June 4, 2007

TSBDC honors Dayton’s Pest Control with Rising Star Award

Dayton Hylton has spent a lifetime pursuing bugs. His parents say he caught his first fly, in midair, at the tender age of 2. As teenagers, he and his sister presented the largest bug collection ever to Bearden High School.

For 22 years now, Hylton has operated Dayton’s Pest Control Services, Inc. The business was a thriving enterprise with 16 employees when Dayton and Sheila Hylton married four years ago.

Unfortunately, though, Sheila soon discovered that Dayton’s had structural weaknesses in dire need of fixing. No, the office didn’t have termites. It was infested with inefficiency.

In 2006, Sheila Hylton got the bee in her bonnet to improve the office side of the business. That’s when Dayton’s Pest Control really started buzzing.

In fact, the improvements in operations have been so impressive that the business has earned the 2007 Rising Star Award from the Tennessee Small Business Development Center.

“Each year, the Rising Star Award is given by the TSBDC network to a small-business client in each of the regions served, in recognition of the business’ perseverance and success,” said Teri Brahams. Brahams is executive director of Business and Community Services at Pellissippi State Technical Community College. The TSBDC is administered locally by Pellissippi State.

 “Four years ago I came into his office,” said Sheila Hylton. “I walked into a company that didn’t have voice mail, that didn’t schedule appointments on the computer.… Dayton was dependent on me as a manager. I was thrown into this office learning the pest industry as well as learning to manage a small business.”

The move toward efficiency began when she saw an advertisement for a six-month course offered through the Knoxville area TSBDC to help small-business owners and enrolled.

In the Strategic Management Learning System, 12 classes that covered different aspects of business met every other week. The course began in September 2006 and lasted until March. During weeks with no class, a business specialist from the center would visit Dayton’s to give practical advice.

 “We wanted to make sure the Hyltons understood the material covered in class,” said Larry Rossini, director of the local TSBDC office.

“When I came here, I was wearing all the hats,” Sheila said. She had previously worked at Pilot Corporation, where there were many managers, and says the class helped her define job descriptions, including her own, and better delegate.

Thanks to the class on marketing, Dayton’s also started sending out direct-mail advertising for the first time.

“We’d already been on TV and the radio,” said Dayton. “In mid-April we sent advertising to 200,000 homes in Knoxville and the surrounding area, and we’ll send another out in early June.”

The company also benefited from the class on inventory, he says. For example, the couple decided to buy a larger quantity of chemicals in advance to cut down on unit cost.

“We purchased about $60,000 worth in March and saved $2,000. We’re about to use the last of it. The teacher stressed that an important part of your business is the relationship with your vendor,” said Dayton.

“I think for me,” Sheila said, “the most important class was time management, because that affects everything I do every day. I was probably working 60 hours or more a week. Now I’m working 50 a week.

“One thing I enjoyed the most was the other businesses represented. It was a terrific experience to network with other companies.”

Collections are also handled differently now. Instead of making all the calls, the owners now turn over more difficult cases to professionals.

“I didn’t realize what a benefit it would be to have an outside source,” Sheila said.

The company also has begun to use a job-sharing system. Two part-time people now share an accounts receivable position.

The business now requires continuing education of employees, and, on a more personal note, the owners make it a special point to acknowledge birthdays and give Christmas gifts to let employees know they are appreciated.

Both Dayton and Sheila point to the training for helping make it happen.

“The value of the management course is that it has increased our bottom line,” Sheila said. “We now work more proactively in managing our business instead of just reacting to daily crises. The value is peace of mind: you are in control, not your business.”

“Our profit margin is definitely better,” said Dayton. “We’ve gone from being bug people to business people.”

The Rising Star Award was presented to the Hyltons at their business on 4647 Newcom Ave. by Brahams and Rossini.

“The services are available to any business owner or entrepreneur in the TSBDC area,” Brahams said. “ Pellissippi State participates in the TSBDC network as part of its mission to support economic and community development.”

According to Rossini, 30 new businesses started last year after receiving help in the center’s workshops and one-on-one counseling. At least 442 new or existing businesses benefited from more than 2,300 hours of consulting.

The center conducted nearly 100 training sessions in 2006 for more than 1,400 people. Businesses and business owners who participated in center workshops, seminars and other activities invested more than $18 million in their businesses and retained about 1,100 jobs, as well as experiencing increased sales of almost $11 million, says Rossini.

Related Information:

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