My Dad started an HVAC repair company after my brother and I were born.
I think we were in elementary school, but I don’t remember the exact year that he started working for himself. My Dad was the only HVAC provider in our small town for a lot of years, and then some major providers moved to the area and drove prices way down. My Dad was going out of business and he had to do something fast or he was going to close down for good. Everyone knew if my dad closed the shop, the national company would raise their prices. If they were the only competitor in the area, they could pretty much charge anything they wanted for heating and air conditioning services. My dad decided the only way to compete with the big chain was to have a website. My mom and dad hired an SEO company to track customers, sales, and traffic to the website. The SEO company created a full-color 5 page website for my dad’s company. They helped add keywords to the website so the HVAC company could be found in the local search results. They also introduced my mom and dad to pay per click advertising. Sales doubled in one year and my mom and dad had enough money to hire a second person to work on HVAC repairs. After 20 years in business, my Mom and Dad have one of the most successful businesses in the area and I am proud to be a part of the program. Both my brother and myself work with our Dad and we hope to carry on the name for many years to come.