Well spring has definitely sprung and we are booming with business. I love this time of the year. As a result of the mild winter we had in Houston, the termite swarmers are exploding everywhere. We are getting reports that people are seeing swarmers flying everywhere. If you haven’t had your house checked yet this year, don’t wait. Do it now.
We are also starting to see the flea population pick up. Fleas like to hang out on top of the soil and under rocks and in the mulch. They are constantly dropping their eggs and as people or animals starting walking around the vibrations cause the eggs to hatch with hungry fleas. Now is the time to get your yard treated with both a granule application as well as the liquid application.
If this spring is any indication I what’s to come this summer, it’s going to be a very buggy summer in Houston. In the pest control industry we can only hope so.
Since I started working for McGrath Pest Control, one of the things I really wanted to try and do is network the business. I knew we had a fairly successful business, but I also realized there was so much more out there. I just had to figure out the best way to get our name in front of lots of different types of people for as little price as possible.
My dad, in the past, had tried many different types of advertising from yellow pages to billboards. All of which were expensive with small results compared to the old faithful word of mouth. I knew I had to come up with another form of advertising that gave me the word of mouth referrals but to a large amount of people. One of my customers introduced me to the world of business networking. He told me he was forming a quarterly function where I would be able to meet 30 to 40 other small business owners with the same goals of meeting new people and creating contacts. I thought this sounded great so I decided to attend and ended up joining this networking group.
I had no idea what I was doing while attending these meeting. There were so many people there chatting and talking and for the most part they all seemed like they knew each other and were friends. I knew two people, the host and my wife, both of who already used my services. That first meeting I kinda walked around with my drink in my hand hoping either I would see someone I knew or someone would come up to me and start a conversation. I kinda felt like I was at my first coed jr high dance.
Well we ended up getting our food and sitting at a table with just another couple there. Good thing for me they were a very nice couple and our wives hit it off right away. I found out he was in the promotions business, so I think he was more excited to meet me cause he saw fresh meat that he could try and get more business from. We chatted for a few hours, exchanged business cards, and just talked about of businesses and past. It was great getting to know him cause he already knew a lot of the people there and he was able to either point out certain people or introduce me to some of his friends.
We left there that night not sure if it was all worth the trouble of going. I did know one thing though. The food was good and the beer was cold. I did like that part of the networking group. A few days later I saw on my call sheet that I was headed to the house of the promotional and marketing guy that I had met. He actually called the office and set up an appointment for me to spray his house. So, wow, I actually got at least one new customer from that night. We quickly became friends and began to show me a whole new world of advertising, business networking. I was hooked.
Well as it gets warmer and the insects start swarming out everywhere, I can’t help but think about all the new business we at McGrath Pest Control are about to get. I also can’t wait for spring baseball. This year marks the 2nd year my 10 yr old, Deven, will be on his select baseball team – Katy Bombers Red.
Last year was the first year this team was assembled with only a few past select players. Most of the players were first time select players. It was such a fun time for both the kids and the parents. From day one all the kids bonded and acted like they had known each other for years. Of course someone of them had. One even went to daycare with Deven when they were 4 and 5. We started the season off with a bang, but quickly came back to the pack towards the end of the season. It was definitly an expansion time for the Bombers Red. We took our lumps toward the end but gained valuable knowledge on how and what it means to be a select baseball team.
Saturday afternoon will mark the beginning of year 2 of the Bombers Red and I couldn’t be more excited. We lost a few of our good players, but kept our core kids together while adding 3 or 4 more exceptional looking kids. The kids look more experienced and have a greater knowledge of the game this year. I’m expecting us to be more poised and be very competitive with some of the more experienced teams this year. With the help of the coached and the support of the parents, this should be a very fun year for the Bombers Red select baseball team. I encourage anyone who reads this to contact me and come out and see these boys compete. It’s very exciting.
Go Bombers Red!!!!!!……………Now Play Ball!!!!!!
Well it’s February 15 and I found my first case of termite swarmers this year. It’s a little early but with the wet and warm weather we have been having, I’m not too surprised. For me and my company this is a good thing, but for the consumer it may not be. An early warm spring means more insects will be swarming sooner and more often. Be prepared and have someone come out and inspect your home or place of business now. Hopefully we can find it early and save you even more money in repairs.
As we are getting closer to Christmas, I’m convinced the weather start to stay cold. You would think after spending most of my life in Houston I would start to understand that if your not happy with the weather just wait till tomorrow and it will change. In the pest control business warmer months are most definitely the best months for us, but if we market ourselves in the right way and educate the customer correctly we can have a very productive winter.
The number one call we get at McGrath Pest Control during the winter months are rodent calls. People will call us saying the are hearing noises in their walls or attic at night. This is very common in Houston. As much as you want to deny it, you can’t. There are and always will be rodents around Houston. I wish I could get my magical flute and march them away from every ones house, no wait no I don’t, that would be bad for future business. So I guess I just need to educate my customers on how to either control them around their house and or keep them from getting in their house.
If rats are already in your house we can trap them and get rid of them. But If they still access or entry points then your problem will never go away. We have find out where they are entering your house and seal up those areas. Sometimes this isn’t as easy as one may thing. Go outside and look around your house. I mean really look around and inspect every little crack and crevice. You will find hundreds of little holes and gaps and breaks around that could possibility be and entry point for not only rodents but also roaches, ants, mice, and on some occasions raccoons and possums. Below are just a few examples of some of the more common gaps that we see and suggest sealing up all the time.
You can see the one on the left has about three or four inches of space where the rats, in this house, were getting into. The picture on the right shows how a raccoon can destroy your screens and find a nice warm place to hide from the outside. In both cases we had to seal up these holes in order to keep further infestations from occurring.
Again a good rule of thumb to have as a home owner is “the more you can seal up, the better!” If your not sure what to look for then call McGrath Pest Control and we can come out point out any possible entry points that may need to be sealed up to insure no unwanted guest during the Christmas holidays.
Posted in Rodents
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Tagged exclusions, rats
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The other day someone on twitter sent me this link about a new breed of roaches. It’s a South American roach that is able to jump much like a grasshopper. It’s pretty cool, check it out. I hope none of my customers ever get this. They will totally freak out. http://t.co/S4taPE0P
Here is my new blog I’m going to start writing. For some reason I can’t find any of my old chron.com blogs so I guess I’ll start a new one. There are a lot of new things happening in 2012 at McGrath Pest Control. Stay tuned and see what they are. I will also try and write more this next year and make this blog both informative and fun to read. Well at least as much as I can. Stay tuned.
