Good Neighbor Podcast: Fort Collins
Bringing together local businesses and neighbors of Fort Collins. Good Neighbor Podcast hosted by Nick George helps residents discover and connect with your local business owners in and around Fort Collins, Colorado.
Is your business serving the residents of Fort Collins? Then, we need to talk! Visit gnpFortCollins.com to schedule your free interview.
Good Neighbor Podcast: Fort Collins
E52: Preventing Home Fires One Dryer at a Time
Have you ever considered what's lurking in your dryer vent? In this eye-opening conversation with Steve Ames of Dryer Vent Squad of Fort Collins, we uncover the hidden dangers of neglected dryer vents and how proper maintenance could save your home from devastating fire damage.
Steve shares his unexpected journey from corporate career to franchise owner, revealing how what began as a business opportunity transformed into a mission to protect his community. "One of the leading causes of home fires is dryer fires," Steve explains, highlighting how this often-overlooked home maintenance service can prevent disaster while simultaneously reducing utility costs and extending appliance lifespans.
What's particularly fascinating is the widespread lack of awareness about this critical service. Many homeowners replace multiple dryers before realizing the ventilation system is the real culprit. Steve's business grows steadily at 13% annually, but he believes the potential is far greater as more homeowners become educated about the risks. Perhaps most surprising is his revelation about fire aftermath: "The damage from the fire itself is not huge, but the water damage from the fire department putting the fire out is extensive." This sobering insight puts the importance of prevention in sharp perspective.
From marketing strategies targeting his primary demographic (women aged 25-45) to the personal satisfaction of achieving better work-life balance through entrepreneurship, Steve's story offers valuable lessons for both homeowners and aspiring business owners. Whether you're concerned about home safety or looking for inspiration to venture into business ownership, this conversation delivers practical wisdom from a true good neighbor. Check out https://www.dryerventsquadftcollins.com/ to learn more about protecting your home from this preventable hazard.
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Nick George.
Speaker 2:Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast. Are you in need of a provider of expert dryer vent cleaning, rerouting or repair from fast, efficient and reliable technicians who get the job done right the first time? One might be closer than you think. Today I have the pleasure of introducing your good neighbor, steve Ames, with Dryer Vent Squad of Fort Collins. Steve, how's it going? Great, how are you today? Good, we're excited to learn all about you and your business. Tell us about your company.
Speaker 3:Well, we are definitely family-owned. We live in the northern Colorado area. I originally was in HVAC, plumbing and retail management. I entered into this venture about four years ago. We bought our first one and then we bought a second a year after that. I didn't even know this was a thing until I got into it and then we found out it's. One of the leading causes of home fires is dryer fires, and the more I looked into it, the more I saw the potential upside and that I could help people in our local community.
Speaker 2:And how exactly did you get into the business?
Speaker 3:It's a franchise. So I found it believe it or not on Facebook and I talked to the franchisor. That gentleman started Patch Boys, which is a drywall patching company. He built it to 108 units and sold it for $18 million. So at that point obviously he has something going on and knows how to do these things. So I got involved with it and we've ran with it since.
Speaker 2:What are some myths or misconceptions in your industry?
Speaker 3:It's the same as, like I just said, most of my clients didn't even know it was. It's a thing that they need to clean it. Some of them even go through multiple dryers before they venture down the road of having the vent cleaned. Um, it's for what we charge. How we set our pricing is for everybody and it's definitely far cheaper than, obviously, a fire. And it helps with utility bills. Fort Collins, as everyone knows, the utilities never go down, they tend to go up. So if you can run your dryer for one cycle and complete the drying cycle, that's the way to do it.
Speaker 2:Wow, who are your target customers and how do you attract them? I mean, I assume a lot of your target customers don't even know that they need to be reached. Go ahead.
Speaker 3:Um, so my the sorry. The most of my business comes between women of 25 to 45 years old. That's about 75 of my business. That's what we target with google lsa ads, google pay-per-click? Um. I have done some facebook in the past, although we're not currently doing facebook um, and then, of course, we strive to do excellent service, so we get five-star reviews and those clients tend to recommend us to friends and family it seems like there's probably a big market out there that doesn't even know they need this.
Speaker 2:Have you ever thought about doing your own podcast to try to educate people?
Speaker 3:that'd be interesting. I'm a little nervous today, but I could probably get my thoughts together and not stumble so much. That's the biggest thing is trying to get everybody to realize this is a thing as a business model. We do grow about 13% a year, which is outstanding, but with the lack of knowledge out there it could grow a lot more.
Speaker 2:Outside of work. What do you do for fun?
Speaker 3:I love to go fishing and then I bought a toy last year. It's a Jeep and I have found I really like off-roading too.
Speaker 2:Let's switch gears. Can you describe a hardship or a life challenge that you overcame and how it made you stronger? What comes to mind?
Speaker 3:That's a good question. The biggest thing that was life-changing for me was to, like many people out there, I spent a career working for other people. To step out and to do my own thing was scary, to say the least. The amount of money that I spent to start this to us was a lot of money. Now, looking back on it, to own a franchise business, what I paid was relatively low and it's created a work-life balance for myself and my wife, and it's also gotten my youngest daughter she's 21, kind of interested in doing her own thing as well, which is exciting, and if I wished, I would have done this when I was 21,. I don't want to say how old I am, but it was quite a while ago.
Speaker 2:Steve, please tell our listeners one thing they should absolutely remember about Dryer Vent Squad of Fort Collins.
Speaker 3:That we are here. We answer the phone seven days a week. Nobody in our community should ever have to go through a dryer fire. It's easily preventable, the price is right. The damage from the fire itself, from the dryer fires that I've been to, is not huge, but the water damage from the fire department putting the fire out is extensive. And I'm not bashing the fire department at all. I just don't think people realize when the dryer's on the second floor and you dump 7,000 gallons of water on a house, it all goes to the basement.
Speaker 2:How can our listeners learn more about Dryer Vent Squad of Fort Collins?
Speaker 3:My website pretty much says it all, and that's dryerventsquadftcollinscom.
Speaker 2:Well, Steve, I really appreciate you being on the show. We wish you and your business the very best moving forward. Thank you very much.
Speaker 1:Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to GNPFortCollinscom. That's GNPFfortcollinscom. That's gnpfortcollinscom, or call 970-438-0825.