Momentum when we least expect it.

Do you remember the 21st night of September? Because we sure do. It was a Sunday evening, the night before the busiest week in GoodGuys history. And what a week it was. What a month it was. We had heard from around the industry that there was a chance that the September schedule would start to slow down, as kids started going back to school and the summer months started to wane. For basically the entire summer, we had assumed that ‘busy season’ would be May-August. Four months of absolute mayhem (in the best way) ... (kinda). And we survived (and thrived?) busy season, and we were preparing for the worst for the end of the year, when supposedly things would start to lighten up. And boy were we wrong. September ended up being our busiest month we have had, and was about $6000 shy of setting a new revenue record. 

Lessons from doing.

So what did we learn? How did we do it? Well. We learned a lot. And we’re still not entirely sure how we keep doing it. But let’s dive in. Because of how busy we were, we had to continue bringing on more GoodGuys. And they have basically all been amazing. And we are constantly learning the importance of fine-tuned processes and procedures, and hiring processes certainly falls into that category. 

To be very honest, starting this business has been a trial by fire. We are just a few young guys who want to serve people well. And that mindset can and will cover up a multitude of shortcomings and mistakes. But eventually you have to address those shortcomings and mistakes. September felt like that month where we finally really started taking that seriously. We still have a long way to go, and there are still so many things we are doing wrong, or not doing at all, but our eyes have at least been opened to the potential of this business, and what things can look like around here in the not so distant future. 

Furniture Deliveries. Is it scalable?

Deliveries were another bright spot in September. We have only recently started paying more attention to furniture deliveries, and we started to get a little bit of traction this past month. Deliveries certainly have their pros and cons. Pros: 1) they are easier from a manual labor stand point, 2) because deliveries are smaller jobs, you can do more in the same amount of time as a full move, which means you have more opportunities for a) 5-Star Reviews and b) upselling our other services, especially moving, 3) if you can land larger furniture store accounts, you essentially win monthly recurring revenue, removing the fear of constantly having to go win more jobs. Cons: 1) deliveries are smaller, so you charge less (basically, we make more money on a move versus a delivery at this point), 2) they are much more logistically intensive, 3) because you can do more jobs in the same amount of time as a regular move, that inherently introduces the opportunity to have more problems come up. With all that being said, we’re excited about the potential of furniture delivery, and we really need to get our volume up to make this a viable part of our business. 

Grateful for September.

All in all, September was a great month, and we have been blessed to get the opportunity to serve so many people, and the opportunity to bring on so many members of our team. As of the writing of this blog, October looks like it will set several new records. We joke about not knowing how this is happening, but in reality, we know that we are getting so much business because we are committed to providing joy and compassion to all those we interact with through exceptional service. Who knew that trying to do things the right way and taking care of our people (GoodGuys and customers alike) would be such good business?