Jordan Claims 204-Pound Weight Loss Triggered $72 Million Revenue Breakthrough in Plumbing Business
"When I started losing all the weight, right? When I really was like, enough's enough, that's when I really had a breakthrough and we started just growing like crazy. So I was mediocrely successful, right? I had an okay business, but it wasn't anything massive. Not what it is today."
About this episode
In this episode of Dropping Bombs, host Bradley Roth interviews Ben Jordan, co-owner of Action Plumbing, a multi-state home services company generating $72 million annually. Jordan and his six brothers operate plumbing, HVAC, and electrical businesses across Colorado, Idaho, Arizona, and Utah. The central revelation of the conversation is Jordan's claim that his 204-pound weight loss directly triggered his business transformation from mediocre revenue to high eight figures. He attributes the breakthrough to a mindset shift catalyzed by daily swimming, strict 1,000-calorie dieting, and eliminating soda for five years. Jordan argues that his physical discipline translated into business discipline, enabling him to scale rapidly. He revealed that private equity firms pursuing his company routinely see 80 to 90 percent employee turnover post-acquisition, which has deterred him from exiting despite multiple offers. Jordan also exposed systemic failures in the home services industry, claiming 85 percent of companies lack formal sales training and rely on technicians who cannot close deals. He disclosed that lead costs have surged from $70 to as high as $600, forcing companies to own customers across multiple trades or fail. Jordan now coaches other home services businesses, emphasizing process over individual talent, and advocates for a faith-family-finance-fitness framework. The episode also covered his early career buying a one-man plumbing operation, his missionary background in Spain, and his mother's death from cancer when he was 13. Jordan plans to exit his operating businesses within 24 to 36 months and scale his training organization to become the largest in the trades.
Key takeaways
- Jordan claims losing 204 pounds directly triggered his plumbing business growth from mediocre to $72 million annual revenue.
- Jordan revealed private equity acquisitions in home services result in 80 to 90 percent employee turnover within two years.
- Approximately 85 percent of home services companies lack formal sales training and rely on technicians who cannot close deals.
- Customer acquisition costs in plumbing have surged from $70-80 per lead to as high as $500-600 in some markets.
- Jordan trains his teams five days per week on objection handling and separates sales roles from installation work.
- He plans to exit his plumbing operations in 24 to 36 months and scale his coaching business into the largest trades training organization.
- Jordan attributes his leadership skills to his Mormon mission in Spain, wrestling captaincy, and raising siblings after his mother died of cancer at age 13.