E-276 Pool Nation Podcast - Pool Service Pricing 2026: 5 Hidden Profit Leaks Killing Your Cost Per Pool

The Silent Profit Killers Hiding in Your Pool Service Business

If you're working harder than ever but your bank account doesn't reflect that effort, you're not alone. Pool service business owners across the country are experiencing a frustrating disconnect between their hustle and their profits. The culprit? Hidden profit leaks that silently drain your business without appearing on any invoice or expense report.

In the latest Pool Nation Podcast episode, host Edgar De Jesus dives deep into the invisible forces that chip away at your margins one piece at a time. These aren't the obvious expenses like equipment purchases or chemical bills that hit you with a clear line item. Instead, they're the sneaky profit killers that hide in the gaps of your daily operations.

These are the things that if your pool pros are using apps, you know, they don't show up on those apps. You don't feel them day to day because they don't hit you on an invoice, but they absolutely hit your bottom line.

— Edgar De Jesus, Pool Nation Podcast

The #1 Profit Killer: Drive Time is Destroying Your Margins

The biggest hidden leak in most pool service businesses is drive time, and it's not even close. This invisible expense destroys more margin than almost any other factor in your business, yet most operators completely underestimate its impact.

Here's how the math works against you: Let's say your app tells you an employee spent 18 minutes cleaning a pool. What it doesn't account for is the 15 minutes driving to that pool, the 8 minutes driving to the next stop, the 5 minutes walking around to the backyard, and the 3 minutes loading and unloading chemicals. All of that is paid labor that's not tracked.

If your burden labor rate is $28 an hour... 30 minutes of drive time is $14 that's gone. And that's not because you messed up, not because the pool was hard, just because the house is far away.

— Edgar De Jesus, Pool Nation Podcast

The impact becomes even more dramatic when you consider route density. You can have two pools that pay you the exact same amount – say $165 per month – but one takes 5 minutes to reach while the other takes 18 minutes. Those pools are absolutely not the same in terms of profitability. One might be making you money while the other is actually losing money.

Consider this scenario: If you have five pools in a tight route with 5-minute drive times between each, your labor costs remain predictable and profitable. But if you have five pools with 12, 14, and 18-minute drive times, you're losing an entire hour of your workday just sitting in the truck. That's $28 of pure loss that could have been spent on revenue-generating activities like additional pools, repairs, or profitable filter cleaning services.

Chemical Creep: The Slow Bleed That Accelerates in Summer

The second major hidden leak is what De Jesus calls "chemical creep" – the gradual increase in chemical costs that happens so slowly you don't notice it until it's too late. This leak hits hardest during summer months when chemical usage skyrockets.

You might think you're using $6-8 in chemicals per pool, but when you check your bank account, you realize you spent $2,400 on chemicals last month. Your employees stock up on tabs, grab extra liquid chlorine, pick up additional acid, conditioner, and clarifier. Each purchase seems small in isolation, but when you divide that total by all your stops, you discover you're spending $12, $14, or even $16 per visit – not per month, per visit.

It really rarely happens in one big shot. It's not like all of a sudden you go and you spend twenty five hundred dollars more in a single day. It's the little things. It's the gallon here, a couple extra tabs there or the extra bag of salt that wasn't billed or the phosphate remover.

— Edgar De Jesus, Pool Nation Podcast

This problem becomes exponentially worse when you have employees making chemical runs. When you were the only one buying supplies, you had complete visibility into chemical costs. But once employees start picking up supplies, you lose that direct oversight. They might grab an extra bucket here or an extra case there, and these small additions compound quickly.

If you're pricing your services based on winter chemical usage, you're guaranteed to be upside down by June. Summer chemical costs can be dramatically higher than winter usage, but many pool service operators fail to account for this seasonal variation in their pricing models.

