Summit Sweeping and Services, Inc., Fort Wayne IN

Nearly 30 years ago, with no experience in the industry, Mike Oetting was motivated to start a construction power sweeping business.

His challenges back then were unique from those we’ve heard about from other great entrepreneurs who each, like Oetting, have grown a thriving company starting with only a guy and a truck. From zero to operating a large facility with a sizeable team, Oetting has created a business model that is ideal for the Fort Wayne area industrial power sweeping market.

Adding his special talent for building business relationships at every level, Mike has developed a regional customer base and word-of-mouth reputation that have enabled Summit Sweeping to weather the 2020 national economic disaster and that promises to sustain and further grow his company through 2021 and well beyond. Mike tells the story:

THE YEARS LEADING TO SUMMIT

In my younger years, my background was in horticulture. I had my own landscaping and snow plowing business. It was a small operation, two or three people. I hired an excavating company to do some work at my home, and the owner tried to hire me. I said, “No, I like my small company.” He said, “Can you do a job or two for me?” Then, he gave me a couple more jobs to do. Unbeknownst to me, he already had the hook in. I worked for that company for 14 years. They were a heavy highway contractor, building roads, landfills, and doing site development. I managed their landscaping and snow removal operations within the state of Indiana. I drove about a thousand miles per week. The people in the business were very educated, civil engineers, and operating engineers, all performing at a fast pace. I felt I was in over my head when I took the job, but it was one of those you quickly grow into. It was a great job and I was paid well, but I was never home. Many times, I’d be in Indianapolis, about two hours from

where I live. I’d be on the phone the entire way home,

take a shower, go to bed — and at 6:00 a.m., I was back

down there standing on that highway in Indianapolis. My

kids were growing up and I didn’t want to miss that, my

boys were 12 and 7 when I quit. I now regret not quitting

sooner. building his startup simultaneously.) I could never do that today. It took so much energy and brain work to keep everything straight. I called supervisors from paving contractors, other highway contractors, and said, “I’ll work for an hour for free to show you how I’m

going to change this industry.” Six UNLIKELY START OF A Six months in, I got a call months in, I got a call from a 93-acre GREAT BUSINESS shopping mall to maintain their At work, I noticed that jobs from a 93-acre shopping property. I didn’t even go after small, were getting done, but they mall to maintain their non-construction related jobs, but would fight and fight to get property. I didn’t even go they landed in my lap. it all cleaned up. So, I tried We took care of that mall for about to bring some of that kind after small, non-construction 18 years, then lost it to some lowof opportunity to the owner, related jobs, but they ball guy. Now, we’re in our third but he didn’t want it. I was landed in my lap. year of having it back. My kids are looking for a way to keep grown and on their own now, and my key people working year I work harder than I ever did. But around. So, with his permission, I put my company radio my headaches are my own, not due to someone else’s and phone in the company-provided truck and started decisions, and I am home every day and have something to this business from the seat of his truck. (That was in 1993. sell for my retirement. (Mike continued to operate that way for the next three I started in a 40’ x 60’ pole barn behind my house. My first years, juggling his regular full-time management job and commitment was to build a professional image of power continued on page 30

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sweeping — make the trucks so they draw attention, show up on time or even early, and do the job right the first time. It might be a dirty job at times, but we can be professional while doing it. When I started, I had a Tymco 600. Six months later, we added a Tymco 210. Today, we operate 10 trucks, including Johnstons, one 605 and one 650, seven Tymco 210s, and one Tymco 435. I’m not looking to become a monster business; I enjoy keeping it more personal. We do everything from parking lot sweeping, to highway construction cleanup, to pre-paving cleanup. We have small, medium, and large trucks, so we can take care of just about any job. We have three machines for inside floor cleaning, with about $300k invested in the machines and supporting equipment. When the economy crashed in ‘08, that side of the business went with it. That equipment still sits idle in

our warehouse today. The machines are so big (5,000lbs with 100-gallon tanks), jobs had to be about two acres or more of floor for us to be able to function. We used these machines primarily on large, new construction buildings. Considering the cost of the machinery maintenance, and because it was an entirely separate operation with its own set of needs, it became a dead end. Today, we don’t have the manpower or facilities to support such an operation, but some demand for the service has returned.

