For Anthony Samuels, the name Done Right Building Services was a backup choice after he learned his original pick for his Boston cleaning company, Continental Building Services, was taken.
During the 25 years since, Samuels has repeatedly questioned his decision to go with his second choice after running across too many other companies with similar names. One even filed for bankruptcy protection, complicating his effort to get a line of credit with a bank at one point.
“It cost me $2,000 to clear up something that had nothing to do with me,” Samuels says.
He is now calling the business DRB Facility Services.
“It’s something I’ve been thinking about for years, but never took the time to do it,” he says.
The name change comes at an inflection point for Samuels’ company. He recently landed a major new contract with Simon Property Group that took effect in January. He used to clean three Simon shopping centers: Copley Place, the Shops at Chestnut Hill, and Wrentham Village Premium Outlets. Now, his firm will clean 17 Simon malls across New England. He says the contract has enabled him to expand the business from about 450 full- and part-time workers to 600; revenue is on target to grow in 2019 by nearly 60 percent from $13 million last year.
Other clients include all three of the state’s biggest health insurers: Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, and Tufts Health Plan.
Samuels also recently completed the first round of Eastern Bank’s relatively new Business Equity Initiative, which pairs minority business owners with strategic advisers.
Eastern paid 80 percent of the consultant’s costs, while Samuels picked up the rest. Brian Post was Samuels’ partner in the program; Samuels has since decided to continue to use Post as a regular consultant to his business.
Among the changes that Post recommended: hiring an experienced chief financial officer/chief operating officer. Samuels picked Kenneth Martin to be his lieutenant last spring; Martin had previously held a similar role at ACC Construction.
With all the growth underway, Samuels says he also worried that “Done Right” sounded like a much smaller business.
“Now is the perfect time,” Samuels says.
“As we are evolving into a larger company, we thought the name change would be more suitable for the type of clients we’re going after.”
Thanks to JON CHESTO and The Boston Globe for producing and publishing the article The work’s done right, but not the name.
