PDA

View Full Version : My resume



pete
08-08-2008, 10:06 AM
Mid 1960's - In my early 20's I owned an Esso (now Exxon) service station. Gas price 31.9, nobody dared pump their own and we really cleaned windshields and checked oil.

Late 1960's - Outside sales rep / traveling salesman for Firestone Tires and then Monroe Shock Absorbers.

1970's and 1980's - Started and grew a local chain of auto parts stores. Up to 30 employees. Sold retail to consumers; wholesale to car dealers, tire shops, service stations, garages, etc.; also distributed to other parts stores and fleets.

Had direct (ring-down) phone lines into Sears, Montgomery Wards, Pep Boys, Firestone and Goodyear auto shops, making us their "first call" for parts. Sold fleets such as Coke, Pepsi, Verizon (C&P at the time) local contractors, etc.

Put in first dedicated auto parts computer system in the state in the early 70's. About the size of a side-by-side refrigerator. Not much good, but kept trying. Got a DEC system with 2 8 inch floppy disks. Outgrew that in a year, so got a third system.

When I wanted to begin tying the stores into the computer system I called the phone company to lease some lines and get it together. The sales guy hooked me up with the lines, and since the Unix dumb terminals we were using were connected with RS11 phone plugs, we just plugged everything together with phone connectors.

Didn't work. It took a couple of days and several layers of phone company support to figure out that we needed these things call MODEMS. The sales guy had never heard of them. And their installers were out of the loop as well.

And there were no modems to be had. This was like 1975, no computer store in every strip mall. The phone company ended up "borrowing" modems from the Newport News Shipyard and a local NASA facility. The phone company didn't even have any on hand.

By the end of the 1980's we were going down quickly. Several major retail parts stores came to the area, Pep Boys got out of the bicycle business and into parts much heavier, and our core business, the tire shops and chains, all got hooked up with national account programs by NAPA and others.

I can' tell you the amount of phone calls I got over a 2 year period. One after another - "Pete, you've always treated us well and given us good pricing, but the home office says we have to buy from whoever. They even pay more for a lot of things, but I want to keep my job......."

Or, from independent shop owners - "Pete, I never planned to retire, and I have always intended to turn the business over to my son, but so and so made me one of those offers you can't refuse and agree to keep my son on the payroll, so I'm retiring early." And of course, the company buying him out is set up on one of the national account programs.

So, by 1990 I was looking for something else to do. For a couple of years leading up to then I'd been asked by a number of independent shop owners to check out different shop management software for them. They'd give me a demo and I'd try to break it. Wasn't too hard with some of them. :)

Anyhow, I thought I could continue my lifestyle selling systems to shop owners. So I started there. Then some of these guys had tow trucks, so I got into tow truck software. And one of the software developers also had a point-of-sale package and began sending me leads.

So, within a year I was selling a number of "vertical market" small business packages, complete with hardware. The point-of-sale was great, because I could make a profit on the cash drawer, scanners, card swipers, etc.

Throughout the 1990's I sold systems in about 25 states, including a 3 unit system to a Siemens factory that allowed employees to charge their cafeteria meals to their payroll account and have their meals deducted from their paychecks.

The cafeteria was managed by a contractor, who also did scholl cafeterias, so I was also putting in "debit card" type systems for private schools so the parents could pre-pay into a lunch fund each month and have each meal deducted as the kid's card was swiped. The parents could also see just what the kids were eating.

My tow truck customers got where they wanted GPS for tracking their trucks. One guy in the Northern VA area said he was tired of his drivers lying about where they were in the afternoons, since none of them wanted to go inside the beltway after traffic picked up. So he spent $ 40,000 to keep up with about 25 tow trucks.

A copy machine dealer with offices across NC drove by an employees home one afternoon about 2:30 and saw his company truck in the guy's driveway. I got a call the next day. They ended up spending $ 80,000 to track office machine repairmen.

But, I was traveling all the time. Exhibiting in trade shows, attending training sessions and of course, installing systems. I got to see the country. And I wax making money. But I was burning out.

My wife needed a couple of new hips around the first of the century, so I figured it was time to stay close to home. I wound down the computer system sales, made arrangements with local people in many areas to take care of the systems and closed down.

So, by 2001 I was living and earning on the net. I did run into a dropshipper that had some goods I thought I could retail, so I did set up a kiosk in a large regional mall for several years, but most of my activity this decade has been online. I personally had one of those offers I could not refuse and sold out the retail business and the accompanying websites a couple years ago and have been living and earning strictly online since.

I have a small "hold you hand" hosting company. Personal service to newbies and small businesses with other things to worry about. I also do a bit of affiliate marketing and sell some information on wholesalers and dropshippers. I'm in a comfort zone, dealing with what I know.

Over the years I've spent what seems like half my waking hours dealing with small business people. From a tow truck guy with a car dealer account that owed over $ 15,000 and was over 120 days past due, but would not cut the deal off because "he was too good a customer" to the shop owner who when told I need a financial statement pops his cash drawer and starts counting the change, I've pretty much been there and done that.

What more can I tell you?
.

KristineS
08-08-2008, 10:45 AM
Wow, that's quite a resume. Welcome to the forum Pete!

Coach Morse
08-08-2008, 01:03 PM
I think you pretty well covered it...:)

Welcome to SBF Pete. I'm sure many here will benefit from your experience!

cbscreative
08-08-2008, 01:18 PM
I just learned a whole lot about you, pete, thanks for sharing and welcome over to the new SBF! It's great to have you with us.

Paul Elliott
08-08-2008, 11:26 PM
Welcome, Pete, and thank you for detailing your experiences. We'll pick your brain.

Paul

vangogh
08-09-2008, 12:21 AM
First Welcome Pete. Thanks for making the journey here and staying with the community.

Second if I ever find myself in a situation where survival is the key I want you with me. With all the different changes you went through in you career and all the times you were able to reinvent yourself I have no doubt you'd be good under most any circumstance.

You certainly have some running themes through all the jobs, mostly being ahead of the curve technology wise.

Oh and any chance you could open that Esso station again with the those same 60s prices. Gas is too expensive now. I'd be happy to go back in time for 31.9 cents a gallon.

pete
08-09-2008, 08:06 AM
It was a different world.

And it sure brings back old times when traveling outside the US and still seeing those Esso signs.

And it seems like if you stand still, you are actually moving backwards.
.