Service First started in 1982. Back then they were painting office buildings.

Today, they handle refrigeration, kitchen equipment, HVAC, electrical, plumbing, tenant improvement — even pools.

Through it all they’ve maintained their same values as a family company.

“We still have that mom and pop feel, but we do everything at a corporate level,” says Alfred Molina, Vice President. 

But behind the scenes, things were messy.

Too Many Systems. Too Much Guesswork.

Before BuildOps, they were juggling three or four different software programs.

Work orders in one place. Billing in another. Purchase orders somewhere else.

“Everything just seemed scrambled,” says Stephanie Ponce, Assistant Manager.

There were so many workarounds that Will Bucher, another Assistant Manager, said:

“If somebody bought this company, I don’t know that they’d know how to run it.”

That’s not a small problem.

They had big goals to grow and expand, but being spread thin across multiple systems was dragging them down.

“The old system wouldn’t let us get there,” says Molina.  

One System. No More Scrambling.

When they moved to BuildOps, the chaos stopped.

No more jumping between tools. No more patching gaps.

“Sometimes systems promise you the moon. Then you use them and see the weaknesses. It’s been the exact opposite with BuildOps. Everything we wanted it to do, it could do,” says Mark Bucher, General Manager.

The wins weren’t flashy. They were practical.

Search is fast. Reports are clear. Tabs make sense.

“My favorite feature is the search bar. It’s so quick to find a phone number, invoice number, purchase order,” says Stephanie.

And the real proof?

“The only reason I can do this interview is because I’m finishing my quotes for the day,” laughs Will. 

That’s time back.

A Record Year — and a Bigger Plan

They had a record year. Now they’re opening a division in Phoenix.

“Our very ambitious goal is being nationwide,” says Alfred.

And this time, they’re not guessing their way there.

“A huge part of that is because BuildOps allows us to work from wherever we want,” says Will.

Service First still runs like a family business. But now it runs on a unified system. No more behind the scenes chaos, just a business built to grow.

“We have the system. There is nothing that’s going to stop us now,” says Molina.