Thursday, September 13, 2018
ZEV FISHER: YOUNG, HASIDIC AND ENTREPRENEUR
Zev Fisher is different than any other young, single guy living in the Hasidic community in Montreal. Sure, like all his friends his age he likes to have a good time and hang out. But unlike his friends, this 21 year-old man has a business to run. He is the founder and president of a highly successful electric company called Electriccom. With 10 highly qualified employees and several trucks, Electriccom is known for its superior quality and professionalism.
It all started when Fisher was 17 years old. After studying for several years in and out of town Yeshiva, he came back home eager to find a job. Growing up, Fisher had enjoyed working small electrical jobs during his summer breaks. Even as a young teenager, he had always been handy, so when the opportunity to work in an established electrical company came up, Fisher was very interested.
After 8 months working for the electrical company, Fisher started getting phone calls from community members with offers to do small jobs for them on his own time. Fortunately, these offers coincided with the time that Fisher's employer didn't need his help any longer.
At that time, being out of a job was a blessing. It created the perfect opportunity for Fisher to start servicing his community members with his electrical skills. There was one problem though. As a teenager fresh out of Yeshiva, he had no tools. But Fisher was a determined young man. With each job he worked, he used the money earned to buy one more tool, until he acquired a small collection of tools. The phones rang off the hook. After several busy months, Fisher realized that there was a demand for a local community electrician. Little did he know that in years to come his company would be serving a much broader clientele.
If Fisher were to open his own company he needed to earn his electrical license. It was time to hit the books. Although Fisher lives in a Yiddish speaking community, reading and writing English wasn't much of a problem because in addition to his secular education, the Fisher family spoke English at home. Furthermore, Fisher had tutoring help for months before taking the electrical exam.
"Going from Yeshiva graduate to certified electrician in a short time was no small feat. It took a lot of hard work and dedication, but it was all worth it. After months of toiling over books, I passed the exam and received my electrical license. Holding that certificate in my hand was a proud and momentous moment in my life." Fisher said in an interview with The CJN.
Now Fisher was ready to take a big step into the real world. With his family's support and loads of determination, Fisher founded Electriccom, his own electrical company.
"The first step was to hire a business coach to guide me through the intricacies of business. This coach taught me everything I know. I'm young with lots to learn, so I set aside a half an hour every day to listen to different lectures from renowned business coaches. I frequently attend networking events, to mingle and learn from great business people."
"At this point, I'm focusing on bettering my business from where it stands now. The point of running a business is not to be busy, but rather to excel at what you do." Fisher expressed, with a depth far beyond his age.
With the founding of a business comes lots of responsibility and Zev Fisher takes those seriously. "I work 16-18 hours a day." Fisher said matter-of-factly. Incredible!
"My greatest challenge as an entrepreneur is customer service. With experience and time I have learnt this classically simple motto to be greatly beneficial: the customer is always right!" Fisher explained wisely.
Despite his young age, Fisher has earned the trust and respect of his clients. His professional work and customer satisfaction is all that matters. Even as president of the company, he is younger than all of his employees. That has also never been an issue for Fisher. "I treat my employees with respect and consideration, and that is how they treat me in return. I am open to their suggestions at any time. We work together to improve Electriccom because at the end of the day our goal is the same."
Fisher encourages other young Hasidim to pursue their talents. "Inform yourself. Surround yourself with knowledgeable and intelligent business people. Learn from them."
"I attribute all of my success to my family and community's unwavering support throughout my business journey. Without their encouragement and help I'd probably still be working for some small company for $15 an hour."
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