Sitdown with Success is a feature of the Huntsville Business Journal on entrepreneurs and their keys to success. This month’s subject is Tommy Dothard, owner of Dirtbusters Cleaning and Restoration.

You have heard the refrain, “It’s a dirty job but somebody has to do it”.

Tommy Dothard, the owner of Huntsville’s Dirtbusters Cleaning and Restoration, is that somebody.

Dothard started Dirtbusters as a carpet cleaning business in 1986, just out of high school. Today, the company is known for having seen and cleaned it all – from vile forensic scenes to raw sewage dumps, hurricane, and water damage, to mold remediation. In fact, he said Dirtbusters not only cleans up jobs other companies don’t know how to clean, but jobs they don’t want to clean.

Tommy Dothard: “Learn to do as much as you can in whatever business you go into.” (Photos/Steve Babin)

How did you start your business at such a young age?

I worked for Coca Cola all through high school at night and on weekends and full time during the summer. A buddy of mine started cleaning carpets there. I helped him at nights and learned the business from him until he took a firefighting job in Georgia.

I bought all of his equipment and picked up his carpet cleaning jobs. Then I started adding more services to it and finally I was getting so busy, I couldn’t do both jobs. By the summer of 1986, I owned my own business and now, it owns me.

How long did it take you to feel like you were meeting your own expectations as a successful business?

I was right out of high school, so I was young, single, raced cars, owned my own house, and did a lot of partying. I guess it took me 10 years to realize I was running a legitimate business and it was time to slow down my craziness and focus.

You started out cleaning carpet but how did you grow it, start adding services?

It was all accidental. I was doing a lot of carpet cleaning in apartment complexes, and one of the managers asked if I could clean up water damage.

I said “yes,’ because basically it is the same thing as cleaning carpet. I started drying out structures and carpet and pulling out the pad and replacing it once the carpet is dry.

As time went on, I started taking classes to further educate myself on how to do it better, what to look for when you have water damage, and it snowballed from there, it just took off.

Then we got educated on mold remediation and fire damage because that was what we were seeing with insurance companies, what they needed. I thought, I can do that. So, we got IICRC (Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Certification) certified in all of it.

What would you tell somebody who wanted to start a new business, any business, or one in your industry?

Learn to do as much as you can in whatever business you go into.

In my business for instance, one lane won’t support you. You need to learn how to do it all. That way, when business is slow in one area, you have other services that keep you afloat.

Were there any challenges along the way that left you feeling stuck or something you struggled with?

I really think the biggest problem I had was that back then, I couldn’t qualify for a loan because I didn’t have any kind of established credit.

I didn’t have a lot of money to put down when I bought a piece of equipment, so I had to just work and save and buy and pay as I go. As a result, today, everything is paid for. I have a mortgage on my building and my house, but everything else is paid for.

In terms of frustration, my trucks are highly specialized with truck-mounted units and equipment, all customized and expensive and it’s hard to quickly get your hands on parts. If one of them breaks down or needs parts, I can’t just run down to the AutoZone. I have to call the company and have the parts shipped out – or sometimes they have to make the part and then ship it – and then you have to have it installed.

If I have jobs waiting that require the use of my truck, that puts me behind and stresses me out.

What do you consider your secret to success?

I’m just too stubborn to quit, or too dumb to quit – however you want to categorize it! I look around me and say, what else am I going to do?

How did you deal with COVID in your business?

It never really slowed down. We do a lot of new construction and work with a lot of insurance companies, so no matter what, they want us to get in there and get it done.

We have an application for spraying Microban (disinfectant) and MoldSTAT Plus, so we were already set up for anybody who wanted us to come treat their home or office; wipe down surfaces you touch every day like light switches, door knobs and telephones.

We were worried at first about the residential side of the business slowing down, and it did a little at first because people were scared to let anyone into their homes. Once they got past the fear factor, people would call us and say, “Hey. Just come to my house and I’ll go sit in the car or run some errands and you call me when you’re done. I’m tired of looking at this carpet, or sick of these dirty hardwood floors.”

Do you serve all of Madison County?

Yes, but we will go anywhere. We work hurricane jobs – if they call us, we go. Anything from Pensacola across the Alabama coast we know that area well.

What are some of the more “nastier” jobs you handled?

We did a decay job six years ago, cleaning up a decomposed body that had been there for three months and had exploded. She was a hoarder too so the house itself was nasty and infested with insects. I had done some decay jobs, but that was the worst I have ever seen.

But I have also cleaned up after burst pipes, mold damage, raw sewage blown out of every drain in the house all over the ceilings and walls. Sometimes it is not pleasant.

What does the future look like?

I have twin boys and one of them is probably going to come to work for me, making it a family business with him running the show a little more. That is good for me.