 So let’s start with you are you from this local area?
Born in Newport News Virginia at the Old Mary Immaculate Hospital, which is the Riverside Rehabilitation Center. Why did you choose this line of business? I have been good with numbers and problem solving my entire life. My first job with an insurance agency – I was the receptionist. Well the lady that audited & balanced the books thought she would teach me a lesson and give them to me to figure out. I got it balanced and reconciled on the first try. That gave me a real taste for accounting. My first job ever was my own lawn mowing service, so being an entrepreneur was in my blood from an early age. I had my own mowing business with 6 customers. What made you decide to start your own business vs. working for somebody else? When did you begin your small business tax preparation services in Hampton? The month of December 2012 – I had a meeting with my boss and I was doing great and going to get my raise in January; later that week I received an award from the same boss and company for being forward thinking. One week later, I was laid off due to budget cuts and they never replaced me. The GM didn’t even know what was happening. I did a job search for a year – over 278 jobs I applied for on my own, a lot I was over-qualified for, but I was just trying to get my foot in the door and I was using recruiters as well. Finally, a software company that I had applied for a CFO position didn’t want to hire me for that position but wanted to become one of their partners. I didn’t have the money and blew if off. 6 months later, they are calling me again. My brother and I talked about it and he gave me the money to become a partner with a software company and Solution Solvers, LLC was born in February 2014. Starting a business is a tough thing to do! What inspired you to keep going as you were getting it off the ground? A promise I made to my dad on his death bed. You see I promised him that I would take care of mom and that she wouldn’t lack for anything when he was gone. I make very few promises, if any, but this one was so important and motivated me and kept me fighting and pushing and not giving up because if I failed, we would be homeless and then I would be breaking that promise. When would you really say your business went from a concept to actually functional? LOL...when I started my 2nd business. My first business, Solution Solvers, wasn’t going all that well. I had a couple of clients but it was still in its infancy and I barely made $9K in the first 3 years of the business. It was a real struggle. In June 2015, I started my notary business because my bff told me I could make good money. That was a struggle in the beginning too, BUT it became my major money maker for all those years through 2018. Now, I am focusing back on Solution Solvers because that is where my passion and my focus are at now. I worked hard to get my name at the top of lists with Title and Signing agencies and it all paid off to allow me to re-focus my efforts. Looking back, what was the most difficult challenge you had to face? Marketing; getting clients. I have a great story, BUT I don’t like to talk about myself. I just want to solve problems, implement solutions that will work and are easy and streamline to make things as efficient as possible. Also, getting “suckered” into those marketing agencies and places that are happy to take all of your money but you have to do every bit of the work and hey, if I had money to throw away, absolutely, but I have to remind myself, as I do my customers, that you spend what you can afford to spend without financing, without robbing “ Peter to pay Paul” mentality. It gets you into more trouble than it does help. What do you enjoy the most about the Virginia Beach communities your business takes care of? Diversity. You have military families, you have people that start businesses every day and need help and reach out. Some use you for your knowledge thinking they can take what you share and go it alone (NOT) and then you find some that are sweet and genuine and share their experience with their friends and next thing you know, your tax business has doubled and then doubled again for 2 years straight. You find friends and colleagues in the oddest of places, but they turn out to be the real deal, people you want to work with; people you want to help grow and flourish and you WANT to do your best for them because they appreciate all that you do. If a potential customer has to pick from 3 different businesses providing what you provide, what would make your company really stand out, and they choose your company over the others? Interesting question and here’s a cool answer. I recently bid on a job and I was one of 3 finalists. The client went out-of-country for almost 3 weeks and I responded to their “Needs/Wants Requirements” list. They have about 12 points they wanted and instead of writing something vague