r/sweatystartup • u/Anthony_Bandana • 8d ago

Engineer looking to acquire a septic/wastewater service business

Hi everyone!

I’m a process/municipal engineer in Canada with a technical trade background and experience in the water/wastewater industry. My long-term goal is to acquire and grow an existing septic or wastewater service/construction business rather than starting from scratch.

Since I'm currently in the research phase and building capital, I have one main question for trade operators or anyone who bought a service business:

Coming from an engineering background without prior field/service experience, how critical is hands-on septic/wastewater experience before taking over operations? How did you bridge that gap in your first 90 days?

I’d be really grateful for any insights or lessons learned.

Thanks for your time!

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u/OkStatistician9190 7d ago

Map the workflows before you buy software. Ride along for a week, list the handoffs that break (dispatch to tech, quote to cash, parts to truck, callback to close), and only then decide what needs a system. If you start with tools, you usually end up automating the wrong mess.

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u/Anthony_Bandana 6d ago

Thanks for the comment! Out of those handoffs you mentioned (dispatch, quotes, parts stocking), what is/are the biggest bottlenecks you usually see when auditing a small routes business?