Overhead door firm branches out - bizjournals:

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That was fine for awhile, but president of in Centerville, saw an opportunity for more. Lavinw wanted to branch out froma small, family-owned business, to a company providing a ranged of services from Dayton down to Cincinnati. Since Lavine has been expanding beyond door installatioband repair. This the company has been increasing marketint efforts and branching into the southernOhio market. Lavinde expects these changes to double the size of his compang in the next four Last year, Wayne Overhead had 10 employees. So far this Lavine has doubled his workforce to 20 and is lookinb to hire at leastthree more.
The company outgrew its 4,000-square-foot location on Congressd Park Drive in Centerville last year and moved intoits 7,500-square-foot locatiom on State Route 48. With the increase in employees has come an increaswin revenue. Last year, the company posterd revenue of $1.1 million. Lavine said Wayne Overheacd is on pace to bringbin $1.5 million this year, a 36 percent As a result of the moves he has alreadyg made, Lavine is projecting revenue of $2 million by 2010.
The main sourcwe of growth has been the addition of new serviceds anda cross-trained staff able to perform any of those Some of the new services includ roofing, siding, windows, landscaping, snow removal and home improvementf work. Lavine saw his garage door customers often needed more work done than just theifrgarage doors. Using the garage service as a way to establishu a relationshipwith customers, he added the services as a way to help his customeras and grow his business.
Laviner started a training program that includess classes atthe , trainingg from the manufacturers of the products his company installs, and having workers spend time learninb the different services Wayne Overhead provides. He invests about $15,000 a year in training. “Whe one division is slow and anotheris we’ll do cross-training,” Lavine “When things are slower in say, gutters, we’lkl train the guys in snow removal, salting and chemica l application.” He also recently hired a generakl manager, which gives Lavine more time to run the business whilew the manager works with employeesz on the job so they get hands-oj training.
Wayne Overhead employees have taken courses such as moto r control and hydraulics at to broaden theirskillp sets. The additional training makeas each employeemore versatile, so workerse can handle additional work if something comees up while they are on a job. So an employese can now repair agarage door, fix gutterz and install new Of Wayne Overhead's 10 new four are installers and six are focused on the home improvementf services. But not every garage door installation companuy is diversifying at the same level asWaynee Overhead.
Ted Weaver, vice president of salews and marketingfor Dayton-based , said the company has maintained its focus on residential and commercial garage He said the company expects to be even with last or slightly down, because of the slowdown in new To compensate, Dayton Door Sales has shifted its focus to the replacementg and service market. The 60-employee company goes on about 30 to 50 services callsa day, with a commercial market that stretches from northernj Cincinnati to Lima and west to But for Wayne Overhead, spreading the word aboutf its new services and its new geographic reach boils down to Linda Schoenfeld is the new marketing manager for Wayne Overhead, aftet spending more than 10 years marketinbg a restoration company.
Her task is to get Wayned Overhead’s name in front of area renovatorsand contractors. That task is highlg competitive, as there are more than a dozej overhead door companies in the Dayton including and DaytonDoor Sales. “Wd need to market,” Schoenfeld said. “We not only want to keep our existinh customers, but we want to let them know about ournew We’re not just garage doors.” One way Schoenfeld is gettinb in touch with builders is cold calling to quotes a job. She also is sendint out marketing letters at a cost ofabout $2,500 a year.
In addition to builders and Schoenfeld is reaching out to insurance agents and so they can recommene Wayne Overhead when their clients need somethinh fixed afteran accident.