Elohim CEO Sirena Moore-Thomas Talks About The Business of Family
We started our office in what was my brother’s old bedroom in my parents’ house. Everything in there was make-shift. We used to call my father ‘Sanford’ from Sanford & Son because he brought everything home on the truck–a table, a chair, you name it, broke down computers and printers. We started with that and $200 in a business bank account. That was it. We really had to work as hard as we could with the limited resources that we had. Our first employee was paid with our father’s unemployment check.
Since we started with our own resources, and because my father always taught us to buy only what we could afford, we are a debt-free company.
How has the family business grown?
We started by supplying labor on an as-needed basis for a small roofing company. When the [company] needed one laborer for a few weeks to clear the material, that one laborer was my father. Or if they needed two, it would be my father and my brother. If they needed more, my father brought in his contacts that he knew from being in the construction union for over 20 years.
Now, we’ve broken the company into three operating divisions: construction site cleaning services, which include supplying labor, selective demolition and final cleaning–a commercial janitorial division, and federal contracting.
As a family, how do you maintain your professional and personal relationships. Has that ever been a challenge?
Oh Yes! For our family, we try our best to keep it separate as much as possible. If there are personal family issues that are going on, we don’t discuss them in the office.
Also, we [recognize] each others strengths and weaknesses. We all have our specific roles and I think when you are in business with your family, it’s important to clearly communicate and identify each person’s role so that you can avoid arguments and misunderstandings as much as possible.
Do you intend to keep Elohim in the family by grooming the next generation to take over in the future?
Absolutely; that’s certainly the goal to keep it in the family and have something to provide for my kids and my brother’s kids. My nephews and cousins do work in the field. My kids work around the office stuffing cards and envelopes. We try to involve our younger family members as much as we can because we didn’t come from a long line of family businesses. This is new for us and it’s something I know my father wants us to continue for future generations.
How are you preparing the next generation? What lessons have you learned that you and your brother can now advise your sons and daughters on how to run Elohim successfully?
I’ve had the opportunity to research larger family businesses and how they run their organizations. I’ve gotten great ideas. I would like for my girls to go to college and study business, if business is what they want to do. If they want to work in the family business, I would like for them to get work experience in an outside company in a related industry, preferably, and then come back and bring new, fresh ideas.
