No one is prouder than Louis Weiher of the nearly 40-year-old company he bought from his dad in 2016. But “the reality is that this company operated as a nonprofit for a long, long time,” Weiher says.
No more. In fact, 2018 revenues are projected to be $2.8 million — a bigger turnaround than even the numbers suggest. “When I came onboard, the company was in debt,” Weiher says. “Now we’re positioned for great things in the next year or two.”
Weiher credits the turn around to the hospitality mindset he brought from his earlier work consulting for hotels. “I liked the fact that this is a service industry,” he says. “I don’t think what I do now is that much different than what I did when I ran hotels.”
That mindset can be boiled down into two words: customer service. Carmel provides a 3-year warranty on all work and asks customer to grade their performance each week on a 5-point scale. Dedicated project managers stay on top of each project.
But Weiher knows the best way to provide the best customer service is through happy employees. So he focuses on making sure his employees have fun and are staying healthy. “I don’t want people to feel like it’s a grind,” he says.
Along with unlimited time off for salaried employees, the company offers group discussions about healthy and active lifestyles. Next year, he’s even planning to pay employees to do things like run marathons and join gyms with a health stipend similar to a tool stipend.
“Everyone who works here says, ‘This is the best job I’ve ever had,’” he says. “More than anything else that makes me proud of what I do.”
