Latest / The Side Hustle Career Podcast with Fexingo: Second Income, Freelancing While Employed / How a Plumber Built a 10K Monthly Side Hustle in Water Audit Consulting
Transcript
- Lucas: So there's a guy named Jake Morrison. Licensed plumber in Phoenix, Arizona. Full-time gig since 2014. And about two years ago, he started a side hustle that now brings in ten thousand dollars a month — doing water audits for commercial properties. Luna: Water audits? Like checking for leaks? Lucas: That's part of it. But it's way more systematic. Jake goes into hotels, apartment complexes, office buildings — anywhere with a big water bill — and he maps out every point of use. Toilets, faucets, irrigation, cooling towers. He measures flow rates, logs pressure, identifies inefficiencies. Then he gives them a report: here's where you're wasting water, here's what it's costing you, and here are the fixes. Luna: And property managers pay for this? Lucas: They pay him a flat fee per audit — usually between five hundred and fifteen hundred dollars depending on the size of the building. But here's the clever part: he also offers a contingency option. If he finds savings, he takes a percentage of the first year's water bill reduction. That's where the real money is. Luna: So he's basically betting on himself. If he doesn't find anything, he gets paid less. But if he finds big savings, he gets a cut. Lucas: Exactly. And he's good at finding savings. On average, his clients reduce their water bills by eighteen percent after implementing his recommendations. For a two-hundred-unit apartment complex in Phoenix, that can mean twenty thousand dollars a year in savings. Jake's cut? Around four thousand on that one job. Luna: How does he get clients? I imagine most property managers don't wake up thinking, 'I need a water audit today.' Lucas: He started by cold-emailing property managers. Offered a free preliminary audit — just a fifteen-minute walkthrough and a one-page summary. If they saw potential, they'd hire him for the full audit. He says his close rate on those free walkthroughs is about forty percent. Luna: That's high. What's his pitch? Lucas: It's not about saving the planet. He leads with money. 'I can show you how to save ten to twenty percent on your water bill without major capital investment.' That gets their attention. Especially in Phoenix, where water rates have gone up about eight percent per year for the past five years. Luna: Makes sense. Drought pressure, ESG mandates for commercial real estate — the timing is right. Lucas: Exactly. He's also tapped into utility rebate programs. Many cities offer rebates for installing efficient fixtures or fixing leaks. Jake knows all the paperwork and handles it for clients. That alone has been a huge selling point. Luna: So what's his toolkit? Does he need expensive gear? Lucas: He uses an ultrasonic flow meter — that's about two thousand dollars. Plus a data logger for pressure monitoring, about five hundred. And a thermal camera for detecting hidden leaks, maybe six hundred. Total equipment investment under four grand. He recouped that in his first month. Luna: And he does this on top of a full-time plumbing job? How many hours a week? Lucas: He says about twelve hours. Evenings and weekends. Most audits take two to four hours on-site, then another couple hours writing the report. He does two to three audits per week. The rest is prospecting and follow-up. Luna: What's the biggest challenge he's faced? Lucas: Credibility. At first, property managers thought, 'You're a plumber — why should I trust you with my whole water system?' He overcame that by getting certified through the American Water Works Association's water audit program. That credential opened doors. Luna: Smart. So he's not just selling his experience — he's selling a recognized standard. Lucas: Right. And he's built a referral network. Now, about half his business comes from property management companies that have worked with him and recommended him to their other properties. He also partners with commercial real estate brokers who want to add value for their clients. Luna: Let's talk numbers. He's making ten thousand a month. How much of that is profit? Lucas: He says his gross margin is around seventy percent. His main costs are mileage, equipment maintenance, and a subscription to a water rate database. So he's clearing about seven thousand a month after expenses. On twelve hours a week, that's about one hundred and forty-five dollars per hour. Luna: Not bad for a side hustle. And it's scalable, right? He could eventually hire other auditors. Lucas: That's his plan. He's already training one of his plumbing colleagues to do audits. He wants to build a small team and target larger commercial portfolios — think regional hotel chains, school districts. He thinks a five-person shop could clear fifty thousand a month. Luna: Speaking of building something sustainable — we talk a lot on this show about side hustles that give you more freedom. And one thing that keeps this podcast going without ads or sponsors is that listeners like you support us directly. Lucas: Yeah, we keep the episodes ad-free because we think that makes them more useful. If you've gotten value from any of these stories — maybe you've even started a side hustle because of something you heard — you can support the show at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. It's a simple way to keep this going. Luna: And we really appreciate it. Okay, back to Jake — what's one mistake he made early on that others should avoid? Lucas: He underpriced his contingency fee. Initially, he took only ten percent of the first year's savings. He realized after a few jobs that he was leaving money on the table. Now he charges twenty percent for the contingency option, and clients still say yes because the savings are so clear. Luna: So the lesson is: know your value and price accordingly. Lucas: Exactly. And he also learned to scope projects carefully. One early client had a massive irrigation system that took three days to audit. Jake had quoted a flat fee based on square footage, but the complexity was way higher. He lost money on that job. Now he does a detailed pre-audit questionnaire to avoid surprises. Luna: What about competition? Is this niche getting crowded? Lucas: Not yet. There are a few national firms, but they focus on huge industrial clients. For mid-size commercial properties — say fifty to three hundred units — there's very little competition. Jake says he's often the only person who's ever offered a water audit to his clients. Luna: That's wild. So there's a real gap in the market. Lucas: Huge gap. And it's growing because of drought and ESG pressure. Many commercial landlords now have sustainability targets. A water audit is an easy win. Jake's even started adding rainwater harvesting assessments to his services — that's another growing niche. Luna: So if someone listening wants to do this, what's the first step? Lucas: Get the AWWA water audit certification — it's about five hundred dollars and takes a couple of weekends. Then buy a basic flow meter and start practicing on friends' houses or small businesses. Then start cold-emailing property managers with that free preliminary audit offer. Luna: And the certification gives you credibility from day one. Lucas: Exactly. Jake's story shows that a skilled trade can be the foundation for a high-value consulting business. You just have to reframe what you know as a service that saves people money. Luna: I love that. It's not about inventing something new — it's about packaging an existing skill in a way the market needs. Lucas: Right. And with water prices only going up, this niche is likely to keep growing. Something to watch.