Good Neighbor Podcast: Auburn and Opelika

Ep. #53: Unlocking Success: Brad Hickman's Journey in the Garage Door Business with River City Doors

• Susannah Hodges at Village Centre Press

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Ever wondered what goes into running a successful garage door business? Discover the journey of Brad Hickman, the owner of River City Doors, and learn invaluable insights into the world of garage door installation and repair. From starting as an apprentice to owning a thriving business serving East Alabama and West Georgia, Brad's story is a testament to hard work and dedication. You’ll gain an understanding of the wide range of services River City Doors offers, from residential and commercial installations to loading dock equipment and even custom closet systems.

Brad also shares expert advice on why professional service is crucial for garage door repairs, debunking the common myth that DIY fixes found on YouTube are sufficient. With an emphasis on safety and precision, Brad reveals the hidden complexities of garage door systems and the potential risks involved in improper handling. If you're considering upgrades to your garage doors or want to optimize your closet space with innovative solutions, this episode is packed with practical tips and professional guidance that can help you make informed decisions. Tune in for an engaging and informative discussion that highlights the importance of experience and expertise in the home service industry.

Speaker 1:

This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Susanna Hodges.

Speaker 2:

And welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast. With me is Brad Hickman of River City Doors. Welcome, brad, it's a pleasure having you today.

Speaker 3:

Hey, susanna, thanks for having me.

Speaker 2:

Sure, so tell me a little bit about River City Doors. Now, I know you've recently opened a location in Auburn, but you have other locations as well.

Speaker 3:

Yes, ma'am, susanna, we have. We've been in Midland Georgia, right outside Columbus here for since 1997. So we opened our location in Auburn in October of last year. It's been doing great. We certainly enjoy being part of the Auburn community and so we've been serving East Alabama and West Georgia that whole time. And we do residential and commercial garage doors, service, installation and repair. Whatever you need we can handle it. We also do loading dock equipment and we also have a shelving and closet division as well.

Speaker 2:

So you do quite a lot and I was recently at your showroom in Auburn and really when you think of garage doors you don't, you know, you think of just the standard door, but you have beautiful options in your showroom.

Speaker 3:

Yes, ma'am, thank you. We specialize in trying to, you know, secure that vision our customer wants, and so we have a lot of different options. We have your basic, you know basic from basic garage doors to custom wood products that we can customize to any look the architect or designer might want.

Speaker 2:

Sounds good. So tell me a little bit more about your closet. That's a, you know, a pretty important part of your home. In my opinion, being a woman, the closet is important. So what do you do to improve closets?

Speaker 3:

important. So what do you do to improve closets? So we do wire shelving, which you see in a lot of new build homes. We do that, and we also do closet systems by solder, so we can have a little bit of customization, do a little something that might help you keep a little bit more organized in your closet, if that's what you're looking for.

Speaker 2:

Okay. Well, tell me how you got into this business. What is your journey into River City Doors look like.

Speaker 3:

So, 1997, I realized I wasn't going to finish college and needed a job, and I landed in the door industry here. So I got a job as an apprentice on a truck for a local competitor now, but I worked in the field for 10, 11 years as an installer and a tech and then moved into a sales and estimating position for that company. In 2011, I had the opportunity to come to River City and I took advantage of that and did a lot of the same things sales, estimating and project management later became the general manager and in 2019, the old owner was looking to retire and so I had the opportunity to purchase River City from him and been the owner now going on five years.

Speaker 2:

Okay, so you've been in this industry for a long time. What are some of the things that you've come across that maybe people have misconceptions about this garage door industry or any of the other services that you provide?

Speaker 3:

So I think, like one of the things that we face as a home service company probably a lot of home service companies face is we live in a world with YouTube now and everybody thinks they can go on YouTube and figure out how to do something, and it's great. Youtube is super useful for a lot of things, but I think, you know, the garage doors need to be left to somebody who's trained and trained. About 33,000 injuries occur every year from garage doors and it's normally the largest moving object in your home and it needs to be level and plumb and some things need to be set real precise on that door, and so I think it's something that you might want to leave to the professionals. So I would say probably one of the biggest misconceptions is that people think they can probably go on YouTube and figure out that they what you know, how they can fix their door.

Speaker 2:

And and it's so. You know, I have a garage door and just just the weirdest things can happen to stop it from working. Recently it was, we had a storm come through and some lightning and I think it the outlet that it was plugged into had to be. We ended up having to reset it and that's all that was needed, but it's so. It could just be something so small to keep that garage door from working.

Speaker 3:

Yes, ma'am, certainly could.

