The Winning Franchisee | Firefighter and EMT Convert Indiana HVAC Business to Heating + Air Paramedics Franchise

Dave Carlile, a volunteer firefighter and advanced EMT, along with his wife Missie Carlile, have run Carlile Heating, Cooling & Generators in Southcentral Indiana for more than 20 years before moving to a brick-and-mortar location in Trafalgar in 2018. With the business world rapidly changing, the couple was forced to either pivot their business model or quit. 

After passing on two offers to be bought out by larger companies, Missie discovered there were franchise opportunities in the HVAC industry. After a few meetings with leadership from Threshold Brands, the Carliles signed to become the first Heating + Air Paramedics franchisees in Indiana. Now, with a stronger foundation of support for their business, Dave and Missie look forward to expanding their customer base and creating new jobs in the Southcentral Indiana area.

1851: What did you do before franchising?

Dave Carlile: I started working in heating and cooling in 1990 and founded Carlile Heating & Cooling in 2016. We’re a small company, and with the new business landscape of big companies expanding into smaller markets, we ultimately decided we would have to franchise to help our company grow. In addition to HVAC, I’ve been a volunteer firefighter and advanced EMT for 16 years.

1851: How did you initially find out about franchising? 

Missie Carlile: The business world was changing, and we knew we’d have to pivot or quit. We were looking down some avenues for what to do with our company when we discovered we could franchise our HVAC business.

Dave Carlile: With so much business having gone online, we realized we weren’t getting ourselves out to the maximum base of customers possible. We had two offers from larger companies to buy us out completely. While considering those offers, we realized we still wanted to be hands-on, serving our customers and that working for somebody else may be a better answer. Our biggest struggle was that growing our company had become too much for just the two of us to handle. So Missie suggested we look into a franchising opportunity with Plumbing Heating Paramedics. She sent off a message, and talks began. After a period of conversing with the brand, we signed our franchise agreement and couldn’t be more excited.

1851: What made you say yes to Heating + Air Paramedics? 

Missie Carlile: The reason we decided on Heating + Air Paramedics was after researching the owner and reading their reviews, we felt like we were a match. The company is very much about serving the customer. We have the same core values as Heating + Air Paramedics.

Dave Carlile: I came to understand their core values, the type of company they run, and what they expected, which aligned with how we run our current business. It was meant to be, and we knew it would be an easy transition for us.

1851: What makes you stand out as a unique business owner in the local community?

Missie Carlile: We have 22 years of basically being a referral company. What the new store does for us is gives us the ability to expand our services beyond the community we live in. With the backing and support of the brand, we’ll have the enhanced ability to advertise and serve more people and fulfill their needs. For us as a small business, we can say we’re referral-based, and that was great, but the truth is that was as far as we were able to extend our customer base. This opportunity will open doors to people who don’t know who we are, and our brand visibility will help us serve more people.

1851: What are your dreams with the business? What does the future look like?

Dave Carlile: We have a one, two, and three-year plan before retirement. For the first year, I want to be up and running with the heating side of the business. In year two, we would like to aim to expand into the plumbing side. The hope is by year three to be fully established and fulfill all home service needs in our territory. Ultimately, we look forward to owning and managing the business as opposed to providing service ourselves while also balancing the management duties.

Missie Carlile: Our dream is to set ourselves up for retirement. We’ve been working for 22 years, and we’re not getting any younger. So this is hopefully a route that in five to seven years we’ll start seeing that goal come to fruition. We want both of us to find that peace in knowing that we’ve done a good job and served people well. When the time comes, we hope to find someone from the community who wants to continue the legacy that we’ve built.

1851: What value do you see your business providing to Southcentral Indiana?

Missie Carlile: The goal is to feel that we’re providing work for employees who want to improve themselves and the community they live in. We have held an employee base of about six to nine people. We hope to more than double that in about a year to a base of about 16–20 workers. In the end, we’ll be satisfied if we can create a platform that brings 45-50 jobs to the community. 

Dave Carlile: In Johnson County and Trafalgar specifically, they’re currently building a subdivision of nearly 300 new homes right by our shop, in addition to a separate recent subdivision that was about 300 new homes. We’re seeing that same boom in all the towns around us, so we are looking forward to being able to serve a lot of customers anywhere within an hour of us. It’s a great time to be in business.

1851: What advice would you have for others looking at buying a franchise?

Dave Carlile: Give extra attention to your online presence. Google is the modern-day phone book, and making sure your business comes up at the top of searches can be expensive. With the guidance we get from the franchise opportunity with Heating + Air Paramedics, we’ll have the marketing tools and online presence that the big companies have. Before now, we’d been a small company in an area saturated with big companies. Now we have the opportunity to even the playing field. Just signing the franchise agreement made me feel competitive again. I say, “go buy a franchise today.” If I’d known and could have done this 20 years ago, I’d have gone right into a franchise the day I opened my company. Going through the whole process was painless.

Missie Carlile: My best advice is don’t wait. In everything I’ve learned about franchising, the primary benefit is the support we receive. Being married and balancing the pressure of managing a business daily had worn us down. Like Dave said, signing the agreement made me feel free and different. For anyone asking me, I’d say, “go buy a franchise” because, with the support and structure provided, you feel as if you’re working towards attainable goals and can see success through hard work.

1851: What do you do in your personal time?

Dave Carlile: We love camping with our family. We don’t have a lot of time away from work, so we leave our camper in Myrtle Beach. We try to get down there maybe two weeks a year if we’re lucky. I love fishing dearly. But my favorite thing to do is to mow my yard. I have five acres and my time on the mower is my time of serenity. 

Missie Carlile: For me, it’s being with my kids and grandkids. We love to go camping as a family and spend time outdoors. Other than that, I like to study the Bible in my free time and go to concerts with my girlfriends.

1851: What media do you read?

Missie Carlile: I get alerts on my phone for some local news. Mostly though, I read what news comes up on Facebook, and that’s about it.

Dave Carlile: My business is based on the weather. So I have to watch the local weather reports every morning before I leave for work to see how warm or cold it’s going to be. I feel distressed for my customers who don’t have heat in the winter or air conditioning in summer. So I try to do everything I can to get to the customers who are most in need. Media-wise, Facebook is the only thing I really look at.

ABOUT PLUMBING AND HEATING PARAMEDICS:

Founded in Indianapolis, PHP provides HVAC system repairs, HVAC system replacements, plumbing system repairs, and recurring maintenance check-ins to residential customers in the Indiana market. In November, the brand split into two separate franchise offerings: Plumbing Paramedics and Heating + Air Paramedics.”