Awnings Firm Beats Competition

 

David Powers Jr. (l.) and David Powers Sr. lead a successful multigenerational family-owned awning business.

 

 

Hurricane Hugo was good to Ocean Breeze Awnings. A third-generation family-owned business, Ocean Breeze had its best year ever after the 1998 hurricane wiped out most of the existing awnings and patio rooms along South Carolina's coast. That year jump-started a period of significant growth for the company, which sells and installs custom-built awnings, decks, screen rooms, sunrooms, and carports.

 

Maintaining that success has not always been easy. As a small business in a growing market, the Powers family has had to figure out how to compete against big companies and national franchises as well as local, unlicensed handymen crews.

 

To compete against large companies, Ocean Breeze has branched out, offering more products and becoming a distributor as well as an installer. For example, it began providing a new line of impact-resistant windows ahead of this year's hurricane season.

 

"To compete with the big guys, I have to create the same image but in a different way. I have to offer name-brand merchandise and quality control while projecting the image of a small, but experienced, family business," general manager David Powers Jr. says.  

 

To compete against handymen crews, the company emphasizes its association memberships, such as those with the U.S. Chamber and the local chamber, as well as the licensing and certification qualifications of its installers. "I have to look small with a big business flavor," adds Powers.

 

Keeping it in the family has been another key to Ocean Breeze's success. David Powers Sr. started the company in his backyard with a $400 loan from his father, Henry. That was just enough to buy materials for the company's first job.

 

David Powers Sr. is now company president and CEO but regularly joins his son David Powers Jr. and son-in-law Michael Van Buren on jobs. A retired engineer, 84-year-old Henry Powers still helps build sunrooms at the shop. David Powers Sr.'s wife, Teresa, is the company secretary, and daughter Honey Van Buren helps maintain the office.

 

David Powers Jr. says that he is constantly inspired by his family's entrepreneurial spirit. "We have a history of not wanting somebody else to be boss." That should not be a problem, as several local communities and homeowners associations have signed on Ocean Breeze as their exclusive awning provider.

 

To share a Success InSight of your own, e-mail Greg Galdabini at ggaldabi@uschamber.com, phone 202-463-5563, or fax to 202-463-5707.