Author: Nick Garcia, BSU student
In an interview with Brendan Wilcox, owner of Wilcox Carpet Cleaning, he explained his business and how he got started:
I am in the service industry. Carpet and upholstery cleaning. primarily high end residential. It is a family business. My father started it and I have worked in it since almost the very beginning.
The business was started in 1980. I worked with my dad through high school and college. I then started full time in 1989. It’s the only full-time job I have ever known.
Toughest part early on was getting our name out there. We made connections with home decorators and high-end furniture stores. This helped get us into the high-end market we desired.
Money was the primary motivating factor when getting the business off the ground!
If I were starting over, I wouldn’t listen so much to the industry “experts”. I quickly found out that the experts were just salesmen. They would get us to pay for seminars and lectures, trade shows etc. We soon realized that we knew more about cleaning than they did!
Toughest part for me now is just the taxes and record keeping. I enjoy the actual work and I love most of my customers.
The reason I would tell somebody to use us over another company would be trust and quality. I am in people’s homes all day; they know who is coming to the door when they call us. Quality work, of course, is paramount. It’s my business. I don’t cut corners.
Word of mouth is the only way we’ve brought in new customers. Social media has completely changed word of mouth advertising. People used to just tell friends and neighbors face to face about a good service person. Now with social media, people just ask, “who’s good?”, and a bunch of people they don’t even know respond. Honestly, if you do a good job in the service industry, and you’re not a jerk, your business will grow!
Looking to the future, I know where I’ll be. I’m not looking to get bigger; quality could go down. I’m so established, after over 30 years, with so many repeat customers, that I know the phones will ring plenty to keep me, and Matt, my son, busy!
Wilcox Carpet Cleaning is located in Newton, MA.
Contact them via:
Telephone: 617-244-7905
Website: wilcoxcarpetcleaning.com