|
|
| Information |
|
|
Oil Change Guys History; Part IV
One trait of franchisors and something you will find in all their biographies both; official and unofficial is their competitiveness and refusal to give up. Now onto Part IV of our saga: Mr. Winslow met with so many different companies and made so many contacts he was sure he had all the components to roll out his own Mobile Oil Change franchise System to co-brand with the other WashGuy Family of Franchises. Lance, then had a chance meeting with Greg of On-site Oil Change in New Mexico. It was by total accident. Lance was visiting Los Alamos Laboratories to sign up members for The World Think Tank; a hobby of his and having a rather tough time of it due to recent national security problems there. He drove down to Rio Rancho for a Starbucks Coffee, when Greg approached him asking about the Truck Wash Guys Franchise. Greg had accidentally signed up the New Mexico Power Company for fleet washing, since he was good friends with the Vehicle operations supervisor and already changed the oil for the entire fleet. After they got to talking a little bit Mr. Winslow, who just got done reading the Biography of Lance Armstrong, found out that Greg had beaten cancer. And Greg's attitude at the time was no different from what Lance had read about Lance Armstrong's fight with cancer, and his Tour de France victories. Mr. Winslow also was developing ties with the founder of the World Think Tank, a cancer survivor. Greg's wife told him that Winston Churchill, was her personal and favorite hero. Mr. Winslow was reading also in fact currently at that time reading Winston Churchill's Biography after learning he is related to the late Winston Churchill through John Howland an ancestor. Greg had moved his growing business into a new $250,000 building in the Albuquerque Industrial Area on an acre. His shop had everything including upstairs offices and rooms for training new Oil Change Guys Franchisees. Greg had added other lines to his business, which we had hoped to incorporate into our business model. Greg would have put together our equipment and training our team. We looked into all of these ancillary revenue streams and determined them to be viable. After determining these to be excellent add-on services and we incorporated them into our service list. We then asked Greg to put together some figures as to exact costs to put together an Oil Change Rig. Similar to the ones he had running, but with all the new options that he had determined necessary. He failed to perform this obligation and we lost two deals we were putting together in Monterrey, Mexico. Lance was getting frustrated, but understood Greg had been through a hell of a lot in his life and let it go. Later in that year Bob Davis of "Tour de Lube" of Oklahoma City called us after being in business for only six months with two older trailer units, admitting to us that they were not really doing the job and wanting us to help him upgrade his fleet with a van. Bob wanted us to take a used van, which he would buy and retrofit it. Bob wanted to run a debt free business, which is admirable, but wanted us to put equipment in an old van. Bob and his family ran this business after buying it from another gentleman who had run the business for 5 or more years the prior. After discussing this with Bob and finding out that Bob's real ambitions was to do fleet oil changing throughout the Midwest and control that market and sell vans "turn-key" to those wishing to do mobile oil changing for residential and individual car owners, we determined that we could not allow such secrets and proprietary information to leave the company. Bob told us that he had gone to several neighborhoods and asked customers if they might sign up for residential periodic oil changes, claiming almost all of them said "Yes, they would sign up." It was this revelation that prompted Bob Davis to set up these vans all over the country to change oil in driveways, claiming "that is where the real money is?" Of course with Wal-Mart changing oil for $12.99, we hardly think so. We actually all had a chuckle over his two to three neighborhood marketing survey, because actually signing people up is another issue. Surely if an old guy comes to your door you are going to be cordial. Bob's goal as he explained it on the phone was to set up a van for a customer, new or used that the customer brought them and out fit it for a profit and collect a couple of points on each equipment lease for getting financing. Lance in his lifetime had done enough business with "Sleazy Leasing Companies" to know that was a bad deal for the potential "Biz-Op" buyers or franchisees or whatever it was Bob was going to call them? Not to mention that he believed some how he could help our team in some way because he understood the Equipment Leasing Business and had connections there. Big deal any Equipment Leasing Company would spiff someone a bird dog or finder's fee if you gave them some live flesh to sign a lease at 35-40% interest if you figure out the points, doc fees, non-interest paid deposit and other tricks. It was determined that