New York, NY (1888PressRelease)
June 20, 2008 - It wasn’t too long ago when Christiopher Purnell, the President & founder of EZ Furniture Assembly & Interior Innovations & NYC HANDYMAN hit the Big Apple in search of work and wound up making his dreams come true. When Mr. Purnell came to New York City he had already over 10 years of marketing experience. At his last position being a regional Marketing Director he hoped to land a nice job in his natural habitat.
However, things didn’t happen that way. He went to interview after interview and like watching water boil he waited for that magic call, it didn’t come. However, the bills still did and he needed work anything to tide him over, fast. He was told about Craigslist and saw all these posting for someone to assemble furniture. Mr. Purnell comes from a long line of handymen and has been involved in construction and such services his entire life, so he went on these jobs and before long caught up on his bills and had a nice savings. He was surprised a million companies weren’t doing this type of work.
He did his homework and found out there were really only two national companies and they had big box stores to handle so he found his niche. He invested in quality tools, got licensed & insured and starting running later his company name became known & referrals helped bring the company to where it is today with 8 full-time technicians, 1 project manager, and 2 office staff. He hasn’t stopped yet because now he is looking to go after the big box store accounts that the national companies have. His plan, “provide found tow customers that these national services have terrible customer service and have no respect for the people who pay them.
He went on to show us how these companies that work hand in hand with the stores have customers waiting up to a month after purchase for assembly. He then pointed out that what is a company that just spent $10,000 on office furniture to do when they are due to open next week? He also showed us how they hire their technicians online or over the phone where they really have no idea what skills this person has, his mindset, or what he might do once inside a customer’s home. We also were shown what they charge and what they pay and it is little over minimum wage what these technicians make and must wait weeks for a check by mail.
Where Mr. Purnell point he has a 3 phase in person hiring procedure which includes a verbal meeting, written test, and a hands on test. He also stated his workers start off hourly and shortly switch to commission which allows them to make more money. He is happy how far he has came but made it clear he isn’t finished and no matter how many services he provides customer service will always remain #1. Since his success in the furniture assembly business he invested a great amount in his new company, NYC HANDYMAN which provides , Bathtub Refinishing, to home & office cleaning services and even custom backyard pond installation.
Mr Purnell explained, “Many of the services we offer were at the request of our customers. They trust us, so they would call and ask if we knew anyone who did this or that and after a while I thought to myself why are we giving this business away when we could be doing it ourselves & keeping the revenue in house while allowing our technicians to work as much as they chose to. That is when I decided to make NYC HANDYMAN a division of EZ Furniture Assembly & Interior Innovations. I am also very creative and want to be more than just the average Joe Handyman that is why we offer backyard ponds & other creative services other handymen don’t.”We asked Purnell what his goals were.
I would love to see our companies go National, but by franchise where the owner the has his name and reputation on the line with every job his technicians do which will ensure that the owner hires the right people while making sure they are doing the right work and keeping customer service #1”Purnell went on to say, “ I guess I do things the old fashioned way my Father did, and they always told me if you do what you love it will never be a job. Only now do I know how true that is. Even though the housing market is slow and spending is down we will continue to grow one satisfied customer at a time.”
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