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Everyday Heroes, ServiceMaster Restore
Meet Everyday Hero: Greg McCoy
Greg McCoy has been with ServiceMaster Restore® for six years. He has built a profitable business, but more importantly he has built a legacy – one that his future generations will be proud of.
Greg shares his approaches to business, his advice for other entrepreneurs, and in honor of Black History Month, his perspective on being a black-owned business leader.
What is your proudest achievement in your franchising career so far?
My proudest achievement has been growing every year that we’ve been in business – even during COVID and all that’s been happening in the world.
How did you build a winning team for your business?
We keep it in house! We are a family-owned business: myself, my wife and our kids run the business. Our kids over the years have taken on different roles, sometimes working full-time or part-time.
Additionally, I have been in the industry for over 30 years which has allowed us to be part of a vast network. When we do storm or large projects, we have a network of workers to pull from.
What is your best advice for people who want to open their own business or franchise?
The most important thing to choose as a franchise is a brand that works – a brand that people need.
Secondly, go into a business that you know. People tend to make the mistake of going into a franchise that they don’t know much about. My uncle always told me to, “do the things that you know when you go into business”. I have been doing restoration work for 30 years, so it [ServiceMaster Restore®] was a business that I already knew.
What about ServiceMaster Restore® made it the right company for you and your career?
When we worked outside of the Restore franchise, we ran into a couple of ServiceMaster® owners and had the chance to talk with them. After researching and knowing the history of ServiceMaster®’s culture and values, which was important to us, we thought that it was a good fit for us. We also liked that with ServiceMaster®, you can make it any size you want: a large corporation or a family-owned business – any size that works for you.
As a black-owned or minority-owned business, it’s good to see ServiceMaster® recognize us in this business. I’d like to see more black-owned businesses in ServiceMaster®, and I have seen that in the past six years more black owners are buying into the brand. I’d like to continue down that path and have a voice because it is different for us.
What does it mean to you to be a black-owned business leader?
It’s important as a black-owned business to show that you are successful. A lot of times, people don’t think that black-owned businesses are or have the potential to be successful. I’ve been around very successful people: my uncle and my father, both having personal success and running a church, respectively.
Being in a leadership role as a black man in society, I’m an example that you don’t have to cut corners to be successful. As a father, it’s showing my children how to be successful as a black man. Most importantly, it’s about leaving a legacy – I’d like to leave something that one day my children and grandchildren know that their grandfather started something that is sustainable.
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