Dave
Crissman
Eco Water
Dave Crissman has been in the
water business a long time. He has been a plumber since
1972 and in water treatment since 1974. The driving force
behind his career choice was the simple fact that he just knew
he didn't want to work for somebody else. Of course, the
next consideration is "How do you make money?". The
cycle of starting a business begins. Dave bought an
existing water treatment business. It was in bad shape.
But Dave was able to clean things up and sell it for a small
profit. This was in 1984. He was in his mid-30's and
too young to retire.
Dave took a year off.
He thought about trying a new business but decided to get back
into what he knew best...water. In 1990 he bought Eco
Water. He started from zero with no money and built the
business up. In 1993 he decided to grow aggressively.
It was a risk. He had to borrow a significant amount of
money at high interest rates to do it. But it was a risk
he was willing to take.
One flaw that many of us live
under is the idea that if you want the job done right you have
to do it yourself. Dave's philosophy on this changed in
1994. This is when he learned that if you really want the
job done right, you need to teach someone else to do it.
It was during the 94-98 period that Dave realized his business
had become stagnate. A change was needed and he had only
one rule...Whatever he did, it had to be fun. He had loyal
personnel but not all were willing to grow and change with him.
He was faced with the need to
change but how was he going to do it? It took the entire
1998-2000 period to answer this question. People were
dependent on him for their income. But a change was
necessary. He decided that only 4 of the 20 people
counting on him were capable of change. The others had to
go.
Dave also came to realize
that he was better off with rookies that he could train to do
things the "new" way. Dave was not a sales manager but he
became one. He taught each of his rookies to do the job,
made them believe they could do it and then he got out of their
way.
During this whole process,
Dave used things that he learned from MABE to guide him.
Many of the members of MABE have gone through transitions in
their businesses for one reason or another. And the type
of transition was dependent on many factors. He called on
a few to discuss their experiences.
Reg Batt: Reg was
involved in a bike accident a few years ago. He was hit by
a car and could not work. But the positive side of this is
that he learned he could count on his staff to run things for
him. They were well trained and able to handle to task.
Stuart Schindler:
Stu went the opposite direction of Dave. Whereas Dave did
not want to be a Mom & Pop-type shop, Stu was eager to get rid
of his staff and do it himself. He had enough of the
10-year roller coaster ride that they put him on. He
couldn't find bad help let alone good help that was needed.
Stu was a babysitter and the babies were the ones that got paid!
His profit and loss model was looking disastrous. Keeping
up with technology was an expensive nightmare and the hazardous
chemicals he was exposed to just added to the problems.
It is always the smart
move to not let your ego get in the way of your happiness.
Be willing to change and/or try new things. At the
time I made the decision to downsize I was downright scared
as to how it would all turn out. The same kind of
scared as when I first decided to go into business for
myself and open the business.
It did work out. For
the past 8 years since the change, Stu has been happier,
healthier and he has zero debt!
Chris Curran: Chris is
still in the process of changing. He started a title
insurance company at the suggestion of another lawyer. He
was told it would be simple to start and do and would be easy
profit. Chris was in the midst of partner break-up at the
time. But he decided to walk up to the edge of the cliff,
close his eyes and jump. THUD! Chris soon learned
that the simple start was at a price. The escrow license
he needed cost more money to obtain then he had. The other
lawyer joined Chris's practice while they worked at getting the
title agency up and running. But Chris ended up carrying
him. It just wasn't working out. Chris ended the
newest partnership and joined with a more reliable partner in
the title company only.
Why start a title business?
It was a means to make money so Chris could practice law the way
he wanted and take only the clients that he wanted. He has
become quite cynical about law. What you end up arguing
about rarely has anything to do with the issues of the lawsuit.
His views have changed since his sister got sick and he had
kids. Chris just doesn't have a taste for it anymore.
Robert Busch:
Bob's big change involved a move to a new location. He had
been doing the same thing in the same location for 26 years.
The first 10 years of business saw dramatic growth. But
then suddenly they stopped growing. It wasn't only due to
competition from others in his industry. It was
competition from all retailers in general. He and his wife
were in a comfort zone. But he had to do something if he
was going to be able to sell his business and retire.
