We recently connected with Andrew Heesacker and have shared our conversation below.

Andrew, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Coming up with the idea is so exciting, but then comes the hard part – executing. Too often the media ignores the execution part and goes from idea to success, skipping over the nitty, gritty details of executing in the early days. We think that’s a disservice both to the entrepreneurs who built something amazing as well as the public who isn’t getting a realistic picture of what it takes to succeed. So, we’d really appreciate if you could open up about your execution story – how did you go from idea to execution?

I am second generation with Arvada Rent-Alls, my original experience was in the same industry but with a larger national in the equipment rental industry. The rental industry is broken up into 2-3 “segments” – event rental – construction rental – general rental. General rental and construction rental do have some synergy, for instance, a home owner may rent a skid steer for a back yard project while a contractor will rent the same skid steer for a commercial project. Prior to the choice to step into the business, Arvada Rent-Alls was focused primarily on general rental. The revenue stream was roughly 90% DIY (do it yourself)/homeowner 10% contractor, my passion and vision always lied within the commercial space. Our current revenue stream is 70% contractor and 30% DIY/Homeowner and my passion, idea, and vision was always to fit in this space in this manner. Going from 90 DIY/10 contractor to serving primarily contractors is a significant jump. From an execution perspective, there are many underlying challenges such as: semi trucks to transport the equipment, more technically complex systems such as diesel diagnostics, and more exposure to larger more professional contractors. Construction is a challenging industry in it of itself, many contractors are national and they have rules, regulations, and a sense of professionalism. Safety and quality are paramount to a successful contractor and they expect their equipment provider to execute and a similar level. As an equipment rental operator, if your inside sales people, mechanics, and yard associates are primarily educated on smaller equipment and applications, it makes it challenging to add in larger equipment such as boom lifts, water trucks, and larger excavators.

Very immediately it was imperative that the business was looked at from a process perspective. Early on many things were implemented and updated with technology such as payroll systems, human resources, our point of sale system, accounts payable systems, and other forms of technology.

The next major hurdle included customer perception. As a long standing business in the community that was primarily known for lawn mower service, chainsaws, and smaller equipment, it has been a continued effort to get opportunities to change that perception that we now offer professional grade contractor equipment.

Andrew, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

The equipment rental industry is a $60 billion industry that is kind of “behind the scenes” – everyone notices the building that was built, the backyard patio that is new, or the event that was produced, the rental equipment that was required to make those things happen is not obvious . Arvada Rent-Alls provides professional grade contractor and residential equipment rental throughout the Colorado area.

While I was born into the equipment rental industry, I was non-traditional in the sense that I was not raised sweeping the floors. My dad always pushed me to make my own path and never pressured me into working for him. I am very grateful for this. I graduated college in 2007 and happened to get a job offer from a national rental company, Neff Rental (that was acquired by United Rental – the #1 in the industry) and that’s where my official career in the industry started. I spent 6 years there and learned a lot. I served in several capacities including inside sales, outside sales, and entry level management.

Arvada Rent-Alls helps our community solve problems by building relationships. Whether you’re a home owner that needs a tile saw to renovate your bathroom or a roadway contractor that needs a wheel loader to complete your project, Arvada Rent-Alls provides that professional grade equipment. There several reasons to rent equipment including, initial cost of the asset (that you may only need for this one project), maintenance costs, transportation costs, and storage costs. When you use Arvada Rent-Alls, you can focus on your job and not have to stress about the equipment provided.

We are most proud of being a locally owned, smaller equipment rental company that can compete with even the largest of equipment rental companies. We have the shortest times for service issues, we have inside and outside sales people that are well trained and attentive to customers needs, and we have high quality brands and newer equipment. We are also proud of the culture we have built, we are currently at 32 employees, we operate on the Traction EOS system that helps us stay focused and ensure that all employees voices are being heard by all levels of management. We are proud of our companies involvement in the community, we sponsor non profits, events, local groups such as Kiwanis, Rotary, 4H, and more. We do toy drives and food drives for the community and we genuinely try to give the customer a great and safe experience to get their job completed in a timely manner.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

I have never been more resilient than when COVID first happened. It was challenging following all of the news and information that was coming out day to day. There was concern for the safety of our employees, there was concern that business would be shut down, there was stress in what was coming next at every turn during that time. If I never had to endure another significant pandemic, I would absolutely be okay with that.

Let’s move on to buying businesses – can you talk to us about your experience with business acquisitions?

In 2019, we acquired another local rental company making our second location in the Denver area. We had been looking to expand for some time and we found this opportunity. It was a challenge from the perspective that the current state of the previous business was not in line with our vision as a professional source for equipment rental. We filled out twelve 30 yard dumpsters and scrap bins in order to freshen up the one acre property. Overall it went very well despite being a lot of work. We would do it again tomorrow for a similar situation.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.arvadarentalls.com
• Instagram: @arvadarentalls
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ArvadaRentAlls
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/arvada-rent-alls/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/arvadarentalls
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@ArvadaRentalls
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/arvada-rent-alls-arvada