Locally Owned Business, Power On, Helps You Power Up

Hurricane season begins on June 1, 2015 and John and Vicki Cunniff view this time of year different than most.

You see, their locally owned business, Power On, was born 11 years ago during the hurricane season of 2004. After witnessing the devastating impact four major hurricanes had on the state of Florida, John saw a need for generators that would provide comfort, security and safety to families and businesses during times of power outages.

This led to him and his wife starting Power On, which sells and services stand-by generator systems for commercial and residential customers.

But a hurricane is not the only event that can result in devastating power outages. The recent storms that came through the Big Bend demonstrate the need for the services provided by Power On.

On April 20^th at 2:00 pm over 11,000 people were without power and four hours later the number was still over 8,000.

The husband and wife team has successfully leveraged their skills to operate Power On with a focus on customer service and a dedication to selling equipment that fits the needs of the customer.

John has a mechanical background as well as retail experience and Vicki, who serves as the Operations Manager, brings administrative and organizational skills gained from 33 years as a State of Florida employee.

John is the face you will see in the field.  Not only is he the owner and sole proprietor of the business he also services, repairs and installs the generators.

Vicki handles all the office responsibilities such as billing, scheduling and maintaining the customer database; as well as managing the Power On website and Facebook page.

Over the last 11 years, despite the economic downturn, some changes in the economy have benefited their business.

For example, the move to provide more in-home healthcare has resulted in more people needing uninterrupted power for medical devices such as oxygen or CPAP machines which aid individuals that have a form of sleep apnea.

Also, more people have created home businesses and larger corporations are allowing employees to work at home. These arrangements are not productive when the power is out.

This increase in potential customers has highlighted another unique feature of Power On.

Some businesses just sell generators and do not provide maintenance.This can often-times leave buyers in a bind.

John says, “sometimes buyers rely on out of town vendors but fail to recognize the importance of preventive maintenance.”

Power On sells and maintains generators. In fact this is all they do.

“Vicki and I believe we can best serve our customers by focusing on stand-by generators and their maintenance and not trying to sell a lot of other services,” said John.

Another attractive feature for a lot of potential Power On customers is the ability to connect a stand-by generator to the natural gas source provided by the City of Tallahassee.

Power On has experience implementing this type of configuration.

The laser like focus of Power On, combined with local ownership provides a unique experience for their customers that comes with a local phone number.

This local phone number is important because they are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week in the event of emergencies.

Power On provides an information filled website at PowerOnUSA.com. The site is easily navigated and the “Getting Started” section starts with assessing a customers needs, addresses equipment options, answers installation questions, such as what permits and licenses are needed, and ends with preventive maintenance options.

  John Cunniff, Power On, Vicki Cunniff