There’s no one right way to run a business. You can focus on one small niche or offer every service under the sun, and you can do either with a hundred employees or one.

Backlund Plumbing of Omaha, Nebraska, is one of the companies featured in this issue of Cleaner. The company is traveling a different path, in vehicles powered by a different fuel.

Few things reflect Backlund’s progressive business nature better than its fleet of CNG-powered vehicles. The conversion efforts began in 2012 with 10 Ford Econoline service vans used for drain cleaning and plumbing work. Today, natural gas powers more than two dozen vehicles, including vacuum trucks, service vans and dump trucks from a variety of manufacturers.

Backlund’s revenues have increased since the CNG conversions. Chris Roseland, who owns the company with his father, attributes much of the increase to the company’s ability to brand itself as a “green” business. He says the company hasn’t promoted it in any way other than with its vinyl vehicle wraps, but when people call, they usually ask about the CNG trucks. Press coverage of the conversion has helped, too. Roseland says if they’re on par with a competitor price-wise, they get chosen because they’re “greener.”

An alternative fuel made the difference for Backlund, but you don’t need to convert your fleet or come up with a whole new business model to be successful.

Sometimes doing the exact same thing as your competitors but just doing it better is all that matters.

Eric Wagner and his wife, Jenny, have a four-generation history in the plumbing trade in and around Toledo, Ohio. Growing up in the plumbing industry provided a wealth of perspective and experience, from basic plumbing and repair to working in new construction. Wagner learned the industry from the ground up, including the importance of customer service and using it as a foundation for good business. Pipe Doctor, which the Wagners opened in 2006, is built around the old-fashioned and family-proven premise that service is the key.

Within their tried-and-true model, the Wagners have made some operational improvements. In 2014, they brought in a new software system that has been a game changer for the company. It’s helped with dispatch, management, training and tracking ongoing projects, and has improved the overall efficiency and operations of their company.

The Wagners are still doing a lot of things the way they were done generations ago, but they’ve found new ways to serve their customers and have embraced new technology that helps them carry out their mission.

In many ways, that’s the beauty of entrepreneurship: You get to make your own way and fail or succeed on your own merits. That’s opportunity — the American dream.

Here’s to living your dream.

Enjoy this month’s issue.