Senior Living Assist is part of The Gorilla Group family of companies. Located in Sidney, they provide a multitude of consulting services to residents and visitors
A conversation with Ray shaw, OWNER
Why did you choose Sidney as the location for your business?
“My parents used to live in Sidney and I knew the area very well. When I was looking for an office space to develop my business ideas, Sidney was much more affordable. Also, the people here are amazing and just so nice. It was an easy decision to come out here. When I found the opportunity to move here with my business, I didn’t think twice.”
How would you describe your experience in the Sidney community?
“I think in any other community when starting a business you would be discouraged, have doubts, and experience a lot more struggles. Smaller communities are always better that way. If you start from scratch in a positive environment, you have the opportunity to meet and greet everybody and be a part of a community. The Sidney community has been so welcoming and allowed my business to flourish and achieve success in months that would have taken years to reach somewhere else.”
What has been the most rewarding aspect of running your business so far?
“Definitely the response of how people are appreciating what you are doing for them. The personal recognition felt when helping someone find a place to live is like helping a family member you never had. The appreciation for my business concept in this area is overwhelming and really does make you feel like a million bucks.”
If you could give one piece of advice to a new entrepreneur, what would it be?
“Taking care of the customer should be your only focus and everything else is secondary. If you treat your customer right morally and ethically, everything else will fall into place. If you lose that focus because of other motives it convolutes what you are in business for and you just can’t do that. You must have the sheer sense of just wanting to help somebody. If you don’t build trust with your customers, the whole thing is rubbish. If you can build that trust and help people everything else will fall into place.”
What are the core values of your business?
“The morals and ethics of any business have to be centered around not cutting corners and not trying to get things that you don’t deserve. The whole business stems from the customers. If you have your morals and ethics going forward in business and you treat your customers how you would want to be treated, you can’t lose. This is what I believe and this is what will see me right through.”
What are your short term and long term goals as a business owner?
“I am very goal-oriented and am constantly shooting for different goals. My short term goal is to have a stable business environment. This involves having rent paid, staff paid, and a consistent business model that can stand by itself. In the long term, I would like to have my business so streamlined that I am able to spread into more locations with greater flexibility to be able to do more for people on a larger scale while continuing to keep it local. I still want to be that guy that people can say hi to when passing by, I still want to keep that essence.”