-What led you to get into this business?
Two Scotsmen from Glasgow. They had gone through British trades training for flooring installation and were looking for a young strong bull. I spent a few years learning as well as doing domestic installation, Robbie and Jimmy were mostly doing axminsters as the sewing skills along with the pattern matching ability was beyond compare. I went on my own for about a year before knee surgery and the same again a year later. I saw an ad for carpet cleaners and worked about 6 months for a bait and switcher , sorta learned a bit and bought some equipment.
-Describe your best cheerleader and what it took to make him or her so.
Tough call. Rosemary called me on a New Years Day because her cat had clawed through a box of wine concentrate. I came over , got it out and didn't skin her alive. Thousands of dollars of referrals.
The girl that works at my suppliers, actually even my suppliers sale chain feeds me stuff from time to time. Some really nice work out of there as the feedback is good. i take the newbie saleman out as free helper for the day to learn about cc.
Amir has been a customer for well over 20 years. He owns a string of apartment buildings and pays well and within 15 days, unlike some accounts that run up to 60.
-Where was your business five years ago and where will it be five years from now?
I struggled for a while, no doubt. I had to sift through the buckwheat to pull out the bullshit, implement what I already knew and now it's freakin' great. I'm booked a week to 10 days out now and have a pretty good thing going on. I have some buds I know and trust that I pass work on to, some guys that we split large jobs and I'm pretty happy. I just hired a really good working part time helper ( we got the 23 halls done in 10 man hours and he catches on fast
)
-Who do you emulate in this industry and why?
I try to emulate- me. I'm 53 next week and I'm comfortable in my skin.
-Start over from scratch, how would you go about it?
Probably make sure I had more money. I've owned 2 businesses - both started with just enough dough to buy equipment. The rest came from entrepreneurial spirit.
-How have the Boards helped your biz?
I've learned a lot and learned a lot of bullshit too. There's a lot of folks that reached and helped me when things were bad. I have a check that Gary Heacock sent me to help out when I had a bike accident and ripped up a knee and crushed a foot. I keep it with my special treasures as a reminder of how the board community used to be with things like FOJL and people like Gary Berg. I've learned not to confide to some people, most are good, but there's a few snakes and some insects on the lawn.
-For a guy who appreciates the finer things in life were you not the slightest bit disappointed when you opened the Cross Threaded box?
Not at all. The machine is easy to work on and I knew what I was getting. Ed knew I was in tight spot because I'd lost my van and equipment and helped me a lot by giving me a great price on a whole package. Other than vacs that I replace every year and F**^^ Pumptec pumps,( give me a General any day), it was viable replacement for my Vorninja (general, four vacs- I still have the base). I have tried different vac configs, but most of my hose runs are 50 feet or less and it works for me.
-Do you have anger issues?
FU%^ YOU!
-One CD on that deserted island, which will it be?
