Ferlando Parker Sr: Still a Man On the Move
iHangTVs.com
I love interviewing people. I get to talk to and keep up with wonderful, interesting, talented people who are doing awesome things. Ferlando Parker, Sr. is one of those people.
A few years back in July 2014, I interviewed iHangTVs.com owner, Ferlando Parker, Sr. and wrote a post about it. Every year since then, he shares the post to his Facebook page. You can check it out here. Since his last re-post, I reached out to see if we could do an update by way of another interview and he didn’t hesitate to say yes. We lined up a date and time for Thanksgiving morning and we made it happen. Even on Thanksgiving day he was preparing to go to the office.
When I spoke with Ferlando in 2014, he had been in business hanging TVs for 6 years and because there was virtually no competition, iHangTVs.com grew rapidly. At the time, people were transitioning from big back TVs to the more modern flat screen TVs. The only problem was that people didn’t know what to do with the new slimmer models. Hence, an opportunity literally came knocking at Ferlando’s door and iHangTVs.com was born. Wait a minute, let’s back up a minute. First Ferlando hung his own TV and before he knew it, friends, family and acquaintances were asking him to hang TVs for them. His daughter, who was 14 at the time, is the one that saw the potential and suggested to her dad that hanging TVs presented a wonderful business opportunity and THAT was the real birth of the business.
Safety Concerns
A huge concern for many people, then and even now, is the tip hazard of modern lightweight flat screen TVs when not properly installed. For example, let’s say in a kid’s room, the television is simply set on top of a dresser or chest of drawers. Take a look at two classic examples that hazardous unsecured TVs present:
- A small child attempts to reach for the television by pulling out the bottom draw and standing on it and thus causing the furniture to tip forward, or
- They might pull out the top-heavy top drawer to retrieve something and as a result, cause the dresser to tilt forward and down comes the dresser and the tv.
Not only was Ferlando able to fill the need of television placement, he quickly resolved an unforeseen safety issue so kudos to him for that. Featured on the website is a video describing the fatal results caused by a tip hazard. It will break your heart. Please check it out.
Back to the Business Side
What people may or may not realize, even in Birmingham (where iHangTVs.com is headquartered), the company services many other areas of the state as well as parts of Georgia and Tennessee. Those areas include Auburn, Tuscaloosa, Gadsden, Huntsville, Atlanta, Douglasville and Nashville to name a few and expansion is ever increasing. One way that they are planning to expand is through franchising and while Ferlando could not discuss at length, plans are definitely underway to brand iHangTVs.com across the country with its wide footprint, but also provide business opportunities to those meeting the criteria to become a franchisee. With a company like this that has a swift and proven track record, I can see success across the map for the ambitious who recognize the tremdendous potential of an iHangTVs.com franchise.
Why Franchise?
Currently all of the areas mentioned are being served via the home office in Birmingham and apparently because the service area is so large, there is obviously a need to expand. Ferlando says he tried using subcontractors at one time but that didn’t work out too well. The number one reason was because they were not trained to the company’s satisfaction. Secondly, the subcontractors would not always present themselves in a professional manner and sometimes customers were simply not pleased with the service.
By franchising, franchisees will receive extensive training. They will follow a proven operational model established by the company, thereby eliminating the need to start from scratch, drastically reducing the learning curve, and the bumps and bruises associated with start-ups.
There’s More to the Story
Among other things discussed in the interview
- Ferlando offered sage advice to entrepreneurs and would-be entrepreneurs with regard to recognizing and seizing opportunities
- A possible venture on the horizon conceptualized by his son is the creation of a YouTube channel.
- Also in the future as iHangTVs.com expands across the country, they may look more closely at being featured on a national platform on shows such as Fix It and Finish It (the now defunct show for which Ferlando was in talks with in 2014).
- Did you know that iHangTVs.com hangs menu boards in restaurants? Neither did I. Although their target remains the residential market, they do commercials installs as well. The biggest job they’ve recently completed was a house with a whopping 14 televisions.
Still More in The Interview
The interview is approximately 30 minutes and there’s still much more that we discussed including current employment opportunities. You can check out the audio below.
In the meantime, if you have one or 100 TVs that need to be hung, call iHangTvs.com at 205-326-6884. Be sure to like them on Facebook.
If you are a new business or existing business on the move, contact Renew Refresh Reset Your Life and let’s talk about scheduling an interview.