Hoffer Pest Solutions: 50 Years Strong

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CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. - Hoffer Pest Solutions is celebrating 50 years in business, having served Southern Florida in Palm Beach, Dade and Broward counties since 1975. If you asked the founder and former president Al Hoffer what it takes to survive half a century, he belts out a big, ol’ hearty laugh.

“I just wanted to go out and kill bugs and make people happy,” he said. “The bottom line is simple — you show up and do what you say.”

But figuring out what it takes to run a business in the pest control industry required a bit of trial and error.

The early 80s saw the company with five employees and some financial problems — in some small part, because Al was always on the go. He admits he wasn’t always great at bookkeeping. Instead, he’d store new customer’s names on napkins he stuffed away in his pocket.

“I’d scribble a new customer’s name on a napkin and Debbie Waterbury, who still works for the company, would make sure it got into the books,” he recalled.

Despite a rough start, Hoffer always showed up on time and delivered the product. And it was that sense of loyalty to the cause that kept the business running during those early years.

“Many customers told me they chose us because other companies wouldn’t return calls or arrive on time,” Al said.
From there, Hoffer’s business evolved with the rest of the industry. One lesson was learned after another thanks to sage advice from friends and mentors, like his father-in-law, Bill Pheiffer. Back then, it was all about monthly service.

“The comment back then was, ‘You’ll never get more than $10 a month. Nobody’s going to pay over $100 a year for pest control,’” he recalled. “So, I was selling it at $7 or $8 a month, and I kept seeing my customers every month.”

That opened his eyes to the reality of business — it wasn’t always enough to be a good guy; you had to be cheaper than the rest. Finding ways to balance loyalty with quality service was key, and that became ever more clear when a key business decision fell into his lap.

LESSONS LEARNED. In 1994 , Hoffer had the opportunity to bid on a pest control contract with IBM. At the time, he only had two or three trucks. His father-in-law pointed out that the new venture — which would involve pest management for IBM’s 620,000-square-foot corporate headquarters —  would more than double his volume.

“He told me, ‘No one account should be more than 10% of your revenue.’ This thing would have been 100%,” said Hoffer. “He asked me, ‘What happens in two years if you don’t get it again?’ So, I didn’t bid the contract.”

At the time, it broke Hoffer’s heart because he wanted to sell big numbers, but it turned out to be a blessing when the plant closed down just two years later.

“The biggest mistake a lot of us make is that you have one success and you think you can do anything,” said Hoffer.

Today, these lessons have been passed down to Hoffer’s son, Eric, who took over as president of the company in 2008 and purchased the company in 2013. After earning his bachelor’s degree in business management from the University of Central Florida in 2003, Eric worked at Hoffer’s Melbourne branch before venturing off to Gregory Pest Solutions in Greenville, S.C. Those experiences, along with mentorships with Hoffer’s long-standing peers, provided Eric some much-needed insight into the industry.

“I'd go look at their company and work with them for a week or two and just see how they operated, and it really helped me see in all these companies what works well and what doesn't work well,” said Eric. “It was great experience, and then I came back home and started working with my father.”

ADDED COMMERCIAL FOCUS. Since 2004, Eric has been invested in nearly every arm of the business — from technician to office manager, service manager and sales manager. In 2016, Eric teamed up with Paul DiLorenzo (then-vice president of Steritech) and Bob Berkley. Together, they formed a separate company called Samco Pest Solutions (named after DiLorenzo’s son and daughter).

“Hoffer Pest Solutions was historically known for their residential impact in South Florida,” said DiLorenzo, who now operates as COO of Hoffer Pest Solutions. “Commercial wasn’t a big portfolio for them, but it was our niche.”

They ran Samco for about six years before folding it back into Hoffer Pest Solutions in 2022. Today, 20-25% of the business remains commercial. Teams have also been divided among different departments under Eric’s and Paul’s  leadership as they continue to focus on the three pillars of commercial, residential and lawn services.

“We’re a lot more focused and strategic on what we’re doing and what we’re looking at for the future,” said Eric. “We have a three-year plan, five-year plan and 10-year plan, and we go over them every quarter. We also have an annual meeting where we stay focused on those and build everything we do around those plans.”

WHAT’S NEXT? Although Eric is not quite ready to share what’s in store for the next 50 years, he’s determined to double down on the footprint they’ve already built for themselves. Expanding out of Florida isn’t on the table for them right now. But the passion and dedication Eric’s brought to the business is enough to make Hoffer feel like the foundation he laid before him is in good hands.

“I’ve been working a specific way for 20 to 30 years. It worked for me then and I want to keep on doing it, but I don’t want to know about the new stuff,” said Hoffer, who’s no longer involved in the day-to-day business but continues to represent the company at-large. “It’s incredible what Eric is doing and we now have grandchildren of my original customers that are customers today.”

And DiLorenzo agrees — Hoffer Pest Solutions is one-of-a-kind.

“Today, in this age of M&A taking over the world, it’s very rare to see a 50-year-old company in the market because they keep getting gobbled up by these larger companies and acquisitions,” he said. “We have the reputation of 50-plus years now, and that’s a huge opportunity that we’re going to tap into.”