Today we’d like to introduce you to Daniel Rollo.
Daniel, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
We started in 1998 by my brother Joe. He had always had a dream of owning his own business and since our mother was in the wedding industry already with Tuxedo Rentals and Wedding Dresses, my brother decided to start a limousine service.
He started with 1 vehicle and grew to 3 vehicles in a very short time thanks to positive word of mouth referrals. After our father passed away in late 2000, I decided to move back to Boston from New York and join my brother in operating the limo service.
After observing some industry trends and market saturation, we grew from 3 vehicles to 8 vehicles in a matter of 10 months. Instead of offering the same vehicles as most other companies, we differed in our approach by offering Cadillac Deville Stretches and soon expanded our fleet of limousine to 4 other unique stretch limousines. Our flagship vehicle at the time was the 14 Passenger BMW X5, but was not outdone by our 10 Passenger Mercedes ML500, 400 horsepower Supercharged 10 Passenger Jaguar S-Type, and our most unique 24 Passenger Hummer H2 complete with granite floors and a Statue of Liberty champagne holder.
Keeping with our offering of our unique and exclusive limousines, we’ve held onto our beliefs that it’s not the quantity of vehicles we offer, yet the quality of our vehicles as well as the quality of the service we perform.
Has it been a smooth road?
We’ve encountered many struggles and bumps in the road along the way. As is with any new business, start up financing was nonexistent and my brother and I had to come up with some creative ways to finance our dreams. Credit cards and high interest financing were some of the only options we had starting out and led to a very small margin of error.
Some other industry and nationwide events like the 9/11 terror attacks and the economic downturn around 2007 really put a strain on our resources and customers willingness to utilize such a luxury type of service. With a little help, some luck along the way, and a positive, hardworking attitude, we were able to make through some pretty tough times.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Expo Limousine story. Tell us more about the business.
Expo Limousine is a full service limousine service.
Although we offer similar services as others such as airport and corporate transportation, we also pride ourselves in our unique and exotic stretch limousines. Some of these vehicles are one of a handful ever built in the world such as the 10 Passenger Jaguar S-Type R, 14 Passenger Porsche Cayenne S and the 16 Passenger Mercedes GL Limousines.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
Since we specialize and pride ourselves in our wedding services offered, we feel there will always be a desire and need some of the unique vehicles we offer. There are a lot of people in this world that have an extreme fascination with automobiles (I being one of them). I feel that being able to offer these unique vehicles to people, if even for several hours, allows them to express their individuality and make a statement at their wedding.
With the introduction of app based booking tools and transportation network companies, I think the limousine industry has and will adapt to these trends tightening the gap between TNCs and pre-reserved limousine companies. Although app based booking tools are the wave of the future, I believe in this time of automated prompts, speaking to people will never go out of style. Seeing a friendly face or hearing a familiar voice will always be a huge part of why small businesses will continue to succeed.
Contact Info:
- Address: 8 Newbury St. – Suite 12
Danvers, MA 01923 - Website: www.ExpoLimo.com
- Phone: 978-774-9900
- Email: info@expolimo.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/expolimo/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/expolimo
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/expolimo
Image Credit:
Photos by Bella
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