Peerless Concrete Products is a precast concrete manufacturing company. Peerless was started in Little Falls, NJ, in 1959. In 1962, we moved to Butler, NJ, and are still manufacturing in that same location. We are celebrating 2 years with our second manufacturing location in Franklin, NJ.
Brief description of Phil Monaco
Phil worked with his father and brother Peerless as a teen and young college student during summers and school breaks. After graduating from Penn State University with a B.S. in Accounting, Phil became a C.P.A. and worked at Coopers & Lybrand before coming to Peerless. In 1996, Phil moved to Peerless full-time making deliveries, handling outside sales, and running day-to-day business operations.
Q. What inspired you to make significant changes to the business?
A. Paul Monaco, Sr. started the company as a precast septic tank manufacturer. Much of Peerless’ growth began with product diversification. Adding more products to our manufacturing drew different types of customers with different needs. As the customer base grew we continually added and altered our manufacturing to service the changing market. Environmental and Engineering reglations have also mandated change in our business.
Q. What three pieces of advice would you give to a new entrepreneur?
A.
Cool Head Conquers
Build Strong Relationships
Q. Top three skills to be a successful entrepreneur?
A.
Vision
Courage
Focus
Q. How many hours a day do you work on average?
A. 25. An entrepreneur is never off the clock.
Q. How do you go about marketing your business?
A. Just like our products, our marketing has evolved over the years. The foundation of our company is built on strong relationships with our customers. As technology has evolved so have we. 10 years ago we had a basic website with our catalog pages. Now we have a more comprehensive website, instagram, facebook, tik tok, linkedin. However, our first priority is still personal connection and as a result we are involved in many community charitable organizations.
Q. What has been your most successful form of marketing?
A. Still evolving.
Q. Where did your organization’s funding/capital come from, and how did you go about getting it?
A. Paul Sr. had some money saved, took on a small partner and borrowed some of his initial funding from a shylock (loan shark).
Q. How did you obtain investors for your venture?
A. N/A
Q. What is the best way to achieve long-term success?
A. Faith in God, Work Hard, Be Honest. Loyalty to both employees and customers, Quality workmanship. Provide value. Community involvement and giveback.
Q. Excluding yours, what company or business do you admire the most?
A. I admire many of my customers for their vision, courage, and fortitude. I learn different things from many of our customers every day.