New York

Growing up in the family business, Bill Horbett Jr., held many positions in Big L Windows & Doors before stepping into the role of owner and president five years ago. The company was founded by Bill’s grandfather, Ed Horbett, and father, Bill Horbett, Sr., in 1976 and Bill admits it wasn’t always easy to see himself taking over the business. “It was hard to see the bigger mission of the company as a young person in a starting position,” he reflects. “But over time, I came to appreciate doing high-end, quality work for our community. We’re improving people’s homes, making them more comfortable and energy-efficient, and that’s rewarding.” Today, the company sells and installs windows and doors for over 1,000 local homeowners, builders, and commercial customers per year.

Big L Windows & Doors began using Google Ads for brand campaigns and to promote sales in 2013. “We find that any type of Google Ads is just a wonderful source of leads. It will bring in people who are legitimately interested, not just a soft inquiry,” Bill says. In fact, Google Ads account for 25 percent of the company’s leads. Their Google Business Profile is another useful source, with 176 reviews and a 17 percent click-through rate. “Thinking about a stranger working in your home can be stressful, so it’s helpful if people can read real firsthand accounts,” Bill says of the reviews. Bill also regularly uses AI Overviews to do industry research, and his sales team uses Gemini to draw up proposals. Next up, Big L Windows & Doors will expand into Rochester and the Finger Lakes region with a new showroom geared toward the professional market. “We want to continue to grow that professional business,” Bill says. “Our roots were in B2B, and we want to make sure that we’re continuing to support builders and professionals, whether it’s in a new market or here in Erie and Niagara counties.”

Daniel Taylor launched the finance platform Bags with Ignacio Semerene and William Hayden in 2020, after the earnout from his first startup coincided with George Floyd’s murder. “It was a point of reflection for me as a Black entrepreneur with the privilege of access to capital,” he says. “The fastest-growing segments of entrepreneurs in the U.S. are minority-and women-owned businesses. By increasing their access to capital, we could help them to generate wealth, create good jobs, and revitalize local communities.” Today, with the help of the resources provided to Ignacio as a 2023 recipient of the Google For Startups Funds, Bags is achieving that mission. They’ve given over 4,000 diverse entrepreneurs a full analysis of their finances and the debt landscape, paired them with coaches, used AI to match them with funding opportunities, and more.

Google Ads helped Bags gain clients early on, accounting for over 20 percent of new business. Then Google Analytics data showed them the power of referrals, helping them reduce ad spend and focus on core customers. Bags also uses nearly every tool in the Google Workspace suite. “It’s those small things we take for granted,” Ignacio says, “but they reduce friction, make things easier, and help us scale our service.” And scale they have: Bags has seen client growth of 90 percent month-over-month, plus major growth in value per customer since adding a subscription service in 2023. The credit available on their platform grew from $300 million to $4.6 billion over the course of the year. Now Bags is exploring ways to bring more value to the entrepreneurs. “We think we have the potential to have the largest data set on small business growth in America,” Daniel says. “If we're able to continue to provide that depth of value, the result will be incredible information so that our businesses can make better decisions.”

Nicole Calleo and her father, Joe Calleo, wanted better merino wool clothing than what was on the market. In 2013, they created Woolx, an online store for high-quality merino products that are comfortable, soft, and durable enough for the outdoors. Woolx is a family business for Joe, Nicole, and her brother Dom–along with their tight-knit team. Over the years, Google has helped them bring their timeless, essential pieces to an online audience. Using Google Ads, they’ve increased their revenue 50 percent year-over-year, focusing on branded and non-branded keywords, and their Performance Max campaigns. “We're able to ensure all products get exposure, but to really focus on our bestsellers,” says Nicole. Last year, over 10 percent of sales came from their Google Ads campaigns, allowing more customers to layer up in freezing temperatures or relax in Woolx’s comfy work-from-home styles.

Nicole sees real value in embracing Google Analytics. Woolx uses it to measure traffic and revenue trends, do A/B testing, and more to better understand how customers engage with Woolx.com–and to focus on delivering results. “You always have to be prepared for change. You don't know what's going to be coming around the corner and to the best of your ability, you just have to be ready for that,” explains Nicole. They work with Joe’s mantra, “Nothing beats elbow grease.” But it isn’t all hard work: Dom serves as Director of Fun, helping the team find joy. “Dom is heavily involved in everything from day-to-day things to pizza parties every week,” says Nicole. Dom, who has Down Syndrome, engages in activities at GiGi’s Playhouse, a Down Syndrome Achievement Center. This past year, Woolx donated $20,000 to Gigi’s Playhouse Southern Tier. “This year I'm hoping we're able to double that,” says Nicole. “That's something that we really strive for every single year.”

During her fashion magazine career, Corinna Williams learned that all fashion ultimately becomes laundry. But that didn’t make her laundry days—long, uncomfortable hours doing load after load in dimly lit, dirty laundromats—any better. So she decided to reinvent the experience to make it comfortable, clean, and enjoyable. She brought her sister Theresa into the fold, and they created Celsious, a spacious and fun place in Brooklyn to do eco-friendly laundry, get coffee, and hang out. After launching in 2017, the sisters grew a local following through word of mouth and Google Ads. Positive reviews on their Business Profile on Google drew in more customers. They doubled their revenue in the first year and their customer base grew to span 50 ZIP codes: “We weren’t just attracting people from our neighborhood—folks were coming from all over to visit us,” Corinna says.

Celsious made changes ahead of citywide shutdowns due to COVID-19 by increasing sanitization, wearing masks, and closing the café. They also pivoted to a drop-off-only service and doubled down on their e-commerce business, which sells a selection of laundry products. “Though we’ve struggled to reach our pre-COVID revenues again, our community has been extremely supportive,” says Corinna. With a new booking system on their Business Profile on Google, customers can arrange for drop-off and pick-up, and frontline workers and at-risk customers get priority access during low-volume times. “We’re proud that we’ve stayed open, providing a stress-free way to do laundry for our community,” Corinna says. And through their Laundry Love program, people can now pay washes forward for those in need. “It’s been an opportunity for us to innovate and use tech solutions to make our service as seamless as possible,” Theresa says. Their e-commerce business continues to grow, supplementing the lower volume of laundry during COVID-19. “We’re seeing it all as a silver lining because we’re learning and serving our community through these trying times.”