If you run a home services business, you know marketing costs money. But what if I told you that not marketing could cost you even more?
Many business owners assume that if they don’t invest in marketing, their business will stay the same. But that’s not true.
Without marketing:
- Fewer people call your business.
- Competitors start taking your customers.
- Revenue slowly shrinks.
This is called Marketing Maintenance Expense—a concept rarely discussed but is central to the cost of keeping your brand strong and visible. Let’s break it down.
You can also view a video summary of this article below.
Scenario 1: You Invest $1 Million in Marketing
Let’s say you spend $1 million on marketing this year.
Over time, that investment brings in new customers and keeps the business growing. Let’s assume marketing helps generate $300,000 per year in extra profit for the next four years.
Because money in the future isn’t worth as much as money today, we use a discount rate to calculate what those future earnings are worth in today’s dollars:
After running the numbers, the total Net Present Value (NPV) is about -$60,000.
At first glance, it looks like a small loss, leading some business owners to think, “Marketing isn’t profitable.”
But this is the wrong comparison—because it assumes the business stays the same without marketing.
Scenario 2: You Skip Marketing (And Business Declines)
Now, let’s say you don’t spend the $1 million on marketing.
Here’s what happens instead:
- Leads slow down.
The pipeline dries up. - Competitors take market share.
- Sales cycles get longer.
Fewer people know who you are when they need service.
- You’re stuck relying only on repeat business or referrals.
That’s risky unless you have a massive customer base.
Instead of maintaining steady profits, your revenue starts to shrink. Let’s assume you lose $200,000 per year in profit over the next four years. That decline is modeled like this:
The total NPV in this case is -$540,000—meaning NOT investing in marketing actually costs you over half a million dollars in lost revenue.
The Big Takeaway
Most business owners compare marketing to “doing nothing,” but doing nothing isn’t free—it has a cost. If you don’t market your business, revenue declines. Your customers move on, and competitors take market share.
Marketing isn’t just about growth—it’s about keeping your business healthy.
Think of it like maintaining your work truck. You wouldn’t skip oil changes and expect it to run forever. In the same way, you can’t skip marketing and expect your business to stay strong.
So the next time you’re debating whether to spend money on marketing, ask yourself: What will it cost me if I don’t?
Why Most Businesses Undervalue Marketing
Many business owners feel like marketing isn’t working because they can’t track it perfectly.
What’s the problem?
Traditional media (TV, radio, billboards) builds brand awareness but doesn’t get credit in tracking. Meanwhile, low-funnel digital ads (Google, PPC) capture the leads, making it look like only digital ads work.
The Real Way to Measure Marketing Impact
Instead of focusing only on direct attribution, use higher-level business metrics:
- Total Revenue Before, During, and After Marketing Changes
- Marketing Spend as a % of Revenue (Should Be 5-10%)
- Brand Search Lift (Google Searches for Your Business Name Over Time)
- Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) vs. Customer Lifetime Value (CLV)
The Marketing Lag Effect (Graph Example)
To show this visually, here’s a simple graph explaining what happens when businesses invest consistently in marketing vs. when they turn it off:
Malcolm McDonald’s Investment vs. Maintenance Expenditure graph highlights a common mistake businesses make when evaluating marketing ROI.
Most executives compare the expected cash flow from a marketing investment (Point A) against the incorrect assumption that doing nothing will maintain current revenue levels (Point B).
However, the realistic comparison should be between the marketing investment and the more likely revenue decline that occurs when marketing is stopped (Point C).
Traditional financial models like Net Present Value (NPV) and Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) often miss this, leading companies to undervalue marketing’s role in preventing revenue erosion.
The key insight? Marketing isn’t just about growth—it’s a maintenance expense that keeps the business from declining.
Final Thought: Should We Keep Marketing or Cut It?
If you’re unsure whether marketing is working, don’t cut everything at once. Instead:
- Reduce spending on ONE channel for 90 days.
- Watch total revenue and brand search volume.
- Compare against a similar time period last year.
If revenue starts to slow, you have your answer: Marketing isn’t an optional cost—it’s what keeps your business running.
DW Creative is an agency committed to empowering homeowner-focused businesses. If you want help creating a marketing strategy or brand designs, schedule a fit call with our team to see how DW Creative can help.
If you’re not ready to make a commitment or want to learn more about marketing strategy and digital marketing, we recommend the following articles: