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SNOW BUSINESS MAGAZINE
INTERVIEW WITH FRANK DEDON.
Frank Dedon approaches snow
removal like an emergency service.
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ON ALERT
Frank Dedon is proud to be a snow removal professional and he wants the rest of us to be proud to. "Snow removal should be looked as an emergency service. We provide an emergency service under harsh, emergency conditions," he aid. "You ask a man to get up in the middle of the night to go out to the most hazardous conditions you could possIbly imagine. There are nights when you are the first out with e state trucks, when your life is in your hands, but nobody looks at it that way."
Dedon has reason to be proud. Throughout 30years, he built Abraxus Snow Removal, a Cleveland-based company focused solely on snow and ice removal for a who's who of customers including Kaiser Permanente Hospital, Union Carbide, BF Goodrich, Eveready Battery, Honeywell and Ford Motor. Abraxus earned nearly $1.5 million in revenue in2000 and planson15 percent growth this season.
The growth will be careful, however, because Dedon is picky about whom his company serves. "I'm very selective about who I work for and who works for me," Dedon said. He won't take on a new client unless it is prepared to permit Abraxus to make the decisions regarding snow and ice removal. He also won't accept a job unless Abraxus will receive fair compensation, a problem Dedon said hurts the snow and ice removal industry. "Stop accepting the job because you think you are going to make money. Start basing your prices on what it actually takes to do the job," Dedon said.
For example, Dedon recently bid for the snow removal at a major hospital. Dedon passed on the job and later learned the proposals ranged from $23,000 to $75,000. With that kind of disparity, Dedon said, someone isn't doing their homework. "We need to stop this nonsense of everybody trying to undercut the other person, because you end up leaving more money on the table," Dedon said.
SMART GROWTH
So what does Dedon look for when deciding when and where to grow? A lot. First, he considers the client's corporate personality. Is the facility large enough to need and afford Abraxus' top-of-the-line service? "When people do not want to appropriately address the issue of snow removal, then Have to walk away because I am not here to see people injured." That means a client allows Dedon to decide when and where to begin snow services. "If you limit us in what we need to do, we will give you a lO-day cancellation notice. If you limit us, you are shifting the liability to us," Dedon added.
Second, a potential new client has to fit logistically. "If a potential new industrial complex comes about that is one suburb away and I can then turn around and do some smaller accounts in the area, knowing that I have enough equipment on hand from the big commercial account, then I will do it," Dedon said. And finally, Dedon carefully considers the site conditions, answering range of questions, which include: Is it in the snow belt?
(Some Cleveland suburbs are notorious for lake-effect snowfalls.) Where and how deep are the potential drifting areas? Are the docks deep, will they be buried with snow? Are there any steep inclines that need a lot of salt? What is my time window to remove snow? For example, a strip mall that includes a bar or bowling alley as one of its tenants may require late night/ early morning snow removal. Or, a factory with three shifts an hour of downtime in which snow business.
Snowcap removed from parking lots. What are the traffic patterns?
How much and what kind of equipment did the previous contractor
use? How much salt did the previous contractor use? What equipment
and material do I think I need, and where is that equipment
going to come from?
WELL CONNECTED.
Dedon can afford to be selective with his clientele because he worked tirelessly to develop strong relationships within Cleveland's corporate circles. He makes it a point to develop a strong rapport with plant engineers, operations managers and facilities superintendents, the personnel typically responsible for hiring snow services at large. The key, Dedon said, is being honest and to the point.
"I talk to them straight and my word is my bond." Ultimately, Dedon said, establishing a trusting relationship with large-scale commercial clients comes down to performance. "They know I am going to get this job done for them at any cost, without them having to listen to any of the problems Encountered," Dedon said.
"When a plant engineer is driving into work and the roads are terrible, and then he pulls into his facility and the parking lots and walkways are down to bare pavement, that builds a pretty strong bond," Dedon said. In fact, Dedon credits much of his growth to facilities mangers, who leave their employer, move on to a new one, and then seek out Abraxus for snow services.
THE MAGIC SHOW
Clearing clients' pavement, while surrounding roads remain snowbound, goes a long way to develop lasting clients relationships because, as Dedon put it, it's like pulling off a magic show. When word of an approaching storm comes during interdependent monitors his subscription weather forecasting service and The Weather Channel Dedon and his six-person office staff alert the security personnel or plant engineers teach and the company's 126 clients, informing them of the impending activity.
