We were lucky to catch up with Rob Houk recently and have shared our conversation below.

Rob, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What did your parents do right and how has that impacted you in your life and career?

My parents and I are really close and they have been a major part of my life. My mom has always helped me with school and figuring out life and my dad was right there with me throughout my soccer and Boy Scout careers. My mom helped me with finding my first job and understanding what I want and don’t want to do and what I want out of life. Both of my parents have careers where they are moving around all the time and it took me graduating college that I am just like them and don’t want a desk job. They have never pushed me in a certain direction in life other then to try new things and find what I love to do. They have taught so much but most importantly that everything happens for a reason weather we realize it or not, to respect people and help them out, and to stay positive even when things look bleak.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I came up with 404 Moving & More by turning my side job into a career. While working on the dock at Levin Furniture the sales people realized my work ethic and helpfulness and asked if I would go to customers houses to do things that Levins is unable to do. These would be things like moving their old furniture before the new furniture gets delivered, assembling furniture that Levins will deliver but will not put together, and to deliver the floor model furniture. Soon this happened often, the customers started telling their friends and I had extra money to help pay for college. After graduating college and becoming busier with the side jobs I decided to turn it into a career but didn’t know how. I met some people in life that helped me make it a reality in good time and I was very excited. I knew it would work out because it was already busy enough to call a part time job without trying to grow it. In addition to the normal moves people expect from a moving company we also provide services that furniture stores and some other companies will not provide such as hanging artwork, furniture assembly, floor sample delivery and moving furniture from one room to another or the curb. I am looking forward to how the company will grow in the future.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

Working at Levin Furniture definitely jump started my reputation because the sales people saw my work ethic and helpfulness at the store and they would tell their customers and even now when I don’t work there anymore, the sales people tell the new sales people about me/my company. Also customers are telling their friends and family how much they like us and posting reviews online. Our reputation is built on trust, simplicity, efficiency, being careful with the furniture, being friendly and doing what we say we will do.

We’d love to hear about how you met your business partner.

Well I don’t have any cofounders or business partners but I have had a good amount of people that have played a key role or have led to a key event in forming, strengthening and growing the company. The first would be my friend Eric I met when we both worked at Levin Furniture. He trained me when I started, taught me a lot, and also I bought my pickup truck from his grandpa which allowed me to start doing deliveries and moving. Next would be my friends David and Alex who would do the jobs with me. Then years later Billy and Felix, former delivery guys who I met at Levins, taught me a lot about moving furniture and do the jobs with me. Then when I was thinking about forming a company but had no idea how, I had to pick up the taxes one day and the lady there, Michelle, who I never met, asked what I was doing in life and it turned out that she could help me form the company and become my first advisor. After that my neighbor, Zach, who was in Boy Scouts with my brother started working with me a lot. My friend, Anthony, who worked at Levins with me before COVID, started working with me and quickly became my right hand man. My next two advisors, Bob, and Mark, came along to help me get to where I am now. Bob is a financial guy who I did some work for and through his many connections taught me some things that I needed to get done that I was unclear about. Which indirectly Mark was able to help me with. Mark was my first Scout Master early on in my Scouting career and was very intimidating back then. But recently my family and I were getting our end of life paperwork in order and Mark was able to help me get a lot of legal paperwork done for my company. Some of these people have played minor roles and others huge roles but without any of them the company would not be how it is today so I am very thankful for each and everyone of them.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.404movingandmore.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/404_moving_and_more/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100087016120235
• Other: Next Door: https://nextdoor.com/pages/404-moving-more-llc-avon-lake-oh/?init_source=org_pages

Image Credits
Dave Hoy Rob Houk David Kuhar