Thursday, April 1, 2010
Franchise of the Month
Roes are the First Featured Duraclean “Franchise of the Month”!
This is a first in a series of monthly articles featuring successful Duraclean franchises. If you are interested in being part of this series contact: billo@duraclean.com
This is a first in a series of monthly articles featuring successful Duraclean franchises. If you are interested in being part of this series contact: billo@duraclean.com
Randy and Noveita Roe have been Duraclean franchisees in Irmo, SC since May, 1997. Over the years they have been the recipients of seven “President’s Circle Awards” for exceeding their annual sales quotas. Their most recent award was for 2009.
Prior to Duraclean Randy was in retail for 20 years as a manager and district manager with Kmart. He was also General Manager of Shoe Carnival. Noveita was in life insurance for 20 years. They were prompted to purchase a Duraclean franchise because Randy was looking to get out of retail and he had a flood in his store. After seeing the extraction and drying process and the equipment used, he found it to be very interesting. When he received the bill, he thought it would be a good business to be in!
They decided to open a store in Irmo because they lived and worked there. They looked at different franchises and Duraclean was open in the Irmo area. They started Duraclean in their home. After six months, they moved to a small office and stayed there for one year.
After a year, they moved to a larger office with additional trucks and employees. This is when they bought their first office/warehouse. It was 1500 sq. ft. They were blessed with growth, running six trucks with their service being mostly carpet cleaning. They then expanded their market to insurance work.
After a year, they moved to a larger office with additional trucks and employees. This is when they bought their first office/warehouse. It was 1500 sq. ft. They were blessed with growth, running six trucks with their service being mostly carpet cleaning. They then expanded their market to insurance work.
They added another 2000 sq. ft. to their warehouse to handle additional drying equipment, cleaning contents and area rugs.
They soon outgrew that building and due to property laws, could not expand anymore. They bought the current facility in April, 2008. They now have 6000 sq. ft. (2000 sq. ft. office and 4000 sq. ft. warehouse).
They now have room for additional production areas for processing contents…
…and loose rugs.
They have four vans, 2 box trucks, a pick-up truck, a Tahoe and a Suburban. Here is one of their service vehicles with a trailer.
They feel that 2009 was a tremendous year for Duraclean Professional Services and they expect 2010 to be even better. They currently have 15 dedicated employees. These include:
Customer service – Courtney Johnson…
Estimation - John Kincaid…
Estimation - Michele Gibson…
Marketing – Melvin Reed…
... and Technicians.
Their biggest challenge is continuing to grow their insurance restoration business with ServPro and Service Master in their area having national contracts with many of the larger carriers such as State Farm, Allstate, Travelers, etc.
Another challenge Randy and Noveita face is finding quality technicians with whom they can depend on and trust. They try to run their business like a larger company by offering employees benefits such as insurance. They also regularly invest in training their technicians. The technicians often become so qualified that other local businesses seek them out as prospective employees. Over the years, Randy and Noveita have had four technicians leave them to start their own business. Although they do not like it when this happens, it is a testament to the type of people that they have working for them.
The most memorable job experience was when they were involved with the clean-up of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, Louisiana. They worked at the Proctor and Gamble/Folgers coffee facility. They were twenty feet away when President Bush's helicopter landed and they actually got to meet him. Here Randy is shaking President Bush's hand.
Other Duraclean offices answered the call as well and they all got to work together as a team to help the people of Louisiana after such a tremendous tragedy.
It's the "Team Spirit" that Randy and Noveita embody that will carry the Duraclean system forward in the years ahead.
Labels: Franchise of the Month, Roe
# posted by The Duraclean Team @ 2:21 PM 
Subscribe to Comments [Atom]