The Real Benefits of Being a Self-Employed Pool Professional

Ready to stop chasing every call and start running a business that serves your life? We dig into the mindset shifts and practical moves that help pool service pros say no to low-value work, set a four-day schedule, and price with real confidence. If you’ve ever wondered why your calendar is full but your bank account feels thin, this is the roadmap to flip that script.

We start by reclaiming time. Once you’re established, you can group stops, move misfit accounts, and even create a three-day weekend cadence that keeps you fresh. Then we get honest about pricing. Being the lowest bid doesn’t build a future; it builds fatigue. You’ll hear how to benchmark against your market, bid green pools without losing money, and align monthly rates with the true cost of service, travel, and expertise so every stop supports a healthy margin.

From there, we turn taxes from a headache into an advantage. Mileage vs. actuals, tools and chemical deductions, software and phone expenses, even qualified vehicle write-offs—paired with quarterly tax planning to avoid penalties and stabilize cash flow. We also break down why pro-grade gear and a dependable truck are not splurges but force multipliers that save your body, speed your day, and elevate client trust. Finally, we map out what to do with profit: reinvest to buy partial routes or bring on a tech, or diversify into rentals, index funds, or other small businesses that add passive income. The aim is simple—turn today’s hustle into tomorrow’s freedom.

If this conversation helps you think bigger about your route, your rates, and your future, follow the show, share it with a fellow pool pro, and leave a quick review to help others find it. Your next profitable decision might start here.

• shifting from all yes to selective work
• designing a four-day week with route changes
• pricing for margin not just volume
• tax benefits, deductions and quarterly payments
• investing in better tools and trucks
• turning profit into growth and passive income
• options to scale with employees or diversify

Support the Pool Guy Podcast Show Sponsors! 

HASA 
https://bit.ly/HASA

The Bottom Feeder. Save $100 with Code: DVB100
https://store.thebottomfeeder.com/

Try Skimmer FREE for 30 days:
https://getskimmer.com/poolguy 

Get UPA Liability Insurance $64 a month! https://forms.gle/F9YoTWNQ8WnvT4QBA

Pool Guy Coaching: https://bit.ly/40wFE6y

Chapters

• 1:51 Taking Control Of Your Schedule
• 4:09 Shifting From Hustle To Choice
• 5:46 Designing A Four-Day Workweek
• 9:09 Pricing With Confidence And Margin
• 13:36 Taxes, Deductions, And Quarterly Payments
• 16:54 Invest In Pro-Grade Tools And Trucks

