How Design-Build Pro Luke Thomas Doubled Revenue in One Year

Hear about the strategies and digital tools that have shot his start-up luxury remodeling firm to success.

Houzz Pro

Luke Thomas has “zero chill,” as he puts it — and that’s a great thing for his business. As CEO of H&L Design and Build in Rochester, New York, he is constantly asking questions, seeking to make processes more efficient, finding and training the right team members, and coming up with ways to give clients a better experience overall. Those are just some of the reasons why H&L, which he co-founded with wife and designer Hannah Thomas in 2019, doubled its annual revenue from $400,000 in 2023 to $800,000 in 2024, and why the 2025 projection is $1.2 million. Let’s take a closer look.

Faith in His Abilities

Thomas didn’t take to the University of Buffalo’s architecture program right after high school — too much sculpting and painting, not enough drawing and building. So he went back home to Rochester, New York, and enrolled in community college while working for a countertop fabricator. And from there it was a steady and straight shot to opening his own firm, right? 

Not quite. He and his wife felt a call to work at a nonprofit church ministry, and spent 20 years there. But they did buy a 1920s house and spent weekends remodeling it. And Thomas, who was then a youth pastor, acted as a mentor to the underprivileged high schoolers who’d come over to help.

Then the pandemic hit the church hard. “Although my position was secure in senior management of a larger church, I felt like I really wanted to do something different,” Thomas says. “I wanted to build something, and I wanted to build something for my family” — namely, a more solid financial future. He and Hannah opened H&L Design and Build in 2019 and took it full-time in the spring of 2022.

H&L Design and Build

People Power

At first, “We would spend everything that we earned,” Thomas says. “It would go back into the business, and it’s helped us grow, but it hasn’t always put us in a cash-positive position. I didn’t have that financial acuity.”

He did have three key things in place, however. The first is a knack for hiring great people. “We hire on character and chemistry first, and then we teach competence and skills,” Thomas says. “We’ve got guys that you’re OK with in your home, and you’re comfortable leaving your home and having them around your kids and your pets and your valuables.” That’s a huge part of the way the company builds trust with clients and gives them a great experience.

Thomas actually would like everyone to recognize that these workers are more than just everyday laborers. “I’m passionate about rebranding ‘blue collar,’” he says. “Because these guys are surgeons. They’re going into a very complex, comprehensive system in a home. With precision, they’re modifying it in a way to make it better and make it beautiful. The stigma around ‘blue collar’ makes me really sad.”

One strategy he uses to convey his workers’ professionalism? They wear uniforms. “Those kinds of things are important,” Thomas says. “We want to portray that image that we are professional, we’re hip and trendy, we’re clean-cut, we smell nice, that kind of thing. I like surprising clients with that, in a way — they’re almost a little bit taken aback that we’re not quite what they had expected.”

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Strong Support From Software

The second thing working in the company’s favor: Thomas set up reliable and scalable processes using Houzz Pro. “It’s an all-in-one solution,” he says. “Everything from the 3D rendering to the notes, financials. The client dashboard is just brilliant for messaging and communication. We don’t lose things in the cracks.”

He continues, “It’s pretty intuitive navigating Houzz Pro so that you can create a sequential process from lead generation all the way through to, ‘Could you give us a review on Google?’ Because we made that message template.” He appreciates how much time all the software’s templates save him. “I just did three estimates in 90 minutes, because I was able to copy over a schedule template, an estimate template, and send out a message template with a new link for the client dashboard,” he says. “It’s just smooth. It’s all in there.”

In fact, he loves how much time all the software’s features save him. “I think if I had to do everything manually, Excel spreadsheets and Docs and whatever else…I’m probably saving 10 to 15 hours a week and making fewer mistakes with Houzz Pro.” But he also points to how the software has helped him grow the business and double annual revenue in just one year.

“Doing what gives you life and what builds the business is what you need to be doing 90% of your day,” Thomas says. “If 90% of your day is communicating or forgetting or doing workarounds or finding software or losing the piece of paper, then the business can only grow as fast as you do. Houzz has been a huge shortcut for me.”

Down to the Last Detail

And the third key thing is paying attention to every detail and figuring out how to improve the way things are done. For instance, “for the field crew, we put together a packet for their build which contains QR codes of all the different selections, as well as printouts and links to the rendering,” he says. “And then we combine all those QR codes as well as files and links in the files folder on Houzz Pro.” Crew members can then just scan the QR code to get all the necessary details in Houzz Pro, saving lots of time and preventing mistakes.

Clients go through a thorough screening process from the very first interaction: a web form that says H&L isn’t currently accepting projects less than $50,000 — and includes the average costs to remodel a kitchen and a bathroom. “Only about 10% of our web traffic actually clicks the form,” Thomas says. “We’re qualifying them even before they knock on our door.”

And H&L charges $500 for a one-hour in-home estimate with Thomas, the designer and the project manager, which acts as another layer of screening. The team asks clients “an enormous amount of questions,” Thomas says, “so that you capture 95% of [the project scope] on the initial estimate that they sign.” By the time of the project kickoff, the team has managed the clients’ expectations around costs so well that surprises are unlikely.

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H&L Design and Build

Gems of Wisdom

Here are a few other tips and strategies from Thomas that have helped his business succeed so quickly.

Be more than a hired hand. “I think it’s being a counselor.… It’s being a big brother, big sister to the little kids running around. It’s being respectful and kind to the dog. It’s cleaning up really well. It’s all of those things helping someone so that we can be as little of a burden on them as possible.” 

Embrace generosity. If a client requests work not included in the original estimate, “I tell the guys, if they feel like it’s going to take them less than 30 minutes, just do it.… Surprise and delight the client. Be generous.”

Make a real connection. With clients, “[I ask] about their life and not what they do for a living at first: ‘Tell me about your family. Where did you grow up? What do you like to do for fun?’…so that they can realize they’re human and they can realize I’m human, and we’re both going to work together to make something great. It starts at the beginning for us.”

Want to free up more time to focus on revenue growth? Try Houzz Pro at no cost to see how it can help.