Genz-Ryan, a small family owned and operated business that services clients plumbing, heating and air conditioning needs, was severely hit during the Great Recession of the late 2000s. About 95% of Genz-Ryan’s revenue in 2006-08 was from new home construction. Inspiration Design Center was created as a new brand to help market Genz-Ryan’s 13,000-square-foot plumbing-only showroom, which was opened in February of 2006, solely as a selection center for its new construction business.
With new home construction in the tank, the owners of Genz-Ryan were searching for new sources of revenue — still with the plan to keep Inspiration Design Center around the builder/remodeler market. “A new plan was hatched in 2010 to launch Inspiration into bathroom remodeling as a general contractor, focusing only on bathrooms that could go from start to finish in one week, in under $10,000,” said Jon Ryan, owner of Inspiration Design Center. “Early success resulted in many one-week bathrooms being sold, and the entry into kitchen remodels, too. Problems resulted from the challenge of being able to efficiently scale the remodeling business, the notoriously long sales cycle and the army of ‘Chuck-in-a-Truck’ remodelers and DIY’er competition.”