In 1991, Doyle Caffee was a credit manager for Circle Business Credit, a commercial-lending division of Xerox specializing in the refuse industry.  The pending sale of CBC prompted Doyle to explore career options.  He could start his own refuse company, but the sizable capital investments required prompted him to consider an alternative path–the sweeping industry.  Doyle purchased a used sweeper for $13,000 and plunged head first into 90+ hour workdays, building up his company, Sweep All, Inc.  The original game plan called for selling the business in 5 years, but over 20 years later, Doyle is still going strong. …

Pete Phillips recently sent us some pictures from his exhibition booth at the Chattanooga Small Business Expo.  If you aren’t already attending events like this in your area, you should start making connections with local property managers and business owners.  One new introduction can more than pay for the cost of your booth.  If you have ever contemplated attending a show to promote your business, you know that showing up to these events is the easy part.  Crafting a short and concise elevator pitch that prompts prospective customers to engage in a discussion is the real magic that turns a meeting with a prospect into a sales opportunity. …

Ever since returning home from the 2013 Sweeper Summit in Detroit, we’ve been taking Cameron Herold’s advice to heart, working steadily on the “Painter Picture for 1-800-SWEEPER.  Visualization leads to performance, and as a group we all must be focused on the same vision to succeed. To build upon our momentum, we are proudly unveiling our “Painted Picture” describing where 1-800-SWEEPER will be in three years. …

It seems like every day we hear from folks who are making significant changes in their businesses as a result of last fall’s sweeper summit.  All of the speakers and sessions gave us much to think about.  From the 1-800-SWEEPER board perspective, we decided that it was time to make some changes too.  If you have visited our website lately, you may have noticed a new slogan beneath our logo at the top of the page. …