Austin Business Journal - December 16, 2002

Heating up a cool business

A/Z Refrigeration seeks help from nonprofit group to get a better handle on finances
Stuart Wade
Special to the Austin Business Journal

One of the biggest thrills Aaron Zamora ever has enjoyed came when his 10-year-old son, Ronnie, recently interviewed legendary former Texas football coach Darrell Royal for a school project.

But for Zamora, the thrills don't end there.

The 40-year-old owner of family-run A/Z Refrigeration Inc., which performs commercial installation and service of walk-in coolers, freezers, air conditioning and heating, was cited recently as "Most Successful Graduate" by the nonprofit Business Investment Growth Austin, or BiG, during its annual Central Texas Micro Enterprise of the Year Awards.

At BiG, Zamora took a course called "Taking Financial Control of Your Business." The class helps businesses with key management tools designed to give small business owners mastery over a broad array of issues.

"We went through BiG training because we want to make sure we're doing this right," says Zamora, a former maintenance staffer for Whataburger Inc.

"My wife told me I could succeed doing this, and the restaurant owners who are my clients and my friends also convinced me this business would work."

Jeannette Peten, president of BIG Austin, says: "I applaud A/Z for not only talking the time to learn but also to use these tools to get to the next level. A/Z were able to position themselves somewhat differently to go after larger contracts."

A/Z also secured an $18,000 loan from BiG.

"With training and capital, an existing business like A/Z can better analyze what it can handle, its cash flow and when to create new jobs, which in turn helps the local economy," Peten says.

As a maintenance staffer for Whataburger, Zamora worked a route that took him from Killeen to Kerrville to New Braunfels. Then, seven years ago, Zamora made the leap from employee to small businessman.

Since 1995, word of mouth - coupled with Zamora's reputation for hard work - has produced a steady flow of clients, ranging from bars and restaurants to meat companies, groceries and hotels. A/Z serves customers in Austin, Leander, Georgetown and San Antonio.

"I've been associated with Aaron for at least 10 years, and he takes care of my refrigeration and all my heating," says Dave Mallak, owner of La Palapa Restaurant and Cantina. "Aaron's honest, he's prompt, he knows what he's doing and goes out of his way to really work with you, which is important in this business."

Supported initially by personal savings from his Whataburger 401(k), Zamora worked from home for two years, doing mostly service jobs. He estimates he had just a few dozen clients in those early days.

Then in 1997, business tripled. He hired two assistants and brought in his mother, Esther Zamora, who recently had retired from the Texas Mental Health and Mental Retardation State School, to be a partner in the company and help run the office.

"When I first started with my son, we serviced around 250 clients," says Esther Zamora. "We lost count after 500."

A/Z's clients include Austin eateries Matt's El Rancho and El Arroyo.

Aaron Zamora brags that his first client was East Austin diner Cisco's Restaurant and Bakery.

"I was pretty close with Rudy [Cisco] Cisneros," he says of Cisco's late namesake. Zamora estimates he has known the Cisneros family for nearly 15 years.

"Aaron's real smart with schematics and can look at diagrams and can figure anything out," says Clovis Cisneros, owner of Cisco's. "Some of us aren't like that, but he just gets things running. He's just a good-hearted, hard-working dude."

Although Zamora is proud of his clients, he remains humble on the subject of what it takes to succeed.

"There's no secret, really," he says. "I see a lot of my clients, the restaurant and small business owners, working 60 to 80 hours a week, too. They're doing the same as us - the owner does all the cooking. I see that and I say, 'We've got to do that, too.'"

Although service is a primary revenue source, A/Z specializes in installation of every stripe. One of its more challenging recent heating, ventilation and air-conditioning installations was for the Wingate and Comfort hotel chains - jobs that Zamora good-naturedly describes as being no different from the smaller jobs.

"The plans may make it look big and complex, but you just need to think larger-scale," Zamora says.

Refrigeration clients have a range of needs. Some require routine maintenance while others might call only for emergencies. A/Z is busier on Thursdays and Fridays, because many of its food and beverage clients experiencing minor problems suddenly will realize they must be fully prepared for weekend business.

"Our business is also seasonal," Esther Zamora says. "We do air conditioners in the spring, and we'll do a lot of bars and restaurants.

"One of the more unusual examples is we did a soft drink refrigeration system for Dave and Buster's where Aaron went to work on it beginning at 1 a.m."

How does a volatile local economy affect a homegrown refrigeration business? In the downturn, restaurants might feel the pinch, which has a slight effect on A/Z.

"But when restaurants or meat companies suffer breakdowns, and they always do, they need help," Aaron Zamora says. "So even when things aren't as good overall, we rarely see a direct drop in traffic."

After tripling his business and adding two staffers in 2001, how will Zamora and A/Z grow?

"I try to project," he says. "I'm always looking ahead to whether I'm going to hit the mark, whether we will need another employee to get there. Sometimes it's as simple as if I get a new signed contract, then I go for it."

STUART WADE is an Austin-based freelance writer.
© 2002 American City Business Journals Inc.