Boston building-services company lays foundation with SBA program.

In the early 1990s, Anthony Samuels was working as a computer-aid-ed drafter at defense contractor Raytheon Co. The position paid well, but like many would-be small-business owners, Samuels was eager to do something on his own.

Searching for a business that could be started for low initial costs, he found an opportunity that promised a chance to take over a cleaning company. But when the time came for Samuels to take the reins, the owner decided to keep the business in the family, leaving a determined Samuels looking again for a way to strike out on his own.

By then, however, Samuels had displayed his work ethic and attention to customer service so that some clients he'd worked with began offering him jobs directly.

"They said "If you go on your own, we will give you work,'" Samuels says.

"They said, 'We know what you have been doing for us, and we know what you can do for us on your own.'"

With that--and primarily his own funding from credit cards--Done Right Building Services was born as a sole proprietorship.

Fourteen years later, Samuels is president of a company with more than 100 employees that had more than $4 million in sales in 2006.

In his company's early days, Samuels and mainly part-time help cleaned 11

BankBoston branches. He later picked up a contract to clean a treatment plant run by the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority and not long after, won the job of cleaning Boston City Hall, a hulking 300,000square-foot building in the center of the city.

Along the way, Samuels learned the value of tapping into available assistance. First, he linked with the Massachusetts Community Development Finance Corp., which offers financing to small businesses. It provided a $10,000 line of credit to get Done Right off the ground and supplement his equity. It also helped him secure bonding needed to land major contracts, including work with the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority.

Samuels also found his way to the Boston office of the Small Business Administration. There, he qualified to participate in the SBA's 8(a) Business Development Program, which offers a range of services to minority-owned firms, including how to win government contracts.

With the help of 8(a), Samuels has secured nine government contracts worth a total of nearly $2 million. His first, for $34,000, was to clean an Immigration and Naturalization Service building starting in October 2000. A year later, Done Right secured a $170,000 contract from the Department of Transportation and a year after that a $325,000 contract to clean buildings for the National Archives.

The 8(a) also helped Samuels with guarantees for a $250,000 line of credit secured through Citizens Bank of Massachusetts.

He used the contracts secured with SBA help as a platform for expanding the services his firm offers and adding private-sector clients.

While the 8(a) program has aided Done Right, those who have worked with Samuels say he has made the most of every opportunity and built a solid reputation that has carried the company to where it is today.

"When he came in, he said in his business plan that he would be a company focused on quality as well as having a loyal and dependable work force," says Theresa Mooers, SBA business development specialist in Boston. "That's something that's as true today as it was when he wrote it in his business plan nine or 10 years ago."

"There's no handouts," Samuels notes. "You have to compete for and earn the contracts and then you have to make it into something more."

Convincing larger property managers that Done Right is qualified to handle bigger jobs has been a hurdle the company seems to have cleared.

"It was a challenge to prove to them or have them believe we were up to the tasks," says Samuels. "Once I got in with a couple of companies - once a few gave me that chance--then I had built up the word of mouth to use as a reference. Landing City Hall as a client also helped make it clear we could handle the big jobs."

"Everyone who's worked with them tells us it has been a pleasure," says the SBA's Mooers. "He stands behind everything he does."

Today, Done Right has expanded geographically with contracts in Vermont, New Hampshire and New York. It has been profitable almost every year it has been in business and for the past six years straight.

It has also seen steady revenue growth, particularly in the past few years as Samuels has sought to grow his client list and add services.

Revenue was $1.3 million in 2002, doubled to $2.6 million in 2003, crossed the $3 million mark in 2005 and for 2006 was around $4.2 million.

Samuels continues to recognize the value of being active in the community and connecting with resources to help his business grow. He's now affiliated with the Initiative for a New Economy, which is seeking to boost the amount of business that large corporations based in Massachusetts do with minority-owned companies.

READY TO GRADUATE

Done Right Building Services will graduate from the SBA 8(a) Business Development Program in December after a nine-year involvement. It's a bittersweet milestone for those at the SBA who have worked with the company.

"This is what is supposed to happen," says the SBA's Theresa Mooers. "Companies grow and become independent and thrive in the marketplace."

Applicants accepted into 8(a) learn how to win government contracts and develop other skills through two stages, a four-year development stage and a five-year transition stage.

"The SBA allowed me to take on contracts that I might not have had an opportunity to acquire on my own," CEO Anthony Samuels says. "1 got my foot in the door in new fields that we're now doing very well in."

Done Right used those contracts to go after business in the private sector and diversify.

While it once focused solely on cleaning and routine building maintenance, today Done Right offers mechanical maintenance, snow removal, landscaping and day-porter services--enough to help make Done Right a "one-stop shop" for building services, says Samuels.

Done Right Building Services Inc. * CEO: Anthony Samuels * Four Copley Place, Suite 135, Boston, Mass. 02116 * [phone] www.donerightservices.com * Founded 1993 * 110 employees * 2006 revenue: $4.2 million