Interview: Scott Warrington from Interlink Supply / Bridgepoint Systems

I had the chance to ask Scott Warrington from Interlink Supply/Bridgepoint Systems a few questions about his business between the two and a few questions that does not involve carpet cleaning.
1) Where were you born and raised?
I was born in Erie, Pa. When I was 12, our family visited Tennessee to consider moving there to serve where need was greater. My father made the move the following year. My mother and brother and I waited a few more months – until June of 1966 – for the school year to finish and then moved to Tennessee. In spent the next 40 plus years in Tullahoma and Winchester, TN except for short periods of time in Covington, GA, Fort Pierce Fl, and Alaska.
Interestingly, Ruth Travis of rug class and IICRC fame was also from Erie. So was Joel Reets who runs a large cleaning / restoration business near Atlanta and headed ISCT for several years. Bill Yeadon’s wife is from Erie. He spend considerable time there while courting. We discovered this one evening while having dinner together at an industry event. There is something about Erie that makes you want to move away and start cleaning something.
2) What did you want to become when you were younger?
My early interests were in computers and electric engineering. I think I stunned my first grade teacher when she was asking the class what we wanted to be when we grew up. Others were saying fireman, cowboy etc. and I said electrical engineer with a focus on computer design.
3) What do you like to do on your spare time?
Not nearly enough of that. Of course, the ministry and other theocratic activities fill a lot of my non-work time. I love to travel and see new places. Sometimes I get to do this as part of work and/or for theocratic reasons. (I’ve worked at 6 branches offices and visited a few others.)
Playing tennis, baseball or softball and photography fill the rest of my leisure time wish list.
4) Which company are you with now and how have they treated you so far?
I work for Bridgewater Incorporated. This is the over-arching corporation that is know for brands that include Bridgepoint, HydroForce, CRW (Cleaning & Restoration Wholesale), Aqua Air, Interlink Supply, Tes, OmniPro, Interlink Financial and so on. I Started here in January of 2004.
Previous to coming to Bridgewater, I was an owner operator of a cleaning and restoration business for 30 plus years. Worked for other cleaning companies even before then.
For several years during the time I operated my own business I also was an instructor teaching IICRC classes as an independent and classes for CTI / Pro’s Choice.
Bridgewater treats me fine. Often what I like best about working here is what I also dislike. For example my schedule. When working for myself, I often worked 50, 60 or 70 hours per week. Now it is just 40 hours most weeks. I used to travel way too much. Now I only travel 3 or 4 times per year. Bit I also have less freedom to take on a pet project or take a few days off whenever I want to. Very good people to work for. They appreciate what I am able to do for them.
5) What inspired you about this Industry and how did you get started?
My father operated a window cleaning business when I was a teen-ager. Often his customers asked for other services – floors stripped, janitorial, carpet cleaning, etc. Since his company only did windows, I took on many of these requests as side jobs.
Later I worked for the University of Tennessee and the EPA in anti-pollution and energy research. When the situation arose that I had to quit my job to maintain neutrality, I took some of those side jobs and built it into a cleaning business. Eventually we focused on carpet and upholstery.
6) What has made you successful?
Success is different to each person. My goal was always to support my family while leaving most of my time and energy for the ministry. While I never got rich or had a huge company, I did meet my definition of success with help from Jenny, my wife.
7) How did you overcome the worst outcome?
When I was forced to quit my job at UT, Jenny was 8 months pregnant. So medical bills very quickly came along with trying to quickly grow side jobs into a full time source of support. Persistence and being content with what we had at any time plus some patient folks in the hospital’s accounts receivable department were keys.
8) Have you ever thought of just giving up?
I thought about quitting a few times. There were some offers for me in the computer business in large cities. But I wanted to raise the kids in the small town. Choices were limited as to work, so I never seriously thought about any different career.
9) Are you satisfied with where you are at in life at the moment?
Being satisfied can hamper our desire to always do better or improve in what we are doing. So, I have never thought of myself as being satisfied. I would always be willing to consider new opportunities and challenges. But I am content. I don’t have regrets about my life course or where I am now.
10) Could you give our TMF Members any extra advice?
It seems that most of the members are owners / operators. As an O/O it took me several years to realize that I was not simply in the carpet cleaning business. If I wanted the business to grow or even to be a steady and dependable source of income, I must be in the marketing business, selling the services I offered. Unfortunately the idea that you can “build a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door” just isn’t true anymore. We have to go and take that business.
Many cleaners are good technical people. We know how to clean. But technical minds are not usually creative minds. We need guidance to be our best at marketing. While coming to the TM forum or other BBs and asking other cleaners for help is of limited value. They are mostly technical people, too. Don’t hesitate to get help in your marketing and then take the time and effort to implement the marketing plan. It may be Howard or Joe or John or Wayne or anyone else, but connect with someone who will help you market. Don’t under-estimate the importance of that aspect of running a business.
BTW- If you grow the business to a size where you are hiring employees, remember that most of us are not trained and experienced at managing a company. We only manage ourselves. So there may be other areas we need help in. The business that really grow usually did not do so solely on the talents of one person.