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 1:03

Welcome to the Pool Guy Podcast Show. In this episode, I'm going to talk to you about utilizing the full potential of your self-employment as a pool service professional. This is something that a lot of people don't do out there, and this is just like a reminder podcast that you're actually working for yourself, and there are benefits that go along with that. Are you a pool service pro looking to take your business to the next level? Join the Pool Guy Coaching Program. Get expert advice, business tips, exclusive content, and get direct support. From me, I'm a 35-year veteran in the industry. Whether you're starting out or scaling up, I've got the tools to help you succeed. Learn more at Summipoollearning.com. I think one of the first things that people forget while they're doing this is that you're in control of your schedule, and this is an important aspect. Once you get established, of course, now when you're first starting out, you're not really in total control of your schedule because you're taking on all the jobs you can get. You're doing cleanups, you're doing green pool cleanups, you're doing acid washes, you're doing small repairs, you're bidding, you're trying to grow your route. So your time really isn't under your control, it's more under the control of the clients that you're trying to gain, and all of that is important to remember that at the beginning it's different, but once you're established, I think a lot of us forget that we're established and we're still thinking with the same mentality, like we're chasing clients and chasing work. But once you're established, you should actually flip and be able to let's just say flip a switch, and then now you're in control of the schedule and you're in control of what work to choose and what work to turn down. And sometimes it's hard to develop the mental ability to turn down work. I know how it is when you are doing well and you're expanding, but there is a point where a green pool cleanup is just no longer worth it for you in your business, and you have to kind of understand that you're in control now of your schedule and your time and the jobs you pick to do, the jobs you pick not to do. And speaking of being in control of your schedule, this is a great opportunity once you're established to set your schedule to where you're operating where you can maximize the full benefit of working for yourself. So, for example, let's say you want to have Friday, Saturday, and Sundays off, work Monday through Thursday, or have Saturday, Sunday, and Monday off, work Tuesday through Friday. You can potentially set your route up for that by doing a number of things, moving pools around, maybe raising your rates and dropping a few pools that don't want to pay the higher rate so that you create space for yourself. And then essentially, you could really utilize the fact that you're working four days a week with three days off every week, plus your normal vacation time, and then you can really maximize the fact that you're working out there, and you know it really does help when you have an extra day off. Maybe you can do every other Friday where you're doing repairs and other things, and another Friday where you're just purely off. However, you want to do it. My nephew works for the government, he works for Raytheon, and they have every other Friday off, and he also has, of course, all the holidays off and things like that. But the ever every other Friday off is pretty cool, kind of keeps everyone you know focused and invigorated. And you could do the same in your business where you can potentially just work four days a week and just have that extra day to recharge. If not every week, every other week. But I think it's a great benefit to be able to schedule your pool route and all the other things you're doing to create more free time and more days off for you. So that's the first thing you should realize when you're self-employed is that you're in control of your schedule. You don't have to take every job that comes your way, and you can certainly arrange your work schedule to where you have more time off during the week and maybe just work four days. You also have the power to set your prices. Now, this is something that I think is also missed because we're really sometimes hyper focused on staying competitive with our pricing and and making sure that we're not overcharging. But really, you set your prices and you should be aware, of course, of what the competition charges, but at the same time, you don't want to be the lowest person. You know, if if they're charging$400 for if if everyone's charging$400 for a pump and motor install and you're charging$250, you're probably the lowest in your area, you get a lot more work, but really you're leaving a lot of money on the table. So you should adjust your prices to be within alignment with your competitors, of course, but you are setting your prices as well, and so don't undersell yourself or set your prices too low and devalue your services to a point where you're the lowest person in the area getting maybe a lot more work than everyone else, but doing a lot of work for a lot less money. So just realize that you do set the rates and you do want to remain competitive. You probably don't want to be the highest person, nor do you want to be the lowest person. And if you're in the middle and you don't get quite as much work, it's probably better because the work you do get is going to be at the value or price you're supposed to get paid for it, and you're not just out there spinning your wheels doing everything and not really getting real value for the work you put in. Same with the monthly service rate. You of course want to be competitive in your area, but at the same time, you don't want to do any work that's going to lose you money, and you want to make sure you don't take accounts on at such a low rate that you're really not making any money, you're just kind of killing time out there, and maybe paying the cost of your business operation, but