Published: May 02, 2018

UNITS Portable Storage Commercial Client Spotlight: Joel Phillips of Merritt Custom Builders

The demand for UNITS Moving and Portable Storage in San Antonio continues to grow each month. This is due in part to some fantastic commercial clients who use UNITS Portable Storage Containers to help operate more efficiently, protect equipment, and enjoy the flexibility provided by on-site storage.

One such client is Joel Phillips of John Merritt Homes, formerly known as Texas Resource. Joel began a career flipping houses that evolved into a successful contracting company.

“The only reason I got into construction was that I wasn’t getting the kind of quality work out of the general contractors I was working with. So I started doing the work myself and got good at it and got a good group of guys together and it grew organically,” he said.

Part of any successful business is the quality of relationship between the employees and the ability to work together as a team. For Joel, this occurred quickly and naturally as he started contracting with two longtime friends Colton Park and Adrian Rodriguez, “It really is a family, team atmosphere. It’s a really fun environment to be in with that kind of camaraderie,” he said.

Early on, theft proved to be one of the biggest challenges for their growing contracting company. Joel explained that thieves often target construction sites for supplies, equipment, and tools, “I’ve experienced three different times where someone broke into the house that was being worked on. It’s all construction related break-ins. I knew I needed a solution to not only to move my supplies and tools but for security purposes.”

So far, the choice of UNITS Portable Storage Containers has been a good one. Joel has not experienced an issue since he started using portable storage. It seems that having a locked, metal container has been enough to deter would-be thieves.

In the beginning, Joel learned from his father who himself was also a homebuilder. Anything else he needed to learn he researched on his own, including watching YouTube videos when all else failed. With his self-taught skills, Joel was able to break into the house-flipping business.

“The first jobs I won, I knew I didn’t have a lot of experience, but people would see that I had a go-getter attitude and took a chance on me,” Joel said.

When Joel decided that portable storage was a must for his business, he started shopping and compared companies in San Antonio. He saw a clear difference in both features and customer service when he met Marc Gaudet and was introduced to UNITS Portable Storage. Joel especially enjoys dealing directly with Marc, because he is knowledgeable and easy to get a hold of.

“All the companies I called, going through their customer service process was a pain. They all said they wouldn’t pick up the unit if anything at all was in there. They weren’t a good fit, because I’d just be taking stuff out of storage and putting it back in all the time. UNITS was flexible with me. There’s a weight limit, but so long as I’m not loading it up with bricks, just tools and stuff, I was more than welcome to do that,” Joel said.

From a humble starting point of just three people, Joel can now take on much larger projects, especially now that he knows his equipment is locked inside a portable storage container when crew leaves the site at the end of the day. If you are looking for a quality contractor, consider reaching out to Joel as his company has worked on a variety of projects with great results.

“We’ve done 750,000 dollar commercial jobs from the ground up. We do a lot of different things from carpeting to painting, you name it. If somebody approaches me and says they have a wood floor that needs to be refinished or some special trim projects, that’s what we try to shoot for, but we can do pretty much anything. I have five or six regular guys on staff that work about every week. I’ve had as many as 17 guys on a job before working directly under me, not counting the HVAC, plumbing and custom cabinet people.”

We appreciate the wonderful commercial clients that see the difference in UNITS Portable Storage. If you have a need for a quality contractor,  give Joel a call at 210-606-5238.