COMPANY IS A DISRUPTOR IN THE INDUSTRY.
How many companies have been renamed by their customers? Propane Ninja may be the only one.
Mike Dodd attended Durant High School, where he played soccer, but then was reassigned to the new Newsome High School when it opened. He graduated from there in 2003. Peter Samuelson grew up in Kenya as the child of missionaries. The two met while students at Florida State University and became friends. They partnered together to start their propane dealer business in 2013 with $5,000, a pickup truck, and a lot of ambition. They began by supplying restaurants along Florida’s West Coast with outdoor heaters. The company’s highest value at the time was to make sure their customer’s units were always full. Their practice of being quick in and quick out without being seen got around, and their old and new customers started saying the company operated like ninjas—which Mike and Peter embraced for their official company name.
Propane Ninja’s business has grown steadily since then. Now it has 25 trucks that service 2500 customers and it employs 50 people. The company has delivered 1.2 million propane cylinders. Among its clients are the Florida Strawberry Festival, the Florida State Fair, Tampa Downs, and Lakeland Sun ‘N Fun. The reason is, the company offers larger tanks than normal, which made for better arrangements for the temporary kitchens set up at these events. These kitchens aren’t continually running out of propane even though Propane Ninja doesn’t have to deliver as often.
The company promise centers on sound propane delivery service, every time. It proactively manages its customer base to ensure high quality of service and transparency in order to treat every customer with the utmost respect for their home or business.
“When we put smiles on faces because of our customer service or pricing, we know we are doing a good job by our customers,” said Dodd, whose role is CEO. “We listen, and that’s the secret to success.”
Propane Ninja bought land in Plant City three years ago, but “Covid craziness delayed the move,” Dodd said. In July, the company finally relocated from Valrico to its new headquarters on Turkey Creek Road, south of the Plant City airport. The business relocated to Plant City because this is a great location for delivery to both Orlando and its customers from Tampa Bay to Naples.
Propane Ninja is disrupting the old way of delivering propane. One way they are doing this is focusing on improving the customer experience by keeping its customer service local—which means more jobs in Plant City. “A common denominator for propane is to move customer service overseas,” Dodd commented. “But those people don’t know the area.” People overseas don’t have personal experiences of the lay of the land, or visuals to be able to give customers accurate estimates for delivery times. “Customers today expect quick answers and quick solutions,” he added.
A second way Propane Ninja is a disruptor is, it has invested heavily in cutting-edge technology. The business has incorporated Enterprise Planning Resource (ERP) software created by a Belgian firm called odoo. Odoo is a cloud-based system that manages supply chains to enhance agility. The aim is for Propane Ninja to back up what it promises by delivering in a timely way so customers won’t have a long wait. This technology improves communication within the business and to customers, allows for more efficient routing, and gives “last mile transparency” to customers about when their propane will be delivered.
In terms of technology, Propane Ninja service also comes with propane tank monitoring systems that allow customers to see their propane levels 24 hours a day, to use their smartphones and set alerts when levels fall to various points. The company promises to be fast, flexible, and frequent.
What motivates Dodd is to, “Build a better community under our business.” he said. “To satisfy customers’ needs above our profits. I grew up with a family of entrepreneurs and learned a lot under the help of my father and grandfather. We are building this company to last a lifetime.”
