Today we’d like to introduce you to Antonio Paden.
Antonio, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Like anyone else I have a ton of things to do during the week. With my career, meetings, church, and 4 babies, I find myself pressed for time almost every day. I remember sitting at home one Saturday thinking, what is one thing I can eliminate that will free up some time? I sat there for 2 hours thinking, and I couldn’t think of one thing. So I said screw it and decided to go grab some Wingstop. I got to my car, started driving out of the garage, and my oil light comes on. I immediately got frustrated because this is one extra thing I have to try to get done on top of everything else. The next day I go to work and I have Safelite come to my job to replacement my windshield. After they finished, I got in the car to go to lunch and there’s the oil light again. I remember saying “I wish someone could come change my oil too”. That’s when it hit me that this could be that one thing that I could eliminate. That was the birthing point of Upick Mobile Oil.
I used to get upset with my dad when he made me change my own oil because of the work it took. I’m extremely grateful for that life lesson now. That life lesson has put me on a path to help other people save time in their day and to have a million-dollar business.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
It has not been all smoothing sailing. One of the biggest struggles of starting a business from the ground up is that most other businesses don’t take you serious. It was extremely hard for us to get some of the major oil companies to sell us oil at a wholesale price without paying over $100,000. First thing is where would we get that type of money and secondly, where would we put that type of inventory. They literally would put us on a phone chase. We also had an issue with finding a company to sell us oil filters at a wholesale price. No one really wanted to give us a chance.
We could have easily given in and said it’s not worth the time. Instead, we kept going and spoke with the right person at the right time. We now have a partnership with Pennzoil Motor oil and Autozone!
Please tell us about UPick Mobile Oil.
Upick Mobile oil is exactly what the name says. We bring the oil change to you. We are a company that really has the heart to make our customers convenience our priority. Our oil changing experience is literally like no other. Who really likes to go to a shop to sit in a lobby for 30-45 minutes for an oil change that should take 15-20 minutes. We have made it to where our customers can get their oil changed at their desired time and place. I’m the founder and owner of UPick. Quinton Dawn services as the co-owner of UPick. He currently oversees the oil change process and operations. I currently manage the overall operations of the business. It does my heart good to know that we are the reason why people don’t have to put a pause in their lives to get an oil change. Our competitors like Take 5 Oil Change, NTB, and Kwik Car, to name a few, all make you go to them. We actually come to you. You can schedule an appointment for us to come to your job while you’re at the doctor, shopping at the mall, or even at your kid’s practice.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
One big lesson I learned is to take risk sooner. You will never know how or if something will work if you don’t try it. There were a ton of things that I put on the back burn with the business because I thought that it was too “risky”. I quickly learned the bigger the risk, the bigger the reward.
Contact Info:
- Address: 539 W Commerce St #622 Dallas TX 75028
- Website: www.upickoil.com
- Phone: 903-490-5262
- Email: apaden@upickoil.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/upickoil/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/upickoil
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