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Customers are not just comparing prices, they’re comparing contractors and I think sometimes we forget that,” says Steve Young, owner and president of Young Sealcoating, Lynchburg, VA. “You have to sell yourself.”

So in addition to focusing on providing the quality, detailed work Young Sealcoating is known for, Young works hard to present his company to the market not only as a professional business but as a large business that operates much the way a larger business might operate. And that’s despite the fact that Young Sealcoating employs only eight people in peak season and runs only a single sealcoating crew.

“We want to appear large and we want to operate like a larger business would because that gives us access to more jobs and also makes our customers feel more comfortable doing business with us,” Young says. “It also helps differentiate us from the competition.”

And it’s not just about appearing larger. “It’s about establishing our credibility as a competent and professional contractor,” he says.

“Price conscious” to “professional”

Like many start-up contractors, Young’s biggest concern in the early 1990s was getting enough work to survive. So he was very price conscious, worried that he might price himself out of a job. But he decided, eventually, that wasn’t the way to grow his business. He bought his first sealcoating tank, used, from Neal Manufacturing and from them learned about National Pavement Expo (NPE). “I thought I could probably learn something there so went and gave it a try,” he says. “I’ve been back every other year since.”