Six years ago John Heller was looking at the help-wanted ads for a part-time job. As is the case with many firefighters, Heller was looking for a job to supplement his income when he was off shift. A schedule of 24 hours on and 24 hours off meant stretches of four straight days off. He answered an advertisement from Pillar To Post looking for a home inspector.
“I didn’t have any experience in home inspection, but it was a great opportunity for me to supplement my income when I was not working at the firehouse,” said Heller. “The business owner took me under his wing and gave me substantial training not only on more than 1,000 points of home inspection but also with detailed technology.”
A fireman with the Cherry Hill, N.J., Fire Department full-time since 1994, Heller was happy to be an employee and home inspections could be easily booked around his schedule at the firehouse.
“The only minor complaint was that I never wanted to tell my boss that I wasn’t available to do inspection, so between my shifts and home inspections I often worked weeks straight without a day off,” said Heller.
A year into the job, the owner of Pillar To Post, who had also been working another job, was transferred across the country and was forced to put the business up for sale.
“At the time, I had never given a second thought to doing anything more than part-time work; business ownership was not on my radar,” said Heller. “But I knew the business inside and out. I wasn’t ready to be a business owner so quickly after starting a part-time job, but I did not want to pass up the opportunity to own an established business that I knew I could continue to operate successfully.”
With the help of his wife, Kimberly, Heller became the owner of Pillar to Post in February 2007.
Pillar To Post is the largest home inspection franchise company in North America and was the first to bring technology to the home inspection business with electronic inspection reports. The company has more than 400 locations in 44 states and eight Canadian provinces. Pillar to Post’s franchise business model allows franchisees, like Heller, to start small and grow the business at a measured pace to create a larger, equity-rich company.
“For two and half years, it was just the two of us. When I was at the firehouse Kimberly would field calls and book inspections for my days off. When I had a day off where I didn’t have an inspection booked, I would be doing sales calls with local real estate offices. We also had our second child during this time, so to say life was busy is an understatement,” Heller said.
The hard work paid off. Today, Heller has two full-time employees, a home inspector and an administrative professional who supports the office, answering calls and booking appointments.
“While I was somewhat forced into business ownership and the first couple of years were crazy, we are in a great place right now with both our business and our personal lives,” said Heller.
Heller says most of the men in his department work side jobs and many prefer to stay employees. “Running and growing a business requires a lot of time and work. When I was an employee I didn’t have to worry about paperwork and scheduling, but I also didn’t have the luxury of turning down a home inspection if I wanted to keep my job, which I did,” he said.
Although Heller still doesn’t turn down any inspections, he now has a backup in place. “We do inspections seven days a week. As a firefighter, days of the week mean nothing to me. My inspector does not like to work Sundays so if I am off, I always do the Sunday inspections. And if I need days off to spend with my family, he is there for me. That’s the greatest part of being a business owner versus being an employee—the flexibility that comes with it,” Heller said.
When Heller began his career in home inspection, pension security was not a concern. As he approaches 20 years with the department when he will become eligible for retirement, Heller is happy he’s achieved success as both a fireman and an entrepreneur.
“I may not retire when I first become eligible, but looking to the future, it’s great to have the added security of my Pillar To Post business,” said Heller. “People are always going to be buying and selling houses.”
More information about Pillar To Post can be found at www.pillartopostfranchise.com.
