It was a cool December day in 1999 when Jose Ricardo and Fabiola Rendon left their natal land, Colombia, South America for the State of Virginia, U.S.A. in search of what their country could for afford to provide them at that time: the ownership of their business. With their hopes in high gear, they left to unknown lands where different traditions, language and customs would be the hurdles they would have to work against.
They spent their first Christmas in their friend’s home, enjoying the traditions of the season, and learning new experiences. “It never snow in our country and definitely it never gets this cold there” says Mr. Rendon.
After hard work and long wait, they managed to get a legal status in the United States. Mr. Rendon began working for a cleaning company where he learned the carpet cleaning business and met Arnaldo Paredes, a Guatemalan indigenous, who in time would become his business partner.
Mr. Rendon, have heard of the Business Information Center at the Virginia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and made an appointment to speak with Luis F. Garcia, the Business Information Specialist in the center at that time. In describing the assistance received from the SBA, Mr. Rendon says: “ Mr. Garcia educated us in the way of opening a business correctly and choosing a business structure. He assisted us getting the licenses and permits, instructed us about tax liabilities and the use of each tax form affecting our business. He gave us ideas about marketing and business expansion, hiring and training, and to date, we still seek his assistance in matter we are unfamiliar which could affect the success of our business”.
Mr. Rendon is the president of the corporation, Mr. Paredes the vice president and Ms. Rendon the secretary / treasure of the business. In 2003 they acquired their first custom installed carpet cleaning machine van. In 2004, they acquired their second van, the third was purchase in 2005 and now they have 4 vans, producing an income of over $200,000 a year. To date they have 5 employees and “we plan to keep growing” says Mr. Rendon.
We are sure the key to our success has been the hard work, persistence, planning, and the collaboration we had from our family and the SBA. Thanks to that, we have come to realize our dream of owning our own business.