Real Steps to Grow a Restoration Company the Right Way

Most folks in this business say they want to grow. But what they mean is: they want more jobs, more trucks, more people. What they don’t always get is that real growth changes everything—and not always in the way they think.

Phillip Rosebrook (from Business Mentors) put it straight: saying you want to grow and being ready for it are two very different things. And most of the time, people don’t know what they’re really asking for.

Step 1: Don’t Guess Where You’re At—Know It

“People can say a lot of things, but the truth comes out in the numbers.”

You’ve got to start by getting a handle on what you’re working with. Phillip’s team digs in by:

• Talking to every employee—techs, admin, managers, everybody.
• Looking at your books. Are they clean? Or are you flying blind?
• Sitting down with owners: What do you actually want this business to be?

It’s not about what you think your business is—it’s about what the numbers and people are actually telling you.

Step 2: What’s the Plan—and Is It Real?

“Do you want to sell it? Do you want to grow it? Do you want to move?”

Every owner’s got a picture in their head. But unless it’s written down and broken into real steps, it’s not a plan. It’s just noise.

Phillip gets owners to lay out:

• What their business looks like 3–5 years from now
• What has to change to get there
• What their team is capable of today—and what needs to level up

Step 3: Your Business Today Can’t Be the Same Tomorrow

“The company you are tomorrow better not look like the company it is today.”

If you’re serious about growing, you’ve got to expect change:

• You’ll need different people—or different roles for the people you’ve got.
• The way you do things now won’t scale.
• You’ll hit walls fast if you think doing more of the same will fix it.

Growth means stepping into new problems—and having a real plan to solve them.

Step 4: Speed Matters Just As Much As Direction

“Sometimes kids want to run. The folks with 30 years want to hold back.”

In family-run businesses, this comes up a lot. One side’s ready to push ahead. The other’s trying not to break what works. Both are right. But if you don’t talk about it, you stall out.

Growth needs:

• Shared direction
• Agreed-upon pace
• Outside input if you’re stuck in a tug-of-war

Sometimes you need someone who’s not in the family to tell you what’s real.

LEARN MORE: 7 Lessons for Thriving in a Family-Owned Restoration Business

Step 5: You Can’t Outrun Bad Systems

Phillip’s worked with companies that doubled in two years—but only because they fixed what was broken first.

• Systems
• People
• Money

If you scale with shaky operations, you’re just scaling problems. Growth with no foundation is chaos. Period.

LEARN MORE: SOPs Every Restoration Company Needs

Step 6: Not Everyone Needs to Be on the Same Page—But You Need the Same Book

“You have to be heading in a shared direction. Otherwise, it doesn’t make sense.”

Everyone doesn’t have to do the same thing. But they do have to be aligned:

• What’s the goal?
• What’s each person’s role?

• What’s the expectation?

And most importantly—are they accountable for what they’re supposed to deliver? Or are they just family, riding the name?

Real Growth Isn’t Sexy—It’s Hard

Most folks who say they want to grow haven’t thought about:

• Who’s running point on the next phase?
• What happens when they burn out the crew?
• What it’s going to cost in time, energy, and stress

That’s why a plan matters. Not some strategy doc full of fluff. A real plan with:

• What happens in Year 1
• Where you’ll be stuck
• How you’ll get unstuck

That’s the difference between growing and guessing.

Bottom Line: You Want to Grow? Earn It

“If I made a permanent job for myself, I didn’t do my job.”

The goal ain’t to keep bringing in consultants forever. The goal is to build something that works, so you don’t need them anymore.

Real growth means:

• Doing the hard work early
• Being honest about what’s working and what’s not
• Not skipping the stuff that’s uncomfortable

Most owners miss that. The good ones don’t.

READ MORE:

How to Build and Grow a Strong Team in the Restoration Industry