Lynda Rothschild is an entrepreneur always in search of new ways to grow her business and find new customers in every type of economic environment. She helps runs Town & Country Movers, located in Gaithersburg, MD, that offers residential, commercial, local, long distance and international moving service and storage services in MD, serving the Maryland, Washington, D.C. & Virginia area. They have been in business since 1977 so they have seen the good and bad economic times but have navigated through successfully where others have failed. I had an opportunity to speak with her about her business, the economy and her philosophy on using the Internet as a business tool. Here is a transcript of our interview:
Steve: You have been in business since 1977. How did you get into the moving business?
Lynda: My brother Kevin started the business after graduating from The George Washington University in Washington DC in 1976. I joined shortly thereafter.
Steve: I know that I mentioned what your company does in the introduction, but I was hoping you could share with the readers how Town & Country strives to differentiate itself from local/regional competitors.
Lynda: We strive to provide Relocation services with an emphasis on customer service. Our philosophy from day one has always been: “if you give your customers a fair price, impeccable service, and treat their belongings as if they were your own, they’d recommend us to friends and family”. That philosophy has proven to be the cornerstone of our success.
Steve: Your business has been through many economic cycles and that must have provided you the opportunity to try many different things to see what works and when. Without getting into competitive secrets, is there advice you could offer small business owners who might be living through their first economic downturn?
Lynda: Remember to save for a rainy day..because sure as the sun will rise and set..it will rain one day!
Steve: Over time you have adopted new technologies and marketing opportunities to promote and grow your business. What is your philosophy on evaluating new things and when you should adopt them?
Lynda: The internet has changed all of our lives. Commerce now and in the future will be conducted on various Web based platforms. When we began operations back in the mid 70’s, the only real directory for service providers was the regional Yellow Pages. We committed an enormous amount of capital to YP advertising over the years. Now, we can be sourced globally by millions of people instantly. It’s quite amazing. We have taken a conservative approach to all of the technology available up to this point. Maintaining a website that is consumer friendly is essential and we have tried to do that. Now, with the advent of Social Networking, we are considering several options moving forward. The prospect of gaining customers globally via social media holds great potential and we want to try and capture as much of that as we can.
Steve: Many companies are making a move into using Social Media tools like blogs and social networks. What is your general impression of these technologies and how they might help your business?
Lynda: See previous answer. We are evaluating several tools and which ones might work best in servicing our customer base.
Steve: Small businesses rely on a range of internet business solutions and computer technologies to succeed. What are the most important to you and your business?
Lynda: Our interactive website allows potential customers to submit requests for estimates. This has proven to be an invaluable tool.
Steve: What would you like to see happen over the next 18 months for Town and Country?
Lynda: Continue sustainable growth in a challenged economy.
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