Today we’d like to introduce you to Ralph Tirro III.
Ralph, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
In the beginning of 2014, I was let go from an organization after 12+ years of service. At that time, it was not immediately apparent that I would start my own business. Six days later, my wife and I found out we were pregnant with our first daughter. This is when I told myself that I was going all in and would make it happen. I was going to change how event service rentals were done nationwide by having every single detail done ahead of time so there are no issues during our clients events. This was truly was one of the best decisions I have ever made. I first put together a business plan and set up three banks that I would pitch to secure an equipment loan from. The first back pitch went perfectly and I secured a SBA loan immediately. Next step was signing a lease at our current location. I opened our doors in mid-2014. Being in this industry for so long helped get us off the ground for sure. We deal with a vast number of organizations that we partner with on events and have the opportunity to meet some extraordinary people along the way that share our same vision.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Starting off was not easy and certainly created immediate challenges. Sales, marketing budget, which CRM would work best for us, etc. One of the hardest things I have found was probably every new business owner’s nightmare. To find new business. Lots of sleepless nights but we get a lot of referrals from our clients and vendors which means were doing something right. We are not overstepping ourselves by trying to grow so rapidly. That only leads to being concerned with profits and that is when the ball gets dropped. Another tough task that we deal with is turning around gear immediately. I set up company policy that the day we receive equipment back, it is ready for our next client the very same day. This is one of the points I made as that will assist us standing out in the crowd. In our industry, things happen and change daily so a client that needs 40 laptops all of a sudden need 80 laptops, five projectors and a color copier. It’s not easy but we make it happen.
Please tell us about Equisek.
We are a short term, corporate computer and audio visual rental service company. We provide technology for trade shows, computer training as well as other live events. One thing we do specialize in is custom imaging. When clients have training’s all over the US, they need a solution to not just assist with technology, but to stream line their trainers’ time as well as deal with logistics. We provide our customers one of our machines to load all their training and software on. Once we have that back, we create a custom client image for them and store that on our server. Then, every training they have, they just need to tell us how many machines they need and where and we make sure they are there. Our service will always be number one so if there is anything that is above and beyond, our service is where we stand out from others.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
I was born and raised right outside of Boston in Newton Massachusetts. I have had so many fond memories there but family vacations were always something I looked forward to. When we went on vacation, everybody did. Grandparents, cousins, aunts, uncles, etc. Summers were at Green Harbor in West Yarmouth, Massachusetts and winter vacations were always about skiing. We have been to every mountain the northeast has to offer including an old five star resort, The Balsams Wilderness in Dixville Notch New Hampshire. They had their own ski mountain and are actually in the process of a complete renovation. One thing that I always think about is my father skiing down black diamond trails with us with a video camera on his shoulder. No poles as back then, the camera had to be attached to a VCR recording everything. Must have had 35 pounds of electronics on him. He’s looking down on us with only smiles knowing how I rent professional cameras now.
Contact Info:
- Address: 87A Granger Blvd
Marlborough, MA 01752 - Website: www.equisek.com
- Phone: 508-816-6427
- Email: rtirro@equisek.com
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