It all started almost two decades ago—blossoming from a simple vision—a dream to provide Cayman with a reliable, dedicated and efficient service that was second to none.

Starting as a small janitorial company, Reliable Industries has expanded into a multi-faceted organisation with three separate arms—Reliable Industries, Reliable Supplies and Truly Nolen—all providing Cayman with exceptional and first class service. Today, it has evolved into one of Cayman’s largest and most successful businesses.


In The Beginning

Steve and Sharon Smith started Reliable Industries in the garage of their home in 1990. “This was a vision my husband Steve had,” said Sharon Smith, Vice President of Reliable Industries.

“We were just talking one day —he had worked for the airlines for about ten years and just felt it was time to get out. We figured we had to think about a business that everybody needed and Steve said, ‘well everybody needed something cleaned.’

So he thought we should go into cleaning, but to be honest I was thinking, ‘Cleaning?’ That didn’t sound too impressive to me.

“But Steve found a way, he got everything together, did his research and then gave it to me and I started to implement his idea.

“We each had our strengths and so together we were a great combination,” said Mrs Smith. She believes that it was this team effort that played a major role in their success as entrepreneurs.

Mr Smith procured a janitorial contract with their first client, Kirk Supermarket, in 1990, which marked the beginning of Reliable Industries. Even after 17 years, Mrs Smith proudly declared that that first client remains loyal and satisfied.


Home Grown Success

Getting the business off the ground was not a very easy task. The numerous challenges faced in the early years of the company were “too many to list”, Mrs Smith confessed.

She laughed as she recalled the early days: “We often couldn’t even get inside because we had five gallon pales of chemicals packed everywhere in the garage.”

Apart from that, she admitted that many of their friends questioned her husband’s decision to start a janitorial company.

“People would often ask why Steve would want to move from being a Manager at Cayman Airways to a janitor —because basically he was a janitor,” she said.

“It was just him and another guy—he cleaned the floors, he wrote the bills, he hand- delivered, he collected and he went to the bank— it was a one-man stop.

Mrs Smith explained that after the business began to grow they began to employ more staff.

“We worked out of the home for a long time right up until we had about 15 people and then it started to get out of hand.

“There were people at the house all the time and I would wake up in the middle of the night and there would be rustling and noise coming from the garage—I would get up thinking someone was breaking in,” she said.

After spending almost four years building the business, Mr Smith took the step to branch out and rent office space. At this point, Mrs Smith joined her husband full time at the company.


Three Great Companies Under One Roof

In 1998, the Smiths acquired the Tristar Cleaning Company. This company previously undertook carpet cleaning and selling Tristar vacuum cleaners, which opened up a new sphere of clientele for Reliable. The company was now exposed to the domestic cleaning and maid service market, after concentrating solely on the commercial janitorial market for several years.

Reliable Supplies developed primarily as an offshoot of the original janitorial company.

Mrs Smith explained, “Customers would continually ask if they could purchase the specialist products used by our cleaning staff.

“We began stocking our office with these products so that the public could purchase items, as well as supplying products for hotel and condominium usage,” she said.

Reliable Supplies is now the sole distributor for several brands, including Georgia-Pacific, Host, Windsor and Intercon.

Over the years, this aspect of the business has further expanded to employ sales representatives who are directly responsible for the marketing and distribution of the products throughout the Cayman Islands. A number of these products include dispensers, vacuums, food service equipment for hotels and restaurants, coolers, floor machines, water extractors, blowers and deodorisers. The company also provides lights and bucket trucks for rental. “People would call and ask if we provided a particular service and my husband would say ‘if you need it we will do it,’ she said.

The third aspect of the conglomerate, Truly Nolen, Mrs Smith explained, came about because of their son, Jason.

“He had serious allergies and we saw the product while on vacation. We found out it was environmentally safe and odorless and so we figured it was a good idea.”

The Smiths later bought the environmentally safe pest control franchise from Truly Nolen International based in the United States. The pest control company provides services such as termite prevention, lawn care, pest prevention and bat exclusion.  This new addition further complemented the janitorial and cleaning business after the Smiths continued to receive requests from existing customers to offer a wider scope of service. Mrs Smith reported that Truly Nolen has been well received and is doing quite well, providing products that are safe, environmentally friendly and quite effective.

Today, Reliable Industries has established itself as the number one stop for all service needs on the Islands. The company provides the Cayman Islands with a wide range of services and any Reliable Industries employee will proudly tell you, “If we don’t already do it and you need it done, we will do it.”

The janitorial company—where it all began—now services numerous large and small residential and commercial clients throughout Grand Cayman, including aircraft janitorial/maintenance, represented by Cayman Airways.

Reliable Industries also provides janitorial services to several supermarkets, including Foster’s Food Fair and Kirk Supermarket. The janitorial services provided by Reliable Industries now include, maid service, office cleaning, carpet cleaning, window cleaning, hard floor cleaning, marble maintenance, parking lot sweeping and even tree-cutting services.


In Absentia

In May 2005 the Reliable family was faced with sudden tragedy when Steve Smith unexpectedly took ill.

“The past two years have been indescribably difficult. His illness took him completely out of the business and he hasn’t been involved since then,” Mrs Smith related.

The tragedy greatly impacted the Smiths’ 18-year-old son Jason, who had to take up a full time position at the company while his parents were away and take care of his younger sister, Jenique. She explained that despite his youth, Jason is doing a tremendous job in the business at supporting her and his sister in his father’s absence.

She recalled, “I called him one day while I was in Miami with his father and he said, ‘Mom, I feel like I’ve been pushed in at the deep end of the pool and it’s either swim or drown.’

“And I said, ‘I know, son. That’s a perfect description of what you’re going through, but I know you’re going to swim and you’re going swim hard, and you’re going to stay on top.”

In fact, together they have managed to stay on top and still provide great service to their clients.

“We have continued to grow, move forward and expand and we are thankful for the support that we’ve received from everyone over the years—thanks to our employees and clients.

The Reliable Industries “triumvirate” has grown from a simple “one man” janitorial company to a 23,000 square foot “empire”, boasting over 150 employees. “This is Steve’s dream …all we’re doing is moving forward with his vision.

“We finished the building in his absence, we moved in his absence, we have continued to grow in his absence, but when it is all said and done he is the foundation,” she said.

Mrs Smith explained that unfortunately Mr Smith would not be back at the forefront of the business, but she said that the Reliable family would without a doubt continue to keep his vision alive.


Teamwork and Family

Much of the company’s success is attributed to the wonderful and dedicated staff at Reliable Industries.
 “Our employees are our greatest assets. I value them greatly. We consider them to be a part of the family and they also feel a part of the family as well.

“It has a lot to do with the extra commitment from my employees. They do what it takes to get the job done. They go the extra mile, they don’t think twice about staying late, taking work home, coming in early, working on Sundays. I don’t ask them, they just do it and that has been the secret to our success,” Mrs Smith explained.

“Whenever we can make things a little more comfortable for them we do it because it works out to our advantage and in turn it will end up benefiting us.” Mrs Smith also pointed out that she never makes a major decision without the input of her staff. She stated that she truly believes “there is much wisdom in the counsel of many.

“I can honestly say that my employees understand teamwork—they do understand that the person next to them is as important as they are and that they need that person to accomplish the task.”

Ultimately, Mrs Smith added, “Valuing our customers and endeavouring to do everything we can to provide them with quality and excellent service is also a big part of what we do here —that is what we try to accomplish everyday.”