From backyard water parks to Unishippers franchise owner, it's all in a day's work for Kevin Biagi.

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Although Kevin Biagi purchased his first Unishippers franchise in 2002, he's always been an entrepreneur at heart. As a child growing up in Huntington Beach, California, if Kevin wasn't out surfing, chances are he was coming up with ways to make money.

"I always wanted to be an entrepreneur," Kevin recalls. "I can remember at age 5 holding garage sales and selling things I wasn't supposed to." (He still feels a small tinge of remorse for selling his brother's skateboard.) And if the customers didn't come to Kevin, he went to the customers. "If I had to, I'd pull a wagon full of merchandise and go door to door," says Kevin.

But young Kevin didn't stop there — he also delved into the recreation business. He built a crude water park and charged neighborhood kids admission to slip and slide or sit in his family's Jacuzzi. He converted his home's garage into a skating rink and allowed the same children to roller skate for a small price. "My partners and I kept the same customer base," says Kevin. "As soon as they became bored with our product, we'd change it up. They always came back."

Kevin took a break from his business ventures to attend college at Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego where he majored in industrial psychology with a business minor. "I wanted to learn how psychology affects business," Kevin relates. "I found the coursework very helpful with the human element of running a business."

But managing people is only one aspect of the job, according to Kevin. Owning a business requires time — lots of it — but if you manage it effectively, working for yourself can afford more flexibility than a corporate desk job could ever provide. "With the time and money invested in my business, I've essentially bought flexibility for me and my family," says Kevin. "I put in the hours, but I have the luxury of choosing when I work."

Before they purchased their own franchise, Kevin and his wife, Stacey, worked for Dan Lockwood in San Diego. After three and a half years as a shipping consultant, Kevin considered running his own franchise. With Stacey knowing the ins and outs of the admin side of the business and Kevin seasoned in sales, the two found the capital and purchased the San Francisco franchise.

Today Kevin works with two partners he describes as "strong players with unique skills." Ernest Liu holds a master's in business and is CFO for a major corporation; Sanjay Ahuja is an attorney. According to Kevin, it's a "symbiotic relationship" among the three. Each person has a specific area of expertise and they default to that person's skills when the situation demands. "It's like a baseball team where everyone has a role to play," Kevin explains. "The best guy is always at the plate and if he strikes out, we know we did everything we could. We've never had a disagreement in the nearly four years we've been working together."

Kevin employs six people to keep his three franchises running, which include Fresno and Stockton/Modesto in addition to San Francisco. "Finding key people — sales reps and customer keepers — is the most difficult aspect of owning a business," says Kevin. "We've done a great job in the past 18 months, but it's tough to find those people. I'd hire five more employees tomorrow if another Erin Breen or Justin Beget walked through the door," says Kevin of his exemplary staff.

Recently Kevin attended his seventh convention since joining Unishippers, and he's already seeing the positive results of that experience within his franchises. "The momentum we take with us from Convention is tremendous. Both of my sales guys have been pounding the phone and pulling in even more new business," says Kevin. "Convention provides a great opportunity to experience both camaraderie and friendly competition with your peers — it helps keep the fire going."

Although his days of water parks, skating rinks and mobile garage sales are behind him, Kevin continues to move forward with the same philosophy he had at age 5 — work hard and give customers what they want.

Chip Baranowski
Franchise Development Manager
Unishippers Global Logistics, LLC
(801) 708-5822 office
(801) 708-5922 fax
(480) 294-2576 cell
chip.baranowski@unishippers.com
Unishippers Franchise Website