat every paid channel on the board. How to build a trade partner network that feeds you leads all year for the cost of a handshake.</p><p>Who This Episode Is For: HVAC contractors, plumbers, electricians, and home service business owners who are spending money on marketing and are not sure what is actually working. If you are getting calls from lead sellers every week, deciding between billboards and digital, or want to know where an owner who has spent over a million dollars on marketing would put the next dollar, this one is for you.</p><p>Escape the One Man Show is a podcast for contractors and trades business owners who are tired of being the bottleneck in their company. Host Derek Cormier shares the leadership, systems, marketing, and operational frameworks that built Climate Experts into a multi million dollar home service business.</p><p>Have a question you want answered on the show? Call 321-495-7788 and leave a voicemail. Your question may be featured in an upcoming episode.</p>
July 8, 2026
Why Most HVAC Companies Make Millions But Stay Broke
<p>Most HVAC contractors hitting a million, two million, even five million dollars in revenue still feel like they are barely keeping up. The trucks are running. The phones are ringing. The team is busy. So why does it always feel like there is never enough money?</p><p>In this episode Derek Cormier gets vulnerable about what he got wrong financially building Climate Experts and what finally changed. He breaks down the three reasons most HVAC companies make great revenue and terrible profit. The cash flow trap that hits hardest when you are growing fastest. The overhead creep that feels like progress but quietly eats your margin. And the danger of running a multi million dollar business on gut feel instead of actual financial systems.</p><p>This is not theory. This is what Derek learned firsthand going from one truck to a multi million dollar home services company and what he would do differently if he was starting over.</p><p>What You Will Learn: Why revenue is not the same as profit and why chasing revenue is keeping contractors broke. How the cash flow gap grows as your company grows and what to do about it. What overhead creep looks like and how to catch it before it kills your margin. Why running on gut feel instead of a real budget is the most dangerous thing a growing contractor can do. How to know your billable hour cost so you can price correctly and actually make money. What financial systems actually need to be in place before you hit your next revenue milestone.</p><p>Topics Covered: HVAC business finances. Cash flow management for contractors. Overhead and expense control. Contractor budgeting. Billable hour model. Profit vs revenue. Home service business growth. Financial systems for trades companies. HVAC company operations. Contractor profitability.</p><p>Who This Episode Is For: This episode is for HVAC contractors, plumbers, electricians, and home service business owners who are doing real revenue but still feel financially stressed. It is for trades owners who have never built a real budget, who check their bank account to decide if the business is healthy, or who have watched their expenses grow every time their revenue grows. It is for any contractor who wants to actually build wealth from their business instead of just working harder for the same result.</p><p>About Escape the One Man Show: Escape the One Man Show is a podcast for contractors and trades business owners who are tired of being the bottleneck in their company. Host Derek Cormier shares the leadership lessons, systems, marketing strategies, and operational frameworks that helped build Climate Experts into a multi million dollar home service business.</p><p>Have a question you want answered on the show? Call 321-495-7788 and leave a voicemail. Your question may be featured in an upcoming episode.</p><p>Keywords: HVAC business finances, contractor cash flow, HVAC company profit, overhead control contractors, contractor budget, billable hour HVAC, home service business growth, HVAC profitability, trades business finances, contractor financial systems, HVAC owner podcast, Derek Cormier, Escape the One Man Show, Climate Experts, contractor profit, trades business owner, HVAC company operations.</p>
17 total episodes available
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- What is Escape The One Man Show?
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This podcast updates daily.
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