Crippled by a Flood

By Lynne Brandon

Louisiana’s Sunshine Plumbing and Backflow Prevention is Rebuilt and Thriving

Life can change on a dime. No one knows that better than Dirk Payne. The owner of Sunshine Plumbing and Backflow Prevention has endured loss that most people will never know.

In 2016, a tropical storm blew into Louisiana and hovered over Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where his plumbing business was (and is). In 12 hours, the city was drenched with 36 inches of rain, affecting 100,000. Payne’s business was enveloped in 3 feet of water and his home was under 6 feet of water. It was only different from Hurricane Katrina in the amount of people affected.

In one day, he lost his business, swept away by water. Eighteen vehicles were ruined; five of them plumbing trucks. To make it worse, the third-generation shop owner and fourth-generation plumber was also homeless.

Payne had worked in plumbing since a small boy at the age of 12 helping his father. At 15 he helped out after school.

“It is my family heritage,” Payne said. “My red blood cells might look like little pipe wrenches instead of red blood cells.”

In 2008 he decided it was time to start his own business. The business was thriving until that day in 2016.

 

Starting Over

Payne, his two sons and wife (his junior high sweetheart), lived in a gutted-out tool shed — all that was left of his business — for two years while rebuilding their home after the tropical storm damages.

“We had mud on floors, no walls, it was gutted.” Initially in shock, Payne did not work for nearly six months. A friend loaned Payne a plumbing truck while he was waiting on insurance funds. The only help he had was his son Cody.

In 2018, the Payne family was back in their home that had been gutted and remodeled. They did the plumbing with other contractors doing the rest of the work. The damage was a big blow to Payne, and then in 2020 COVID hit.

Was it another disaster or an opportunity? “My first thought was that I was ruined and would go bankrupt,” Payne said.

Fear of failure prompted him to be more aggressive with marketing. “We went to our customer list and mailed all 3,000 a postcard about our services,” he said. “We emailed some customers also and started doing TV commercials. It was scary but I had already lost everything and told myself I could start over again if I had to.” Along the way Payne picked up two big commercial customers, a large medical facility and an industrial plant for service work. He credits resilience and a strong work ethic mixed with good timing for the turning point in his business.

“Going through a flood and coming out better on the other side has taught me I can survive anything. It taught me to gamble and roll the dice.” Dirk Payne

By the end of 2020, the business was gaining ground. Between 2020 and 2021, business increased by 150 percent.

“For seven months I worked seven days a week with my son, Cody,” said Payne. “We worked sometimes until 3 or 4 a.m. in the medical facility due to COVID protocols.”

In 2021, Sunshine Plumbing joined Service Nation after going to a conference.

“They said everything I needed to hear and even though it was scary it was the best thing I have ever done,” Payne said. “They embraced me when they heard our story. They helped us with business coaches and took us to the next level. Since that time, we have grown every year from 35 percent to 40 percent.”

The company has grown to 15 employees and seven trucks. Son, Cody is the service manager and works with employees and customers. Payne handles the finances and CEO responsibilities.

“Cody frees me up to handle my business,” he smiled. “It is phenomenal to watch him.”

Dirk and Cody Payne

Sam Leto (service-tech), Dirk Payne (owner), and Cody Payne (son). 

Going the Extra Mile

Payne recently partnered with Yellow Dog Media to further marketing efforts and said he had already seen results with more customers. The company specializes in TV commercials for the trade industry, social media posts on Facebook, videos and other media.

Internally, Payne stands by basic marketing strategies with postcards sent twice a year, social media and other touches like wrapped trucks and their popular shirts with the yellow duck. The company sells about 10 duck shirts each week to customers.

“On Facebook we were the yellow duck shirts and people love it,” he said. “It hard to get better advertising.”

The duck shirts and trucks are traced back to a 25-year old idea that Payne got while at a PHCC conference in Washington, D.C. Payne saw a giant yellow duck on a truck during his visit and the concept resonated with him.

His wife drew the logo of duck with spiked hair, sunglasses and a wrench to resemble Payne who is never seen without sunglasses or spiked hair. The “sunshine” name comes from a nickname he calls his third child. A brand was born.

 

Growth Continues

Payne plans for growth and every year he orders two trucks (January and July) and adds four employees. The company specializes in basic plumbing services, service repair and sewer line replacements with pipelining as a new service.

“Pipelining came about organically with jobs that required it,” he said. “It is a tough market and learning curve with expensive equipment needed.

“We do most of the backflow prevention service in the area — about 2,000 valves a year,” he explained. “I would say that we are one of the largest in the area.”

Next up for Sunshine Plumbing is starting an HVAC division. “We are in the process of getting our licenses and hope to add this service soon so we can offer more to our customers,” he said. “Things are lined up for us to explode to the next level.”

Payne meets with other Service Nation trades people every week for idea and knowledge sharing and said it was a key to his success. He listens to motivational speakers daily for inspiration.

“I have learned there is nothing you can’t accomplish if you work hard. I was going backward for a while and had pity parties but my personality is to not give up and to surround myself with good people,” Payne said.

“My kids have learned through tragedy that they can do anything and all my kids are successful.”

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