Bed bugs lead to business creation with UCEDC’s help

Two years ago, Edward Roberts realized that the growing misery of bed bug infestation was a great business opportunity. He saw a need for preparing rooms for bug eradication, and created a business, Prep Boyz, to fill it. Roberts had the cleaning knowledge and background from his experience as a superintendent in a housing complex in Newark. What he lacked was the business acumen to run a successful operation. For that, he turned to UCEDC.

Prep Boyz provides bed bug eradication preparation services –the furniture-moving, clothes- bagging and other heavy-lifting steps necessary before an exterminator can start spraying. This is an extensive process that individual homeowners or businesses often find overwhelming.

Roberts was struggling with his bookkeeping when he learned about UCEDC from an elder at his church (who is also a UCEDC trustee). With just one phone call, Roberts was able to meet with Erich Peter, UCEDC’s Director of Training and Technical Assistance, and Ellen McHenry, UCEDC’s Director of Financial Programs.

The relationship with UCEDC was as intensive and as exhaustive as any day on the job for Roberts. McHenry and Peter guided him through the maze of business issues he was confronting. They made sure he tracked his invoices and payments, gave him the tools to analyze where the money was going and taught him how to interpret and act on that information.

After three months of personalized technical assistance, UCEDC gave Roberts a $10,000 microloan that he used to improve his cash flow, purchase some equipment and supplies, and better promote his business. UCEDC’s $10,000 microloan leveraged $14,000 in project costs and created two jobs.

Thanks to the growing bed bug epidemic, Prep Boyz has also grown. Roberts recently returned to UCEDC for a second microloan, this time for $15,000, which he used to secure a performance bond. The result – a contract with the City of East Orange and another two new jobs added to the payroll.

Roberts calls his business and his success so far "a blessing." And he attributes a good portion of his success to his partnership with UCEDC. "Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision," he says. "It allows common people to obtain uncommon results. They have just been a wonder. I would give them a great percentage of the credit for my success and recommend them to anyone."

Find Prep Boyz at http://www.prepboyzllc.com