Peter Hagar

Ewing & Sons, Inc.

55 R Compark Centerville, OH 45459.
A suburb of Dayton.

The birth place of aviation, the cash register, pop top, electric starter motor and the Grout Tracker.

Give us a little back round on yourself: Married, Children, Age, and Hobbies/Activities you and your family participate in?
I am 43. I have been married for 14 years, Stephanie and I have been together 20 years since college. We have a 5 year old Son. She has her own company which is an event planning business, servicing both private and corporate clients. I race sailboats as well. I recently bought a cruising sailboat that is more family oriented. We also Ski in the winter. We travel to Hawaii usually once a year. We have three dogs, one cat and some fish. Our plan is to retire in the next 15 years, preferably near a beach.

Tell us how you got started in the biz, when and why.
My step family had a floor cleaning business that my mom married into in 1979. I worked it through high school and college. After graduating college I went to work for the man in corporate America. I did OK there but did not like the political BS. I made it through 2 rounds of layoffs with the corporate job then was offered the opportunity to do things my own way for the family business. We have streamlined and redirected our focus and everybody enjoys a better quality of life. I kind of fell into it and I enjoy the freedom it offers me. I have a lot of autonomy and nobody but me says if I have a job or not.

Give us some more details about your business: size, employees, # trucks, market, focus/services provided.
We are a small company with 12 employees, 7 trucks, servicing 2 major city markets, Dayton and Cincinnati. We strip and refinish VCT and offer buffing maintenance programs. VCT care is the main focus of our company. We also do tile and grout restoration and marble restoration and repair. In the future I want to focus on the latter two services.

What are your biggest strengths and weaknesses in business?
My biggest strength is sales. I love it. I love to do it and love to close a sale. My other strengths are knowledge of the industry and market trends. I constantly study to keep abreast of the future of not only the floor maintenance industry but the floor covering industry.

Our company strengths are we can repair our own equipment which we have found to be a huge difference between us and the competition. We always try to find new and more efficient equipment to do our work. We are not afraid to invest in ourselves or equipment and tools. We develop tools and techniques that are trade specific, some of which I wish I had time to take to market. I could be stronger on marketing our services, which I am currently working on doing.

Another is we make it up as we go. I say this all the time “I just make this stuff up”. I’m sure you’ve read it, however it is true to a certain extent. If we don’t know about something we will begin by researching it as much as possible then diving in head first and experimenting.

My greatest weakness is I occasionally lack motivation. Trust me, guard against this, it can kill you. Stay focused on the goals you set, it helps. Always ask yourself is what I am doing moving me toward my goals.

If you could start over at day one, what would you do differently?
Study computers, math and sciences… Oh you mean this business? Not sure because we are so darn good, lol. Honestly though I might consider another industry. That is a difficult question as this has been business “good” to me but that is not to say there haven’t been bumps along the way.

If you had to give up your current business, what would you do to earn a living?
If I did not start a new similar company I would sell/consult for one of the big chemical companies. If I could not do that I might market my wife’s company, there are days I consider it.

Where do you see your business in 2 years, 5 years, and 10 years?
2 years, the addition of 2 or more crews and trucks in a daytime roll as most of our work is done at night.
5 years, I no longer do any production and focus solely on marketing and sales.
10 years, planning for my retirement in 5 years and hopefully selling the company for whatever it is worth. I want to retire around or before age 60, Oh man, is it that close?

What has been the biggest surprise, good or bad, since you started?
How truly crappy and lazy the labor pool is. Many people, not all, do not want to work. I struggle with this constantly. I feel it is what holds us from growing. Good labor is VERY difficult to find. The problem we run into is the reduction in quality when turning over control to other parties. This is an issue with every small business owner. We have to learn to let go and trust other people to some degree. Quality training and well laid out guidelines for expectations helps.

What is the most important thing you will be adding, doing, changing in the next year for your business?
This year we will be much more aggressively marketing for new business and recruiting for employees. I plan a greater focus on commercial tile and grout work. Marketing, marketing, marketing. I want to change the focus of our business.

What is your ideal job that you would take everyday or want more of?
Sealing brand new grout installs, is there anything easier? These jobs are referred by the tile retailers and installers as well as home builders. Hint, form relationships with these folks. Be problem solvers for them. Get on a new home owners call sheet for maintaining their tile and grout.

Ideally I would love to be paid to train and consult for a living. Getting paid for what I love to do on these bulletin boards, now that would be sweet.

