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May 17, 04 Reader Services |
Kristina Feighan, president and owner of Northeast Environmental Inc. of Mamaroneck. Building through trust Customers will sometimes compliment Northeast Environmental Inc. employees for arriving on time for an appointment or returning a telephone call, which puzzles Kristina Feighan, president and principal owner of the business. "We don't even think twice about returning phone calls," Feighan said. "I guess some people do. We call if we're going to be 10 minutes late. That's extremely important." Feighan said it's important for a company in her business - mostly removing underground oil tanks and hazardous waste - to show customers that they're professional, honest and trustworthy. That's one way the company has succeeded in the business, she said. "By keeping those high standards, customers appreciate it," Feighan said. "We're in a world where you can't make everyone happy, but if you make the majority of your customers happy, you're doing something right." Having a customer's trust becomes very important if contaminated soil is found around an underground tank, she said. "There's really no way to give an estimated price, so people for obvious reasons are cautious about what needs to be done and what it costs them." Northeast Environmental's revenues grew last year by about $450,000, or 18 percent, Feighan said, from $2.4 million to $2.8 million. The business has 15 employees and has been growing since it was founded in 1998. That year the company had revenues of $170,000 and three employees. Emily Frusciante of Mount Vernon, who had her oil tank removed by Northeast Environmental last month, said she found the company "very neat, very professional." They came when they said they would, she said, "and that's very rare today. We're having a few things done (at Frusciante's home), and I know what it means to be left hanging." "I would strongly recommend them to anyone," Frusciante said. "As a matter of fact, I did."
WORD-OF-MOUTH More than half of Northeast Environmental's customers chose the firm after hearing about it from another customer, Feighan said. "That's the best type of advertising, and it's free." When Northeast Environmental makes sales calls, she said, more than 20 percent of the calls result in work for the company. John Scandurra, president of Ira D. Conklin & Sons, a Newburgh firm that has removed oil tanks in Westchester County and elsewhere for decades, said 10 percent growth probably would be average in the industry last year. He said he knows of Northeast Environmental and "they have a good reputation." Asked how his own company has succeeded, Scandurra mentioned some of the same things Feighan did: "The key thing to being successful in this field is being honest with the people," he said. "We do it and get it done and go on to the next job." Having employees with experience is also very helpful, he said. Like Northeast Environmental, his company gets much of its business through "a lot of word-of-mouth." Most of Northeast Environmental's business is oil tank removal, which can include replacing contaminated soil if the tank has leaked. A small percent of its business is other hazardous waste removal, and a new area is mold "remediation" - cleaning up mold or tearing out parts of a room where mold is inside walls, ceilings or floors. The number of company employees varies with the seasons, but there are about 10 in the winter and 15 in the summer, Feighan said. Oil tank removal, which usually involves installing a new tank as well, has always been the company's mainstay. On average, the cost runs to $1,300 per tank, she said, although a lot depends on the size and location of the tank. Normally a crew of two people can remove a tank in about a day, she said. Feighan, the principal owner, started the company with her partner and co-owner, Dwayne Monaco, when they were both in their mid-20s. They knew each other through mutual friends. "I guess it just got to the point where we thought we just didn't want to work for other people and we had the experience. And we got along, so that's always key," Feighan said. She had been working in an administrative role in a similar company and Monaco had experience on job sites. It also helped that Feighan's father was in the business. He is a manager in her company. Founding the company was a financial challenge, Feighan said. She took out personal loans at first to pay for both equipment and initial operating expenses. It was hard to get the loans, she said. "I wasn't even full time at the time," she said. "I needed another job to pay my bills." She worked evenings and weekends so the company could afford to hire an employee to work with Monaco. At first, the only work the company did was removing oil tanks. "You basically build it one customer at a time - one customer brings you to another one," she said. "Our goal was to get through our first year because we were told if you could make it through your first year, you get a foot in the door." After the first year, she said, "I think it just got easier for us." By the end of 1999 the company outgrew its 1,100-square-foot space and moved to a new Mamaroneck location with 3,000 square feet. |
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Copyright 2004, Westfair Communications Inc. |