New Berlin | Founded: 2002
Industry: Masonry | Employees: 20
A.O. Handy specializes in masonry restoration and repair services for residential, commercial, industrial and institutional properties. Its services include tuckpointing, chimney repair, sealant and caulking, and custom masonry work.
How do you identify and respond to market trends or customer needs?
Denis Boyko, CEO and co-owner: “We stay ahead by listening closely to our customers and learning from those around us. As a family-run business, we are deeply involved in every aspect of our work. We regularly connect with other business owners across different industries to exchange ideas and learn from their successes.”
What’s a decision your leadership team made that proved pivotal to your growth?
“We chose to shift our mindset from simply working in the business to building a true, scalable company. A mentor I deeply respect opened my eyes to the fact that we had not built a business yet, just jobs for ourselves. He pushed me to think bigger and to invest in growth, even when the immediate return was not guaranteed.”
What’s a recent risk you took that did or did not pay off? What did you learn from it?
“When I first started hiring new people, I made the mistake of getting too emotional and keeping them around even when they were clearly not a good fit for the company. I took the risk of growing quickly but learned the hard way how much damage the wrong team members can do.”
