by Jimmy Harris
Back in the 90’s, when I decided to start this company, I had zero business experience, and even less money. So I read anything I could get my hands on about starting a business. All the “experts” said I needed to save up at least two years living expenses (in addition to startup costs) before I could hope to start a business.
Yea, Right.
If I didn’t have the money, they said, I should look into an SBA loan, or try to find an “Angel” investor, or borrow money from my friends and family.
I didn’t even know anyone who had that much money. And even if I could get it, they said, 95% of businesses failed in the first 5 years. So only a “lucky 5%” made it!
I was broke, I didn’t like loans, I didn’t want to borrow from my family and I had never been one of the “lucky 5%” in anything.
That was 1996. We’d just had our fourth child. I was driving a 1980 Nissan with a couple of hundred thousand on it and four “Maypops”. It didn’t have AC, which is probably why my Floridian brother-in-law gave it to me. I’m in Georgia, so going on a sales call was horrific. Hide the car around back. Wear a light shirt to keep the sweat stains from showing and LOOK CONFIDENT! I was making just over 10 bucks an hour doing the morning show for a network of Christian radio stations, and I had zero in savings.
Things did not look hopeful.
But before I let my situation and the “experts” get me down, I decided to ask some successful businessmen I knew how they got started, and what advice they might have for a young buck (OK, I was 30, but looking back, that seems young!) with a lot of desire and not much else. So, for their “consultation fee” I bought them lunch, and they opened their minds and hearts to me. Thankfully, what they told me was different from what the book “experts” said. They told me if I waited to save up 2 years income, I’d never start a business. They told me if I went into debt, I’d drown in it. The men who didn’t offer to invest in my company told me getting investors was risky. They encouraged me to start small, using what I had on hand, to keep my expenses low, to work hard, to provide a good product and to charge a fair price.
They told me a lot of other things too. And what they told me gave me the confidence to move forward, and to try my hand at business ownership.
Today, without ever applying for a loan, and without ever taking any investors, I'm earning much more than I did in 1996, and the business is 100% debt free. And we’ve had the unique opportunity to help businesses all over the country be more successful every single day.
What’s the point of my little story?
When you are looking for advice, don’t go to the “experts” unless they have gone down the road you want to go down. Maybe things have been piling up on you, and you have heard that you are destined to lose. Maybe your store is fighting for its financial life. Maybe you’re fighting for yours. I don’t know where you are, or what’s going on in your life today, but I do know that there are people who’ve been down the road ahead of you, and who’d like to help.
Feel free to give me a call if I can help you. If you’re not already a customer, there’s never been a better time to begin proactively marketing your company. If you need equipment, I’m sitting on a pile of inventory, and would love to get it into your office where it can help you make money. And if you are using the new CISCO system, our service is a perfect fit!
Till Next time . . . Stay Sharp!
