Today we’d like to introduce you to John Cox.
John, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I returned home in 1995, after serving in the Marine Corps, to start and raise a family where I myself was raised. By 1996 I was working with the City of Carrollton by day and Bartending by night. One of my regulars at the bar I worked at had recently bought a one truck septic pumping company and invited me to try to sell and promote his business on a commission basis. I took him up on his offer and over the next 5 years, I grew his company to two septic trucks, a septic install crew and a plumbing crew and I was running the show. In early 2001, I was married with two small children, and the owner up and decided to fire my number one employee for reasons I didn’t agree with. So when I disagreed with him, I was told “that if you don’t like it, then you can leave too.” so I did!
I went straight to city hall and by lunch that day, I had my own business license for “Cox Plumbing and Septic”. Left there and went and bought a brand new service truck for plumbing. Two months later, I bought my first excavator and hired my first helper. A year later, I bought my first pump truck and second excavator and then hired, my before mentioned number one employee, to run it. I then grew in size and scope to doing 1.5 million in sales annually and working in 5 counties pumping grease traps and septic tanks, service plumbing and also doing utility contracting (sewer mains, water mains and fire hydrants for subdivisions.
In 2008, when the economy crashed and several gray hairs later, I decided to downsize and only work in Carroll County. Then in 2015, I got divorced from an 18 year marriage, so I decided to drop the septic side of my business and put all my focus into two plumbing service trucks only. That’s when I became my happiest. Obviously I’m no longer doing 1.5 million in annual sales, but my net income really hasn’t changed that much. What has changed is my stress levels, my free time, my blood pressure, maintenance costs, employee turnover and overall overhead.
Along the way, I was home every night to enjoy raising my children. My daughter and I started High School fishing in Carrollton City Schools. I was able to fish 3 years as a touring professional fisherman with The National Professional Fishing League (NPFL). I had a life saving kidney transplant earlier this year and my ex-wife was the donor. I got married this year to my amazing wife Julie. My son is doing great and living in Nashville TN and my married daughter just gave birth to my first granddaughter.
It’s been an amazing ride and now as I’m completely healed from my transplant, I plan to fish again in 2026 for the NPFL
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It’s been a pretty smooth road. Really the only struggle is that as you train plumbers, they eventually get better than you can afford to pay so ultimately your always training your future competition. Currently, 4 former employees of mine own their own plumbing businesses and 3 of them are in my town as my direct competition.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
We do service plumbing work. Water heaters, leaks, clogs, camera and locates, fixture replacements and repairs, sewer lines and water lines. We specialize in being available for same day service most days. We are known for our 5 star rating, excellent response time, unmatched customer service and fair pricing.
So, before we go, how can our readers or others connect or collaborate with you? How can they support you?
Well I only work in the west Georgia area, but if you’re in my area, feel free to call me at 7708301663
Contact Info:
- Website: https://coxplumbing.com
- Instagram: john_cox1775
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JohnCoxTournamentFishing
