John Spezia (IslandPro)

Grout Bright Inc.

Centereach, Long Island, New York

Give us a little back round on yourself: Married, Children, Age, and Hobbies/Activities you and your family participate in?
I’ve been married for over 8 years and we have 3 girls under the age of 6. I try to spend a lot of time with my girls when I’m not working. I like taking them snapper fishing (Baby Bluefish) when their in. In the fall I do a lot of Strip Bass fishing. My main hobby is being a volunteer fireman. I’ve been doing this for over 12 years. This is what I do to get my adrenalin pumping. Some guys like to jump out of planes, I like to jump out of fire trucks (Not Moving of course).

Tell us how you got started in the biz, when and why.
I started in Jan 2006 doing 2 jobs a month with my ex-company’s car and a mop & bucket, up to today working 6 days a week with portable machines, 1 fulltime employee and 1 part-time employee and a 2006 ford van.

I’ve been in the real estate management services for over 5 years. I started as a salesman for an electrical contractor in the World Trade Center in 2001. (Lost That Job of Course!!) Then for the next year or so I continued working for another electrical contractor maintaining lighting contracts with buildings in Manhattan New York. After working with electrical stuff I became a Night Operations Manager for a Metal, Stone & Wood Restoration Company in Manhattan. This is where I learned everything I know about stone restoration.

One day I had to meet a guy from a Tile & Grout Restoration Company to go do a sample in a commercial bathroom in an office building. The guys did some thing to the grout to make it clean then put a white coating on the grout. After 20 min. the grout look brand new. So, after that night I went home and did a bunch of researches on Tile & Grout Restoration and which brings me here today.

Give us some more details about your business: size, employees, # trucks, market, focus/services provided.
We do 5-7 jobs a week, 2 employees (1 F/T & 1 P/T), and 1 2006 Van. My market focus is 90% residential and the rest commercial. I would like to get more commercial work in the future. The main service we provide is Grout Color Sealing. We also do, Marble & Granite restoration, shower stall re-grouts and exterior stone pressure washing.

What are your biggest strengths and weaknesses in business?
Biggest Strength for me is selling the customer a job. My weakness is not having a lot of capital to expand the business.

If you could start over at day one, what would you do differently?
Nothing

If you had to give up your current business, what would you do to earn a living?
I would open up another business. Granite And Marble fabrication.

Where do you see your business in 2 years, 5 years, and 10 years?
In 2 years I plan on doing 80% of my business in Manhattan doing T&G, and natural stone restoration. In 5 years I plan on having at least 3 trucks on the road with 2 man crews. In 10 years I hope I’m sitting on the beach in Maui drinking a cocktail while my business is working for me.

What has been the biggest surprise, good or bad, since you started?
The best thing is the money. The biggest surprise is nobody knocks on my door to clean their tiles. (I have to work hard on advertising and my marketing campaign to get in the public’s eye). The bad thing is finding the right help to learn the business.

What is the most important thing you will be adding, doing, changing in the next year for you business?
I will be adding T&G installation, And maybe Granite & Marble countertop fabricating and installation.

What is your ideal job that you would take everyday or want more of?
Nice smooth 18×18 tiles with perfect groutlines.

Do you feel you spend too much, too little or just the right amount of time on your business?
I spend 24/7 on the business. Not physically but mentally. I’m always thinking on how to improve things and operate at a better pace. I spend 12 hours a day doing hands on work and office work at the end of the day.

Tell us about your best and worst job you have done.
The best job I did was for a hotel buffet area floor. The worst job I did was for a dentist office that had all kinds of mold and stuff in the grout lines that couldn’t be cleaned, so we had to re-grout a lot of the tiles and color seal in the same night.

If you had to choose one thing that has been the most important tool/resource/decision in your business what would it be?
Knowing how to sell my services to the customer.

What will be the next thing you want to get: Employee, Truck, Salesperson, Secretary, Tool, Equipment?
A truck-mount…

What do you most enjoy about this business and hate about it?
I hate working late. I love when I get paid at the end of the day. (It’s a Catch 22!!)

Any words of wisdom for someone looking to get into this field of business?
Don’t go for the big toys right away. Start off slow with equipment. Put most of your capital in advertising and marketing. Don’t worry if you don’t have all the bells and whistles at first. Get you schedule booked for 3-4 weeks in advance. When you are booked like this then go out and buy one thing at a time.

Last but not least tell us something about you that would surprise us to know.
I hate working on my hands and knees!!!!!!! (LOL)