Homeowners often receive the keys to their newly built home, only to realize the house doesn’t have the right kind of wiring for their electronic equipment. Frustrated, they must call several companies to make their home technology-ready.
This no longer has to happen, thanks to Cleveland’s S.M.I.L.E. Inc. (Systems Modulation and Integration for Lifestyle Enhancement). Developed from a concept for a college project, CEO Leo Golubitsky manages this one-stop wiring and installation company with his brother, Eric, vice president sales and marketing, and his father, Joseph, vice president technology and installation.
Started in Joseph Golubitsky’s home, S.M.I.L.E. now occupies formal office space, employs more than 25 workers and is approaching $4 million in sales.
Leo Golubitsky says partnering with homebuilders to include installation and wiring while homes are being built turns technology into part of the home’s aesthetics.
“In a full-scale project — phone, cable, network wiring, security wiring, whole-house audio and video wiring — you could run into literally hundreds of wires, and to run that after the walls are up is just impossible,” he says. “By getting the full wire infrastructure in at the time of framing, the house is now prepared for any of today’s technologies and also ready for future technologies.”
S.M.I.L.E. has become so successful that Leo Golubitsky is hoping to attract investors to take it national. He has sent his business plan to venture capital firms, and several customers are interested in becoming angel investors.
“Over the past five or six years, we’ve grown tremendously,” he says. “We are opening up a Pittsburgh location as well – our first satellite office — so that’s going to be an interesting, fun challenge.”
HoW TO REACH: S.M.I.L.E., (216) 663-1777 or www.smileathome.com
