10Q’s with Joe Finney

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Park Home Shield

Q. How long have you been in the Park Home Industry?

A. I’ve been in the park home industry for about 9 years and started off by getting a call out to do a roof on a park home and it sort of flourished from there and then went into actual park homes as opposed to just roofing and the business flourished and sort of grew.

Q. Would you say you grew instantly or was it like a work in progress?

A. No it sort of just clicked, it felt like it was what I was meant to be doing and everything sort of fell into place really. There have been some hurdles along the way but you know there are always ways around them or over them or through them if it comes to it.

Q. What is your greatest success that your business has achieved?

A. We love to get a lot of feedback from our customers. We want to continuously understand what their needs are and what they want. Because unless you’re supplying what you want, then you’re not really doing well are you.

Q. How do you think the industry can be improved as we move forward?

A. I think it can be improved in a lot of ways to be honest. I’d say one important thing to do is maintenance plans that we do which I think it’s important and not many people do that. It needs to be worked on and put forward a bit more. A lot of customers need a lot of jobs done and are breaking the bank for them.

Q. What would you say are the most important principles that you live by in terms of managing your business?

A. I’d say customer service. Making sure that the customers are always happy and satisfied with the service. Making sure that the job is fully understood and making sure that the guys are doing a good job. Making sure that we keep a good schedule and get everything done to the best of our ability. Keep a tight ship and take care of our customers.

Q. Can you tell us about one of the biggest challenges that you have faced within your career?

A. There’s nothing that we have faced that has been extremely challenging. Just always ensuring that the jobs we are doing are to the best of our ability and that our customers are completely satisfied to avoid any troubles.

Q. What is the last thing you think about before you go to bed, in terms of business?

A. It really depends on the day. There is always something on my mind. Whether it be the next day, the current day or something in months time. I’m always thinking ahead. Always something to do with the business.

Q. What would you say makes a good park operator and supplier?

A. Park operator – it’s just maintaining the parks and listening to the residents. Seeing what their needs are for the actual park. We see a lot of park operators that are very neglectful of their parks, a lot of them have a bad reputation which is never a good thing.

Supplier – maintaining great customer care and satisfaction. Making sure that you’re listening to what your clients need and that you’re following through with what they want.

Q. Do you have anything new or exciting coming up?

A. We have the maintenance plan – it’s a £30 a month plan, where a customer calls us up and we do an initial property survey for them, checking to see if there’s any problems.

If there are any existing problems then we sign them up and every 2 years we come and do a survey on their property. And every 4 years we book them out and paint their house free of charge.

Check if there’s any damage to their property, for example, damp on their walls and we help them out and do any damage control free of charge too.

Q. How would you like the PHHPA to help you with your business?

A. I’d like you to work with the park operators. When they’re selling any new homes, they can put our maintenance plan out there.

Q. What would you say stands in the way of growth?

A. The thing that stands in the way is probably…sleep. No but really, it’s more finance related. Ensuring that you have a great plan and are not taking in more than you should. Get your name out there and grow your brand awareness. Ensure you’re marketing your company correctly.

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