5 Biggest Challenges for Elevator Business Owners—and How to Fix Them

Owning an elevator business isn’t for the faint of heart. I know the difficulty that surfaces when you’re managing a workforce, balancing cash flow, chasing down invoices, navigating a personal life, AND still trying to grow your business in the small window of free time you may have. It’s a lot. But here’s the thing—most of these challenges aren’t random. They’re patterns. And once you see them, you can fix them.

Let’s break down the five biggest challenges elevator business owners face—and how to stop them from holding you back in your business.

1. Keeping Employees Without Bleeding Cash

Hiring is tough, and keeping exceptional employees feels daunting. Skilled labor is in high demand, and plenty of companies assume the only way to retain top talent is to throw more money at them. But money alone does not keep them. I’ll say it again, money does not equate to retention.

The Real Problems:

• No clear career growth. If employees can’t see a future with you, they’ll find one somewhere else.
• Poor communication. If they only hear from you when something’s wrong, they’ll disengage fast.
• Burnout. If they’re stretched too thin for too long, they’ll find a job that respects their time.

How to Fix It:

Instead of relying on pay raises, focus on engagement. I worked with a company that transformed retention by making a few simple changes: regular one-on-one check-ins, offering clear career paths for different levels of employees, and actually recognizing them for their work.

People don’t just leave companies. They leave bad leadership. Focus on mending the relationship, not just the paycheck that’s going out to them each week.

2. Getting Employees to Accept New Technology

The elevator industry isn’t exactly known for embracing change. If you’ve been in the game for awhile, you’ll know we’ve experienced an immense amount of tech-changes in the last decade—digital tracking, remote monitoring, and predictive maintenance just to name a few. Rolling out new technology and getting your team to actually utilize it can be a difficult part of leadership sometimes.

The Real Problems:

• People are creatures of habit. There is less work-related stress when they know what to expect in their job. Employees get comfortable with their way of doing things and don’t see the point in switching.
• New tech doesn’t integrate well. If a system creates more headaches than solutions, they’re more likely to revert to old ways.
• Fear of job loss. Some employees assume automation means they’re being replaced and rumors may swirl.

How to Fix It:

One business I worked with had major pushback when rolling out a new business operating system. The solution? Involve employees early. Show them how technology makes their job easier, not harder. Make training a priority and involve them in the process of integrating.

Technology can fail when employees don’t see the bigger picture and the opportunities that exist behind the change.

3. Finding the Right Clients Instead of Wasting Time

Not every client is a good client. But plenty of elevator businesses waste time and resources chasing every lead that comes their way.

Spending all of your time bidding on low-margin projects and dealing with high-maintenance clients can leave little room to grow. It becomes a revolving door of low cash flow with an inability to scale. This approach may work for the mom and pop shops, and that’s okay. But I’ve found through my years at Madden Elevator, that if I have big dreams to break the ceiling in my business and create real success, I had to think bigger and long-term when it came to clientele.

The Real Problems:

• Wasting time on bad leads. Not every opportunity is worth the effort of pursuing.
• High client turnover. If clients aren’t a good fit, they won’t stick around.
• No clear marketing strategy. Without a plan, you’ll chase anything that moves.

How to Fix It:

In my opinion? Become laser-focused on your ideal client. Look at the data from your current clientele. Use it to create a data-driven approach that identifies high-value customers that align with your expertise and business model.

Once I knew who I should be working with at Madden Elevator, I adjusted my marketing, refined my sales pitch, and stopped wasting my team’s time on insufficient leads.

Chasing every job is exhausting but knowing your ideal client is business-changing.

4. Managing Cash Flow for Stability

Cash flow is all about keeping the money you’re bringing in. Too many companies experience busy seasons followed by slower stretches—you know what I’m talking about. Those times when the guys are noticing they’re not as busy as before and the fear of cutting heads becomes a reality. Even businesses with high revenue can find themselves struggling if they’re not managing cash flow correctly.

The Real Problems:

• Clients paying late. Unpaid invoices will make it impossible to cover expenses.
• High overhead costs. Running a business isn’t cheap, and unexpected costs can throw everything off balance.
• No financial planning. With no budget or cash flow forecast—this is where you run into serious trouble.

How to Fix It:

I have witnessed multiple companies improve every aspect of their financials just by implementing a proper cash flow system. Through my advising process, I’ve worked one on one with elevator business owners to automate their invoicing, set clearer payment terms, and build a reserve fund. They also started forecasting their cash flow instead of reacting to it.

Remember, great service can’t save a business with bad cash flow!

5. Defining Company Values to Strengthen Leadership

A lot of elevator business owners run their companies without a clear understanding of their core values. Your values aren’t meant to be created and put onto a shelf to collect dust. They are the foundation on which the company operates and without them, you may find yourself lacking in company-wide buy in.

I worked with one business that struggled greatly with this. They didn’t take it seriously and unfortunately, it showed in their leadership style. Employees had no idea what the company stood for beyond selling elevator services. Because of the lack of direction in leadership, their employees felt disconnected.

The Real Problems:

• Unclear decision-making. It’s hard to make the right choices when you don’t have guiding principles within your company.
• Employees feeling disconnected. People want to work for something bigger than just a paycheck. They don’t want to be made to feel like another cog in the machine.
• Hiring the wrong people. Without clear values, you end up bringing on employees who don’t fit the culture.

How to Fix It:

This business turned things around by defining and communicating their company values. Leadership crafted a mission statement that actually meant something. They put this in their morning meetings, weekly meetings, and it was physically posted all over their business. You have to believe in something bigger as the visionary before you can get that buy in from your people and your customers.

Once values were in place, hiring became easier, customer interactions improved, and team culture was strengthened. Hmm, who would’ve thought?

A company without values is like an elevator with no control panel—it just doesn’t make sense.

The Role of Mentorship in Overcoming These Challenges

No business owner has all the answers. That’s why mentorship is one of the smartest investments you can make. Learning from someone who has been in your shoes can save you so much time (the main aspect we seem to lack as business owners), money, and frustration.

I’ve worked with plenty of elevator business owners who struggled with these exact challenges. Through mentorship, they found solutions that made an impact in their business. Together, we’ve worked to improve employee retention, adjust their cash flow strategies, and redefine their ideal client base.

You don’t have to figure this all out alone. The right guidance can give you the clarity and confidence to make smarter business decisions—every single day. It is simply a matter of how much more time and money you’re willing to waste before making that investment.