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Goizueta background
comes in handy
Homeowner or not, most people are familiar
with the frustration of finding a contractor. David Duley '98BBA
and Clay Elrod '98BBA offer a way to ease that angst with The Handyman
Network, Inc., a "one-stop shop" for home repair, remodeling,
and improvement.
The company opened in May 2000 with a mission to provide "serious
contractors for serious customers." The customer submits project
specifications via phone, fax, or e-mail. The Handyman Network reviews
the specs and matches the customer with local, pre-screened service providers,
including contractors, handymen, designers, and architects.
A homeowner himself, Elrod has experienced home project headaches first-hand.
"It's frustrating not knowing who to go to, and you don't know if
you're getting a fair deal," he says.
The concept for The Handyman Network originated as a web-based service,
but the market soon was flooded with companies doing the same thing.
The partners also found that the challenge lay not in finding good contractors
but in finding serious customers. "Most people are shoppers,"
says Duley. "While our online competition was closing about three
percent of their leads submitted, we were closing thirty percent because
we were offline."
They made another change to the business model by becoming a member-based
organization in which customers pay to use the service. "Now our
closing ratio is up to ninety percent, and our revenues are up one thousand
percent," Duley says.
Duley and Elrod believe the current and future success of their company
rides on local appeal.
"We didn't want to be another company that says it can fulfill everything
and be everywhere and not live up to it," says Duley.
Much of their success also depends on building relationships with local
service providers. "You can make promises [to the consumer] but you
won't be able to keep them if you don't have the relationships,"
says Elrod.
So far the local strategy seems to be working. Because small jobs (typically
under $2,000) are in high demand and contractors will not accept them,
the Handyman Network has three of its own handymen on staff who comprise
the Click&Fix division. The handymen are dispatched to cover projects
that don't require estimates--installing a ceiling fan, fixing a leaky
faucet.
Duley knew he would become an entrepreneur. Following graduation, he served
as a financial advisor with American Express. He quickly became "tired
of the rut," and one and a half years after graduating, he and Elrod
started talking.
"David is the visionary, and I'm the doer," says Elrod, who
never thought of himself as an entrepreneur. Previously, Elrod was a software
developer for Talus, a revenue management company in Atlanta, and a business
and software consultant for BellSouth. It didn't take long for the entrepreneurial
spirit to take over. "It's a lot riskier," Elrod says, "but
it's rewarding to be in control of the destiny of the business versus
being given orders," he says.
The company still operates offline, but customers now can submit project
specifications online as well at www.handymanatlanta.com.
--Denise Noble
Network
builders
Clay Elrod, vice president and chief technology officer, and David Duley,
president and chief executive officer, brought another alumnus on board
in January: Rob Whitmire '98BBA, who serves as vice president of
business development. Serving on the Board of Directors are: Jim Lanzone
'98MBA-'98L, president, chief marketing officer, and co-founder of
eTour.com; William Fox, Emory University's senior vice president
for institutional advancement; and Steve Walton, assistant professor
of decision and information analysis.
Photo
From left: Clay Elrod '98BBA, David Duley '98BBA,
and Rob Whitmire '98BBA, the Handyman Network, Inc.
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