Woodstock resident Ian Kalanges had some extra time on his hands after being furloughed from his job at a dental supply company in March because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

So, he decided to use his business and marketing background to do what he’s always wanted to do: start his own business.

This past week, Kalanges officially launched his Mosquito Control Service business, and his website: https://www.byebyemosquitoguy.com/.

Having lived in the area for a while, Kalanges noticed all the mosquito issues because of the rain and water.

Eventually, he got sick of seeing himself and his family getting "eaten alive" every time they went outside.

"You're doing the funny dance where you're slapping yourself," Kalanges said. "By the end of the night [everyone's] just covered in bug spray."

So, after asking a company to service his yard, and seeing how it worked, Kalanges decided he wanted to look into starting his own mosquito control business.

After staying up for many late nights, sometimes until 2 a.m., learning and gaining as much information he could about the industry, Kalanges launched “Bye Bye Mosquito Guy.”

He recently got called back to his day job at the dental company, so now Kalanges plan to continue with Bye Bye Mosquito Guy on the side.

“I've already gotten an awesome response,” Kalanges said.

As of Friday, Kalanges had already booked five customers and about 23 active quotes. To book a session with Kalanges, people can go to his website and fill out a quote form.

“Coming from a sales and customer service background, I wanted not only my experience on the back end of things to work smoothly, but I wanted it to be easy for them on our website,” Kalanges said.

When going to a customer’s property to do a walk around, Kalanges looks for areas with standing water, which is a heavy breeding ground for mosquitoes. Kalanges uses a process that kills the adult mosquitoes and stops the mosquito larva from producing into adults.

“When we're performing our services, I'm very bee-friendly,” Kalanges said, adding that he avoids hitting flower beds and other places bees go. “Bees are good for the environment.”

Kalanges did trial runs at his and his neighbor’s house, to perfect his craft before going into business.

“In the past month, month and a half, I haven't had any mosquito issues on my property, and I have wetland behind my house and down the street and then across the street,” Kalanges said. “So we're in the mosquito zone at all times.”

Kalanges is still focusing on his current job at the dental supply company during the day, but now, his evenings are devoted to his new business.

Kalanges' wife, Amanda, is helping with the administrative work. “She’s been supportive with my idea,” Kalanges said.

Kalanges wants to make sure his business gets customers' questions answered in a timely manner, and keeps up good communication with them.

“We're never going to let anyone wait a long period of time to get an answer,” he said.