21 years in Business


Today, we are celebrating Father's 21st Anniversary as owner of our business, Rainbow Electronics. 21 years ago he made the decision to buy the business from his former employers and closed escrow, yes, on April Fools Day, April 1st, 1988. Father turned the business around and it has outlasted many of the other electronic repairs shops in town. Including the big box stores Good Guys and Circuit City who ended up closing within the past year.

Since we are a warranty service station for many manufacturers, we have customers from all over the united states. Between Father and our genius technicians, he established a reputation for being one of the best in the business. Can you tell I'm proud.

Unofficially I am co-owner of the business and what the IRS likes to call 'volunteer spouse'. Officially I am the office manager and accountant. I became involved in the business back in 1993 when Father and I were dating. I took over the bookkeeping and transferred him over from Peachtree (horrendous accounting system) to Quickbooks. Shows you how much he trusted me - letting me take over the finances while we were still dating. We have made many changes over the years adjusting as needed, expanding to repairing professional equipment as the vcrs and dvd machines became less expensive and easier to replace, rather than repair.

That is the advantage of having a mom and pop business. We can adjust, rather than being at the mercy of corporate board or shareholders. Just yesterday, I was discussing this with one of our technicians, H who will have been with us 19 years. He had the opportunity to go to Handy Andy - They shut down. He had the opportunity to work for Good Guys and Circuit City, but he gave it all up to work for us. And guess what - they shut down as well. And its been to his benefit and our benefit. He has had a steady job for 19 years and counting, and we have had the benefit of his vast expertise which allows us to repair equipment that is over 50 - 60 years old. With both of our technicians and Father having over 30 years experience each, we have been able to establish a niche that most companies can't. We are the only business in town that repairs anything over 10 years of age.

The point is - because we are a mom and pop business, we have a tendency to purchase from other mom and pop business. The big box stores may have lower prices and a large selection (sometimes) but the mom and pop's - they provide quality products, personalized service and they care about your business. I'm proud to be a part of that. Most of all I'm proud of Father for sticking in there and making the business what it is today.

Congratulations - Father!

3 comments:

  1. Congratulations! Having owned a small business for many years, I know how challenging and how satisfying it can be. It's becoming more difficult for mom and pop businesses to compete in a lot of industries, and I'm always thrilled to hear a success story.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Congrats! My hubby and I both grew up with parents who were self-employed (mine fixed bulldozers and his owned a greenhouse), and we both realize the importance of mom and pop shops. We frequent them as often as we can.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Mom and Pop businesses rock! Congrats to your father, and wishing you all the best.

    ReplyDelete

Unfortunately due to being spammed, all comments will be moderated and will appear after approval. At least I'm not using the dreaded captcha. Thank you for dropping by!