Mr. Poppy | How They Reached a $10M Run Rate in Five Months

Tenzin Soepa and Andrei Smith, co-owners of Mr. Poppy Electric, went from top Audi salespeople to launching a greenfield electrical and HVAC company that reached roughly $890,000 in revenue in its fifth month, a run rate above $10 million. They did it without acquiring an existing operation, and the path exposed a problem many contractors mistake for success: selling more work than the team can install.Tom Howard breaks down how they shifted from closing every job themselves to building capacity. They unpack the capital and hiring decisions behind the growth, why a bright-orange-van brand and owner-led social ads created trust, how they responded to new leads in under 30 seconds, and what changed when they finally hired dedicated salespeople.Key Takeaways Why being booked out can signal a capacity problem How capital and faster hiring unlocked installation capacity Why branding and owner-led ads built trust with a new company How a sub-30-second response turned social leads into appointments What changed when the founders handed sales to dedicated hiresConnect with Soepa and AndreiMr. Poppy Electric: https://callmrpoppy.com/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/callmrpoppy/Andrei on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andreismith/Connect with Tom HowardLinktree: https://linktr.ee/howarddealsWebsite: https://howarddeals.com/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@howarddealsInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/realtomhowardTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@realtomhowardX: https://x.com/dealshoward### Chapter Markers00:00 - Meet Soepa and Andrei04:14 - From Audi Sales to Home Services08:23 - Stop Selling and Build Capacity13:22 - Using Capital to Grow Faster17:00 - Revenue Jumps in Months Four and Five21:03 - Building the Brand and Lead Flow26:42 - Marketing Costs Behind $890K33:04 - Responding to Leads in 30 Seconds40:16 - Letting Go of Founder-Led Sales48:02 - Revenue, Payroll, and Profit