One-Stop Service: All Year, Every Day
Asphalt365, Inc. celebrates 20 years of building relationships through quality work
If you want to keep customers’ business, always be ready to add services they need, says Mimi Freeman, President and CFO of Asphalt365, Inc. After doing just that, the Kissimmee, Florida-based paving and pressure-washing company is celebrating 20 years in business.
“We can do it all: pressure washing, paving and sealcoating,” Freeman says.
The company began in the Freemans’ living room in 1999 as a pressure-washing business, with Freeman’s husband, Blake, and her father-in-law, Bill. Mimi Freeman, then working for a law firm, helped with bookkeeping.
As demand grew for their services, the Freemans added more equipment. Then Bill walked into the business office of the former Eckerd Corporation and won a contract to do pressure washing for 30 of their stores. The company was so pleased with Asphalt365’s pressure washing work that they asked them to do more.
“The manager asked us to do other work—sealcoating the parking lot, then paving,” Mimi Freeman says. “We became a one-stop shop.”
Taking Risks, Expanding Services
To grow, the family-owned business took risks. When the Freemans wanted to put in a bid to maintain bus shelters for Central Florida Regional Transportation Authority’s LYNX bus system, they needed to put up a $20,000 bid bond. Being a young business, the company could not obtain a bond from a surety agency. “So we took cash advances on our credit cards,” Freeman says. “We won the bid and kept that contract for 10 years.”
The company bought trucks and hired employees and today has grown to 35 employees working out of a six-acre property owned by Asphalt365.
Asphalt365 has focused on the quality of its work. Paving work is warranted for 10 years if the customer stays with the recommended maintenance program. The work is performed by the company’s own employees and is not subcontracted out.
The firm’s focus is on paving now, though multiple services are available. “Nearly every parking lot has a lot of potholes,” Freeman says. “With Florida weather, it’s going to happen, and if they aren’t taken care of, it’s a liability.”
Asphalt365 works year-round throughout Florida. The company provides services seven days a week as needed. For example, one of its customers is Chick-fil-A, which is closed on Sundays—so that is when the parking lot paving is done.
The company does much of its work for commercial shopping center management companies, general contractors and homeowner associations. An Asphalt365 salesperson working with a customer does an assessment of the property, listing everything that needs to be done. As many of the owners live outside Florida, “they rely on our eyes for what’s needed,” Freeman says.
Building relationships with managers and general contractors leads to repeat business, as customers find that Asphalt365 does quality work and stands behind it.
Core Values Keep Employees on Track
Asphalt365 operates on core values, with employees given scorecards on how they are meeting them, Freeman says. These values are:
- • Be helpful
- • Be passionate about the job
- • Be accountable
- • Give 110 percent
- • Have fun
The company is like a family, Freeman says. She is pleased to be able to offer excellent benefits, including health, dental and vision insurance, all with 70 percent of the cost paid by the company; a $25,000 life insurance policy at no cost to the employee; six paid holidays and seven days of personal time off; and a 401(k) with 4 percent match.
“We want to retain our employees,” Freeman says. “We have a group of guys doing the paving who work 10- and 11-hour days, and they’re all smiling. They work well together.”
She says she is grateful to the sales staff as well as the paving team for their part in Asphalt365’s success.
Asphalt365 helps its employees develop skills and improve in their work. All employees have goals, and a manager sits down with them to evaluate their work and help them reach their goals. Freeman has paid for training for some workers, such as a commercial driver license class for a company driver.
“We want to make our employees better whether they stay with us or not,” Freeman explains.
Change Helps Company Improve
As in most successful companies, Asphalt365’s business is always changing and evolving. “Being complacent is not an option; the company must keep getting better,” Freeman says.
One improvement is the addition of infrared asphalt repair. When cold asphalt is applied to a pothole, it’s like putting on a bandage. With the infrared equipment, the asphalt is heated and compacted to seal all the crevices.
The equipment required for infrared repair was a $50,000 investment, but is expected to pay for itself soon, Freeman says.
Lunch-and-Learn Sessions for Customers
When Asphalt365’s sales staff members work with a customer, they ask about the goal for the property. Will it be sold in two years? Or does the customer plan to keep it for 20 years? Depending on the answer, a quick fix or a long-term repaving may be the answer.
“We try to educate the customer. We are the ones in the business,” Freeman says.
A more formal effort at educating customers is the Lunch-and-Learn program offered by Asphalt365. Staff members go to property management companies and provide lunch and an educational session about paving and parking lot maintenance. The management company employees receive certification credit and they learn to look for problems proactively.
Communicating Well is Key to Success
Across the board, communication is the key to the family-owned company’s success, according to Freeman. Communicating externally with customers and internally with employees makes all the difference.
“We truly care about our employees and the work we do,” Freeman says. “We are always fine-tuning our service and our communication.”
The Freeman family is also dedicated to the community. Both Blake and Mimi Freeman are members of the Rotary Club of Kissimmee Bay, with a focus on serving the local community and the world. They also support charitable events that their employees participate in.
Success comes naturally when hard work, compassion and passion combine to provide a solid foundation for this strong and growing firm.