Researching, finding and securing great service providers can be a daunting and time consuming activity for any person or business.

Whether you are hunting for a limousine service, a home service in your local area, or you are a business person looking for a catering company or local service, the effort it takes to find such a great services can be overwhelming.

In fact, as business owner ourselves, we have had both good and bad experiences with numerous companies both locally and abroad. For example, we had a anniversary to celebrate our companies 20 year existence and had a bad experience with a local catering company. We will never use them again, but on the other hand, we had a wonderful experience with another company, pavers Fort Lauderdale, when they completed the entire remodel of our entryway, driveway and walkway. It gave our business a great “curb appeal” for our potential customers.

These types of experiences are common with almost any homeowner or business owner. We wanted to write this post to help others have a great experience like we had and apply it to their own searches, whether it be for a limo service, or a plumber.

We will share our checklist for spying on companies and finding a great match:

1. Check your local BBB and their reviews
2. Talk to friends and business associates about personal experiences
3. Post on Facebook asking for a referral
4. Check Yelp for local  providers
5. If it a home services contractor, look at Home Advisor, Thumbtack or Angie’s List
6. Check Google reviews locally
7. Call the company and ask to speak to the owner
8. Get everything in writing
9. DO NOT pay in full until you’re satsified

These are just the basic things we do to insure a smooth ride when dealing with ANY company we plan to give money to. Their are too many shady characters out there these days and if you do these basic things, you’ll be in good hands.

In addition, do not underestimate reviews. Look for companies with a lot of reviews, not just a few. Any company can get their Aunt Martha to leave a review but legitimate companies have them coming in bulk and regularly so look for a lot of reviews and ones that are recent as well. A lot of reviews are great but if they are all from two years ago, things may have changed.

We hope this helps you in your search of our service but also in all the others you will inevitably find yourself doing.

Update: The company that we used that we referenced above that did our driveway pavers can be reached at 954-280-6544. They are terrific.