Episode 225
- Marisa Palmieri Shugrue
- May 8
- 2 min read
5/8/25
Topic: Are You Recession-Ready? Prepare Your Pest & Lawn Business for a Slowdown
Guests: Dan Gordon & Donnie Shelton
In this episode we discuss:
Our sponsors Coalmarch by Workwave, PestSure & Voice for Pest
PMP Industry Insiders Peer Groups
The definition of a recession and why Dan and Donnie decided to do an episode about this topic
Current economic indicators, including inflation, interest rates, GDP and unemployment
The impact of Trump's tariffs
Are we due for a reset?
What could happen in the pest industry when there's a recession: fewer leads, higher cancels and more
How other factors offset previous recent downturns (bed bugs in 2009, COVID in 2020)
The two things you can do in a recession: increase revenue and decrease costs
Whether you should raise prices during a recession
The impact of cutting costs, especially fixed costs like administrative expenses
Considering marketing, including how to analyze what's a good cost per lead and a good cost per sale
The importance of focusing on your core business
Why you should not stop marketing
How it's critical to focus on your company culture in tough times
Resources mentioned:
PMP Industry Insiders Episode 221: Tariff-Proof Your Pest Business: What To Do Right Now
Article Donnie mentions about Panera raising prices during the 2009 recession
Notable: "It's easy to look like a great pilot in good weather ... I would say the same for a business owner. Everyone looks like a great business owner when the economy is great. It's when things go hard that you really see what folks are made of." —Donnie Shelton
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