Know Your Mom and Pop: Ferruolo Home Improvements

There’s something heartening about a family business, buoyed by the business owner’s dream to work hard to build up a strong company that sustains itself long enough to be passed down to children. I picture many proud parents watching as their kids slowly (or quickly) work their way up the company, learning the family business along the way, with the end goal of taking over. This doesn’t always happen in the cut-throat business world, but when it does, it’s a huge success.

Ferruolo Home Improvements started 37 years ago, but the family business started long before that. Albert Robert Ferruolo started Annex Construction, a masonry company, in 1935. He was to teach his son, Robert Albert Ferruolo, and grandson, Robert Stuart Ferruolo, the trade of masonry, along with other skills. It’s the other skills that the younger Ferruolos used as the catalyst to start their own company, as they decided that they were able to offer more than just that particular service. They started R. Ferruolo Home Improvements in 1978, becoming fully licensed and offering full construction services to clients. Albert kept Annex Construction going for a few more years before retiring in 1980, after 45 years of being a business owner.

Robert Stuart Ferruolo started showing his son, Rob Stuart Ferruolo, the ropes of the business soon after he turned 18. Rob has been working for his family for close to 18 years, and has taken on much of the leadership role while still learning lessons from his father.

“My father still possesses the same passion for his work that he had when he incorporated almost four decades ago,” Rob said when asked why he thinks the business has remained successful for so long. “His methods haven’t altered much from job inquiry to job reception to job completion and follow-up.” Rob follows up by saying that he has the same work ethic and passion for the job, adding that this shows in the quality of the work done.

As with everything, there are challenges to owning a business. Rob says that both the business and labor side of things can be stressful, one mentally and the other physically. As with every successful business, sales is extremely important, which can bring added stress with trying to acquiring new customers and keep constant work lined up.

Another challenge the Ferruolos face, as with any family business, is being in a business with family members. Rob says that there has to be a balance between the business life and the family life. This ensures that working together is tolerable on a daily basis, especially during high-stress situations.

Ferruolo Home Improvements takes pride in every job they do. The Ferruolos and staff are hard workers who let the finished product do the talking for them. Like most small businesses, they rely on word of mouth from satisfied customers. Rob says that he enjoys challenging himself in the world of home restoration. His goal is to take the basic fixer-upper and transform it beyond the client’s wildest dreams, which leads to more referrals and better looking homes.

“I’m constantly upping my game with innovative designs, while maintaining the homeowner’s vision,” he says.

Rob views every finished job as a major success story. “All the dreams we’ve fulfilled for homeowners who trusted us is an immeasurable feeling.” One job that sticks out is building a bookcase and creating a reading nook for the children at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Providence. The nook was dedicated to a doctor who passed away, and the children at that hospital will be enjoying their work for decades to come.

R. Ferruolo Home Improvements is a fully licensed company that offers an array of services, including windows, additions, painting, flooring, tile, decks, kitchen, bath, basement remodels, roofing and siding. You can contact them at 401-226-3011 or check them out on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100010084006035&fref=ts