Do you feel you spend too much, too little or just the right amount of time on your business?
Oh heck you can always spend more time but I spend as much as I want to… I can’t complain. I should probably spend more time but there’s that whole motivation thing.

Tell us about your best and worst job you have done.
Best you can never remember, only the bad ones stick out. The worst would be a commercial kitchen, that we did recently, that was way underbid and had no grout left, in many areas, just grease and guck in the grout lines. It was the nastiest place I have ever seen and in over 27 years, and trust me, I have seen nasty. The worst thing is I ate there twice a few years ago. It should be shut down and gutted.

The best was billing over 7 grand for 3 days of work on new marble that an installer washed with an acidic grout remover. We had to hone and polish it.

If you had to choose one thing that has been the most important tool/resource/decision in your business what would it be?
This is the last question I answered. I don’t know why it is so difficult for me to answer but I can’t think of any one thing. The only thing I keep coming up with is the decision to do all business from a standpoint of strength not fear. This concept sounds easy however wait until you start doing a large amount of business with a particular client. You are less likely to rock the boat with them for “fear” of loosing them or causing problems.

Remember no client is forever and no client is irreplaceable. That is not to say losing a particular gem would not hurt, but remember only you can quit and terminate your company. Do not be afraid to fire bad customers. Do not be afraid to pass on jobs that look like a can of worms.

What will be the next thing you want to get: Employee, Truck, Salesperson, Secretary, Tool, Equipment?
I really want to buy a truck mount.

What do you most enjoy about this business and hate about it?
I enjoy the sales and selling to prospects that call in and closing any cold call. I hate the employee personal problems and issues that become mine. I hate when jobs go south some will just push through and get it done.

Any words of wisdom for someone looking to get into this field of business?
Yeah, consider other options! This industry can be rewarding and enjoyable but it can also be highly stressful and frustrating. Owning your own business is not what people imagine. Most people imagine a life of being your own boss, setting your own hours and no one to answer to, WRONG.

You have an endless supply of bosses that love to complain and sometimes not even pay you. You will have ungrateful employees who feel you owe them something even before they start work. How ever, if you really feel you are determined to break into this or any business, you need to learn. Work for somebody if you can. Read the Dirty Grout Board archives. Talk to as many professionals as you can to learn from them. Learn the basics of cleaning chemistry. Come work for me for a few months, in exchange for quality labor I will teach you the trade as well as pay you, what more could you ask.

Learn to sell yourself and market your company. There are lots of books and tape or CD programs you can listen to on sales, marketing and motivation. Do something to improve your self daily. Invest in your self, polish your manners, grammar and image. I can’t stress the previous and following thoughts enough.

Do not be what they expect be better. Be clean, neat and orderly. Be organized. I commonly carry extra clothes with me, one set for working and one set for site walks and meetings. Be where you are supposed to be when you are supposed to be there, don’t be late. Write everything down and I recommend an electronic organizer that reminds you of appointments. View problems as challenges that can always be overcome and rectified. Invest in quality equipment and vehicles.

The clientele you are targeting want to do business with successful people, not somebody that looks like they just crawled out of bed into their junk van with some junk equipment to come into a million dollar home. Do not be afraid to fire bad customers some times it must be done. Bid all jobs to make money and NEVER bid a job to “get it”. It sets you up in a low price mind set to you and the customer.

Also never work for the carrot of more business. Do not let somebody say “if you give me a good price on this job I can send more business your way”…What, for the same crappy low price? Your only response to the carrot is “I’ll do excellent quality work at a good value and based on that you’ll send me more work“. When dealing with low ball bidders remember my saying of “At what price does poor quality become a good value?”

BE A TRUE PROFESSIONAL!

Last but not least tell us something about you that would surprise us to know.
I’m basically a slacker that has a job where I have to bust my butt to make it and if an easy ride came along I would jump right on it. If money were not an issue I would not work EVER. I would be happy traveling and playing. I laugh at people who say they would be bored if they did not work. To that I say find a hobby or hobbies. My hobbies and interests could fill several life times with out ever considering boredom. I think people who work all the time and feel they need to work more are workaholics and people who work a lot and claim to be workaholics are not. I believe the workaholic does not realize this and would never claim it because they don’t realize it.

I am kind of shy but for some reason when it comes to floor care I can talk your ear off, and I don’t get that. In some social situations I find it occasionally uncomfortable to talk with people, but put me in selling something and I lose myself. I can’t talk in front of a group of people, unless I am selling…go figure.