In many ways, the story of this east coast powersweeping company is the classic account of a startup in this expensive heavy equipment industry. A young man becomes aware of career potential in powersweeping. He happens across an existing operator with a small book of business. He buys the business, and he’s on his way.
Fast-forward to 2024. He’s grown the company exponentially, all organically, through word-of-mouth from satisfied customers. He’s got over 30 employees, about 30 trucks, a mix of every major brand, and has become reputed as an exceptional provider to the Virginia and North Carolina property management and construction industries.
Karl Stauty, Owner, Commercial Power Sweeping, is among today’s most trusted service providers along the east coast. His basic operating philosophy has served as a fully-organic primary branding tool. It essentially amounts to being fair and treating people well — just trying to build good relationships with employees, customers, vendors — everybody.
But, that’s telling the story too fast. What’s really happened to make CPS so successful and so sustainable in the Virginia / North Carolina interstate market?
The Karl Stauty and CPS Business Growth Story
Well, in the beginning, Stauty worked for an outdoor power equipment company. He was recognized as a very talented professional in his field and one company after another was trying to hire him. A pavement sweeping business owner tried to recruit him. Karl tells his story:
I pointed out that the guy only had one truck, and I also told him I don’t want to work for anybody. He said, “Buy me out. So, we made a plan and I bought him out. Then, for a long time, I worked both jobs — my regular job and running the new business. It was challenging, and we were having a baby and renovating an old house all at the same time.
Starting out, I was beating the pavement, trying to increase route density as fast as possible. Within 18 months, I added a second truck, and about 9 months later I added a third. Then I ended up connecting with a property manager, an IREM member. She was so proud of what we were doing, we were able to develop a long business relationship with her.
Today, we service 26 properties for that management company. Our business is currently about 60% retail, 40% commercial work and industrial cleanup after milling for paving contractors. We’ve had 4 to 5 trucks per day behind those. Every year we’ve grown by word-of-mouth and through the website. Over the past 4 years or so (since COVID), business has dropped, but we’ve still never had to go out and do sales to keep growing.
Equipment at CPS, Smithfield VA
We’ve bought all kinds of sweeper trucks over the years — Elgin, Tymco, Sweeprite, Schwarze, Nitehawk, and Victory. The last five trucks we’ve purchased have been Victorys. I like them because they’re so durable. They’re made of stainless steel, which is a huge benefit on the coast. Their simplicity of design is also important to us. Some have involved too much overthinking. We just need it to work. We don’t need all the bells and whistles and gadgets.
Victory sweepers’ quality of craftsmanship, their price point, product support, and their innovations are all excellent. Our mechanic calls their support team, and whatever we need, it’s done. We also like the common use of parts through their model. That’s a very important convenience and time-saver for us.
We currently have 9 street sweepers and 14 for parking lots, all NiteHawk, Victory, and Schwarze. We have pickup trucks that our porters drive, and those that our 4 guys in building maintenance drive. We have a service truck with an air compressor, a welder, a crane, and equipment for hydraulics work. We had a water truck, but have eliminated it, partly because of the very strict storm water regulations here.
Commercial Power Sweeping Team
We have multiple porters, people in building maintenance, pavement sweeping, and other service types. We also use subcontractors for some building upgrades and other large jobs. There is a superintendent for each division, and two other long-time employees who handle training. We have an operations manager and an administrative assistant in the field. We also have two full-time mechanics who are very, very efficient.
For sweeper truck maintenance and any work on other vehicles, there’s nothing we don’t do in-house. We rebuild engines, weld, etc. We have two tire changing machines. The chassis wear out before the sweepers. So, we’ve probably remounted about a dozen sweepers on chassis.
When we get a new driver, after 2 to 3 weeks of training, he spends time with the mechanics. Every truck goes through the shop every day. The operators are trained to do pre- and post-route paperwork. But regular maintenance is going on 7 days per week. We do 30 trucks every week.
CPS Culture
We have a very low turnover rate, and the key is to treat people right and recognize the value of the performance they provide. We have a couple of dozen drivers and building maintenance employees, and four managers, so a total of about 30 people, including myself. Two-thirds of our employees have been with us 15 years or more. One has been with me 27 years and another for 20 yrs.
Yet, like all businesses in every industry these days, our biggest challenge remains finding and keeping good talent. Fortunately, we get a good number of referrals to new workers from our current employees and other acquaintances. We do offer a complete benefits package, including medical, dental, vision, and 401K.
We have monthly meetings about quality, new accounts, performance, forecasting for replacement equipment, etc. We have a big Christmas party every year. We give performance bonuses, and bonuses based on a lack of damage to equipment. We also reward drivers if they see potholes or other issues by paying them a bonus if we get the job because of them bringing the report to us.
Safety is top priority for us. We provide safety vests and all other safety gear. We also provide uniforms, boots, etc. (Marketing is minimal at CPS. But, the safety vests do have the logo.)
I’m looking to scale back on unnecessary costs more and more every day. So, it’s a lean workplace culture. I like to make sure it’s as efficient as possible. So, saving costs and maximizing efficiency are priorities in our company culture. But, our culture is centered on our customers’ needs. Anything that needs a response within 24 hours, we make that happen.
In terms of a growth plan, we want to keep our forward movement as-is and progress naturally. I believe — don’t bite off more than you can chew. Some business owners like to explode their metrics all at once. We’ll never do that. Just steady, controlled growth is what I want, and to cut overhead so we can share the wealth.
Advice for New Market Entrants from Karl Stauty, Owner, Commercial Power Sweeping, Suffolk VA
I think most people realize this, but business is relationships. It’s not about the money, it’s about the relationships. If you can build relationships with your customers, you’ll grow as they grow. They’ll take you with them over the years to come, because you have built your relationship with them on trust.
To do that, don’t say you’ll do something you cannot perform. Be straight-up honest. Call and let them know if there’s a problem. We want to communicate with them before they call us about any issue.
We never want to be a nameless invoice. We can never go to a customer’s site and not find some issues that need attention. Once a month or more, we check every location. That keeps the lines of communication open, generates trust, and generates income.