Despite the housing market woes that hit the state last summer and have since generated daily headlines, Tony Thompson’s business Remodeling Services Unlimited, which serves primarily residential clientele, has maintained consistent sales. In fact, he anticipates that sales will pick up. That ability to roll with the punches, or the downturns, is what has made Remodeling Services a small business success story since its beginnings as a property management and maintenance firm started by Tony’s father in 1977.

Tony, who had always enjoyed carpentry and building, began working for his father after high school. After a brief stint in college, he realized that he was already making good money – more than his friends would likely make after graduation – and decided to return to his father’s business. In 1986, his father retired and he took control of the business narrowing its focus to remodeling services.

In 2004, Remodeling Services Unlimited received an SBA-guaranteed loan from Capital One. The company had grown to the point where Tony couldn’t manage as effectively. He used the capital to hire more management and office employees so that he could focus on the sales aspect of the business. Previously, he had been traveling back and forth between on site work and the office, resulting in a drop in sales. With the addition of a project manager for the field and additional office employees, sales increased 11 percent per year after 2004. Remodeling Services Unlimited currently has five full-time employees, including Tony.

Tony has more than a talent for the service side of business, he also has a keen business sense and an understanding of market trends.

“People’s biggest investment is their homes,” he says. And in the current housing market, Remodeling Services Unlimited can help protect that investment, providing repairs to maintain the value of the home and remodeling services to increase the value. With the downturn, remodeling jobs tend to be small cosmetic affairs rather than major renovations, but those jobs are now more important than ever in the current market.

Homeowners know this, and they’ve continued to rely on Remodeling Services Unlimited.

And so it’s business as usual at Remodeling Services Unlimited, just as it has been for the past 30 years and through two recessions. Right now, business is looking good.