Luis Fanlo has built Arrow Sewer & Drain into a thriving business by following one basic principle: Continually reinvest revenue in equipment that improves efficiency and profitability — and that ensures he can handle whatever issues customers throw his way.

“If you show up on a job site with only a hammer, you’ll have to use a hammer for everything you need to do,” Fanlo, 31, says, explaining why he’s invested millions of dollars in technology, ranging from pipe bursting, pipe lining and pipe coating systems to robotic cutters to drain machines, trailer jetters and inspection cameras.

“We’re very different from other companies because we can accomplish everything in-house, with no need to hire subcontractors,” he says. “Having so much equipment makes it easy to say yes to customers when they need things done. They love the one-stop-shop aspect. It also helps us control the quality of the work we do, compared to hiring subcontractors, and we don’t have to wait until subcontractors are available.”

Such a large array of newer, cutting-edge equipment also helps the company — based in Middlesex, New Jersey — foster a reputation for getting things done. That, in turn, makes customers confident about the firm’s capabilities, which leads to repeat business, Fanlo adds.

Along with the large roster of equipment, Fanlo says having a full-time mechanic on board — Victor Cleary Jr. — has been critical to the company’s growth.

“Our downtime is so minimal,” Fanlo says. “We’re an emergency-response company, so we have to be able to respond to calls. Victor is just as important to our company as our technicians. The man is talented. Without him, operations would come to a halt and revenue would decrease.”

Driven to succeed

Fanlo entered the trades after graduating from high school in 2011. He started by working for Keyes Plumbing in Berkeley Heights in Central New Jersey. Owner Bill Keyes turned out to be a valuable mentor.

Since his workday typically ended around 3 p.m., Fanlo had time to take on a second job at Town and Country Excavating in New Providence. There co-owner Marty Romeo also proved to be a valuable mentor, teaching Fanlo about everything from excavating and site work to installing water and sewer mains, paving and so forth. At the same time, Fanlo also attended plumbing school to get his journeyman’s license.

“I worked both jobs for about five years,” he says.

What makes Fanlo so driven? Growing up poor, he says. When he was 10 years old, he emigrated to the United States from the Philippines with his mother and sister. For the first four years in the United States, they lived in a garage.

“You don’t forget things like that,” Fanlo says, noting he has a picture of the garage in his office. “That still singlehandedly drives me every day. When you’re poor, you don’t ever want to be poor again, especially when you have the opportunity to not be poor.”

A pivot from plumbing

In 2016, Fanlo struck out on his own and established FMS Plumbing, with a focus on new construction work. But he pivoted after noticing that many plumbers didn’t like cleaning drains or installing water and sewer lines.

“I already knew how to fix all this major infrastructure, so none of that was a problem for me,” Fanlo says. “So in 2018, I started Arrow Sewer & Drain and focused on drain cleaning and sewer repairs.”

What inspired the name of the company?

“My goal was to fly straight as an arrow — always be on point and on target,” Fanlo says.

The entrepreneur started out with two employees — a laborer and Dennis Tomsky, who still works for the company and is Fanlo’s right-hand man. Their equipment was fairly minimal: a service vehicle, a dump truck and an excavator.

Business guidance

At about the same time, Fanlo’s wife, Heather, came on board and radically shifted the company into high gear with her business acumen.

“She has a business degree from Villanova and worked on Wall Street,” Fanlo explains. “Our business tripled in one year. I was good at my craft and knew the business end of things, but I didn’t know about tax law and accounting or setting goals for sales and profit margins. Heather changed the business tremendously, which helped us afford expensive pieces of equipment. Within five years, we purchased millions of dollars worth of equipment.”

Fanlo quickly branched out into pipe bursting and pipe lining, sensing great potential for trenchless sewer repairs. Furthermore, trenchless technologies enabled him to do more repairs per day compared to opencut pipe repairs, as well as do them more safely, he says.

“We found that Dennis and I could do three liners a day with a UV-curing system rather than just one opencut job a day,” Fanlo says. “That really propelled growth.”

Equipped for any occasion

For pipe lining, the company owns a SpeedyLight+ UV-curing system from Pipeline Renewal Technologies; a LightRay LR1 UV system from Waterline Renewal Technologies; three LightRay LR3 UV systems from Waterline Renewal Technologies; and a HeatWave hot-water curing system from HammerHead Trenchless Equipment (a Charles Machine Works company).

Why so many different pipe lining systems? Again, Fanlo says he prizes having a variety of technologies that can handle various applications. For example, UV systems are better for small-diameter pipes and hot-water systems work better in longer runs with a lot of bends, he notes.

For pipe bursting, the company has invested in a PD-33 unit from Pow-R Mole Trenchless Solutions and a PB30 PortaBurst system from HammerHead. The company also owns a PD-4 machine from Pow-R Mole, used for thrust boring and pipe bursting.

Fanlo says the pipe lining and pipe bursting equipment are among the company’s most valuable investments.

“You can scale those services very quickly if you’re serving the right market and doing it correctly,” he says.

Keys to success

Along with a wide array of equipment, great customer service also drives growth for Arrow Sewer & Drain. As an example, Fanlo cites a case where the company fixed an 8-inch water main during a raging blizzard — starting at 5 p.m. on Christmas day.

Speed was of the essence; the main supplied water to a hotel, which was faced with the prospect of evacuating guests and shutting down until the pipe was fixed.

“When customers call, we’re always Johnny-on-the-spot,” Fanlo says. “On that Christmas day job, the owner of a plumbing company we’ve worked with before called me for help. He said I was the only person he knew that would do it, so he had to call me.”

That brings up another key to success: Obtaining business from other plumbers who hire Arrow Sewer & Drain as a subcontractor because they don’t have the same equipment and capabilities, Fanlo notes.

“There are a lot of pipe lining companies in New Jersey, but not everyone has a robotic cutter,” he points out. “So guess who they call? There’s also a lot of excavators in New Jersey, but they don’t do pipe bursting. So when they need it, they call us.”

Fanlo says he also believes that leading by example and pitching in when needed, as opposed to sitting in an office and delegating things, helps create a fruitful culture that enhances employee retention.

“I’ll grab a shovel or run a jackhammer,” he says. “I’ll fill in for a laborer. I’ll fill in for a truck driver. I’ll fill in for an equipment operator. I’m not too proud or too good to do things like that.”

Poised for greater growth

These days, about half of the rehab and repair work Arrow Sewer & Drain does relies on trenchless technologies and the other half is performed via traditional opencut methods. The company’s primary customers are engineering firms, condo associations, apartment building owners and excavators, and other various contractors, Fanlo says.

“Some people might say they won’t work with or help competitors,” he says. “But in my eyes, everyone is my friend.”

What does Fanlo envision, say, five years down the road? More growth and service diversification, he says. Arrow Sewer & Drain recently acquired a garbage-collection company and has started to pump out septic tanks, too.

“We’re going to continue to grow,” Fanlo says. “I’m young enough that I’m not ready to stop just yet. My goal is to make Arrow Sewer & Drain a brand that will be widely recognized as a leader in this industry.”