In late 2009, Arnaldo and Yanet Herrero of Kings Service Solutions first approached the Florida SBDC at UCF (FSBDC at UCF) Advisory Board Council Manager Jill Kaufman about their interest in becoming a client of the service. Arnaldo had explained, "We want to begin taking the proper steps to become your next success story."
It took them just three years to achieve this milestone. In that time, their janitorial and commercial maintenance company has made a dramatic transformation and experienced extraordinary growth. According to Yanet, "I felt the FSBDC at UCF was the right organization to pair up with to set our company's vision on the right course. I wanted to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the company and have access to experts' knowledge and ideas to develop our organization."
The Big Steps to Success
In 2010, Kings Service Solutions (KSS) was accepted into the FSBDC at UCF's Advisory Board Council (ABC) and an advisory board was formed to address the company's needs. Experts in human resources, accounting, strategic marketing, business development and law comprised their board. "We had the best of the best on our advisory board team," remarked Yanet.
Kings Service Solutions acted immediately on what they had learned. The board helped them put in place an organizational structure, systems and processes to better manage the company and facilitate their growth. "We learned how to make the organization's mission and vision come alive and become part of the company culture," explained Yanet. Among the biggest benefits coming out of the board's recommendations included improved financial management, HR policies, quality control and risk management. "I started with an idea for what my business could be and by the end of the term in the ABC program it was so much more than I expected," said Yanet. "The Advisory Board Council gave me the tools to attain what I wanted for our company."
Smart Moves to Maintain Success
Beginning with the simple idea of providing high quality and reliable commercial cleaning and facility maintenance services, KSS has grown to serve industry leading companies throughout the state of Florida such as Trustco Bank, Florida's Blood Centers, and Lamm and Company Partners. KSS has instituted innovative business processes and the latest janitorial management software to increase their organization's efficiency and quality control. In fact, KSS was recently chosen to be featured by MSNBC in a television segment on how technology is helping small companies.
When KSS became a client of the ABC in early 2010, the firm had a staff of 6 full-time and 37 part-time employees and leased a 1,700 sq. ft. office. Just three years later, KSS has grown to be a company of 87 full-time and 162 part-time employees. Annual revenue jumped 270% from 2010 to 2012 and the company now owns its 3,500 sq. ft. office and warehouse suite. Importantly, Arnaldo and Yanet also strongly believe in giving back to the community, and KSS is a devoted supporter of a number of worthy organizations such as Boys and Girls Clubs of Central Florida.
On the strength of its founders' determination and the external assistance they were savvy enough to bring in, including from FSBDC at UCF's Advisory Board Council, Kings Service Solutions is now that "next success story" that they wanted to be.