and general and “Yes we can do it all” type nonsense, I addressed each point – item for item, and asked questions that would help make better decisions and make suggestions of what I would use and what we would do and even addressed some items, not on the list, but that were discussed in a phone conversation. Bottom-line – I won them big because of being thorough and precise and addressing concerns and not saying “yes” to everything just to win. If I cannot do it, I provide alternatives and a work-around but I’m not going to lie to get the job. Has internet technology played a big part in your growth, and making your company more successful? Yes, it allows me to work remotely, from home, and service clients throughout the U.S. I did tax returns in 4 other states outside of Virginia, and I had access to all the state requirements for each return, so everything got filed electronically and handled properly. I will always be happy to travel to a client to perform a site visit and discuss in-person any relative information to help them be more successful but thankfully, I can keep costs down by using my wholesale pricing to help clients and work remotely and knock projects out. It allows me to handle what I need to handle at home plus take care of my clients, even if it is at 1AM in the morning because I can’t sleep. Where do you see your business going forward in 2019? My focus on Solution Solvers this year is intentional. My tax business doubled again, which was amazing, and I am getting new clients on a regular basis, which I LOVE. 1 goal is to on-board 5-10 new clients every other month. Some might ask, why not every month? Well, I want to make sure that the 5-10 I am working with have everything in place and are running smoothly before I take on another 5-10. I am working towards 6-figure growth for Solution Solvers in 2019 and double that growth for 2020 and then 7-figures for 2021. I want to be able to hire a staff and give people the opportunity to make a difference and feel confident. Thinking back to day one, can you think of anything you may have done differently to overcome challenges and to meet your business goals in a more efficient amount of time? When you are desperate, you make desperate decisions sometimes. Mine was believing these marketing companies could do what they said they could do. All it entailed was me giving $1K-$2K of hard-earned money I really didn’t have to get a program that I had to do all the work myself. Even if they offered a “review” to help make things better, the “review” was so vague, you gained no value from it at all. It was just another trick to get you to sign up for something else because you realized you didn’t have the time or skillset to really do it. I have 3 businesses and the Notary company I focused on the most because it paid the bills and grew consistently so I didn’t focus on the others as much. NOW, because of the notary business and stability, it has afforded me the opportunity to focus on what I’m truly good at and passionate about and it continues to allow me to help others be successful. Where do you see your business in the next 3-5 years? $7-figure income with a staff working remotely and clients all over the U.S. – not just in Virginia anymore. Empowering clients and staff to enjoy helping others and being focused and succeeding and learning from all my mistakes so that they get there faster and quicker than I did. I love teaching and helping people be better versions of themselves and motivating and the ever so often “kick in the pants” because you are feeling sorry for yourself. I had one of my students that I did financial coaching with text about an employee making them feel bad because management was offering him OT and not the others, and the others turned it down and he was the last one asked, but guess what – he did a GREAT JOB and now, he is noticed by said management team and they offer him the extra hours and work first. Being picked last isn’t always a bad thing, especially when it offers rewards like the ones he received BUT he was focused on the being picked last and the other employee’s negative comments and I told him – Haters will be Haters. Who cares when you got picked – you got picked and you proved yourself and now you are on top. I told him to stop whining (joking) and to go work that OT and pay off his debts. He thanked me for it. What is the best way for our readers to connect with your team and to take advantage of what your company has to offer? You can email me, call me or text me. During the day, texting is probably what I will respond to the quickest, but email is good as well. Calling is difficult sometimes but always leave a message, because I will call back. Use [email protected] or call/text me at 757-971-2219. Visit our website at https://solutionsolversllc.com
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So let’s start with you are you from this local area?
