Pest Management Professional, August 2017

Start Up DiarieS By Pete SchoPen Contributor It takes a village to buy a building I n my June and July columns I detailed the process Schopen Pest Solutions went through to purchase a new building for its headquarters And let me tell you I couldnt have gotten through it alone I had a lot of help When I really knew I wanted to buy a building the first person I contacted was my accountant Ron has been with me as a client for the past 10 years and he has been my accountant for the past three He is my go to person whenever I have a financial or business question Everyone has that go to person For some its their lawyer for others its their banker For Nicolas Cage its a Magic 8 Ball What role should I take next Ghost Rider IV Perfect Ron and I examined Schopen Pest Solutions profits for 2016 and how the taxes on the profits would affect my ability to buy the building After Ron gave me a ballpark figure on where I was sitting financially he and I called my banker Dave Years ago the three of us were part of a networking group and I felt comfortable with these two gentlemen and the advice they were giving me We discussed the situation via speakerphone in Rons office and we concluded I could afford to buy as long as the price was between 250000 and 280000 and I could secure a Small Business Administration SBA loan Later I met with Dave again and went over the process of getting the SBA loan While we were meeting he gave me the phone number of a commercial real estate agent whom he trusts Joe B is old school real estate he knows everyone I pride myself on knowing a lot of service professionals in various industries but Joe is the Don King minus the hair of real estate There isnt a hand he hasnt shaken or a phone number he doesnt have on speed dial Joe walked me through the whole process of construction loans vs traditional loans vs line ofcredit echoing many of the things Dave had already gone over with me He met me at the properties I wanted to buy and gave me his opinion on the condition of each of the buildings Not only that he helped me sell several large kitchen items I took out of the building I purchased a former grocery store Joe in turn hooked me up with a general contractor John looks like the love child of Paul Bunyan and Tom Hanks He is rugged and handsome and his hands are rough and callused He looks like someone who has been swinging a hammer his whole life If first impressions matter then I was sold on John at the very first meeting Johns cohort in crime is Larry the Architect Larry is incredibly Photo Pete SchoPen ut As of July 2017 the new Schopen Pest Solutions building is very much a project in progress Continued on PAge 74 SchopenS open Book StArt uP Schopen Pest Solutions Inc HeAdquArterS McHenry Ill Founder Peter F Schopen Jr StArt uP dAte April 11 2006 nuMber oF eMPloyeeS 14 2006 revenue 97235 one employee 2007 revenue 172495 one employee 2008 revenue 203732 one employee 2009 revenue 243427 two employees 2010 revenue 325960 three employees 2011 revenue 425847 four employees 2012 revenue 489887 five employees 2013 revenue 572772 six employees 2014 revenue 687326 one part time and six full time employees 2015 revenue 858180 one part time and seven full time employees 2016 revenue 1079068 one parttime and nine full time employees 2017 June 113795 24 growth over June 2016 2017 6 MontH totAl 645043 32 growth over same period 2016 2017 ProJection 1306800 72 August 2017 Pest Management Professional mypmp net