If you look at a successful home service business from the outside, growth often looks clean, confident, and controlled. But ask Steve Van Horn, co-owner and CEO of Simpson Salute Heating and Cooling, and he’ll tell you a different story.
“Growth is usually messy, uncomfortable, and full of moments where you wonder if you’re doing it right,” Steve admits.
In a recent conversation on Contractor Marketing Pros, Steve broke down how his organization grew from roughly $3.5 million to nearly $30 million in revenue in just a few years. The secret wasn’t a magic marketing hack or a perfect business plan. It was a willingness to break things, fix them, and embrace the chaos of scaling.
Here are five key lessons from Steve’s journey that every contractor needs to hear.
1. The “Gas and Brake” Method
One of the most counterintuitive strategies Steve employed was intentionally slowing down to speed up. He describes a rhythm of “gas, brake, gas, brake”.
After an initial sprint from $3.5 million to $7 million, the company started to feel the strain. Cash flow was tight, processes were breaking, and communication was faltering. Instead of pushing blindly for more top-line revenue, they pumped the brakes.
In year two, they only grew from $7 million to $10 million—a deliberate slowdown to focus on infrastructure, training, and processes. This “pit stop” allowed them to build a foundation strong enough to handle the next explosion of growth, which took them to $18 million the following year. As Steve notes, “Sometimes you got to go one step back to go six steps forward”.
2. Culture Eats Strategy (But You Need Both)
Steve is a firm believer that “culture eats strategy for breakfast,” but he emphasizes that you cannot have a great culture without a strategy to support it.
A cornerstone of their culture is the shift in language: they don’t have employees; they have co-workers. Whether you are a technician, a CSR, or the CEO, everyone is a co-worker serving the customer. This isn’t just semantics; it changes how people view their value in the company.
To back this up, they invested in a 5,000-square-foot training facility that rivals technology companies. When a new hire walks in, they don’t see a dusty furnace in a corner; they see a state-of-the-art education center with high-definition projection screens and equipment from every major manufacturer. This signals to the team that the company is investing in their future, turning jobs into careers.
3. Build a “Bullpen” Before You Need It
The “labor shortage” is a common complaint in the trades, but Steve says they haven’t experienced it. Why? because they are constantly recruiting, even when they aren’t hiring.
Steve uses a “bullpen” strategy. He scouts talent in everyday interactions—servers at restaurants, cell phone store employees—anyone who demonstrates exceptional customer service and a good attitude. He builds relationships with them, shows them a clear career path with benefits and training, and has them ready to go before a position even opens up.
“We don’t want to have to go to Indeed and filter through 150 bad applicants,” Steve explains. “We want to say like we already know who this person’s about… and then we go and we get them”.
4. Embrace AI (Even When It’s Uncomfortable)
While some in the trades view AI with skepticism, Steve has been an early adopter. He uses it to write better job descriptions, summarize technician calls in seconds, and even answer phones during holidays.
The decision to use AI for phone answering was controversial, but Steve ties it back to his “Why”: serving his co-workers. By letting AI handle calls during holidays or training sessions, he allows his staff to be with their families or participate in team development without leaving customers high and dry. It’s a tool for efficiency, not a replacement for people. As Steve puts it, they haven’t replaced a single person with AI, but they use it to make their team more nimble and efficient.
5. Vulnerability and “Sharers Gain”
Perhaps the most refreshing part of Steve’s philosophy is his rejection of the “perfect operator” persona. He openly admits that the best operators in the industry are still making mistakes today.
He coined the phrase “Sharers Gain”—the idea that when you are vulnerable and share what you don’t know, others are more likely to help you. By dropping the ego and admitting when he was wrong or when a process failed, he unlocked better insights from his team and his peers.
Conclusion
Steve’s journey proves that scaling isn’t about having it all figured out; it’s about being willing to evolve. Whether it’s partnering with a major platform like CILA to secure better resources or launching his new podcast, One Tough Day, to discuss the hard realities of business, Steve focuses on progress over perfection.
If you are a contractor feeling the pain of growth, remember: the struggle is normal. As Steve says, “We were never content with industry average”. Embracing the mess is just part of the process of becoming world-class.
