Position: Owner
Company: The Bug Man
What they do: Pest control
Revenue: $4 million
Goal: Become the largest independent pest-control company in the Capital Region
When Paul Salvant and his brother started their pest-control company in the late 1970s, they solicited business by knocking on doors. Children who answered would yell to their parents that the bug man was there, and that’s how the company got its name.
Today, The Bug Man does more than ants, roaches, rodents and termites. Salvant could also be called The Bed Bug Man, The Animal Control Man, The Mosquito Misting Man and the Infrared Camera Inspections Man—all niches his company has filled to offset a nationwide decrease in termite treatments.
Salvant, however, has another name for himself.
“I’m an ‘opportuneur,’” he says. “I look at how you can make money. When we first started, my brother and I knew a lot about pests, but we didn’t know much about business. We took classes. We had consultants come in and show us how to expand.”
The Bug Man—the company, not the person—has tripled in revenue over the past 10 years, and the staff of more than 20 technicians totals more than 250 years of pest-control experience. Salvant shoots for a 10% increase in revenue each year. The last two years, the increase has been 8.5% to 9%.
Given the state of the economy, he’s not complaining. Not when bed bug treatments account for $5,000 worth of work during the first two weeks of July. It takes at least two technicians to service bed bugs, since any furniture in rooms affected by the small, wingless insects must be taken apart.
“I’ve been in business 32 years,” Salvant says. “The first 30 years, we’ve never had a bed bug problem. In most places, we encourage the customer to throw the furniture away.”
To handle the increased work, Salvant recently opened a satellite office in Gonzales. The Bug Man’s territory stretches as far west as Lake Charles, as far north and east as the Louisiana-Mississippi state line and as far south as Grand Isle.
But Salvant would really like to expand into New Orleans, which he considers a tough market because 50% of the state’s pest-control companies are located in that area.
“The residential market for us is the 25-to-45 age bracket,” he says. “Generally, someone over 45 is doing their own service or has been using someone for years. We like to build relationships for the long term. We now service some parents, their kids and their kids’ kids.
“That’s also how you get additional revenue. You work your existing customer base to get more business. We’re looking at other niches.”
