Q&A With Chaps Founder Josh Chatman

We recently sat down with Atlanta entrepreneur Joshua Chatman, founder and owner of Chaps Professional Movers. Joshua saw anopportunity to serve his local community with reliable, honest moving services in a way that much of his competition wasn’t. He wanted to bring transparency and trust to the moving industry by offering clear service fees and reliable services in a community that is highly transient. According to a study by Storage.com in 2024, Georgia residents were more interested in moving than residentsin 45 other states, highlighting Joshua’s keen entrepreneurial instinct in choosing to start a moving business that exceeds customer expectations.

Chap’s has seen steady growth since its inception, serving over 2,500 Atlanta-area customers, both in the residential and commercial sectors.

We wanted to learn more about what motivated Joshua then, and now, and get a peak behind the curtain of the professional moving industry. Below is the transcript of our interview with him:

Q: What is your background, and how did you get into the moving business?

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Chatman: I'm originally from Hattiesburg, MS. I moved to Atlanta, GA in 2017 in hopes of finding better financial opportunities. Shortly after that, I started working part time with a local moving company while maintaining full time employment as a project manager for Comcast. During that time, I began to see negative practices in the moving industry that didn't benefit the customers of the Atlanta Metro area. This prompted me to plan a business model that would transform the residential relocations industry of Atlanta.

Q: What's your connection to the City of Atlanta and how long has Chaps been moving people in the metro area?

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Chatman: I love the city. It’s been so good to me since I moved here in 2017. The people are friendly and always looking to lend a helping hand when someone needs it. I think seeing the way this city is almost like a big, interconnected family made me want to offer them something that many of them weren’t getting from their moving companies.

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I started Chap's in 2020 during the Pandemic. People were really stressed out and due to the high volume of relocations during COVID, the opportunity to start Chap's Professional Movers came as a blessing in disguise. I just wanted to do something for the city, something to take the stress off for just a few hours during their move, rather than pile more stress onto their plate.

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It was a pretty simple concept: Be honest and be reliable. People gravitated toward that during a time when many of them probably didn’t feel like a lot of what they were hearing on the news was very honest. We grew pretty quickly, and since then, we've been providing affordable, professional relocation services for the Atlanta market.

Describe the different challenges people face when moving inside the perimeter vs outside the perimeter. How does Chaps address those challenges to make inside the perimeter moves efficient for your customers?

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Chatman: Traffic remains the constant challenge for moving inside or outside of the perimeter. There really isn’t too much difference until you start to get pretty far outside the metro area, especially with the way the population is expanding outward into the suburbs. Traffic is everywhere. What really helps our customers is that we know the metro Atlanta area very well, so we know the side streets and the shortcuts, as well as the times of day to just avoid certain areas.

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Having an intimate knowledge of the roads and traffic patterns helps us save our customers time and money during their moves, and again, it really helps to take stress off their plate.

Q: What should people do to prepare for their move before moving day? Give me some insider tips on what to do, and what NOT to do.

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Chatman: Before move day, the moving budget and fundsshould be determined and acquired. It’s really important to get an accurate quote from a reliable moving company, and to fully understand the scope of the services you’ll need. You can’t properly budget for your move if you don’t have that transparent pricing from your moving company. So, my advice is to really pay attention to the fees in the contracts, and make sure you budget for your move accordingly.

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As moving day approaches, people should discard unwanted furniture, appliances, and belongings to ensure a smooth and efficient move. If it’s not coming with you to the new location, get rid of it before moving day. You’ll also want to remember to discontinue your services at your move-out location. Things like electricity, water, gas, cable, etc should be stopped or transferred to the new location. Also, you’ll need to change your address on file for all of these services, and other places such as your employer.

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People should make sure that all non-furniture items are securely boxed and labeled. One of the biggest mistakes people make is not labeling their boxes. When they get to their new home, they don’t know where the most essential items are packed. Labeling boxes is a pro tip to avoid that confusion.

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Lastly, my biggest advice is, don’t under-estimate the amount of time it will take you to box up your items, or the amount of space it will take in the truck to move them. People usually under-estimate the amount of items they need to move, which forces them to spend much longer on the packing activities than they had planned. Sometimes this even leads to move days being rescheduled. Whatever amount of time you think you need to pack, add a few more days just to be safe.

Q: Do people need to be wary of moving company scams? What would you advise people to watch out for in terms of red flags when it comes to a moving company?

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Chatman: Oh yes! Unfortunately, they do. This is part of the reason why I started Chaps. There are many reliable moving companies out there, but there are also many scammers, which is sad, really.

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There are two main red flags to watch out for. One is the pricing and the way that pricing is communicated. It should be straightforward, and you should be left with a clear understanding of what you’ll be paying for and what you’ll be getting. When moving companies bury hidden fees in the fine print, be cautious. They may be trying to sign you up for a service that they know will lead to “overage” charges for time, and then they bill you at a ridiculous rate for the extra time. Reading the entire contract is key to avoiding moving scams. If the moving company has multiple fees for normal moving related items, there's a strong chance that the customer will overpay for the service.

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The other thing to watch out for is poor communication. I’ve seen instances where moving companies book a service and then just don’t show up at all, and still bill the customer. It’s bad enough to not show up, but to take payment on top of it is just absurd. If you get the sense that your moving company isn’t willing to answer questions or phone calls, or gives you any indication that they aren’t prepared to show up at your scheduled time, cancel the service and use someone else.

Q: What does Chaps do to set itself apart from its competition?

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Chatman: Chap's provides exceptional customer care and affordable relocation services that exceeds the capabilities of the competition. As I mentioned, there are other reliable, trustworthy moving companies out there, but many of them are large, national corporations. There’s nothing wrong with that, but sometimes large companies lose touch with the customer. That’s where Chap’s shines. We are very in touch with our community and our customers and we treat them like we treat our own families.

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It's really about going the extra mile, literally sometimes, to make the customer happy. We understand that we’re running a business, and not all requests can be accommodated, but our approach to business is to deliver exceptional results each and every time. Some companies might look at business on a case-by-case basis, where doing certain things at a certain price might not make sense. But we look at the whole of business, and we know that even if we make a little less on a particular customer’s service, if we exceed their expectations, they’re going to tell their friends and their family members.

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That’s our growth strategy. It’s not about squeezing each penny out of each service. It’s about delivering value, because in the long run, that value speaks volumes. And not only that, it’s the right thing to do. What gives me the most satisfaction is seeing the customer smile when the job is done, and knowing that we helped to take what could’ve been a stressful day and turned it into a happy one for them.

Q: Is there any benefit to moving during a certain time of the week, or a certain time of the year?

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Chatman: The industry standard calls for higher prices during the spring and summer months. However, Chap's Professional Movers prices remain the same year-round. This kind of goes to my previous point. We could get away with raising prices during peak moving seasons, but we choose not to because we don’t feel it’s the right thing to do.

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There’s no extra cost to us to operate during peak season, aside from summer gas prices, so why should we hike our prices just because the market says we can? We think our customers appreciate the honesty and flexibility to receive the same prices whether they need to move in June or in December.

After speaking with Joshua, it was clear why Chap’s has been successful and continues to grow. He has the right approach: a customer-first focus in an industry where customer service can sometimes be lacking. His passion for his business is apparent, but more importantly, his passion for his customers is what guides everything he does in his business.

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If you’d like to learn more about Chap’s Professional Movers, visit https://www.chapsprofessionalmovers.com