there is no net afterwards. So set your prices accordingly so that you're able to make money out there. And this is something that you need to remember that you do set the prices. So if the green pool cleanups in your area are averaging around 600, then you should be charging close to that so that you match your competitors, that you're competitive with your pricing as far as being able to be compensated for your work, and you're not losing money by bidding green pools at$400 when everyone's charging$600. And of course, there's different prices on how bad the pool is, and you want to make sure you bid accordingly so you're not losing money on something when you should be making money in your business. I think that's the key that people forget is that there's a difference between doing work, getting paid, being able to pay off your business expenses, but there is another end of that where you actually have to make a profit to make it worthwhile for you to be out there. I mean, you can get a job at In-N Outburger here in California, make$22 an hour or$23, let's just say I think$23, it makes a lot of money.$23 an hour minimum wage. Minimum wage is lower, but the In-N-Out Burger pays them a pretty good wage. Let's just say you work 40 hours a week, that's$9.20, and you work 48 weeks during the year. That's$44,000 for flipping burgers. I mean, if you're doing pool service and you're out there really hustling it and you're sweating and you're working in the summer in the heat and the in the rain, in the wintertime when it's cold, and you're really not making anywhere what someone would make working at a burger place, then you're not really making a profit, and it may not be worthwhile for you to be out there. You have to kind of flip that and realize that you are out there to make money, and so you're charging accordingly so that you actually have a profit in your business. The word profit is something that people don't talk about or think about in their business, they just want to make sure they have their expenses paid and they're making money. But are you making an actual profit for the amount of time and effort you're putting out there? Taxes are another great benefit of being self-employed. Being self-employed allows you to file taxes as someone who's self-employed, whether you're a corporation or incorporated or not, or as an individual, there are a lot of tax benefits for being self-employed. You can write off, of course, your truck. You can, you know, there's two ways of doing it. You can do a mileage deduction or you can do a cost deduction. You can, of course, write off chemicals, tools, cleaning supplies, parts, office supplies, you know, your cost of your cell phone, any software that you use, any kind of uh licensing fees you pay, all of that. You know, a home office is where you got to be careful. You know, the home office is where the IRS audits a lot of people, but a home office will allow you to write off uh I think a tenth of your utility bills each year. And so you have to, of course, check with your CPA to make sure you're doing it correctly. And you also want to make sure you're maximizing all of your deductions in your business. If you buy a new truck, there's an IRS write-off for a fleet vehicle the first year. Make sure you utilize that as well. There's all kinds of different things your CPA can tell you, but the tax benefits of being self-employed are really unique out there because you don't have, you know, you're not working for somebody like in an opera where they're taking out set federal and state amount. You determine your income, you determine your expenses, and then you report that to the IRS. And that's one of the great benefits of being self-employed, is that you have the ability to report your income and expenses and get some deductions based on that as well. You also want to make sure, as someone who's self-employed, that you file your quarterly income taxes. Really important because there's a slight penalty for not filing it. So if you're if at the end of the year, if you owe the IRS, you know,$5,000 and you weren't paying your quarterly taxes of$1,500 each quarter, they'll actually penalize you for that. So you want to make sure that you pay subquarterly taxes to avoid that penalty. Of course, your CPA will have more information. I just have all this information from dealing with being self-employed over the years, but it'll have more refined information for you as well. Another great benefit of being self-employed is that you're actually able to get your equipment and tools and use what you want to use. A lot of times when working for a company, they'll give you whatever and you're utilizing that on the field, and whatever isn't nearly as good enough of as you picking up your equipment or picking it out yourself. So, as someone who's self-employed, let's say you want a primate carbon fiber pole, you can buy it and use that. You want a bottom feeder, riptide, you can purchase that to help you with your pool route. Again, really embrace the fact that you have these choices as someone who's self-employed, that you can actually not spoil yourself, but have really good equipment out there. I know when I first was working for a company, they gave me one of the cheapest pool poles, one of those blue ones that you can twist lock. And I think it like after two weeks it jammed up and just was totally useless. And finally I convinced them to give me something better, and I had my first skim light pole, which is great. And it's one of those things where if you're working out there and you're in charge of your business, you should also be in charge of having some really great equipment out there to help your business. I really think that again, it's a matter of looking at it differently. I still see a lot of pool guys that are self-employed that use really uh bad equipment, I should say, or equipment that I wouldn't use. They don't have the good equipment that they can invest in. So really invest in your business and invest in yourself because everything you purchase for your