Zeev Dorfman of Rodents Stop: 5 Things You Need To Run A Highly Successful Family Business
An Interview With Jason Hartman
… You absolutely need a solid business plan, and a back up plan, and a back up plan for your back up plan.
As a part of our series about 5 Things You Need To Run A Highly Successful Family Business, I had the pleasure of interviewing Zeev Dorfman, Co-Owner at Rodents Stop.
Zeev Dorfman is the co-owner of Rodents Stop, which provides pest control services in Los Angeles. Since 2000, Rodents Stop has specialized in rodent control, deodorizing, disinfecting, and indoor health and safety. Dorfman is a progressive, driven, down-to-earth, entrepreneur and managerial expert who can be relied on to offer superior solutions.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive in, our readers would love to learn a bit more about you. Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
I am a seasoned business professional with 27+ years of as a self-starter and idea-generator with demonstrated entrepreneurial and leadership skills in the food services, pest control, HVAC, and real estate arenas. Recognized as launching and leading several successful businesses throughout my career, I have a verifiable history of spurring growth and expansion as well as delivering superior customer service to elevate the customer experience throughout my career.
Can you tell us a bit about your family business and your role in it?
As such, I have consistently exceeded revenue targets and performance goals and I am adept at achieving maximum operational output with minimal resource expenditure.
Currently, I am the co-owner of Rodents Stop — a leading and innovative Van Nuys, CA pest control center. Under my leadership, I spearhead creation of new revenue streams through practiced and unique marketing strategy development. I also research market competitors and mentor staff to ensure Rodents Stop is providing the best services to meet customer demand at affordable prices.
As the co-owner of Rodents Stop — a leading and innovative Van Nuys, CA pest control center — I spearhead creation of new revenue streams through practiced and unique marketing strategy development. I also research market competitors and mentor staff to ensure Rodents Stop is providing the best services to meet customer demand at affordable prices.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began this career?
I come from a family of entrepreneurs who are gifted with the talent of driving sustainable, ethical and innovative solutions for a variety of businesses. Rodents Stop was launched while we were operating an HVAC company. It was very common for us to go into a residence to fix or install HVAC equipment, and find destruction caused by rodents — gnawing through wires and nesting in the homes. While operating the HVAC business, we realized there was a bigger opportunity to help L.A. residents and beyond get their rodent problems under control.
My great grandfather developed what we estimate is a 100-year-old formula to prevent rodents from coming back once they are removed from the house. It’s imperative that the scent trail is completely removed once the rodents are gone. His formula is ethical and sustainable. It does not involve the use of any chemicals or poisons. Instead, he used natural ingredients like crushed up mint leaves (which he crushed himself) and mint extract to devise the perfect solution for keeping the rats away.
I am proud to continue his legacy with Rodents Stop. Today, we are improving quality of life for thousands of families and people throughout the greater L.A. area. I find it interesting that four generations of Dorfman’s have built upon each other’s successes to continue to enhance the lives of people in our community.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
The funniest mistake we made when we first started was figuring out how to communicate our treatment plan. At first, we were going over the treatment options by phone. Then we realized there was an opportunity to create visual content and leverage customer testimonials describing the process, so people have a better understanding of what they are investing in. This also helps with accessibility.
What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?
My company stands out because we are the only rodent control company in the L.A. area that offers a lifetime guarantee. We will come back to service a house until all the rodents are gone. We can offer this guarantee because we use a spray with a unique and viable formula to prevent the rats from coming back in the future. This is important because rats can smell their scent for up to five miles away, and while they are nesting in residences, they leave their scent trail all over the home. Rats come back because they can still smell their scent in the house, but the spray we use removes all traces of their scent.
What we’ve seen happen too many times, is that homeowners opt for a rodent control and prevention treatment that only offers a two-year guarantee. The company removes the rodents but does not treat the residence to prevent them from coming back. Thus, the rats pick up on their scent and come back after a couple years once the guarantee has expired.
