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Infinity Moving • Hutto

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By Patrick Brendel Friday, 12 September 2008

After five years of working for several Austin moving companies, Ben Ragland was tired of doing all the heavy lifting only to turn over half of his daily earnings to his bosses. So he and high school sweetheart Rachel put their heads together, bought a 24-foot cargo trailer on credit and thought up a name for their new company: Infinity Moving.

“We’re not a great big moving company,” Ragland said. “We’re more of a personal-type moving company. We’re owner-operated, and we try to be more personal than a lot of the bigger companies.”

Now, four years later, the Infinity Moving trailer traverses the state, transferring Central Texans’ belongings.

Ben and Rachel, both 25, just celebrated their one-year wedding anniversary. He drives the truck and performs the physical labor. She takes care of the paperwork and holds down a job on the side.

Operating out of their home in Hutto, the couple provide supplies and packing services in addition to actually moving things from one place to another. Infinity Moving is available for commercial jobs for large office buildings or smaller tasks like moving an armoire or single bed.

“I’ve been doing customer service since I was 17,” Rachel said. “I’ve got the customer service skills, and Ben’s got the moving skills, so between the two of us…”

“…we can handle the same kind of stuff the big companies handle. We just do it on a smaller scale,” Ben said, finishing her thought.

The advantage of being a small company, they said, is the personal attention the owners can devote to each customer. They try to answer the phone from 7:30 a.m. to 9 or 10 p.m., seven days a week. Ben is physically present at every single job, so customers with questions or concerns can take it straight to the owner, right there. Most importantly, he keeps every appointment he makes, he said.

“We don’t overbook jobs or stuff like that,” he said. “We won’t not show up.”

The young couple is savvy with computers. They do their accounting electronically and maintain a company website at www.infinitymovingtx.com. They spend very little on traditional advertising.

Most of their business comes from repeat customers, referrals and people finding them on the web. They attract traffic by manipulating the website to optimize its place in results for searches like “Austin moving company” or “Hutto movers.”

“The thing I like about the internet and the website is that I don’t have to pay for monthly advertising,” Ben said. “I try to get higher on the Google organic rankings and the Yahoo rankings and use the internet for free, like it’s supposed to be.”

Potential customers can fill out a quote form online and submit it to get an estimate of how much the move will cost. Quotes are also available over the phone.

The Raglands said customers should try to book appointments a week in advance, or two or three weeks ahead of time if they want to move on the weekend.

Moving advice

Ben Ragland, owner of Infinity Moving, lists the following recommendations on his website for people preparing to move:

Make sure the movers have a contact number.
Keep children and pets out of the way.
Keep drinking water available for movers.
Tell the movers about special or fragile items.
Empty papers and breakables from furniture.
You can keep clothes in dressers, chests of drawers and night stands.
Clear off furniture.
Arrange boxes in one area, if possible.
Disassemble as many items as possible. For example, beds, dresser mirrors, washers/dryers and electronics.
Stay nearby in case the movers have any questions.
Keep a doormat or rug at the entrance so movers can wipe their feet as they enter.
Do not be afraid to ask the movers questions as they work.