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THE SUNDAY SANTAN SUN NEWS | DECEMBER 19, 2021
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EV plumbing firm’s business plan includes charity BY MELODY BIRKETT Contributor
Some people might think Wayne Decker’s business plan makes no sense. But Decker, president of PlumbSmart Heating and Air, says it not only makes sense but a lot of cents. “We charge less than the big players and we still do very well,” he said. “Our profit margins are still very good. Our guys have every benefit you can imagine and have high compensation. There’s no downside to having this philosophy. They all (other plumbing companies) could have it, but they choose not to because they want to have much greater margins.” To top it off, charity is a big part of Decker’s business plan: Since the pandemic began, his company has done at least 200 jobs for free for people in need. Decker started his residential repair plumbing business in 2006 and previously was in the service business, serving homeowners for more than 40 years. He started his company exactly for the reasons it lives by.
Wayne Decker, president of PlumbSmart Heating and Air in Mesa, find his business plan of charity and lower prices has yielded growth and strong profit margins. (David Mionton/Staff Writer)
“It was more of an answer to the prevailing attitude which exists today – that plumbing companies are just way too expensive and they charge too much.” For example, he said a lot of companies charge $400-$1,000 to unclog a toilet that takes about 20-30 minutes.
“If you make $20 an hour, that’s going to be about a week’s take-home pay to unclog a toilet.” While costs have gone up for parts or items like hot water heaters, PlumbSmart hasn’t raised its labor prices. “We’re so confident about our prices that even if a customer doesn’t want to
use us, they can still call us…and ask for a price,” said Decker. “A lot of companies will spend $50,000-$100,000 sending you to a course to establish you as one of the finest sales people you can be. You know what to say. You know how to manipulate. You have financing available.’” “When you have that attitude, it’s not about what is normal profit because that’s hard to say,” explained Decker, who has about 50 employees. “It’s very subjective. It’s about how much profit do you want to make? PlumbSmart is very profitable at about half of what our big-name competitors charge.” Decker said his focus is on relationships with homeowners, not chasing dollars. “And the beauty of that is when you have the philosophy the more you give the more you get, your growth is almost unmanageable. You don’t have people who are upset, questioning you, or who have buyer’s remorse. You still grow and make more money.” During the pandemic, PlumbSmart See
PLUMB on page 36
Family trio acquires EV event center at the right time BY PAUL MARYNIAK Executive Editor
Timing can be everything in business and for Charles Cotter and his two children, buying Superstition Manor in Mesa could not have come at a better time. While it caters to a variety of gatherings, its specialty is weddings and Cotter, his son Taylor and daughter Sharley Leavitt, acquired the 10-yearold property on the northwest corner of Signal Butte and Brown roads from the founding Burns family just as the pandemic has been loosening its grip on couples eager to tie the knot. “Weddings have not only come back in full force. It is a force to be reckoned with,” Taylor said. “You had a lot of people that rescheduled or postponed their wedding for a year and then you still had the busy season on top of that. And right now, the industry is projected to have more weddings in 2022 than there has ever been in the last several years. “So, 2022 is supposed to be crazy,” he continued. “We already have over 160 events booked for 2022 and we are projected to break 200.” They got a taste of that level of business in October, which Taylor called “literally insane” because “it was something like 19 events in eight days….That was our welcome to the new business moment.”
The new owners of Superstition Manor in Mesa are, from left, Charles Cotter and his children, Taylor Cotter and Sharley Leavitt. (David Minton/Staff Photographer)
And even more fortunate for them, the sprawling Superstition Manor grounds and mammoth reception center came equipped with three halls that can accommodate between 100 and 250 people, two fully equipped commercial kitchens and a half-kitchen and a staff of some 40 to 50 experienced servers, cooks and other personnel. Beyond that, however, two features have made Superstition Manor a high-demand wedding venue, Taylor
said: first, it’s pretty much a one-stopshop for weddings and second, its pristine desert grounds with an unobstructed view of the majestic Superstition Mountains make romantic settings. Neither Taylor nor his sister are complete strangers to the wedding industry. Taylor has been in the wedding industry for years as a photographer and videographer and his sister also is a long-time wedding photographer. For them and their father, buy-
ing Superstition Manor was almost a no-brainer, since they were inheriting an experienced staff and a location that most couples likely will find an ideal venue for exchanging vows. “What’s really unique is where the property is situated,” Taylor said. “Across the street is actually a part of Usery Park Preserve and so from a couple of our ceremony yards where people get married, the backdrop is literally raw desert and Superstition Mountains. That’s one of the really unique things about the property: the view is unmatched. If you look out across the street, you don’t see houses. You don’t see development. You don’t see anything except just straight desert and Superstition Mountain.” “Then there are lots of places on site as well,” he continued. “The previous owner did an amazing job of landscaping. And even without that view, you could stay just on the property and there is a ridiculous amount of places that you can go and couples can go to take gorgeous photos in a very well-maintained, landscaped area.” While Arizona currently is between the state’s two biggest wedding seasons of October-November and March-April, this is no time for the Cotter family to relax – and only partly because Superstition manor also caters to charity events, sports banquets for See
WEDDING on page 36
