INSPECTIONS 'R' US
INSPECTIONS 'R' US
Like all good things in history, it started with a chance encounter and an idea. In 2016, while picking up my wife, Laura, from her workplace, I overheard one of the managers asking for someone to do a compliance drive. When none of the employees volunteered and with nothing to do that afternoon, I volunteered to help. From this experience, I learned that a compliance drive was done by Homeowners Associations (HOA) to confirm that residents are following guidelines, which ensures that properties within the HOA are properly maintained. While driving past each house with a checklist in hand, I realized that this work was in line with other work i had done, such as emergency relief for FEMA that required photographs of properties to confirm damage. I also recognized that there was a more efficient and practical way to complete the compliance drives.
I began asking around and doing research into how HOAs operated and conducted their compliance checks. Though I was told that a third-party service provider would never succeed in the HOA industry because almost everything is done inhouse or through real estate management companies, I nonetheless began working on a business plan and model. I started Inspections R Us later in 2016 with a belief that this was an untapped industry that could expand into something great. I continued to work on the business proposal, pitching my ideas and the services offered to some HOAs. After two years of hard work, we finally secured our first HOA customer in 2018 and by 2019, we were providing services to seven HOAs.
Servicing the seven HOAs proved to be a major time commitment as I was commuting back and forth between Dallas and Houston to cover the properties. As it turns out, the Houston HOA was one of the largest HOA management companies in the country, so doing very good work for them would hopefully prove to be fruitful down the line. However, in the meantime, while working hard to demonstrate that our business model could work, we were losing money. Luckily, my family assisted me where they could with helping me run the business. For example, Theresa, a family friend, while working full time elsewhere, worked in the evenings and weekends. My other business with the disaster service and foreclosure work was largely keeping us afloat, but times were tough. I did not know then how tough things would really get.
Unfortunately, the pandemic in 2020 hit right as we were starting to get some traction going with Inspections R Us. The HOAs that we were working for largely stopped needing our services as they were not doing compliance checks.
When her college classes were put on hold because of the pandemic, my stepdaughter Zoe moved back in with us and began getting involved with the business. Zoe pick up where Theresa, Laura and I left off with the day to day so that the three of us could focus on rebuilding after the pandemic.
My other business was also struggling as banks stopped foreclosing. To say that this was a very difficult time in our lives financially is an understatement. After several meals of only peanut butter sandwiches and one of our vehicles being repossessed, we held out faith that this business could work. We worked hard to strengthen our business model and to prepare to meet with more HOAs once the world re-opened.
Our hard work paid off. By August 2021, HOAs began to operate again, and we were able to secure a contract with another large management company. We went from 55 HOAs to over 350 HOAs using our services in less than a year! We now operate in seven states and offer services in 49 states.
The amazing growth and development would not have been possible without our team - Laura, Theresa, "E" Eric, and Zoe, and the people and companies who had faith is us and work with us daily. Thank you to everyone who has been so supportive!
If you are interested in joining our team or using our services, please feel free to contact us. We would love to hear from you.
Best,
Mike Kukla
Together we all achieve more
Inspections 'R' Us
Copyright © 2023 Inspections R Us - All Rights Reserved.
Powered by GoDaddy
We use cookies to analyze website traffic and optimize your website experience. By accepting our use of cookies, your data will be aggregated with all other user data.