by Tarice L.S. Gray
Family owned-businesses are everywhere; in fact, they make up roughly 90 percent of all North American companies according to Family Firm Institute, an organization for family enterprise professionals. The Moore family caught the ownership bug when Theodore Moore Sr., a union construction laborer, and his daughter, Sirena, an office administrator, noticed that there was a need within the construction industry for on site cleaning services. In 2002, Elohim Cleaning Contractors was incorporated. When the family embarked on their entrepreneurial journey, they had little capital, no investors or official office space. Today, Elohim has become a nationally recognized family firm, generating $2.7 million in 2009. Sirena, who serves as the company’s CEO, spoke to TAP about the family’s journey and what plans are underway for the future:
Sirena, your family started Elohim in 2002, during a time when many people were skeptical about the economy due to the brief recession that occurred after 9-11. What motivated you and your family to launch Elohim?
The economy had nothing to do with our decision. We were just regular, old working Americans who pretty much saw an opportunity and pursued it. My father worked in the construction industry, I worked, and my brother, at the time, was also working and attending school. When my father found out that a contractor was awarded a six figure contract to do what he knew how to do, he came to me and said, ‘if you can figure out how to start a business, I can do the service and we can have our own.’
What is your background Sirena?
I got pregnant with twin girls during my last year of high school. I gave birth right before my graduation in 1999. It was during that summer when we actually came up with the idea for the business. Between ’99 and 2002, we started [preparing to launch the business]. After high school, [I decided] I wanted to become a financial adviser after getting petitioned with Morgan Stanley Dean Whitter (now Morgan Stanley Smith Barney) and another company called Advest. I worked as a financial sales assistant for some of the top producers for each of the two companies. So my background has been in office administration.
What about your father and brother? How did they dive into world of business?
Though my brother attended Allentown Business School [in Pennsylvania] for a year or two, he doesn’t have a business degree. My father never finished high school. So we really started this business like most individuals who just want to get into business. We started with hard knocks–a lot of research, surrounding ourselves with people who were doing great things and finding great mentors. That’s kind of how we boot-strapped.
What about investors? Did anyone help you plant the seeds for Elohim?
Not one. This was a family business and all of us had to make major sacrifices. I didn’t know anything about starting a business. I took a few classes at the Women’s Business Development Center while I worked full-time. I even worked part-time the first four years of the business because we couldn’t afford to get paid right away.
We started our office in what was my brother’s old bedroom in my parents’ house. Everything in there was make-shift. We used to call my father ‘Sanford’ from Sanford & Son because he brought everything home on the truck–a table, a chair, you name it, broke down computers and printers. We started with that and $200 in a business bank account. That was it. We really had to work as hard as we could with the limited resources that we had. Our first employee was paid with our father’s unemployment check.
Since we started with our own resources, and because my father always taught us to buy only what we could afford, we are a debt-free company.
How has the family business grown?
We started by supplying labor on an as-needed basis for a small roofing company. When the [company] needed one laborer for a few weeks to clear the material, that one laborer was my father. Or if they needed two, it would be my father and my brother. If they needed more, my father brought in his contacts that he knew from being in the construction union for over 20 years.
Now, we’ve broken the company into three operating divisions: construction site cleaning services, which include supplying labor, selective demolition and final cleaning–a commercial janitorial division, and federal contracting.
As a family, how do you maintain your professional and personal relationships. Has that ever been a challenge?
Oh Yes! For our family, we try our best to keep it separate as much as possible. If there are personal family issues that are going on, we don’t discuss them in the office.
Also, we [recognize] each others strengths and weaknesses. We all have our specific roles and I think when you are in business with your family, it’s important to clearly communicate and identify each person’s role so that you can avoid arguments and misunderstandings as much as possible.
Do you intend to keep Elohim in the family by grooming the next generation to take over in the future?
Absolutely; that’s certainly the goal to keep it in the family and have something to provide for my kids and my brother’s kids. My nephews and cousins do work in the field. My kids work around the office stuffing cards and envelopes. We try to involve our younger family members as much as we can because we didn’t come from a long line of family businesses. This is new for us and it’s something I know my father wants us to continue for future generations.
How are you preparing the next generation? What lessons have you learned that you and your brother can now advise your sons and daughters on how to run Elohim successfully?
I’ve had the opportunity to research larger family businesses and how they run their organizations. I’ve gotten great ideas. I would like for my girls to go to college and study business, if business is what they want to do. If they want to work in the family business, I would like for them to get work experience in an outside company in a related industry, preferably, and then come back and bring new, fresh ideas.
