I’ve known Sid for twenty-five years and worked for him the last thirteen. Prior to working for Exxel Pacific, I owned my own floor covering business. After losing that business I hit a low like never before. I had lost everything, I mean everything. Worse yet I lost my confidence, reputation and integrity. I took it so personally that I physically got sick. Sid and his partner heard about my troubles and gave me an opportunity to put together an in-house interior program unlike anything offered by other general contractors. That department has since become very successful.
During the entire process of losing my business and then taking the new position, Sid spoke such positive words. He cheered me on when nobody else did. He’s such a great person to have in your life. People who want to be a success need mentors that come alongside them who truly care about them. That is what Sid is all about, he has such high integrity and character. He’s worked very hard, is very honest and is someone you like to follow.
Personally, prior to my partner passing away from cancer after a long illness, Sid was a very powerful influence on her as well. He called her every day to cheer her up and share jokes. As my partner’s caregiver I learned early on that I couldn’t do things alone because it was so overwhelming. I am convinced that his friendship helped her to live longer than the doctors predicted. After she passed away Sid kept in touch regularly and helped me get through the grief.
Knowing Sid has made me a better person. Having him as a friend and mentor has meant so much to me.
—Mike Kussman has been in the floor covering business for much of his life. He is nearing retirement but still works in the floor covering department of Exxel Pacific Construction.
When you make mistakes, do you admit your errors and move forward or do you stew about it? During my career I have founded many businesses and made tons of mistakes along the way. Rather than stew about them, I have learned from them and moved on. Much of what I’ve learned came from the inspiring words of great people who have similarly learned how to benefit from their missteps.
The first year and a half after arriving in America I helped my dad with farm work. He was a little over fifty years old and it wasn’t easy for him to get started all over again in a new country. I’m sure they had not expected an easy life but neither had they expected living and working in a cruel paradise. It would be many years later that author Hylke Speerstra would write a book about early experiences of Dutch immigrants entitled Cruel Paradise.
Less than two months after arriving in America I met a nice young lady whose name was Margaret Tjoelker. Neither of us could have imagined that more than sixty years later we would still be both happily married and also best friends. Less than two years after meeting Margaret, who worked as a teller in a local bank, we were married. We were only nineteen years old at the time. Except for the dollar bill I earned on the ship, I was penniless. Needless to say, my dad was not happy that he no longer would have his oldest son helping him get established in farming again. Margaret’s father was also a farmer and owned a sizeable dairy farm. He had acquired a small farm and home nearby, which he rented to us after we married. What he did not know at the time was that farming wasn’t in my blood. But because I had no money, I had no choice. The first ten years of our marriage I was a small dairy farmer. I decided to make the best of it while, at the same time, dreaming about starting a little business on the side.
“What are you reading honey?” asked Margaret. We had just finished our evening meal and I was paging through a magazine. “Well sweetheart, let me explain” I responded. “You know I’m really interested in electronics and I read that I could study to become a radio and TV technician by ordering a mail order course from DeVry Technical Institute.” The course included textbooks, tests and electronic parts to build my own radio and even a small transmitter.
“Isn’t that too expensive?” Margaret asked. “Yes Hon,” I answered, “that’s the problem. You’re expecting our first child and you won’t be able to continue to work at the bank. Our little farm with twelve cows doesn’t produce enough milk to make a living. I just have to make some extra money before I can even think about ordering the electronics course. Don’t worry honey. I’ll think of something. I know it’s my job to make a living and somehow I will. I don’t want you to have to worry about it.”
Margaret got up and came around the table to plant a little kiss on my forehead. “I know you will honey. Despite what our parents might think, I know you’re not dumb and lazy.”
Because Margaret didn’t like to drive when the roads were snowy and slippery, I used her 1937 Chevrolet to take her to the bank and pick her up in the evening. It was early 1950 and the winter weather that year in Whatcom County was the most brutal winter ever recorded. This was prior to the age of computers and before bank employees could leave work before all the day’s transactions were balanced. As a result, I often had to wait for her outside in her car. I never waited for her in the bank because I didn’t want to be seen there. I felt like a bum whose wife was earning a living for the family. While waiting for her one day I wandered into a nearby drug store to look at their magazine rack. One magazine titled “Salesmen Opportunity” captured my attention. As I began to page through it I felt in my pocket and found a quarter to purchase the fifteen-cent magazine.
That evening, after dinner, I devoured that magazine. By this time I was tired of thinking about myself as being a bum. I decided to become a door-to-door salesman selling “automatic floor waxers.” Remember, this was 1950 when most floors were linoleum which, at the time, required the person doing the household cleaning to get on their hands and knees to apply a coat of wax to the floors. The automatic floor waxers I would be selling consisted of a broom-like handle attached to a replaceable soft mop head connected to wax container can which was activated by a trigger line. With the floor waxer all the operator had to do was fill the can with their favorite wax solution, pull the trigger and move the broom-like waxer back and forth over the linoleum. No more hands and knees scrubbing and the unit only cost the housekeeper $4.95. If I ordered a dozen from the factory my cost would be just under $2.50 each. The problem was that I didn’t have the money to order a dozen. To raise the money I got a job using a shovel and axe to cut into the frozen ground and expose broken water pipe for a neighboring farmer. The work was truly backbreaking for an hourly pay of only 75 cents. It took me a week to get the thirty dollars I needed to order a dozen automatic floor waxers.
Before calling on prospective customers, Margaret thought I should try to make myself look a little older. After all, at the time I was only nineteen. We bought a brown felt hat normally worn by well-dressed gentlemen. Armed with a new hat and dressed in my only suit I was ready to hit the road. After making several calls I had only sold one floor waxer. It beat the 75-cents-an-hour job but I was not yet what I would consider a good salesman. Something was wrong with my presentation. I decided to change it. Rather than carrying the waxer to the prospect’s home and asking if they were interested in buying one, instead I left the floor waxer in the car. When the lady or gentleman came to the door I would ask: “If I could show you how you can wax your linoleum without getting down on your hands and knees, would you be interested?”
Simply by analyzing my sales approach I learned a valuable lesson. The day before I had probably called on at least a dozen homes and made one sale. If I had tripled the number of stops and called on three dozen homes I might have sold three units. This would have made selling just a numbers game. Call on more homes, sell more waxers. By changing my approach and making the prospect curious before showing my product made my selling more efficient.
I never forgot the lesson I learned. It wasn’t long after that I began to order the floor waxers in quantities of a gross (144) at a time and getting a 65 percent discount. I even sold the units to stores at a 40 percent discount if they bought a minimum of six units. But the most important lesson was that I learned how to be successful. It wasn’t long before I was able to open a small savings account at the bank. In addition, I ordered the electronic technician course from DeVry Technical Institute. Now I was a farmer, a door-to-door salesman and a home study student.