Meeting Any and All Plumbing Needs
Today, just a year later, everywhere you look – Yelp, Angie’s List, Home Advisor, etc., MVP Plumbing & Repairs, Metairie, Louisiana has multiple 5-Star ratings from customers for quality, service, and value. The small company’s message is simple and enthusiastic: Plumbing is what we do! MVP’s two Master Plumbers, Huizar and Latino, bring 20 years experience to these highly specialized plumbing repair services.
MVP’s list of featured services is equally straightforward: Sewer/Drain Cleaning & Unclogging, Water Heater Repair & Replacement, Video Pipe Inspection, Under Slab Repairs, Hydro Jetting, Toilet Repairs, and any and all plumbing needs.
The homeowners and business owners of coastal Louisiana are in good hands with MVP plumbing experts coming to their aid, even for the most challenging of underground plumbing needs deep in the marshy terrain of the Cajun country parishes, which are often below sea level. The MVP plumbing professionals fully understand the diagnostic challenges and come prepared with the industry’s best remedial approaches and equipment.
Entrepreneurial Inspiration and the Launch of MVP
Travis Huizar reflects on the life that led up to launching his new company last year with lifelong friend and now business partner, Shawn Latino. “I had just worked for other people up to that point and wanted to do my own thing. It was time. We’re small, and this is our first year in business. Shawn and I were childhood friends. I spent 12 years working out of my shop at my house. This is our first year working as partners. We’ve been pretty busy.
Our new customers are mostly from word-of-mouth. We’ve also been doing a little on Angie’s List. But, now we keep Leads turned off most of the time. Right now, we’re at a good spot, and when you get big, it gets bad. Or, it can easily get bad.
Guys in big companies don’t necessarily treat the customers like we treat them, and they won’t do the job we do for people. We treat our customers the way we want to be treated. So, the customers really like us. We’re not trying to be big right now. If it gets there over time, great, but we’re definitely not focused on that today.”
Specialized Services from MVP Plumbing, New Orleans LA
MVP’s pair of plumbing experts offer high-precision services, from residential water heater and toilet repairs, to drain and sewer cleanout using video inspection as needed, to sophisticated under-slab repairs. They can even perform advanced hydro-jet treatment in commercial and industrial environments. Huizar offers some insights:
Video Camera Inspection
“The camera helps find the problem and determine whether it’s a single small crack in a line impacting a small area or an issue affecting the whole home. That’s very expensive equipment, between $8k-$20k, depending on various factors. It needs to be treated with caution. You need a clear pathway to avoid breaking the camera. It’s a wonderful tool. It helps in doing the job. And, we’re able to give our customers a video hard copy on disc for their computer. So, if they’re selling their house, they can provide it to a buyer, or if they just want it for their home care file, they’ve got it.”
Under Slab Repair
“Depending on the size of the repair, we may bring in a subcontractor for some tunnel digging. I’m the plumber, so I pipe everything under there. You’ve got to have special tunnel insurance for that. A lot of plumbers don’t do that work. Some can’t do that. Plumbing is a very hard trade with numerous levels of skill and experience. For example, many plumbers can’t do Med Gas plumbing work for hospitals. We do commercial plumbing when a business needs us to go in there and clean things out, or help out in ways within our current scope of services. But, right now, we’re not really big enough to service very large commercial accounts for extensive plumbing projects. We do provide them with plumbing systems maintenance and general repairs”
Hydro-Jetting
“Hydro jetting is a better solution than the every-day approach in many cases. It can often clear lines much faster and more thoroughly. In some residential cases, you may or may not be able to use hydro-jetting. If you have clear access, again, it can be a lot easier to do a quality job than by using a cable. But, in other cases, it can put too much pressure on the pipes and is not worth the risk of causing damage.”
What They Don’t Do
MVP ownership is honest and direct about their position on promises of commitment to the common array of requisites for maximal competitiveness in the modern plumbing market. For example, Does the business possess any environmental accreditations? No. Does it offer senior discounts? No. Offer emergency response service? No. It’s arguably a little refreshing to hear new business owners stating clearly and upfront what they don’t do.
MVP Marketing and Branding Plan
MVP has logos and dazzling graphics enveloping their beautiful work truck. They also publish advanced business posts on Facebook, Angie’s List. The partners plan to launch a website within the next year. However, more extensive marketing is not something the owners are investing in at this stage, as they’ve certainly proven they just don’t need it.
The MVP company’s growth over just the first months of operation and up to this current point, about a year into the startup, has been so rapid and steady that Travis tells ALW that they’ve turned off the lead generation option on the Angie site. That has been a strong producer for them. But, now they can barely keep up with the workload.
He said their growth is already driven primarily by word of mouth. And, the company has capitalized spectacularly on a few ideally designed and placed social media posts, such as this one:
Customer Reviews of MVP Plumbing, Metairie LA
Here are just a few of the exceptional customer reviews published about MVP Plumbing over this first year of operations:
5 STARS: Nicole B. Marrero, LA (1/10/2024) – Clear a Clogged or Slow Drain
“I had a bad clog in one of my bathrooms and MVP came out and cleared it right up for me. The plumber who came was very polite, respectful, punctual, and very knowledgeable. He handled all my girly questions about the matter with tact and patience, for which I was grateful. He told me he had to do a Hydro jetting and run a camera and luckily was able to clear the clog with out any issue. I was very excited to hear there were no under slab issues. I was extremely satisfied with the work done in my home and will absolutely be calling MVP with any and all of my plumbing needs!” (Home Advisor)
5 STARS: Woody I. Metairie, LA (1/10/2024) – Camera Locate Plumbing Break
“They are very experienced and basically knew what was going on before they sent the scope out in and made an understand repair leaving my yard looking like nothing ever happened.” (Angie’s list)
The company currently serves up to around ten customers weekly and are at capacity for the two plumbers. Travis acknowledges that he and Shawn do plan to hire at some point, but they’re not there yet and they’re prioritizing controlling their growth to prioritize maintaining quality performance, in both service to customers and in their abilities to manage a team efficiently as they scale their operations.
Challenges Ahead for MVP, New Orleans LA
Asked about the future challenges for the fledgling plumbing business, Travis acknowledges, “Growth is one. I would like to get a little bigger, gradually — not this year, but next. I think if we continue to do good work, we’ll be just fine. We tend to clean up a lot of messes from handy man plumbing work. There’s always a need for talented plumbers, so I believe we can expect to do well in increasing our customer base.
Advice for Plumbing Industry Newcomers from Travis Huizar, MVP Plumbing, New Orleans LA
My advice would just be, if you’re a young plumber, you’ve got a lot of things to learn. It’s a tough job. Don’t give up. Be ready to be married to your job, because you’re going to have to put in a lot of hours. It doesn’t happen overnight. It can be beautiful too, working for yourself, doing work you enjoy.
Also, whatever you have set on your pricing, stand on it. Don’t undercut yourself. There are always some people who expect too much for too little money. If they don’t want it, just go. There’s too much of your work, and knowledge, and cost involved to let yourself get beat.
For information about MVP Plumbing & Repair, Metairie, LA, call Travis Huizar (504) 237-7269, or email mvpplumbingandrepairsllc@gmail.com. Or visit the MVP Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61558317422118.