girl26

The clock is ticking down on Edward Givens. The year 2000 will be the start of a new millennium, but for Givens Carpet Cleaning and Building Maintenance, it also will be the year the company graduates from the Small Business Administration's 8(a) program. For owner Givens, it means he has less than three years to make major changes in his company. He must move from mainly relying on non-competitive government contracts set aside for socially and economically disadvantaged businesses to competing soley in the competitive market. "That's one of my biggest challenges I've got coming before me right now ... trying to (determine) what's my best avenue to take," Givens said. Currently, non-government business makes up 40 percent of his $1.5 million annual revenues. Givens said he has several ideas to increase the income from the competitive side of his business. In fact, Givens hopes to triple overall receipts in the next three years. One method he is using to increase business is advertising. He is expanding his phone book presence, using direct mail and radio. He is also using bids and knocking on doors to earn business. Additionally, he has expanded his business to include fire and water restoration. Eventually, he said he would like to see an even split between the carpet cleaning and restoration part of his business and the custodial work. Today, the custodial side makes up about 80 percent of the business. If he achieves this goal, he will be greatly expanding his residential business, which is now 75 percent of his carpet cleaning and restoration business. One way he has attempted to achieve growth is bidding for large non-government contracts. One stumbling block has been getting bonded for these large jobs. Givens is exploring options in this area, but it has cost him business. Iris Newton, a public information officer with the SBA, said getting bonded is a common problem for small companies. Bonded or not, Newton believes Givens will ultimately be successful in the open market. "He takes care of business the way it should be taken care of," Newton said. While Givens hasn't received large non-government jobs, he has impressed at least one government official. The company has had a custodial contract with McConnell Air Force Base for five years. "We're very satisfied with them out here," said Ed Harvell, director of contract operations for the base.