Bradenton, FL, February 20, 2006--The home base of Nationwide Floor and Window Coverings of Manatee County is located inside the house of a tight-knit Parrish family, according to the Bradenton, Herald.
You'll find plenty of the products the Reynolds family sells: laminate, area rugs and Vertiglide window shades.
You won't see any customers browsing through samples, though. And there's not a cash register in sight.
The family also has two mobile showrooms--minivans with flooring and window samples--from which Daniel Reynolds, the business owners' son and salesman, shows potential customers company products.
Andrew and Olivia Reynolds opened their Nationwide Floor and Window Coverings franchise in 2000. Their son, Daniel, was hired as their first and only employee.
This year marks the family's sixth in business, and they said they couldn't be happier.
"This was something we could do together," Daniel Reynolds said.
Andrew Reynolds does all the marketing for the company. In addition to being a member of several local business networking groups, he sits on the Better Business Council Advisory Committee with the Manatee Chamber of Commerce. Olivia Reynolds is in charge of administration, appointments and accounting.
Daniel Reynolds serves as the salesman, driving his "carpet taxi" to homes and businesses around Manatee County and beyond. Once in the home of a potential customer, he shows products, measures floor areas and offers a free estimate.
"The beauty of this franchise is that we're a mobile showroom," Olivia Reynolds said. "Instead of a customer going from store to store and taking samples home, we bring everything to the customer."
An average job costs about $2,500, though some projects cost upward of $20,000. About 75 percent of the Reynolds' business is floor covering. A large portion of that business is carpet and tile floor coverings.
The Reynolds install their window products. All floor coverings are sub-contracted to businesses around town. Andrew Reynolds says the sub-contractors are more like partners since they do so much business together.
Manatee County's booming housing market has meant serious business for the Reynolds family in recent months. In 2005 their company had almost $500,000 in sales.
So, does business ever get in the way of personal relationships? Not in the Reynolds family.
"The fact that I work with my wife and son is great. It's nice that we're all together and most of the time we get along great," Andrew Reynolds said.
Olivia Reynolds added, "The good news is, I work with my husband. The bad news is, I work with my husband."