Nope! Originally from the Chicagoland area, I ended up enjoying the Hampton Roads community and staying after my last duty station was Langley Air Force Base. Why did you choose this line of business? There was not yet a company that does what we do. I am OCD and cleaning can sometimes be really therapeutic, so I knew that money would easily follow this business model I have created. We specialize in move out and move in cleanings because they are a more thorough cleaning as we are hardly housemaids! What made you decide to start your own business vs. working for somebody else? When did you begin your business? It began in April, the 10th of 2017, to be exact as we finalized our LLC papers and fillings with the state. I was still active duty at the time but on terminal leave as my time in service was coming due to either reenlist or get out. Being an entrepreneur with what I had acquired in the military as a more rounded skill set and outlook on life I opted for the latter. By the time I had fully separated in May, I was wheeling and dealing in this business and have been satisfying clients ever since! Starting a business is a tough thing to do! What inspired you to keep going as you were getting it off the ground? As tough as it might have been starting from nothing I always have the outlook in life that nothing good comes easy and inspiration is all around me to continue. From postcards of gratitude to chocolates, and even tears that have been shed (all good ones) has really solidified that we are making a difference and helping when people are in need. I know how stressful it is to move having been stationed in several states being moved many times. When would you really say your business went from a concept to actually functional? It was about a month of figuring out what paperwork had to be filled for my LLC and getting my online presence started, figuring out what payment methods I was going to use etc. so quite quick I reckon. Looking back, what was the most difficult challenge you had to face? Ugh, getting my own customers.. I knew the marketplace in the Virginia Beach area I was going into was very competitive, so I started buying leads from Home Advisor which was a huge mistake. What do you enjoy the most about the Virginia Beach communities your business takes care of? I love that the Hampton Roads community makes up 25% of the U.S. military (active, reserve, and veterans) there is a genuine diversity and feeling of security being a part of this neighborhood. I love that we help a lot of military families that PCS (move). If a potential customer has to pick from 3 different businesses providing what you provide, what would make your company really stand out, and they choose your company over the others? When you search for move out cleaning services in Virginia Beach and find a list of 20 plus cleaning companies we not only stand out by being pinned to the top of the search engines, So Clean Virginia Beach are the only ones who specialize in move in/out cleanings. We do this all the time it is all we do we do not come to dust a shelf, clean a toilet bowl, wipe a counter and leave we are instead a deep cleaning service that will set you up with an appointment for more than just an hour or two of playing maid. I think our reputation as a 5-star cleaning business across numerous platforms also has had a major role in the public feeling more rest assured with us. Has internet technology played a big part in your growth, and making your company more successful? Absolutely. Without it and the phone would not ring multiple times a day by word of mouth alone, no way. We're the best of the best but though we're coming to clean you're still not writing home to your mother about us! Facebook Ads are the best thing a business can use going into the future as platforms like this will never stop taking your money in exchange for results like the ones we were able to amass in our first year in business! Where do you see your business going forward in 2019? We look to grow more than a handful of employees but it is hard to find dedicated workers who can perform to the standards I have set for this business. So while we may remain on the smaller side of the businesses out there at the top of the search results the quality of work will NEVER be compromised. Often times it is assumed we are a lot bigger in team members then we are because of our rankings in the search results! Thinking back to day one, can you think of anything you may have done differently to overcome challenges and to meet your business goals in a more efficient amount of time? Yes, not signing up for Home Advisor would have saved me a lot of headache and money as it is a through a dog a bone type of platform where they have you and five other businesses pay upwards of $30 (of course this would depend on the niche you're in) and that does not guarantee the job. When you have a business and you are proud of the services you offer because they are the absolute best you do not need to win over your customers your customers will find you. Well, ok if your online presence is not yet there they will have a hard time finding you making you run to places like Angie's List, Home Advisor, Thumbtack, Yelp etc. and throwing away your hard earned dollars. I should have taken all that money and invested it into more of a plan to scale my online presence to where it's at now and I could have avoided MONTHS of "bidding" on jobs trying to win customers over. Now they call us first, some have stated, "I don't care what your prices are I have seen your reviews and need to hire your cleaning service." Customers coming from Home advisors, and Thumbtack etc. are looking for the most services for the least amount of money which is another reason you should refrain from putting your business on any of those sites if you want to draw quality customers. Where do you see your business in the next 3-5 years? The possibilities are endless and I see this brand I have created taking off into a possible franchise so that we may branch out of Virginia Beach and across the U.S. because there is a need for this quality service and there are a lot of people out there who can clean! What is the best way for our readers to connect with your team and to take advantage of what your company has to offer? You can call us @ 757-707-8071 or visit our website where you will find our 40 point move out cleaning checklist we use at each cleaning and can request an appointment right from our website! |
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