Scott Millman and Justin Comstock both worked in the steel industry until their employer went belly up in 2012. The next logical step for the friends? Start a business that boards up abandoned buildings. They call it
S.E.T. Products.
"We saw a need and developed the S.E.T. system," Millman says.
S.E.T. stands for Simple, Effective, Tough. The Farmington Hills-based company makes specialized systems for securing vacant properties that utilize specially made sheets of galvanized steel that fit over windows and doors and are stronger than plywood. The 3-year-old company and its staff of three (it's looking to hire a sales person now) has deployed more than 200 of these systems on vacant properties, primarily in the city of Detroit.
"We can cover any home you can find in the city of Detroit, or anywhere for that matter," Millman says.
The normal S.E.T. system costs between $800 and $1,000 to secure the average bungalow in Detroit. Each project in individually quoted for free. S.E.T. systems are sold to the user, where most comparable systems rent them out.
"It allows the customer to spend less money and put those funds elsewhere," Millman says. "It's also cost competitive with plywood and stronger."
Source: Scott Millman, CEO of S.E.T. Products
Writer: Jon Zemke
Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.
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