Today we’d like to introduce you to Rodrigo Carrillo.
Rodrigo, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I started my electrical career December 2004, I was only 18.
I had been fired from a 99cent store because I didn’t allow the manager to talk to me like he spoke to the other employees. At the time, I was young, naive and stubborn. I knew that I had made a mistake speaking out because I didn’t have a work permit at the time. Finding a job was not an easy task.
Luckily, my girlfriend at the time had a brother in law who was an electrician and had his own business.
She got me a job with him and I enjoyed the field. I stuck with the company until 2016. I got my work permit through DACA in 2012. I had been paying my taxes ever since I started working. Keep in mind, without a work permit, I was seriously underpaid.
In February 2016, my boss told me to start working on my business license because he was going to fire me.
My wife was already pregnant, I didn’t think that it was a good time for me to start my own business so I told myself I would hold off.
Sure enough he wasn’t playing, he let me go in April, my wife was 8 months pregnant and baby was going to arrive anytime in June.
I freaked out and started working hard on studying and trying to absorb everything I could. In the end of June, after my daughter was 2 weeks old, I had my first exam. I was tired, my daughter didn’t really let my wife and I get much rest but guess what…. I passed the exam.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
I wouldn’t say that it’s been a smooth road. When starting a business, you need to put yourself and business out there fast and smart. I started by using Google, Yelp, Angie’s List, Home Advisor, and Houzz.
I paid a lot of money to all these advertising companies. Thousands!
But what really gets your business moving is your willing to work hard every day, going that extra mile to make a customer happy, and word of mouth.
Yes, there are days when my stress levels are off the roof but in reality, at the end of the day, everything will always turn out to be ok.
Arkham Electric – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
I’m an electrician, we specialize in residential homes and businesses. If you find us on Yelp, I’ve added some pictures of our work. It’s mostly kitchens we’ve been lucky enough to remodel and I would say that we do pretty good work with the lighting and electrical.
What sets us apart from our competitors is that we are here to make our customer happy. We don’t show up to a customer home or business for the money, but to build a relationship with them. We do a great job with one person, at that has the opportunity to becomes 10 different jobs simply from referrals.
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
A successful business is a business that has no need to advertise. That has several loyal hard-working employees who are happy to come to work every day. Customer who can call us knowing that they’ll be in good hands when we show up. Work coming in smoothly.
Having several large projects you can drive by and point out to your wife and kids and say “hey I worked in that property and we did a great job.”
Contact Info:
- Address: 661 E 46th St.
- Website: arkhamelectric.net
- Phone: 3232465531
- Email: [email protected]
Getting in touch: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