The Four Business Phases and Why Timing Matters

Understanding when these profit leaks impact your business most severely depends on which of the four foundational phases you're currently in:

• Foundation Phase (30-50 pools): You have plenty of time, so drive time seems manageable, but bad habits formed here will hurt later
• Balancing Act (80-90 pools): You're doing everything yourself – pools, repairs, billing, customer service. Drive time becomes a critical constraint on your capacity
• Scaling Phase: You've hired your first employee but still handle some pools yourself. Route inefficiencies now cost double as they affect both you and your employee
• Empire Phase: You're managing the business while your team handles operations. Poor route planning impacts your entire team's efficiency

The key insight is that drive time might not feel critical in the foundation phase when you have extra time, but it becomes absolutely crucial as you transition into the balancing act phase. By the time you reach the scaling phase, you must have your route density optimized, or the profit leaks will significantly impact your ability to grow profitably.

Why These Leaks Are So Dangerous

Hidden profit leaks are particularly dangerous because they don't announce themselves. Unlike obvious expenses such as equipment purchases or large chemical orders that show up clearly on your expense reports, these leaks are invisible. They hide in the minutes you don't think matter, in tasks you perform for customers but don't bill for, and in trips you don't track.

The reason why they're so dangerous is we kind of call them invisible because you don't see them on a line item on your expenses. You know, they really kind of sneak into that bank account without making any noise.

— Edgar De Jesus, Pool Nation Podcast

Because these leaks chip away at your profits slowly, you often don't notice them until they've done significant damage. You feel like you're working hard, taking care of customers, and doing everything right, but the financial results don't match your effort level.

This creates a frustrating cycle where pool service business owners work longer hours and take on more customers to compensate for declining profitability, without addressing the underlying leaks that are causing the problem in the first place.

Immediate Steps to Stop the Bleeding

The good news is that once you identify these hidden leaks, you can control them, and your business profitability can improve almost immediately. Here's how to start:

For Drive Time:

• Use modern tools like Pool Brain or Google Maps to calculate actual drive times between stops
• Analyze your routes at least twice per year to maintain optimal density
• Track total windshield time per route, not just service time per pool
• Consider customer preferences, but prioritize route efficiency for long-term sustainability

For Chemical Costs:

• Track chemical usage during peak summer months, not just winter averages
• Monitor employee chemical purchases if they have store access
• Calculate cost per visit, not just cost per month
• Adjust pricing seasonally to account for summer chemical usage spikes

General Profit Leak Prevention:

• Implement tracking systems for all time and material usage
• Review actual costs quarterly, not just estimated costs
• Calculate true burden labor rates including insurance, workers' comp, and benefits
• Focus on measuring what you want to manage

The Path Forward: Measurement Enables Management

The most important takeaway from this analysis is that you can only fix what you measure. Many pool service operators run their businesses on estimates and assumptions rather than actual data. While this might work in the early stages, it becomes unsustainable as you grow.

Modern pool service businesses have access to tools that didn't exist even a decade ago. GPS tracking, route optimization software, and detailed reporting apps can provide the visibility needed to identify and eliminate these hidden profit leaks.

The key is consistency in tracking and regular analysis of the results. It's not enough to check your numbers once per year – you need quarterly reviews at minimum, with more frequent monitoring during peak season when chemical costs and overtime labor can quickly get out of control.

Once you fix route density, your business immediately feels easier. Your technicians experience less stress from reduced drive time, you save money on fuel, you use less total time which reduces overtime costs, and your profitability jumps without changing a single pool on your service list.

Remember, good tight routes make money while bad routes that are spread across multiple cities and neighborhoods drain profits through excessive windshield time. The difference between profitable and unprofitable pools often comes down to drive time rather than the actual service difficulty.

By identifying and eliminating these five hidden profit leaks, pool service business owners can finally align their bank accounts with their effort levels, creating sustainable businesses that reward hard work with appropriate financial returns.

Episode Chapters

• 00:00 Introduction to Hidden Profit Leaks
• 05:30 Drive Time: The #1 Profit Killer
• 12:45 Understanding the Four Business Phases
• 18:20 Route Density and Its Impact on Profitability
• 25:10 Chemical Creep: The Slow Profit Bleed
• 32:00 Why These Leaks Are So Dangerous