clearly is Kurt
Harrington, owner of
Something Fishy
Aquarium service.
Company: Something Fishy Aquarium Service
Owner: Kurt Harrington
Location: 3949 Old Post Road, Charlestown
Type of business: Aquarium sales and maintenance
Employees: Five (including himself)
Year founded: 1993
Annual revenues: WND
At the age of 22, Kurt Harrington already has the titles of president and chief executive officer after his name — and they have been there for nearly seven years.
That’s because at 15, Harrington decided to turn his love of fish tanks into a part-time business.
“My first client was my dentist, Dr. (Anthony C.) DiMaio,” Harrington said. “My dad and stepmother used to drop me off. I’d work on Doctor DiMaio’s tank, and then they’d come back in about an hour to pick me up. That’s how Something Fishy was born.”
Ironically, today it’s Harrington who spends most of his time in the car – traveling all over Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Connecticut selling his aquarium designs and services to clients, including Foxwoods Casino and American Power Conversion.
Officially incorporated in January of this year, Something Fishy Aquarium Service specializes in the design, installation and maintenance of all types of fish tanks. The company has four full-time employees, including a trained zoologist, who work one-on-one with clients in creating the perfect aquarium for their home or business.
“This is an investment,” Harrington said. “My clients don’t want to buy something that is going to depreciate. They want something that they will enjoy.”
Harrington said his business really got going soon after he graduated from high school.
“As soon as I made the connection that my hobby could also be my business, I went after it,” Harrington said. “I have spent the past seven years chasing down a dream. I have a passion for this business and love what I do everyday.”
A lot has changed over the past seven years. Harrington, who once made sales calls in jeans and a shirt, now comes to work in a suit and a tie.
“I learned pretty quickly that you have to wear a tie when you are selling something,” Harrington laughed. “I have learned by doing.”
Harrington said the first few years were spent “cold-calling” clients, or walking into different businesses to see if they had or wanted a fish tank. Though Harrington admits he gained only a half percent return on the first couple hundred stops he made — he didn’t let it stunt him.
“At that time I didn’t need to be profitable,” he said. “Now I cold call people on the phone, and have better returns. Word of mouth has also brought many referrals.”
But getting a client is only half the battle. Harrington said what sets his company apart from others in the field is the follow-through service it provides.
“This is not a nine to five job,” he said. “We are here for our customers 24-hours a day. We sell a job and then follow through to build a relationship. I still service Dr. DiMaio’s fish tank.”
Today, Harrington is seeking a larger market, one he calls the “$10,000 plus.” And though he doesn’t want to discourage smaller projects, he understands finding bigger clients equals faster company growth. Over the last three years the company has grown 300 percent – adding four employees, and Harrington expects it to grow an additional 200 percent this year.
“Bigger is better,” he said, “and this kind of growth is achievable.”
Harrington said the company’s location, along Route 1 in Charlestown makes both the New York and Boston markets easily accessible.
“The New York market is very attractive to us,” he said. “And we hope to break into Boston in February.”
For Harrington it seems no goal in unattainable. Five years from now, he expects his company to be all over New England, in 10 years he expects it to be nationwide and somewhere in between he expects to go public.
“How you handle growth is to expect it,” Harrington said. “By forecasting, you can bring someone on now, experience a few growing pains and work harder so that the pains go away.”
Harrington said the hardest part of his job is getting others to see his vision, and making his four employees — one of whom is his twin brother — to feel like they are a part of that vision.
“It’s hard for me to deliver my thoughts clearly when it comes to my vision for the business,” Harrington said. “But when it comes to my employees I am always thinking about how I can make the business a part of their life, and how we can work as a team.”
Harrington said many of his customers don’t mind working with someone his age.
“I think it has actually been an advantage,” he said. “They look at me and think here’s a kid with enough ambition to come out and they allow me to follow through with my services.”
Last year Harrington’s young business savvy earned him the U.S. Small Business Administration’s “Rhode Island Small Business Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award.”
“What a feeling of achievement,” he said. “That was one of the best nights of my life. It wasn’t about profits invested or financial rewards. It was about recognition and I thrive on recognition.”
And while at 15 Harrington had dreamed about bigger things for his company by now, at 22 he is quite happy to have achieved what he has.
“Thank God for unanswered prayers,” he said. “I have built a foundation, which is key to my future success. I have come to realize anything is possible and I can achieve it — at a steady pace.
