Becoming a Pool Builder, A Freshman Pool Companies Perspective

One year after starting a new pool construction company, freshman Austin pool builders Lakeside Custom Pools have learned one of the most vital lessons about building pools. That lesson is, under-promise and over-deliver. Having decided to open a new pool company during one of the most difficult times in recent memory, we wanted to get their perspective about what the challenges have been like becoming a pool builder during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Friends Join Up to Form Their Own Pool Company

The company consisting of Ryan & Lauren Gunhouse and their friend and partner Kelly Peel, have been operating in the Austin, TX market since early 2021. The three had decided to start a pool construction company servicing their local area of Bee Cave, Texas at the start of the Covid-19 and have been building pools all through the pandemic.

“We all came from different pool companies and met at another pool company,” said Construction Manager – Kelly Peel, “we saw some imperfections. The pool industry here in Austin kind of gets a bad wrap. It starts with consumer trust or lack thereof. We wanted to deliver a high-quality product in a timely manner and decided that if we can’t do it where we were at, we would do a better job on our own.”

Pool builders across the nation have been experiencing logistical delays getting product. There have also been manufacturing shortages and price increases on virtually everything needed to build and maintain a pool. For many, keeping customers satisfied during this time has been a challenge. Thousands of pool builders saw their profit margins take a big hit with the recent price increases, especially those who fix cost their pricing.

Observations From a New Pool Builder

For being a brand new builder in a busy market while facing all of these uncertainties, the waters have been pretty calm over at Lakeside Custom Pools. The company has been actively engaging with customers to make them aware of what has been going on and says disruption has been nominal. “To be honest, it’s been kind of smooth,” said Peel, “I’m a firm believer that if a pool builder tells the customer that Covid-19 was the reason why their project was delayed, then that builder may need to check their moral compass.”

“We say that because building a pool the right way and doing it efficiently really boils down to scheduling, planning, and communication,” said Gunhouse, “what we’ve done to get ahead of the 8 ball is get things lined up before we ever start so that the project runs smooth. This means getting pool equipment. We had the opportunity to invest in ourselves and buy a bunch of equipment early on so that by the time we needed it we had it.”

On Selling Past Capacity To Build

One of the most important factors Kelly Peel credits with their initial success in the Austin market is to cap the number of sales they make and not exceed their capacity to build. “Most important is not biting off more than we could chew and taking on more projects than we can complete at one time,” said Peel.

Setting customer expectations is vital to the success of builders moving forward into what appears to be a repeat of 2020 and 2021 in terms of demand. How builders approach communicating with homeowners this summer could definitely affect future growth. Seeing that many pool sales are made through referral, under-promising and over-delivering appears to be the strategy to rely on when communicating with customers. This includes telling hard truths about how long a swimming pool will take to build and pricing a pool accurately.

Average Build Time for Pool Construction is Increasing

“Right now our average build time, and keep in mind every project is different in the scope and scale, but our average build time is 12-13 weeks,” said Peel. “Investing in our customers is what we’re doing by buying a lot of this equipment on the front-end. This way there are no slow-downs or delays during the construction process as we approach the finish line with the project.”

One thing builders have learned through the years is that you can build a great-looking pool and still wind up disappointing the customer. There is an old saying ‘Perception is Reality’. The client experience has as much importance as the end product. Even more so when equating that to future referrals. How the customer felt about the pool building process and their builder will definitely correlate to them being brand ambassadors for that builder. Conversely, if the experience was a negative one, that builder can almost assuredly factor that customer experience costing them some business down the road.

How Pool Builders Are Creating Better Client Experiences

Paramount to creating that client experience is good communication and accountability. “It takes some builders a little time to get through permitting, or the communication may be off,” said Ryan Gunhouse, “It’s really about getting back to people in a timely manner and holding yourself accountable. Once you say you’re going to do something, hold yourself to that. We definitely pride ourselves on how fast we get things started. There’s good communication through every single phase. The build process is going smooth as long as we’re communicating well and setting expectations.”

Having hands-on visibility of all project phases means a better end product for the client. During the height of pool building season, ensuring that the process is running flawless means designing and permitting pools, scheduling construction phases, and overseeing proper execution at all job sites. It’s can be a daunting process for some builders who have to be a ‘Jack of all Trades’ out in the field. It’s a process that the team at Lakeside Custom Pools splits up so that they can divide and conquer their pool build schedule.

“Ryan gets the designs and all of the sales done. Lauren handles all of the permitting which is very difficult in the Austin market,” said Peel, “oftentimes I tell her to stop permitting so fast because then it transitions over to me and I handle construction. We’ve got three owners who are all OCD and perfectionists,” said Peel, “we all care a lot. Our names on everything and having each of us have a hand in it, there’s not many pool companies can say that to where they are dealing with the owners at every stage in the build process.”

Pricing a Pool During The Pandemic

“The typical price point of a pool last year is nowhere where it is today, a lot of that is Covid demand and people being backed up,” said Gunhouse, “what’s happening is there are so many people in the market looking for a pool. It’s also a hot real estate market, especially here in Austin, TX it’s been insane. Our phones are blowing up daily. The way that we’re keeping up with all of this influx of leads and referrals is to effectively communicate why the price is what it’s going to be. It’s really kind of helping us kind of balance out the amount of volume that we’re getting with the people that are actually able to build at the moment. Allowing those customers to prequalify themselves is helping us keep up.”

With a large influx of new homeowners in Austin coming from the California market, there has been even more demand for inground pools. This wave of migration to Texas is helping create a white-hot market for pool construction services. Consequently, it’s also been a similar case in regions like Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio. Keeping up with that spike in consumer interest while being a builder that keeps their word, will ensure longevity for continued interest long after the pandemic has come and gone.

The advice from freshman pool company, Lakeside Custom Pools is sound. Keeping promises, going above and beyond to over-deliver, and setting proper client expectations throughout the process with good communication being the key ingredients. Applying that type of mentality is essential for pool builders to form long-standing ties with the communities they intend to serve.

Listen to our entire interview with Lakeside Custom Pools on the Pool Magazine Podcast