Darrell Camby is one of the founders of Camby Mobile Home Movers. Based out of McDowell County, North Carolina, Camby Mobile Home Movers served both mobile home dealerships and individuals in the transportation and setting of mobile homes. The company is no longer active since his dad, the other founder of the business, retired.
The reason for starting their own business, Darrell said, was freedom. “Saying when I can go on vacation, what kind of money I can make,” are some examples he gives of this freedom. His dad was already in the field and had knowledge and experience in the business, so it only made sense to get into mobile home moving and setting. The challenge of starting a business also seemed appealing as well. The two of them were the only full time employees of the business, but they would occasionally hire short-term help for certain jobs.
The business took off fairly quick because there was a lot of work lined up, in large part due to his father’s previous experience. “There were people that wanted us,” Camby says, “private owners and mobile home companies needed people.” However, there were some difficulties getting a new business started. “Absorbing all of the negatives,” he says. If anything would go wrong, they would have to learn from the mistakes to improve the service behind their business. “It’s all about going back and looking at the problems, correcting them and learning from them.”
The service behind their business would help their reputation. This, as well as his dad’s previous reputation, would create a word of mouth that would eventually be their best marketing tool. Camby explains, “the public can kill you, but it can make you. You do good stuff, word gets around. If you do bad stuff, word travels faster.” While they disbanded the business with his dad’s retirement, Darrell doesn’t regret any of the experience and would do it all over again if he had the chance. “Yeah, it was big and large at the time, making about $170,000 to $190,000 each year before taxes.” Between only two people and only occasionally a short term helper, it seems like a successful business venture.