UNLIKELY RESCUE OF THE BUSINESS

Back in January of 2005, we were in 30-percent growth

mode, when the building burned down. The firemen

managed to push a couple of Looking back on that now, it can bring tears to my eyes to think of him doing that. I had been snowplowing for him in the early years, starting in 1974, and we still sweep his

property today. He was the first the trucks out of the structure one that ever gave me a chance and saved our computer towers. Back in January as a kid right out of high school. Temperatures were in the single of 2005, we were SUMMIT BUSINESS MODEL digits, and the two inches of in 30-percent AND OPERATIONS water they sprayed on the growth mode, We’re a full-service power building froze the trucks to the sweeping company. That includes ground. We used an ax to free when the building industrial sites, road construction them so we could go to work the burned down. and paving cleanup, work for next night. site developers, shopping mall A businessman I lived across the parking lots, subdivisions, street from while growing up came over while stuff was still municipal street sweeping, and special events cleanup. smoldering and said, “I have a warehouse. The lights and (The company doesn’t work with third-party providers.) phone are on. Get your stuff over there and keep going.” We do a lot of maintenance and repairs here in house. All

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of my small trucks are Tymco brand. I’ve learned Tymco’s inside and out, so there are very few things I need to send out. We do about 75 percent of our own repairs and maintenance work. We keep somewhere around $30,000 in small parts and replacement parts on hand. We stock so many parts that contractors often call me first when they need something and can’t wait for it to be shipped cross-country. (The company’s fleet and operations are housed in its 35,000 square foot facility sitting on three acres of commercial property). One of our guys has been around the heavy equipment world for a long time, and he’s retired from that. He can do just about anything.

We have a very good group of drivers, one has been with me for 15 years. We currently have around 8 to ten employees, depending on seasonal demands. At one point we had 14 employees, and that is more than I want to deal with. (Summit operates seven days per week, closing only on Christmas day.) I lay out the jobs and let them go. I do not micromanage, but they know my expectations are high. I really don’t have many problems with our guys, and that keeps me in a good mood.

For my role, I work in the field and the office. I do sales. I do any jobs, as needed. In other words, I do everything from cleaning the bathroom to managing the business. I love it. I tell people my job is managing interruptions.

IMPACTS OF THE 2020 PANDEMIC

Fortunately, we were deemed an essential business, so we’ve been able to keep operating during the pandemic. I printed the paperwork identifying us as an essential business and put it in the trucks. Beginning in mid-March, we lost approximately 50 percent of our shopping center work when the customers put us on hold. Most jobs went from six days per week down to one. But, for construction work, this has been the best year in the history of the company. Overall, we’re back up to about 98 percent of our total volume. But I’m expecting another slowdown. Nobody wears a mask, and a lot of people think it’s a hoax. My wife works in the medical field, so I know it’s not a hoax. I am very concerned we will be dealing with this for a very long time.

OLD LESSONS LEAD TO NEW WAYS

About 99 percent of our business comes from word of mouth and repeat customers. We will have a contractor or new shopping center come to town, and some of the local people working with them on the job will say, “We’ll need a sweeping contractor,” and they tell them to call Summit Sweeping.

They know I’ll be fair, and we’ll get it done right the first That depression-era mentality, I think, was open time. We understand their needs. We know they’re in a to understanding that there’s always another way. If hurry, so we get it done for them. Our attitude is let’s get something wasn’t working out, you learned to look at it it done, get out of the way, and move on to the next job. from the side, and the other side, and find new ways. You I think we’ve succeeded in building a base of repeat came to see that there are always other ways, often better customers because I’ve always ways to do things, even in sales. tried to apply the lessons I When I look back at the learned growing up. I grew I think we’ve succeeded beginning, giving people an up with a dad who was a in building a base of hour of free work, I see that I’m mechanic in the Army. He was the son of a depression-era repeat customers responsible for changing the way construction cleaning is farmer. As a kid, I stood on a because I’ve always tried approached in our marketplace. box and watched him work on to apply the lessons I They don’t call us for the easy trucks and tractors. Eventually, learned growing up. stuff. Nobody in the area can clean I learned plumbing, electrical, the challenging jobs as quickly as and mechanics. Depression- ... we do. We are saving customers 50 era folks never hired anyone. percent plus on asphalt millings You did it yourself or traded services with someone to get and other work, and we complete the job in about half it done. That approach was life-changing for me. the time than by using the usual old ways. continued on page 34

I am very grateful to the many individuals that helped me

over the years, ones that helped open doors to give us a

chance. I pay it forward anytime I can. street sweeping service for them at a lower cost than they would pay to maintain their sweeper.

