Today we’d like to introduce you to Adam Virani.
Adam, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
After finishing Grad school, I joined the corporate world and worked for a couple of amazing companies gained a wealth of knowledge and experience but I left like something was missing and longed for more. In the midst of it all, my grandpa finally decided to move to the US.
He stayed with me in Chicago for a couple of months and hated the weather. He asked me “Would you move to Dallas?” Having my dad in Dallas, we already had a foundation but leaving friends, family, selling our home, and asking my wife to leave her job she worked so hard for, was a challenge, to say the least! I am blessed to have a wonderful and supportive partner; she knew how much my grandpa meant to me. So we uprooted and moved to the lone star state! They say, we all have a mission is life; maybe grandpa’s was to convince me to live closer to my dad. Couple of quick months later, grandpa’s health deteriorated and off to the gates of Heaven he went.
Being a successful businessman all his life, grandpa made another request of me, to start my own business; be self-employed and make sure to help others along the way. He said, “I will always pray for your success.” One thing led to another and found myself as a contractor for an Oil company pressure washing, striping parking lots, and painting exterior fixtures of gas stations. Cashed out my 401K and a baby on the way, failure was not an option! A few Gas stations a month wasn’t cutting it, this is where things got interesting. Everything I learned in the 15 years working for fortune 500 companies came into actions. In order to manage the budget, I worked nights, got on my hands and knees and painted islands, bollards, and safety poles. I became an expert at parking lot striping and pressure washing. During the day, I made hundreds of cold calls, like I did in my corporate jobs.
Today, StripingLot has contracts for over 400 gas stations and preferred vendor for many others.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
There were some very hard times; there were locations where I was scared for my life. There were times where customers spat and said some very mean things to me but I never gave up! I wanted my company to be a household name for pressure washing and parking striping. Mark Cuban said, “Don’t wish for it, work for it.” Customers started to notice my work and hired my company for their other locations. Construction companies started to contact me back and needed someone right away to finish a job. Guess what? I had the time!
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the StripingLot story. Tell us more about the business.
StripingLot is a parking lot striping and pressure washing company. There are dozens of companies doing the same job and I needed my company to be different. How can StripingLot be better and be cost efficient?
Our slogan is, Because Perfection matters. Again, I went back to my roots. I motivated my employees by profit sharing. Instead of pressure washing with a cap full of soap, we lathered the entire workspace with soap and sent a picture to customers. This was never done before and started to hear comments like, “no one has even washed like this,” and “are you available for monthly services.” We started to use the best quality, long lasting paint available for parking lot striping. I knew, if I kept up with the quality, quantity will follow. None of this would be possible without my hardworking team and I am very proud of each and every one of them.
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
Thomas Jefferson said, “I find that the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have.” Luck was on my side because I am not afraid of working hard or getting my hands dirty. My grandpa used to say, “Roll up those sleeves and lead by example.”
I feel very lucky to have educated friends and family who took the time to listen to my struggles and coached me. My younger sister, A Rocket Scientist helped me write up contracts and my best friend a Doctor, would pick up my calls all hours of the day and bring me back to reality.
Contact Info:
- Website: StripingLot.com
- Phone: 972-370-4786
- Email: info@StripingLot.com
- Instagram: Instagram.com/StripingLot
- Facebook: Facebook.com/StripingLot
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