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SOMETHING AMAZING HAPPENED the other day.
June 1, 2024 marked my 40th year in business. Yep. I was a 16-year-old little punk, handpainting signs out of my mom’s garage here in Central Florida, and on June 1, 1984, I secured my business license and was off to the races! But I can’t even believe it! Forty years disappeared a lot faster than I was expecting…
Looking back over all those years, I remember not only specific projects we did, but also the parade of ever-expanding shops, from a two-car garage to larger and larger buildings, until our current 30,000-sq.-ft. facility that Rick and I own! All the equipment we bought, all the employees, all the successes, all the failures… all the risk we took!
We get questions constantly from other business owners asking how we did it, built it, became who we are today, etc. So Rick and I put together a few nuggets of wisdom we’d like to pass along. By no means is this an all-inclusive list, just some things we discussed over a couple of beers (and a shot, or two).
Figure Out Who/What You Want to Be
Neither of us subscribes to any particular religion, but we both have a universal, positive, creative outlook on life. We always expect things to go right for us, never on what would happen if things didn’t. (We have no time for such foolishness!) Since the start of our partnership 24 years ago, we’ve always had an aim. Always knowing where we wanted to go, who we wanted to be. I’m the visionary, he makes things happen. He agrees with the vision, then spends his days figuring out how we can possibly make that vision a reality. That’s why we say: I’m the Show, he’s the Go.
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Don’t Be Afraid to Grow
Once you decide this business is who you are, focus relentlessly on making that business successful. No matter what it takes. When it gets hard (and it will), do not quit and “try something else.” You’ll get stuck in an endless cycle of limited success. Dedicate to it as your sole goal. You will succeed.
Don’t be afraid to grow, add employees, add equipment, open a second location. Of course, don’t jump off half-cocked without knowing how much all of it will cost you. But do not be scared to pull the trigger on buying that new printer, etc. We always have the latest, cutting-edge technology in the industry. Trust us, the business will come once you have the machines.
We had multiple stages (eight to be exact) where we grew out of one shop and went for a bigger, more expensive shop, and every single, gut-wrenching time, we outgrew each — always faster than expected! We pushed hard. Never satisfied with the status quo. Never entertaining the risk of failure. But failure does happen. A lot. And when it does, you have to learn from it, then push that fear aside, and get right back to it.
Say What You’re Gonna Do and Do It
My favorite guiding principle in life. Your word means everything. If you tell someone you will do something, you damn well make sure you DO IT! Even when you make mistakes and it costs you double the money you charged. I don’t care. It sucks, it’ll kick you dead in the stomach, but there is no other option. That attitude right there, is the reason we have many clients that have been with us for 40 years.
Here’s to 40 more, y’all! Go get that business!
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