Whenever Eric Nichols of Daisy Mountain Air Conditioning Co. needed a helping hand, he knew he could depend on his business friend Ray Palmer, who owned Sky Mechanical.
Although they were considered competitors, Nichols and Palmer had begun their companies about the same time and understood each other and their common business challenges.
“We found that we were two owners that were out in the field operating a company from the seat of our pants,” Nichols said. “We needed to get out of the field and work on our business, rather than work in it.”
So the two of them did just that. The two men merged their companies and used the name Daisy Mountain Air Conditioning Co. Since then, they have moved to a new location north of Anthem, hired three new people and are continuing to grow.
Palmer focuses on the service end of the company, while Nichols excels in his specialty, which is designing custom home air conditioning systems. The arrangement allows them to not only focus on what they love, but to work better with their customers.
“We can move forward in a much smoother fashion,” Palmer said. “We were both running out in the field, working ourselves to death. Now we can operate and grow the company. We’ve expanded our horizons enormously.”
Nichols said the idea for the merger came last spring when he and Palmer both hit the peak of their frustrations. Nichols had just fired a technician who had not been working up to standards and he was out in the field doing the work himself, when he got a call.
“Ray said, ‘You know what? I’ve had it,’ so we got together and slowly starting piecing it together,” Nichols said. “The thing I have to say about Ray is that I had never met anyone who works has hard as I do until I met him. We value our friendship above anything that has to do with time or money.”
But the two men especially value their customers and sticking to their word. Nichols said he frequently must come in and repair poorly installed systems from other companies who didn’t stick to their word. He believes the licensing process should be stricter.
But for now Nichols said he and Palmer are just putting people in key positions to enhance the merger, making plans to get a building and taking care of customers.
“It’s still a work in progress,” Nichols said. “We have a long way to go and we do see the light at the end of the tunnel. If you have a clear plan and each person knows his role, there is nothing that can stop you.” |