business is going to save wear and tear on your body and save you time so you can increase your business and productivity out there. I really think buying a vacuum system like the bottom feeder, yes, there's a cost involved in it initially, but the savings of time and on your body are going to pay for that device over the course of less than a year, basically speeding up your time out there on the route, and then saving wear and tear on your body as you're just pushing this thing on the bottom, picking up the leaf debris and dirt with the cartridge filter assembly. I really think it pays to have really good equipment. You're not fighting your pool pole, you have a really good pool pole that collapses and extends with no issues. All these are important things to look at. Your truck, I mean, you could spend a little bit more money on your truck to get a better vehicle. I have the Honda Ridgeline, I think it's one of the best work trucks out there as far as comfort and reliability. So kind of spend a little bit of money on yourself and your business because it is your business, and I really think that if you skimp and you're you're so conscious of saving money that you actually hurt yourself, you don't have the right equipment, you have a vehicle that maybe breaks down or is not comfortable. Really, you would want to invest in something that's really nice. The reason, one of the reasons why I got rid of my frontier is that not only was it breaking down a lot, but weird things would happen like the heater wouldn't work one morning, I couldn't get the heater to work, things like that. You know, those comfort things that you kind of need out there are important. So really refocus yourself and realize that you're in charge of what you're spending money on as far as equipment. Of course, your spouse may have a say in that, you know, you don't want to go too crazy, but you're definitely in charge of getting the best equipment for your business that you can get, and I really think you should invest in the best equipment for your business. And I think one of the last aspects, and probably the greatest aspect of being self-employed, and I did mention the word profit earlier. If you're making a profit, which is all your bills are paid, everything is covered, and there's you know 4,000 left in the bank every month that you can invest somewhere. That's really the benefit of being self-employed, because now you can take that extra money, let's say 4,000 a month, and you could utilize that money to invest in your future. You could invest in many different ways. I do real estate, you can do the stock market, you can do Bitcoin, whatever, but you'll have the ability to have that extra money because as someone who's self-employed, your business should be making a profit. You take that profit and you reinvest it. You can reinvest it into the business and grow it, you can expand, you can buy partial routes, get employees, and use that extra money to expand your business to get more profit and more money. You can take that extra money and use it to invest in the stock market. Whatever you want to do with it, it's yours to invest. Of course, if you want to spend the extra money on a vacation or anything else, or you know, a better vehicle, it's your money as well. So that's one of the benefits I think of being self-employed is that the income that you're generating can really be utilized for other things like really investing or purchasing things that you like or just enjoying the money to some point, you don't want to go crazy with that. I still am always a saver and an investor at heart, so I I kind of would advise not to like go crazy with the profit and spend it all. And then, of course, you can scale your business. It's one of those things where you can work the same amount of hours and make much more money by bringing on an employee. You can scale your your profit as well by taking the income that you have as profit, investing it, let's say, in a rental property that's generating, you know, a thousand dollars in rental income, net rental income, and thereby you just increase your profit by a thousand dollars with the profit you made from your business by expanding it out to another business. I mentioned the pool pro in my area has some coin laundry machines, or actually coin laundry facilities or machines in there. Having coin laundry machines without a facility would not be good. So he has a couple of coin laundry businesses where he just goes in there and he has someone collect the money for him and pretty passive, but it makes profit also in that business, and so he takes his pool income profit and utilizes it in another business to generate more profit for him overall. So it's not just reinvesting in the pool business. You have to understand that you may not want to bring employees on, you may not want to expand, you may like what you're doing, but you can take that profit and utilize it to expand in another business that brings in more profit. And so that's the beauty of being self-employed. If you're making money and making a profit, you can utilize that income to really expand your income even more going forward, and all these things really pay off from setting your schedule, setting your rates, setting your workload to investing your profit and utilize your self-employment out there. Don't treat yourself as if you're working for a company. If you want a new pool pool, buy it. If you want a vacuum system, purchase it. Don't hold back. I know that it's hard to kind of get your mind around that. In a lot of cases, we don't like spending money on ourselves, but you're really investing in the business and ultimately you're investing in yourself. If you're looking for other podcasts, you can find those on my website, swingpoollearning.com. Just click on the podcast icon. There'll be a drop down menu of over 1800 podcasts for you there. And if you're interested in the coaching program that I can learn more at PoolGuyCoaching.com. Thanks for listening to this podcast. Have a great rest of your week and God bless.