Most contractors think growth just means more trucks, more techs, and more jobs. Steve Carroll knows the real risk is building a big revenue number on a weak foundation. As co-founder and CEO of Kelso Industries, he’s helped turn a near-bankrupt first acquisition into a billion-dollar MEP+ platform by protecting payroll, understanding cash, and building around the right partners instead of quick exits.

He started in a small Oregon town, worked with his hands, then climbed the corporate ladder at Walmart, where he helped scale a division from 15 million to 250 million in three years. That season taught him how urgency, data, and buy-in from thousands of people can move a company faster than anyone thinks possible, and how those same principles translate to a 5–10 million dollar trade business.

In this episode, Steve walks through being “a hundred hours from bankruptcy,” why having cash in the bank can trick you into thinking you’re winning, and how WIP, job costing, and collections are the real dashboard for survival. He shares how he kept his team confident when the numbers were scary, why he’d rather lose sleep than miss payroll, and how that crisis turned into the foundation of a billion-dollar company.

Steve also breaks down Kelso’s partnership model, why they’d rather keep great owners in the game than buy them out and watch them disappear, and what makes a business repeatable and scalable in the eyes of a serious buyer. From childhood friendship as a partnership test case, to building a national MEP+ flywheel across the full life cycle of a building, he shows what it really takes to grow without burning everything down along the way.

What You Will Learn in This Episode

• How Steve grew a Walmart division from 15M to 250M in three years using urgency, data, and clear goals
• Why thinking bigger starts with a 1-year and 3-year vision that still fits your current reality
• What really happened when his first HVAC acquisition was “a hundred hours from bankruptcy”
• The practical playbook for surviving a cash crunch: AR, vendors, inventory, and your bank
• Why missing payroll is the line you can’t cross if you want to keep your best people
• How WIP and job costing quietly make or break 5–10M trade businesses
• How Steve and his childhood friend built a durable partnership with clear lanes and mutual respect
• Why Kelso prefers partnerships over buyouts, and how they structure deals to keep owners invested
• What makes a company “repeatable and scalable” and more valuable to serious buyers
• How Kelso’s MEP+ flywheel uses construction, service, and retrofit to create long-term, national growth

More From Profit & Grit

Book your complimentary Financial Insight Session with Tyler Martin, fractional CFO for home services and the trades, here:
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If you listen to any of the following shows, we’re sure you’ll love ours too!
To The Point Home Services Podcast, Toolbox for the Trades, M

🎙️ Profit & Grit by Tyler Martin
Real stories. Real strategy. Real results for service-based business owners.

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Tyler Martin, a fractional CFO for home services and the trades
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