All Summit employees are very committed to professional WHAT SETS SUMMIT APART IN FORT WAYNE? workmanship and helping our customers. I personally We provide premium-quality inspect the jobs and the services. The machines we use don’t sweep, they vacuum, We provide work log entries and hold everyone accountable for their blasting all the grit out of joints premium-quality services. performance. and crevices with 250 mph air The machines we use MIKE OETTING’S CORE pressure. Our street sweeper can actually pick up a brick. That don’t sweep, they vacuum, BUSINESS PHILOSOPHY Over my 30 years in this business kind of power does a lot more blasting all the grit out of and working with the contractors, than remove trash. Our quality of joints and crevices with I’ve built strong working cleaning extends the life of the 250 mph air pressure. relationships and trust, and that seal coating, the line painting, has made the difference. Years and the asphalt itself. ago, when I’d stop and have a Most power sweeping contractors don’t offer this donut and a cup of coffee in the morning, I started taking advanced process because the price of that type of donuts and coffee for paving crews and repair shop guys. I’d machinery is too high. In small towns, we can often provide put a dozen donuts right on the back of the paver.

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It recognizes people for the work they do, and they talk about it too. One guy will drop off parts on his way home for me. When I thanked him for doing that he said, “Well, you’re pretty good about bringing donuts for the guys.” Today, I can pick up the phone on a Friday late, and they’re 30 minutes away, and they’ll say, “I’ll wait on you.” That’s huge. That’s help from their side. It means somebody has done something to help us.

BIGGEST CHALLENGE FOR FORT WAYNE POWER SWEEPING COMPANY

Acquiring quality help is currently the biggest challenge. I pay more than anyone else in the sweeping industry in this area. But the money doesn’t seem to matter. You have to be flexible. The building contractors have a lot of challenges, so we have to be flexible. But sometimes people think it’s like a punch-the-clock factory job. We could grow faster. I own the machinery but can’t get enough people to run it.

NATIONAL POWER SWEEPING INDUSTRY LEADER

We’re one of the founding members of the World Sweeping Association. The WSA was established by Ranger Kidwell-Ross to build a nationwide network of power sweeping contractors, to help each other with issues and ideas. All peer members are committed to ethical business practices and professional operations. The mission of World Sweeping Association is to promote industry awareness of problems with thirdsource providers, major nationwide customers, etc. It also provides information from safety specialists, leaders in the power sweeping industry, and others on a wide range of important topics for power sweeping business owners. Additionally, a network of parts suppliers and other vendors offer discounts to the membership. Ranger does a great job with reports every two weeks, interviews with notables in the industry, and sometimes does intervention with a problem customer.

ADVICE FOR POWER SWEEPING ENTREPRENEURS FROM INDUSTRY EXPERT MIKE OETTING, FORT WAYNE, IN

Starting a company and building it from nothing was a big challenge, but keeping it running, maintaining professionalism throughout the company, and never compromising on service quality are continual challenges. People are not happy with sub-standard work or other problems to be expected from contractors who are bidding too low just to sell volume. It’s important to be professional. Our trucks are bright and lettered in hi-viz graphics, and our drivers are in clean uniforms. Even at 3 am, we are very visible and professional. It’s also important to have a trusting relationship with vendors, especially your insurance agent. Pick a company with an “A” rating and an agent that helps back it up. A good banking relationship is also important. We want to build relationships of strong trust with our customers, so they don’t think twice about calling us. They rely on us to be their eyes and ears. When I see something they need to know about, even if it’s not related to our services, I’ll call to let them know. That proactive approach helps them, and it’s good for us in helping build trusting relationships. And, it gives me a one-on-one opportunity to visit with them. Most customers like that.

ON SUMMIT SWEEPING LEADERSHIP

The owner of Summit Sweeping has built a business on a foundation of strong relationships. From the unprecedented building of an entire business of his own,

while doing his job in his employer’s truck, to having another local business owner loan him an entire fully-operational facility to operate his business in the aftermath of a devastating fire, to his countless daily examples, the relationships he serves continue to sustain his business’s success. Mike’s thriving company grows largely by word-of-mouth advertising resulting from his exceptional commitment to service and fostering strong B2B relationships. He further serves and elevates the entire industry, adding value to all his peer businesses through the informationsharing and teaching arms of the WSA. The list of his relationship-building efforts goes on. Rarely have we heard of a more compelling career-long series of examples of the extraordinary power of positive professional relationships. Mike Oetting personifies what it is to succeed by cultivating genuine, mutually helpful business relationships. Our best advice, based on lessons learned from long-experienced industry expert Mike Oetting, is to think in terms of the quality of relationships you are developing, through everything you do in your business.

For more information about Summit Sweeping and Services, Inc., or to talk to Mike Oetting about the World Sweeping Association, email mike. summitsweeping@gmail.com.

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