Ken Parsons always had big dreams of success and after college he spent a few years as a substitute teacher, when he realized becoming a history teacher was just not for him. An opportunity to earn some extra cash during the summer working for a local gutter company arose and it opened Ken’s eyes to the idea of entrepreneurship. Ken decided not to go back to teaching and instead learned how to install gutters with the hopes of starting his own company. In 1999 Ken Parsons cashed in all his bonds and had a meager $500.00. He used this money to purchase a very used box truck. The company he worked for at the time was kind enough to give him one of their old gutter machines. His family and peers questioned this decision and thought he was literally throwing his degree in the gutter. With much determination and hard work, Ken eventually got the business off the ground. However, he quickly realized he could only get so far on his own.
In 2002 Ken’s younger brother, Ryan Parsons, with much persuasion, accepted a job on the truck with Ken after the graphic design company he was working for went under. Over the next seven years, Ryan became completely commitment to the business and is now a 50% owner. In that time, the two brothers grew the company and decided to offer not only gutter services, but everything from decks to entire newly constructed homes. The brothers were enjoying moderate success until the building crash and recession hit in 2005-2008, where they almost lost everything. That’s when the brothers realized they were not good at “everything” and needed to focus. They were also way too heavily invested in new construction.
After going from 26 employees to 4, the brothers decided to focus on what they new best. In 2009 the Brothers changed their name from Water-flow Gutter Solutions to The Brothers that just do Gutters. The name instantly resonated with the residential market and quickly became a household one. While most companies were going out of business, The Brothers that just do Gutters were increasing theirs.
With this name change came a few title changes, and a rebrand. The decision was made to no longer be called salesman, presidents or owners but rather Solutionists©, which embodied what we represent to our clients. Ken Parsons was re-entitled Senior Solutionist©, and Ryan Parsons became Chief Solutionist©. Their main goal and concern is trying to come up with the best solution for every unique situation for clients. By providing the ultimate solution to each problem presented, and focusing all of our attention on our clients, we have been able to grow the reliability of our services. We offer only the best products because we focus all our efforts on only gutter systems and guards.
The Brothers have worked tirelessly to replace themselves with incredible people that can follow their systems. Even through the worst times in business, the brothers knew they had something special and always had the idea of franchising in the back of their minds. However, each year they decided that they still were not quite ready. In 2010 they launched their first “satellite locations” and from there, spent another four years tweaking and improving their methods. They are extremely grateful for Jonathan Mellett and Jeremiah Boles (essentially franchisee guinea pigs) for dealing with all theses changes while they perfected this model.
In 2014 the brothers finally pulled the trigger and The Brothers that just do Gutters officially became a franchise. By 2015, two franchise locations were already up and running. This perfecting of the model allowed for two brand new companies to come to the market looking and acting like one that has been around for generations.