Mr. Appliance of Clermont & Apopka: Bringing Great Service to Appliance Repair
Florida SBDC at UCF Assists with Launch and Growth of Local Home and Commercial Appliance Repair Franchise
January 6, 2023
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Hal Thayer, Communications Director, FSBDC at UCF, 407.420.4850 or HThayer@ucf.edu
Expanding a local small business from one state to another can easily become a complex and daunting process. All manner of rules, regulations, and requirements can – and very frequently do – differ from state to state and it can be a steep climb to get started. It was for that reason that, when owners Amanda Martin and her husband James decided to leverage the success that they found in New Jersey by launching a second Mr. Appliance franchise in Florida, they turned to the Florida Small Business Development Center at the University of Central Florida (FSBDC at UCF) for guidance.
Mr. Appliance is North America’s leading home and commercial appliance repair franchise system. Established in 1996 and now with almost 290 locations in the U.S. and Canada, Mr. Appliance franchises provide full-service home appliance and light commercial appliance repair services. “We have a Mr. Appliance in New Jersey and we wanted to grow,” Martin recalls. “Florida is a great place to do that, so we decided to open our second service center, Mr. Appliance of Clermont & Apopka.” Thanks to the professionalism, training, and the courtesy of their office staff and technicians, the Martins’ Florida office has established itself as the preferred vendor in its service area. “We truly care about getting you up and running as soon as possible,” Martin states. As an authorized service provider for many leading manufacturers including Bosch and GE, they receive the training and support needed to make the right repairs quickly, as well as pass on manufacturer’s discounts to their customers.
“We sought help from the FSBDC to start our company in Florida because we didn’t know where to start, or what’s needed by the state,” shares Martin. “The FSBDC really helped us get moving in a very, very positive direction and getting us up and running a lot quicker than we anticipated. They helped me every step of the way to create my business, getting all the paperwork taken care of with phone calls, video calls, everything I needed. Any question I had, they were there to answer them for me.”
“Working with our consultant Chuck Wheeler and the FSBDC was a dream,” Martin continues. “They made sure I stayed on target, stayed on task, stayed on track to open my business as soon as possible.” Wheeler’s and the FSBDC’s assistance didn’t stop with the launch of the business either. “Even now he still keeps in contact. “Now that we’ve been open 18 months, the FSBDC is assisting us with our marketing, getting our name out there. They have been a tremendous help to us growing in our target area, which is Winter Garden and Horizon West. We are definitely growing and becoming the superior appliance repair company that everybody in our area wants to call for their needs,” says Martin.
“The one word I would use to describe the FSBDC would be ‘Extraordinary’, concludes Martin. “They helped us keep on track with opening our business and to go above and beyond to keep furthering our expansion as well as growth. They care about how our business is doing in the State of Florida and we appreciate it very much.”
About the FSBDC at UCF
Hosted by the University of Central Florida (UCF), and with its main office in the National Entrepreneur Center located at the Fashion Square Mall in Orlando, the Florida Small Business Development Center at the University of Central Florida (FSBDC at UCF) is part of part of UCF’s Office of the President and the Florida SBDC Network.
The Florida SBDC at UCF provides aspiring and existing small businesses with no-cost consulting, low-cost training, and access to business data and research resources. In addition to its core service offering, the Florida SBDC at UCF also offers specialized services to qualifying companies, including capital access, market growth, government contracting, international trade, business continuation, cybersecurity, disaster planning and recovery, and more. The FSBDC at UCF serves an eight-county area that includes Brevard, Flagler, Lake, Orange, Osceola, Seminole, Sumter, and Volusia counties and maintains 9 service centers across Central Florida.
In 2022, the FSBDC at UCF served more than 2,700 entrepreneurs in Central Florida with consulting services, resulting in more than 10,600 jobs created, retained or saved; $793.9 million in sales growth; $66.7 million in capital formation; $103.8 million in government contract awards; and 160 new businesses started. For more information, please visit www.sbdcorlando.com .
About the Florida SBDC Network
For over forty years, the Florida SBDC Network, the state’s principal provider of business assistance [Fl. Stat. 288.001], has nourished a statewide partnership between higher education and economic development to provide existing and emerging small and medium-sized business owners with management and knowledge resources that enable overall growth, increased profitability, and economic prosperity for Florida’s economy.
In 2022, Florida SBDCs provided 157,841 hours of professional business consulting to more than 18,379 client businesses. Based on the results from the network’s latest economic impact analysis, the FSBDC’s services resulted in almost 29,000 jobs impacted; $4.8 billion in sales generated; $381.6 million in government contracts acquired; and $528.4 million in capital accessed.
A statewide network of over 40 offices, the Florida SBDC is funded in part by the U.S. Small Business Administration, U.S. Department of Defense, State of Florida and other private and public partners. The Florida SBDC Network, headquartered at the University of West Florida, is nationally accredited by the Association of SBDCs and is a 2016 recipient of the President’s E Award for Export Service. Florida SBDC services are extended to the public on a nondiscriminatory basis. Language assistance services are available for individuals with limited English proficiency. For more information, please visit www.FloridaSBDC.org.
FSBDC at UCF | 3201 E. Colonial Drive | Orlando, FL 32801 | p 407.420.4850 | f 407.420.4862
sbdc@ucf.edu | www.sbdcorlando.com
