Dacia Smith - Believes in the personal touch

Avia Collinder, Business Writer

Dacia Smith did not make it to college, but she was weaned on entrepreneurism by a mother who ran a grocery shop in the St Ann community where she grew up.

She has now spun the homilies passed down from her parent in whose shop she interned, as well as the experiences of a front desk job at the swanky Ritz Carlton Rose Hall hotel in Montego Bay and sales and marketing at a company called Wickham Sales and Distribution Limited into a her own business, Aicad Service Professionals Limited.

The small company offers janitorial services to the hotel sector, restaurants and offices, including deep steam cleaning of kitchen areas, cleaning of filters and ducts, drain cleaning, and shampooing of all upholstery.

Her specialty service to hotels includes marble cleaning to big properties like Iberostar, which is on her client list.

Potential clients

Smith says what really drives her business, a J$17 million start-up, is the personal connection she establishes with potential clients.

"People have to like and trust you, which they will do if you give them exactly what you say you will. I do believe in satisfying clients, making sure they are happy. If I say I am going to do something, if it takes eternity, it will be done."

Lester Scott, general manager of Solis Palmyra, one of five hotels for which Aicad provides specialist cleaning services, says Smith had a contract with the hotel for one year now.

"She is an active energetic, go-getter who takes pride her in work. I see her at midnight inspecting the work her employees have done during the day and by 3 am, in the morning, her report on what she has seen is in," said Scott.

"Her employers are excellent as they stand behind their work."

Smith who previously invested much of her energies in earning money for her employers decided in early 2009 that she would close that chapter in her life as a paid employee.

With US$200,000 (J$17.2 million) of her family resources and that of a "silent" partner who works in advertising and is based in London, the Montego Bay-based entrepreneur spent six months putting together Aicad.

Currently employing 23 on a full time basis—seasonal employment often adds another 22 workers temporarily—Scott assigns seven staff members to each hotel property—some part time, some full time.

Specific tasks

Cleaning and polishing of marble floors is done every day. Drain cleaning is done weekly on Saturdays and Sundays at all properties. Steam cleaning of kitchens is done once each month at each hotel.

Sometimes more staff is added to the basic seven on each property to get specific tasks done.

The company earns 70 per cent of its income from marble and steam cleaning, 20 per cent from the power washing of drains, five per cent from cleaning pools and five per cent from post-construction clean up.

Long-term contracts include Iberostar Rose Hall, Iberostar Grande, Iberostar Suites, Solis Palmyra Resort and Spa and the Hilton Rose Hall Resort and Spa.

The initial US$200,000 was spent on buffing machines, carpet extractors, chemicals, staff training and salaries, uniforms and the construction of a warehouse.

Acquisition of least another four pieces of equipment is in the works, says Smith, who is intent on expanding her services and taking on additional staff.

Started in February 2009, Smith has utilised both her sales and marketing skills in previous jobs as well her knowledge of what hotels need in keeping their properties professionally cleaned to deliver a service that they are pleased with.

"They said that I was the reason why they had given the business to a original (start-up) company. Although I was in sales and marketing, I had been very hands on. I loved what I was doing. I was totally satisfied. I always knew what they wanted," said Smith.

So far, the revenue earned by Aicad, which is located at Rhyne Park in Rose Hall, is covering its operational costs, Smith said. It will take another two years, however, for full payback on the initial investment, she predicts.

For 2011, Smith is giving two new prospects in the resort sector the "once over" and is not put off by the fact that expansion will cost her at least US$50,000 (J$4.3 million), which she plans to finance from savings and cash flow.

Smith said she and her partner, who has invested equally, have decided that debt financing is not an option.

Expansion in the coming year will be confined to St James, but Smith feels she will be ready to take on another four parishes by 2012.

The larger of the two projects for 2011, she states, could require the hiring of 30 new workers, who will stationed permanently on site at client properties.

As it was in the beginning, more than half the contemplated investment will purchase equipment; some of the funds will cover import cost of cleaning chemicals.

Need for expansion

The Spanish-owned hotels, said Smith, have special marble tiles which require specialist cleaning.

"There is a need for expansion, especially in this area," she said.

The Aicad managing director said her biggest challenge getting the business off the ground was selecting the right staff, which put together during a "painful" process of trial and error.

In its early days of operation, Aicad was in danger on several occasions of losing contracts because some workers just would just not show up for work. But, today, Smith is able to boast that Aicad's staff is the company's main advantage.

"They are the reason I am in business. I can count on them for anything and they are honest," she said.

"It took a lot of sieving and hand picking, but now I can exhale. Some have been offered jobs elsewhere but they are loyal to me."

austanny@yahoo.com