Speaker 2:

So tell me a little bit about yourself, Brad. What do you and your family do for fun when you're not working on garage doors?

Speaker 3:

So we enjoy the outdoors. I'm born and raised in Phoenix City, alabama, so I'm in East Alabama. I've been in East Alabama my whole life. I currently live in Salem and my wife and I really enjoy the outdoors. We love sports, we love going to sporting events and all those kinds of things, and so we enjoy all of those sorts of things and spending quality time with our you know, just our friends and family and really getting to enjoy ourselves outside of work, you know.

Speaker 2:

And this area has such beautiful outdoor opportunities to explore and have fun in.

Speaker 3:

It does, it does. It's great, great place to live Absolutely.

Speaker 2:

So tell me a little bit about some of the challenges that you've had as an entrepreneur. Part of the reason I do this podcast is to encourage others that want to go into business for themselves, and when you do that, there's always things that crop up that are challenges that really make yourself a better person and your business stronger. What are some things that you've come across?

Speaker 3:

Well, you know, I don't think I'm unlike many other entrepreneurs or business owners. When you get into it, sometimes at the beginning it can be like trying to drink from a fire hose.

Speaker 3:

There's times you feel overwhelmed and stuff like that, and, as a new business owner, it was very tough for me starting out and I just looked as soon as I could to surround myself with people that could really support me and help me in my business, and I was lucky enough to find some really, really great people to come work for us that were able to take some of the things off me and let me focus on the business instead of the day-to-day.

Speaker 3:

And you know that, and I would encourage people to find a peer group in your industry mastermind group or something. Joining one of those for me was one of the best decisions I made. I get to be around and have conversations with like-minded business owners who are in the same industry, who are facing the same challenges that I face on a daily basis, and so it's very nice to have people who understand what you're going through, to bounce ideas off of and to share our, our things that help us be successful, and and just to have some, have some people there to pick you up when you fall down too, you know.

Speaker 2:

So up with some good people.

Speaker 3:

it would be my advice, yeah.

Speaker 2:

It's always good to have a mentor or someone you can reach out to um when you're when you're starting out in business and even really honestly, even through the whole course of your business.

Speaker 3:

Yes, I've been uh super lucky to have some to work for some great people. That taught me a lot, uh, and you know it's just up to me to listen, and retain it. But they were there and, you know, I feel like the people that I've worked for through my journey have just been such an advantage to me.

Speaker 2:

Well, what is one thing that you would like people to know about River City Doors that they may not, you know, see from looking at your website or automatically think about?

Speaker 3:

So I don't know if I can, I don't know how to get it across to people, but I think if I could really get across to people how much the people that work at River City really care about the customer experience here we want everybody to be. You know, everybody says you can't make everybody happy, right? Well, we try to.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, absolutely.

Speaker 3:

Number one. We don't like to. We don't like to adhere to things that people put us in a box or something you know. So we want to try to do it and so I really wish I could get across to people how much our employees and our teammates here care about the end product that we deliver. You know you can look at our. You know we have over 800 five-star reviews and you know we've been in business for 27 years and I think once you, once you do business with us, you really get you know what I'm talking about. But if there was a way I can make that come through in my advertising, I certainly would do it. Maybe it's something I need to work on. I'll have to try to work it out, you know.

Speaker 2:

Absolutely, I think. I think that is an important part of every business, but unfortunately some businesses don't deliver quite as well, and obviously you want your customers to be happy and have a good experience. So how would one get in contact with you?

Speaker 3:

You can reach out to us and learn more about us at River City Doors dot com. You can check out our social media. We're on Facebook and Instagram. Stop by one of our locations we're at 300 North Dean Road in Auburn, or our sixty nine thirty eight Jameson Way in Midland. Plenty of ways to reach out to us and we'd be glad to talk and help with anything that you might need garage door related.

Speaker 2:

So I was, like I said was recently at your place in Auburn and I think a lot of people can visualize where you're located because it's the Kroger Shopping Center right there on Dean Road and it's so easy to find and it's worth, just you know, going over to take a look at your showroom because it is quite impressive.

Speaker 3:

Thank you very much. I appreciate that. You know funny story I told my mom. I was telling her I was going to open a garage door place in Auburn, right beside the Kroger grocery store, and she said what are you doing? You know, like you can't have that next to a grocery store and I'm like that's a perfect spot and it worked out really great. And we've just loved being part of the Auburn community so far.

Speaker 2:

Well, Brad, it's been a pleasure talking with you. Thank you so much for joining me today.

Speaker 3:

Thank you, Susanna.

Speaker 1:

Thank you for listening to joining me today. Thank you, Susanna. 429-7404.