Anything You Walk On
Saying ‘yes’ to clients gives Advantage Flooring the competitive edge
If you should happen to be interested in some type of flooring that Billy Saul doesn’t offer, this flooring veteran undoubtedly will find a way to take care of it; he may even start a whole new division in his diversified flooring company. The President of Advantage Flooring Inc. in Hanover, Maryland, proudly says, “We do anything you walk on.”
Saying “yes” has been the business model of Advantage Flooring since Billy and his father, Bill Saul, started their commercial flooring company in 1993, the year that Billy graduated from high school. Starting with finished flooring—carpet, vinyl, wood and tile—the company over the years has moved into occupied renovations, adding paint, wallcovering, floor leveling, moisture mitigation, polished concrete and its newest venture—epoxy flooring. “Keep in mind that most finished floor companies may only do one or two of those, but we do them all. We truly are a one-stop shop for designers, owners or contractors,” Billy says. That approach has created rapid growth, with annual revenue showing double-digit increases over the last 10 years. In fact, revenue in 2018 is expected to double last year’s revenue. The company employs over 50 people full time, with another 30 working as subcontractors.
Five years ago, on its 20th anniversary, Advantage Flooring moved to Hanover from Hyattsville, Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C., where the company does the bulk of its work. “The new building allowed us to increase from 8,000 to 30,000 square feet of space,” Billy says. “I was nervous at first with all of that space to fill, but a client and good friend cautioned against subletting the new space. He was right—within a year we filled that back warehouse. Now I’m at the point where I’m scared I’m not going to fit in this building anymore.”
In the Baltimore-Washington metropolitan area, Advantage Flooring installs floors for the offices of major tech companies, law firms, universities, government contractors, multifamily apartments, major retail stores, internet and social media firms and grocery chains. The company has also worked for nearly every major federal and state government agency in the area.
“I am impressed with our ability to scale up or down as needed on jobs to provide the high level of performance that is clearly a testament to the skills of our dedicated staff,” Billy says. “‘No’ is not and has never been in our vocabulary and while there have been sleepless nights, we always get it done—whatever it takes.”
Finding a Better Way
The company’s growth largely depends on finding better ways to meet customers’ needs. Team members started out handling only finished flooring projects, which generated average earnings until they started doing occupied renovations—going into a building at night, after the employees had left, to replace flooring. But other contractors on these jobs often would delay Billy’s crew, which had to wait on furniture to be moved and walls to be painted. Those contractors were too slow, Billy says.
So, Advantage Flooring eventually took over the whole process—from flooring to painting to moving furniture to renting out crates for people to pack up personal belongings—working directly with facility owners to save them time and money. Now, the flooring contractor is able to complete jobs faster, as one company completing all tasks streamlines coordination and reduces employee downtime.
This new service offering led to the formation of Advantage Interiors Inc., owned by Billy and his two sisters, Laurie Saul Inglis and Tonda Saul Reighard, who also work at Advantage Flooring.
Taking Advantage of New Opportunities
The carpeting and painting side of the business was going well, but Billy saw further opportunity in floor leveling. “More people were starting to use glass walls, especially in the front of their offices. The floors underneath the glass walls need to be flat and level. Floor leveling companies were expensive, plus our crew had to wait on others to complete the leveling work before we could do our job,” Billy says. “Floor leveling is a good business,” he continues. “Now Advantage Flooring handles jobs from the bottom to the top (stopping at the ceiling), so we can provide faster integrated job management for the customer. We truly have become a one-stop shop for renovations as well as new builds.”
Adding floor leveling services led him to his most ambitious undertaking—concrete polishing. Leveling a floor requires the removal of old glue, so Advantage Flooring bought a 32-inch grinder to get the job done. Turns out, the grinder has other uses as well, including polishing concrete.
Advantage Flooring has been polishing concrete for over five years. “Now we are one of the largest concrete polishing companies in the region,” Billy says, adding that his business owns and operates more grinders than most polishing companies.
One of his biggest concrete jobs is currently underway: a contract to redo 125,000 square feet of flooring as part of the renovation of the Capital One Arena, the massive professional sports and entertainment venue in downtown Washington, D.C. Advantage Flooring is installing finished flooring, polishing concrete and applying epoxy flooring. Arena management originally wanted a quartz tile for the main floor, Billy says, but he advised them that polished concrete would look better and be easier to maintain. Likewise, they had chosen a vinyl floor for the arena’s main kitchen. Billy suggested instead an epoxy floor that would withstand the impact of knives and other kitchen implements being dropped.
“I treat everybody’s money like it is mine,” Billy says. “My clients trust me because we sell all the options, and we know what works. I’m out in the field with the products, seeing them, using them, touching them and making sure that we are giving the best quality control for our people.” Billy often quotes a lesson learned from his father: “You are only as good as your last job.”
Taking Care of the Family Business
Advantage Flooring has always been a family business, and family is an important part of the company’s dynamics. Billy’s sisters joined the business after they graduated from high school; Laurie is now Vice President, and Tonda is Senior Executive Project Manager.
Laurie actually started working with Billy when she was 11. “I would roll carpet out in the street and cut it, then take it down in the basement and bind it up,” she says. “I helped Billy out, kind of like his assistant, and I’m still his assistant now.”
That family attitude extends to the entire staff. “We are very family-oriented,” Laurie says. “We take care of our employees. We understand when they need to take time off for kids and other personal things.” Their mother retired from her job with an electric company about eight years ago and now works part time for Advantage Flooring, and Billy’s father still helps. “He’s been down at Capital One helping me because it is a big project with multiple floors,” Billy says. “He’s there, whatever I need. He still comes in here once a week. He may be retired, but he is still working.”