Seems like everyone in Florida came from somewhere else…and that’s how this story begins.
Carefree Home Watch of Fort Myers, FL was co-founded in 2018 by Larry and Terry Meek after relocating from Illinois. Both had spent their careers in corporate America, each honing expertise in various aspects of managing a business. Larry is more inclined toward conceptual thinking and Terry the more practical implementation side of the business. One is more sales, strategic and long-term planning, and financial management-oriented and the other is more attuned to marketing, advertising, accounting, and keeping an even keel while at the helm. A perfect couple for growing a small business.
Some time ago we were introduced to The Go-Giver, a book about a powerful business idea. It talks about The Five Laws of Stratospheric Success:
- The Law of Value. Your true worth is determined by how much more you give in value than you take.
- The Law of Compensation. Your income is determined by how many people you serve and how well you serve them.
- The Law of Influence. Your influence is determined by how abundantly you place other people’s interests first.
- The Law of Authenticity. The most valuable gift you have to offer is yourself.
- The Law of Receptivity. The key to effective giving is to stay open to receiving.
We identified with every “Law” the book talked about. We made a commitment to ourselves, our customers, and our vendor partners that we would “Provide Exceptional Care When You’re Not There™”. We felt so strongly about this phrase and its literal meaning that we Trademarked the phase and adopted it as our mantra. We live by this commitment.
We knew that starting a Home Watch business required much more than just an idea. We learned very valuable lessons in our corporate lives and knew that it would require analytical thinking, determined organization, a business plan adapted to the vision, training, and state-of-the-art software for client reporting. We knew that providing exceptional service to our customers would be crucial to gaining their loyalty, retaining their business, and developing future referrals from the existing customer base. We prepared ourselves.
Early on we made a commitment to become professionally trained and are graduates of the Your Home Watch Professional Training (Home Watch Academy) organization where we were introduced to Karl Gibbons of Third Eye Management, a business consulting firm. Karl planted a seed with us that drove us to think outside the box and to look for ways to differentiate ourselves from everyone else in the market. We have diligently strived to do that in every aspect of the business. Karl shared a vision of a herd of wild horses (Mustangs) running across the wide-open plains and in the middle of the herd was a single Zebra. His point was not lost on us that anyone can run with the herd but to be different, truly different, you have to stand out and be the exception. That became our vision.
Today, our business is five times larger than we envisioned in those early days. We have worked harder and longer hours at building this business than we ever did working for someone else. We call it the “Journey”. It has been everything we imagined and more.
Carefree Home Watch Serves the Greater Fort Myers, FL area, Estero, and Sanibel Island. To learn more about Carefree Home Watch you can visit www.carefreehomewatch.com or click below to request a free in-home consultation. You can expedite your request by calling 239-234-1847.