With our uniquely formulated spray, we remove the pheromones affiliated with the rats’ scent so they do not smell it and come back after a couple of years. This spray is why we are able to offer our customers a lifetime guarantee. We have served 50,000+ happy customers in the greater Los Angeles area and look forward to helping more people control and prevent future rodent infestations. We’re dedicated to putting a STOP to rodents and helping L.A. get the rat epidemic under control.
Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?
Right now, we are working on the development of a spray that consumers can use to keep rodents out of their house. This do-it-yourself spray will be available in spring 2022. We are excited to bring clientele an effective product that is designed and used by experts in the rodent control industry.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
I am grateful to my great grandfather for developing the effective and ethical spray that we utilize to deliver rodent control and prevention plans backed by a lifetime guarantee. I am also grateful that I come from a family of entrepreneurs who worked tirelessly to make a difference in the communities in which they lived. It is my goal to continue their legacy today.
How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?
With Rodents Stop, we are helping the greater L.A. community get the rat epidemic under control, and we are doing it in a way that is safe for children and pets. Our nonpoisonous approach does not include the use of chemicals and gives peace of mind to homeowners with children and pets. In addition, we do not kill the rats. We remove them and take measures to prevent them from coming back — such as sealing off entry points and spraying the neutralize he pheromones.
We are on a mission to make the greater L.A. area rodent free. Rodents bring diseases into homes, and they cause destruction and expensive repairs. When we remove the rodents, homeowners enjoy clean, healthy homes again. The peace of mind our customers feel once we have completed the job is priceless.
Do you have a favorite book that made a deep impact on your life? Can you share a story?
My favorite book is The Secret by Rhonda Bryne. I had a very unfortunate accident many years ago, that almost caused me to lose hope. My business was going downhill because I wasn’t able to dedicate the same attention to it that I had before. When I was about to give up, The Secret helped me through and showed me that positive energy, influence and thinking can be influential more than imaginable. I’ve held strong to this belief ever since.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
Short cuts make long days. In my business, I’ve learned that cutting corners just creates more work. Doing it right the first time may take a little bit longer, but in the end will save you time money and frustration.
Ok thank you for that. Let’s now pivot to the main parts of our interview. How do you define a family business? How is a family business different from a regular business?
The job is never finished, working with people who live with you and are so close to you, means that you’re on the clock 24 hours a day. Until the job is done right.
In your opinion or experience, what are the unique advantages that family owned businesses have?
Working with people who know you, makes it easier to problem solve and find resolutions for difficult scenarios
What are the unique drawbacks or blindspots that family owned businesses have?
You have to learn how to separate your personal feelings and responses from your professional life.
What are some of the common mistakes you have seen family businesses make? What would you recommend to avoid those errors?
You hold everybody to the same standard, family does not get special privileges, everyone needs to pull their weight.
What advice would you give to other CEOs or founders of family businesses to help their employees to thrive?
Treat all of your employees like family, make sure they are happy at the job.
How do you define “Leadership”? Can you explain what you mean with a story or example?
Lead by example, and make sure that you experience every situation personally, so that when you explain it to people you have the personal experience to understand what everyone else needs to do. A leader should be able to and have worked every position in his company.
Here is our main question. What are the “5 Things You Need To Run A Highly Successful Family Business”? Please share a story or example for each.
Passion
Willingness to learn
Communication is key
Never think you have all the answers asking for help is OK
Always plan for the unexpected
What are your “5 things I wish someone told me before I started my company” and why.
It’s not always a glamorous life.
No matter how well you were prepared, business always has its ups and downs
You absolutely need a solid business plan, and a back up plan, and a back up plan for your back up plan.
Things never stop improving and innovating, and you have to be able to evolve with the times.
Most importantly -Everything will be OK!
We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them :-)
I would like to have a private breakfast or lunch with Elon musk. In my opinion, he is a person that embodies the mindset that not even the sky is the limit. You can always dream bigger and achieve all of your goals!
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)
The movement I hope to inspire is to put a stop to L.A.’s rat epidemic. The rat infestations could end if everyone invested in rodent control plans that are proven and effective. The rat epidemic could also be addressed by improving the situation of L.A.’s homeless population.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
Follow me on Facebook, LinkedIn, and look out for new releases from Rodents Stop.
Thank you so much for joining us. This was very inspirational.
