Check Out Ben Volotzky’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ben Volotzky.

Hi Ben, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
As a child, I was always interested in solar. My first experience, like many early experiences with solar, was with a calculator. I remember covering up the little solar cells and watched the numbers fade away. It was amazing how the light in the classroom could power my calculator. Fast forward, I was working in the bedding industry for my family business and saw a boom in the solar industry. I still was intrigued but didn’t take any action to pursue it. Then the pandemic hit in 2020; of course, like many of us, we lost our jobs. So I created a listing in search of employment. I was contacted by a Solar company in the Los Angeles area for an interview without even thinking solar. Solar ended up calling me. I ended up turning the job offer down and decided to start my own solar company in LA. I named it Best Solar LA. Which I believe is fitting. Due to my approach to each home, there is no one size fit’s all solar system. So you need a company that will do their homework on what you need for your family and home. When solar first arrived on the scene, I knew the technology was not genuinely ready for home use. I had run into many families that put solar on their home ten years ago, and it’s not producing as promised. Also, fast forward to today, unlike ten years ago, you can now monitor each panel to see its production. This allows you to know if it needs a cleaning or if it needs to be replaced by your solar company. This accountability did not exist ten years ago.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Getting into the solar industry was easy. But what’s not easy is combating companies that often over-promise and underdeliver. At Best Solar LA we choose honesty over anything. We are always correctly designing a system tailored to the client’s home. We never tweak numbers on power output or claim it will produce more than it will. We recently ran into a solar company that did just that. Our now client allowed us to make a comparison and prove our system was, in fact, better. These are some of the hurtles an honest solar company will face. Even if a quote seems more inexpensive than another quote, it may be more expensive in the long run, and sadly three months after the install, and you realize that there is no remedy with the solar company you chose. Frequently we recommend two solar arrays to provide a better-balanced system, and we see a cookie-cutter company offer only one. Well, that particular house needed it because it has an East and West facing roof. Placing it on one side of the roof will only provide solar part of the day, whereas east and west placement will provide solar throughout the day. There are many different ways to install solar, and each house has different angle shapes and more, which requires a custom-tailored system for each home.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
After many jobs all over the Los Angeles area, I am happy to say all my clients are satisfied with our work at Best Solar LA. Our business is doing great on referrals alone. We believe less is more. We max out at a certain amount of clients per month to deliver the customer service each and every client deserves.

Any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?
One of the reasons I turned down the solar company job offer was one, I love the challenge of doing things better, and two, they did not align with my business practices. I know all too well of the solar industry’s bad techniques, high-pressure sales tactics, miss representing what a system will do for the prospective client, and everyone just a number approach. So after turning the offer down, I found a mentor. His name is Tim. After talking with him for many days and even months, I decided he would be the right person to mentor me in the solar industry. Fast forward, we now work together and make a fantastic team, and with our buying power, we are passing the cost saving to our new clients. Tim is an expert on the numbers side of things and compliments me where I lack. I leave my ego at the door. If I don’t have an answer, I will tell you, and I will get you the answer. It’s always about honesty and never misleading the client down the wrong path. I love the customer service side of things.

Contact Info:

• Email: info@bestsolarla.com
• Website: bestsolarla.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bestsolarla/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BestSolarLa
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCS0NvD-ZsY7koaVYfxoA5OQ