They need to change locations. They had great credit but
no money. They signed a huge note at the bank to cover the
cost of relocating. They had a beautiful new store.
Their first month there was the worst month of his life.
Business was 50% less than their worst business month ever.
But things kicked in and March was one of his best months ever.
He is glad he made the move. It was scary and it forced
him to do things differently including more marketing. But
MABE helped him through it. One of the best things he has
ever done was join MABE. "If you want to get somewhere
you can't sit stagnate."
Greg Stewart:
Greg has constantly had to reinvent himself as a business owner.
There is risk in every business. There are no guarantees
of a weekly paycheck unless you do good work. Employees
count on you for their regular income. The cost of
technology can reposition you. People and geography can
reposition you. Expanding from 1 store to 2 was not a
major undertaking. His existing staff could handle the
work load and it actually filled in dead space. The 3rd
store was different. Greg had a large territory.
That territory would have been threatened if he didn't open
store #3. If he didn't, somebody else would have and they
would have pulled customers away from Greg's other 2 stores.
He knew staffing would now be a problem and he and Pat could
only cover 2 stores. They finally made the decision to
sell their original store. They kept the best locations
based on demographics.
Dave Lathrop:
Dave is in a career he never expected to be in. He went to
school to be an engineer. But events took place that put
him into the automotive industry. He ended up in Arizona
in a successful position as service manager for Nissan. He
made a lot of money but this made him feel handcuffed in a
career he didn't want. He decided to start a business
where there was no business. About 1½ years into this
transition he went through an unexpected divorce. Life was
changing. He had worked since he was 16 years old.
He felt he missed out on a lot of things. At 37 he decided
it was time to do the things he missed out on. He sold
everything he had and rented a room from a friend. He had
no expenses. He started doing karate, improv and community
service. He was very close to moving back to
Pennsylvania. But then he got reestablished into the
community. He became a part of the Phoenix Youth at Risk
program. He found that he was really good at it and that
there was a demand for his skills. He is getting his
degree in conjunction with this work. He now has a few
income streams based on what he enjoys doing rather than being
based on debt and what he had to do.
Sandro Menasci:
Sandro equates business to sports. People like Stu play
defense while many of the others have played offense. You
have to be ready for the counter attack, the breakaway.
Business for Sandro has come full circle. He started with
a repair shop at a facility where another company offered gas
which brought customers in. He eventually offered both.
But he has been forced to change again. Four years ago he
got a descent lease due to the construction. This lease
was up in June and they wanted to increase his rent 80%!
Sandro evaluated the cost and revenue of each profit center.
He determined that he couldn't accept this increase to keep the
location. Opportunity knocked. Another location came
available just down the road. Close enough to keep the
same clientele. He also had the money available from his
lawsuit to make the purchase along with a "used car loan" from
the bank. The tax benefits of buying the business to
offset the gains from the lawsuit were an added bonus.
Gary Nelson: It
is, as Gary puts it, equal parts laziness, misplaced loyalty and
fear that kept him in the same location for all those years.
It almost killed them. They moved to a better location.
They also partnered with Arizona Fireplace - both having their
own niche in the market that complimented the other. Gary
is more commercial and AF is better with retail. Gary is
also expanding into prefabs. Gary is getting older.
He wants to work fewer hours with less stress. He is now
looking at structuring a franchise to accomplish his goals.
Everybody wants to sell equipment but nobody wants to service
it. He is looking at this niche as the answer.
|
Dave Crissman
20+ year member
Member since November
1993 |
PLUMBING & WATER SYSTEMS
All About Water/EcoWater
315 E Warner #1, Chandler, AZ 85225
Phone: (480) 892-7556
E-mail: ddave.dc@gmail.com
• Website: www.ecowateraz.com
ONE CALL THAT’S ALL.
We have been servicing plumbing needs of customer’s valley wide since
1974, offering a wide variety of solutions to water heating needs,
including solar; tankless water heaters; and lifetime green friendly
water heaters. As water treatment specialists’ we can solve all your
water related needs from whole house softeners or filtration to under
the sink
state of the art drinking water systems.
We are Rosie on the house preferred vendors. IT’S THAT GOOD!
|
