Today we’d like to introduce you to Ofelio and Victor Martinez.
Ofelio and Victor, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
My brother Victor & I have always been hard workers. We both dropped out of High school and have been working to survive ever since 9th grade. We’ve always had the dream of being entrepreneurs or Business owners as far back as we can remember. What drives us to be business owners is the ability to connect with the community we grew up in as well as giving back to people that we wouldn’t have normally been able to.
In 2012, I started in the Propane industry. Victor had already been in it for a bit handling operations, working for a local, small company owned by our buddy. Victor called me and said they were looking for a sales rep. They were offering $300/wk plus commission. That was less than half what I was making delivering Oxygen to Veterans full-time.
From 2012-2017, in a nutshell, the propane company went from selling 400,000 gallons a year to 4 million a year in a matter of 5 years. Because of the rapid growth and profit, that put us on the radar and the company was quickly acquired by a big propane competitor.
Victor and I then decided to invest in a propane company based out of Tampa and started a new branch here at home in Miami. The fire Victor and myself had to develop the market for the propane industry, unfortunately was not embraced like we had hoped.
Then, we knew it was time to create our own !! We developed our Brand, from the ground up, based off our hands-on experience of success and fail. In 2018, PROPANE COWBOY was born!! We have been
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Not at all, with all the knowledge and experience we had between us, the struggle was integrating a fresh, innovative brand into an otherwise traditional industry. Being the up and coming leaders we are, our Brand is colorful, fun and relatable, which is what we knew. We had a reputation as Victor & Phil Martinez, not as Propane Cowboy. It took a lot of knocking on closed doors for any interest to catch. But once it did, the skies the limit. We are now suppliers for Sedano’s Supermarkets, Tom Thumb gas stations, quite a few large brand warehouses.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Propane Cowboy – what should we know?
Propane Cowboy started as a BBQ exchange program, we supplied supermarkets, gas stations and hardware stores inventory to then sell to the public. That’s where the brand Propane Cowboy came in, the Cowboy is the image of American barbecuing on holidays, weekends and family gatherings loved by all. At the same time, we were supplying to businesses that had forklift machines running in the warehouses to move their own products and grow their own businesses to help our communities. Recently we have expanded into the residential and commercial bulk realm.
We can now come to homes and fill their onsite tanks that fuel, pools, water heaters, kitchens for all year round, don’t forget the much needed generators (We all know hurricane season). We now are also converting large vehicle fleets to run on propane and “Go Green” for the environment. We are most proud of the response and support we have received from everyone around us. We came into the propane industry to make a difference and bring awareness for a new outlet and career for a younger generation. We were involved in a commercial shoot for PERC (Propane Education & Research Council) which was geared toward the youth to shed light on an industry that has so much to be discovered.
Contact Info:
- Address: 186 Sw 1st Street
Homestead, FL 33030
Service from Key West to Jacksonville - Website: www.propanecowboy.com
- Phone: 305-906-1136
- Email: info@propanecowboy.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/propane_cowboy/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Local-Service/Propane-Cowboy-1164577503693705/
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/propane-cowboy-homestead
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