Look Forward, Not Back

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It’s December, a natural time to reflect on the successes and failures of the year gone by. I’d rather look forward to the year ahead and the opportunity it brings, and this issue of Cleaner is full of stories that reflect the kind of ingenuity and sound business strategies that lead to success.

Action Drain & Rooter Service, profiled on page 16, is a great example of the value of fresh perspectives and strong leadership. Owner Brent McLaws wanted a manager who brought outside experience and perspective, and he found that in Rob Robinson. The duo recognized the need to look at things differently, to create their own path and separate themselves from the competition, and that’s exactly what they’ve done. Employees were encouraged to collaborate and provide input on ways to improve all aspects of the business.

Robinson and McLaws worked together to set goals and lay out priorities, primarily to be more effective and efficient. New equipment and technology, safety initiatives, a new marketing campaign and a focus on communication have all helped drive the company forward.

This month’s Better Business column takes a look at another strategy for success: franchise systems. Kurt Kittleson knows a thing or two about making a business work. He founded his own successful franchise system over 35 years ago and now owns two other franchises. He provides some good advice for business owners and valuable insight for anyone looking to buy a franchise.

Franchises offer a support network of experienced business operators, along with proven systems — from accounting and operations to sales, advertising and marketing. Kittleson is quick to point out that there is nothing easy about operating a business, whether you buy a franchise or go it alone, but his experience will shed some light on how you can use the franchise model to your advantage.

This month’s Money Machines is a story of improving the bottom line through efficiency and ingenuity. The managers at Downstream Services knew dispatching a fully outfitted camera box truck to do relatively small inspections was inefficient, so rather than turning down smaller jobs or ignoring the inefficiencies and carrying on with the status quo, they added another vehicle suited specifically to those jobs.

The smaller, customized vehicle costs about half as much as the company’s larger trucks and gets considerably better gas mileage. It sets up quickly and requires only one operator, which makes the company more competitive. It also boosts the bottom line by keeping larger camera trucks out in the field doing more profitable production inspection work. In the end, it’s about working smarter.

Safety First tells another story of inventiveness. The Light Ring is the brainchild of Shane Jacobson and Paul Lewis. Jacobson owns Central Iowa Televising in McCallsburg, Iowa, with his father, Kevin, and Lewis works with them. One night Lewis mentioned that it would be nice if someone made a light specifically for manholes, rather than having to stand there with a flashlight, and the Light Ring was born.

The unit protects cables and hoses and provides some valuable safety features in addition to its lighting capabilities, and more attachments are in development. From a simple idea these men found a way to improve safety and working conditions, and an entire new business was born of it.

All of these stories demonstrate different avenues to success, but they all share the common thread of people looking for better ways to do their jobs and run their businesses. There’s always room for improvement. There are always better ways to serve your customers.

Enjoy this month’s issue.



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