Dedon prints out weather reports and radar pictures for a client's vicinity every 15 minutes so he can document the snow and ice threat to the client when invoicing. Once he has contacted the clients, Dedon calls his 20 foremen and dispatches them to their areas of supervision, which are strategically located throughout Abraxus' lOG-mile service radius. Once alerted, the foremen, who Dedon said, "make very good money and know how to get the job done," take over and call up the subcontractors they need. Abraxus has more than 210 subcontractors at its disposal, including roofers, cement contractors, general building contractors, dump truck operators and landscapers.
Dedon has long-standing relationships with Cleveland's building industry, because it's the industry in which he got his start. While attending college, Dedon started a home remodeling business. "I was one stop short of building homes and I had 28 tradesmen who did work for me." Dedon also had a plow truck and pushed snow in the winter off season. However, in 1978, with double digit interest rates and the housing market at bare-bones lows, the home repair market collapsed. Then something magical happened, at least for a kid with a snowplow.
Cleveland was hit by one of the worst blizzards on record and anyone with a plow made lots of money. "That's when I knew I found a business (snow removal) that was recession-proof," Dedon recalled. Through connections formed as young entrepreneur, Dedon now has a large stable of sub contractors, that have been working with him for nearly two decades. The secret? Money, of course, Dedon said. "I pay them faster than anyone and Pay them better than anyone. I pay the best because I expect the best." Dedon is able to finance and bankroll his estimated winter payroll before the first snow ever starts and he offers subcontractors a variety of payment options from biweekly to lump-sum payments.
"Some guys want it all at the same time at the end of the season, so they take home $40,000 or $50,000 checks at one time," Dedon said. Dedon also asks subcontractors to sign three- to five-year non-compete clauses. "All I ask is they not compete with me in the places that they have worked for me. I'm not saying that they can't go out on their own. But, allot of subs try to go out on their own and find out they make more money with me," Dedon said.
Increased pay also comes with increased responsibility, and Dedon does not tolerate anything but the highest level of professionalism and reliability from subcontractors. "lithely give us any nonsense, 'Here's your check, we'll give you a call when we need you,' and they're gone," Dedon said. Once Dedon's foremen arrive on scene during snowstorm, they run the show over their area of responsibility and Dedon stays in the office to help coordinate the operation and handle customer service. Foremen and subcontractors communicate via small radios and Dedon contacts the foremen with long distance radios, coordinating snow re-moval like a general during combat.
"The delegation of responsibility is what I do. I mange the snow business to make it profitable for our subcontractors," Dedon said. The most important part of delegation is trusting the foremen and the decisions they make. "They know I will not question how they do things, unless something is radically wrong or unless the client calls with a complaint. Everybody has their own style, and I allow them to do the job their way."
For large customers, the equipment needed to complete the job is housed onsite and stays onsite throughout a storm. To serve other smaller accounts, equipment is designated to certain zones and circles through all headcounts. Abraxus keeps 10 percent of the fleet of equipment (15 to 30 vehicles) on standby during a storm in case other equipment breaks down.
"The secret of snow removal is availability of equipment, materials and personnel. You have to have the right piece of equipment for the job," Dedon said. For matching equipment to the account, Dedon uses the initial site survey he conducts when first deciding to bid on a job. Dedon and his office staff meticulously document all Abraxus activities before, during and after a storm. Every piece of correspondence is recorded and categorized in a computer database, such as when a customer call is received or delivered, when trucks arrive onsite, each time a foreman radios into the office and so on.
"It's a way of making sure that liability doesn't fall on us," Dedon said. It's also a way of reminding clients of the activities Abraxus took on the client's behalf and what activities composed the client's bill. "1've gone into meetings with a 100-page report to show the client precisely why I did what I did and who authorized it," Dedon said.
SALT DOME
Dedon is proud of his professional approach to snow and ice management & he believes in the industry. So much so that in early November 2007 he completed construction of a 15,000-square-foot headquarters and a $1.3-million salt storage dome capable of housing roughly 6,000 tons of dry, bulk deicing salt.
The dome is the only privately held dome from Cleveland east to the Atlantic seaboard. Abraxus uses about 5,000 tons of bulk deicing salt a year and the remainder, plus re supply, will be sold to other private contractors, corporations and hospitals through a separate corporation, called Abraxus Salt. Though he'll be supplying competitors, Dedon said he won't go after their work. "Once you are an established customer, I will not bid against you. After 30 years, there is no one in this business that can say that my word is not my bond," Dedon said.
- The author is managing editor, Snow Business magazine. |
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