Texas Site Services (TSS) in San Antonio offers street sweeping, pavement striping and other marking, pressure washing, installation of wheel stops, and related services. TSS was founded in January 2020 by Dax Winslett and his wife Brooke Simmons. Dax had been in the industry for many years before starting his own business. Those years of experience enabled the leadership duo to develop an excellent business plan and execute a successful startup phase, even during the onset of the Covid pandemic just a few months after launching their new business.
NAS was recently fortunate to work with Dax and Brooke to learn and share some information about this high-energy operation and its spectacular success during these initial years:
How it Began for Texas Site Services
Can you tell readers a little bit about what sets the company apart from others in your market?
What sets TSS apart is our customer relations. Many companies in the construction industry don’t engage in face to face conversations or meet in person. Everything is by phone or email communication. We like to go to job sites to meet General Contractors and Project Managers. We also attend meet-and-greet and charity events, to help support the community and build more personal relationships with our customers. Instead of only knowing their voices over the phone, we want to recognize their faces and engage in friendly communications that help develop lasting business relationships.
We also offer multiple types of services to General Contractors, and that diversification also helps set us apart.
Can you tell us a little bit about your background and why you decided to get into the power sweeping industry and related services?
Dax initially got into the sweeping business in 2005 when he and a friend started their own small sweeping company. The business was successful until the economic downturn in 2008. They shut their doors in 2011. After that, Dax worked in various fields until coming back into the commercial sweeping industry in 2015. As General Manager, he helped another sweeping company grow its client base and revenues. Then, in 2020, he started his own company with the launch of Texas Site Services.
Outstanding Growth of TSS
Can you please speak to the types and kinds of growth that your business experiences?
Our growth has been phenomenal. We have increased sales and revenue every quarter past our benchmarks, due to our ability to diversify and provide multiple commercial services. We are a one-stop shop for sweeping, pavement markings, power washing, thermoplastic, sign and bollard installation, and wheel stop installation.
We market our diversified service channels heavily across regional markets. We reach out to set up meetings with our customers’ entire estimating and pre-construction teams, so we get to know them personally.
Marketing and Sales at TSS
How do you secure new customers, and what is the general size of most of your contracts?
The majority of our customers are repeat customers or referrals from our steady customers. We do obtain new customers through networking, use of bid site referrals, and sometimes just stopping at job sites and introducing ourselves. We focus heavily on getting face to face with our customers and connecting with them personally, this has proven to be effective in gaining their trust and building lasting working relationships.
Generally, our sweeping revenue is not from providing contractual recurring service. The majority of our sweeping work is as an on-call service to General Contractors for new construction and asphalt companies laying down highways and roads, until each job completion.
Scaling a Texas Sweeping Business
As mentioned earlier, our growth potential is extraordinary due to the multiple service lines we provide. In addition, we can mobilize to provide services to various regions in Texas. That allows us to target different markets and areas. So far, we have hit every growth goal we have set. We have weekly, monthly, and quarterly goals for estimates submitted and sales obtained. That short-term goal-setting helps us stay on top of our overall growth goals. Staying focused on hitting the smaller goals makes achieving the bigger ones easier.
January 2024 will be the anniversary of our 4th year in operation. We started with 2 sweepers in January 2020; we now have 8. Construction and population growth are not slowing down in our region, so we anticipate staying on pace with the successful growth we have been experiencing.
What is the breakdown in percentage of your business in terms of different divisions offered? What part or division experiences the most growth and why?
Sweeping is 60% of our company’s revenue. We also have a pavement striping division that consists of striping, power washing, and roadway thermoplastic applications. Our sales of these services grow at similar rates as a result of our marketing strategies.
Pavement Sweeping Equipment at TSS
How do you see the growth of street sweeping in the services that Texas Site Services offers its customers?
Due to our marketing strategies, I see nothing but positive growth ahead in our customer base, equipment assets, and our company team.
How and when do you incorporate street sweeping for your facility maintenance contracts?
Facility maintenance contracts are the area of our business we target least frequently. Our company focuses primarily on targeting asphalt companies and commercial General Contractors.
How does your fleet management team maintain your equipment?
We have an incredibly strong shop manager and crew who maintain our vehicles as they come in and do basic mandatory maintenance checks. Additionally, our drivers have a mandatory daily checklist they go through before turning a truck in. If any major repairs are needed, our shop team can address those immediately onsite, so we can have trucks back on the road as quickly as possible.
What do you look for when purchasing sweepers and paving and milling equipment?
We use both ODRA mechanical road sweepers and vacuum sweepers. We base our purchasing decisions on the demands of our customers and job types. Some GCs have a strong preference for the type of machine to be used, and we try to accommodate that.
How important is simplicity and reliability in the equipment you purchase?
It is extremely important to have our equipment running efficiently and for it to be easy to operate and repair. That minimizes downtime. Simplicity of operation is highly important to our drivers. We provide training for them on how to troubleshoot onsite, but the equipment should not be too technical for most people to operate.
The TSS Team and Company Culture
Do you want to mention the employees that work for the company? How many employees do you have and what are their names and titles?
We currently have 29 employees, including 10 sweeper drivers and 8 on our pavement striping/washing crew. Our in-house office operations are run by Dax Winslett, President, and Chip Hodges, COO. Shawna West is our Office Manager, Roxy Mazurek is our Sweeper Manager, and Mabrie Winslett is our Marketing Manager for the Austin region. Dennis Geer is our Shop Manager and Brooke Simmons, Vice President, handles marketing for the San Antonio region.
How do you boost efficiency in your jobs and your workers? How do you boost the morale of your workers? What do you expect of them? Who trains them?..
Our motto is “Total Superior Service,” so we train with that in mind. Customer service and satisfaction, clear communication, and job efficiency are highly important to our company. We boost efficiency by holding monthly training in addition to 40 hours of initial driver training when a new sweeper operator is hired.
Morale on our team is high because we treat our employees like family. We respect their needs for personal and family time and maintain open communication with each team member.
One of our goals is to make our employees as successful as possible. We want to see them grow in their leadership abilities, other job skills, and in their financial security and personal lives through their employment with our company. If they are successful and fulfilled, then TSS is successful!
What advice would you give to newcomers into sweeper business ownership?
Focus on building relationships, communicating with your customers frequently, and building a personable brand to stand out from other contractors. And, keep the vehicles running consistently so you don’t lose clients or revenue.
The most important factor in running your business smoothly is adequate maintenance on the vehicles. So, you need to develop a strong vehicle maintenance department and strong training for the drivers on how to maintain the sweepers to avoid breakdowns or equipment problems that impact efficiency.
For more information about Texas Site Services, call (830) 708-5878 or visit texassiteservices.com/.