Growing a Home Service Business From 0 to a $7.6M Sale in 5 Years With Teddy Slack

When you think about building a multi seven figure company in under five years, most people assume it takes a stroke of luck or a brilliant new idea. But in the world of home services, it often comes down to execution, discipline, and knowing where to focus.

That’s the story of Teddy Slack. Teddy has built five home service companies to seven figures, founded Modern Contractor, and hosts the Modern Contractor TV podcast. His journey from working in a family business to bootstrapping his own company with just $8,000, scaling it to millions in revenue, and eventually selling it for a 5x multiple shows what’s possible with the right mindset and playbook.

Growing Up Blue Collar

Teddy grew up surrounded by heavy equipment and hard work. His father ran an environmental contracting business, while his grandfather worked in topsoil. From a young age, Teddy was around excavators, dozers, and dump trucks without realizing he was absorbing the DNA of entrepreneurship.

After college, he joined the family business, tasked with starting a residential oil tank removal division. Armed with just a yellow pad, a desk, and a phone, Teddy turned to PPC ads while competitors were still in the Yellow Pages and scaled that division to $1.3 million in 12 months.

But the partnership with his father unraveled. In 2009, Teddy struck out on his own with just $8,000 in his bank account. Within a year, his new business hit $1.5 million in revenue.

The Rise, the Fall, and the Refocus

Success came quickly, and like many young entrepreneurs, Teddy spread himself thin. Between 2011 and 2018, he launched multiple ventures across real estate, construction, and other industries. Most fizzled out.

In 2018, Teddy went back to his roots: oil tank services. This time, he took a different approach. Instead of hustling endlessly in the field, he focused on building a scalable, profitable business designed for one outcome an eventual sale.

Over four years, his company grew from $0 to $4 million in revenue, with an unheard-of 43% EBITDA. In 2022, he sold the business for $7.6 million.

What Changed the Game

So, how did Teddy scale so quickly while maintaining high profits? A few key decisions made the difference:

1. Getting out of the day to day
For years, Teddy did everything sales, operations, even running heavy equipment. Once he learned to delegate and hire, he freed up time for strategy and optimization.

2. Reinventing sales
Instead of driving to every customer site, Teddy used Google Maps and phone calls to qualify leads and send instant quotes. Speed closed deals.

3. Flat-rate pricing
Rather than overwhelming customers with unknowns, Teddy introduced flat-rate pricing. It simplified sales, increased closing rates, and revealed more high-ticket remediation jobs.

4. Transparent remediation process
Using specialized equipment, Teddy offered homeowners a $600 site assessment that removed the uncertainty from cleanup projects. That transparency built trust and boosted margins.

5. Relentless marketing
From dominating Google Business Profile rankings to repurposing recorded sales calls into content, Teddy treated his website as a living, breathing marketing machine.

Buying Competitors the Blue-Collar Way

Teddy didn’t just grow organically he also bought out competitors. Instead of expensive acquisitions, he structured creative deals: small upfront payments, revenue splits, or simply buying assets like phone numbers and websites.

One competitor sold his 30-year-old business for just $7,000. That acquisition alone added $300,000 in annual revenue.

The Exit

By 2022, Teddy’s business was firing on all cylinders. Clean books, SOPs for every process, strong marketing presence, and consistent profits. A junior partner he’d brought into the company secured an SBA loan and bought him out for a 5x multiple.

The final price tag: $7.6 million.

What’s Next

Today, Teddy is consulting other home service companies, documenting his journey on Modern Contractor TV, and launching a new roofing business. The goal? Apply the same playbook buy, build, scale, and eventually sell while showing others the process in real time.

As Teddy puts it:

“You don’t need to be a business genius. You just need to focus, build systems, and give people what they want clarity, speed, and trust.”