Bob was a competitor and Lance told him to "Go to Hell." Bob insisted that Lance was having a bad day and that we should work together? Bob even went out of his way to contact Greg and his wife to tell him what nice guy he was and how Lance was out of line. It appeared that the gathering of intelligence by Bob Davis was a little unnerving to Lance especially as Bob tried to play the "I am a Christian, you can trust me!" game with Lance. Susan, Greg's wife felt sorry for Bob Davis and decided that Lance had been too harsh with Tour de Lube's Bob Davis and that it was not right to tell competitors/inquiries where to stick it. Mr. Winslow at this point decided he needed to scrap the project with Greg or anyone else because in franchising or any type of rapid roll-out strategy, you must be dedicated to the cause, loyal to the team and play to win. Oil Change Guys, decided to do it the only way they know would really work. Today, Lance and his team of fabricators and vendors from our other systems in Phoenix do the whole thing in-house and have dumped any potential alliance with any other non-team member so they can build the best units and capture the market share without doing business with anyone who is a competitor, might drop the ball or is unworthy of the incredible dedication it takes to build the World's greatest service firm. We believe that our team is number one and that we are responsible to that team, our families and to the customer and no one else. If you can play by those rules give us a call. And there you have it, the History of the Oil Change Guys, which can serve as an inspiration to your entrepreneurial mission. We wish you well and God's Speed... "Lance Winslow" - If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs
Latest News:Site: Yahoo! News Search Results for news Myanmar's Suu Kyi to get family letters, news mags (Reuters via Yahoo! News) Detained Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has managed to wring small concessions from the ruling generals in the form of letters from her family and some international news magazines, her lawyer said on Friday. JCDecaux in talks for News Outdoor Group in Russia (AP via Yahoo! News) French outdoor advertising firm JCDecaux SA said Thursday it is negotiating to buy Russian rival News Outdoor Group from global media company News Corp. News Corp tightens grip on Premiere with new CEO (Reuters via Yahoo! News) Rupert Murdoch tightened his grip on German pay-TV broadcaster Premiere by appointing News Corp executive Mark Williams as CEO in a move to get the company back on track. SEC Looks Into UAL Stock Scare; Implications For Online News? (CBS News) A ton of digits have been devoted to this in other spots but the SEC's decision to investigate takes it to another level. The backstory: a six-year-old news story about UAL declaring bankruptcy made it into the Tribune-owned Sun-Sentinel 's current news flow, was picked up by a Google (NSDQ: GOOG) News bot and, via a reporter for a newsletter, made it onto Bloomberg News. After a lot of buck ... JCDecaux and News Corp. in talks to combine outdoor ad groups (International Herald Tribune) The News Corp. chief executive, Rupert Murdoch, has recently expressed nervousness about investments in Russia, where News Outdoor generated the bulk of its revenue last year. SEC Looks Into UAL Stock Scare; Implications For Online News? (paidContent.org via Yahoo! Finance) A ton of digits have been devoted to this in other spots but the SEC's decision to investigate takes it to another level. The backstory: a six-year-old news story about UAL declaring bankruptcy made it into the Tribune-owned Sun-Sentinel's current news flow, was picked up by a Google News bot and, via a reporter for a newsletter, made it onto Bloomberg News. JCDecaux in talks to buy News Corp. billboard unit (AP via Yahoo! Finance) In a deal that would create the world's largest outdoor advertising company, French conglomerate JCDecaux SA said Thursday that it is in talks to buy Russian rival News Outdoor Group from global media company News Corp. Phila. mayor to announce grim budget news (The Philadelphia Inquirer) The Nutter administration is expected to announce grim budget news today, which is all but certain to lead to significant spending cuts - perhaps as high as 10 percent - in some city departments, according to three sources familiar with the budget. News Corp says Mark Williams interim Premiere CEO (Reuters via Yahoo! News) News Corp. executive Mark Williams has taken over as chief executive of German pay-TV broadcaster Premiere in an interim capacity, News Corp. said after the move led to renewed takeover speculation. News Corp. says Mark Williams interim Premiere CEO (Reuters via Yahoo! News) Mark Williams, a News Corp. executive named late on Wednesday as chief executive of German pay-TV broadcaster Premiere, has taken over in an interim capacity, a News Corp. spokeswoman said on Thursday. Site: news - Google News Phil Schiller bringing the news at Macworld - San Francisco Chronicle
MORE RESOURCES: Site: Yahoo! News Search Results for entrepreneurialism Lone Star Library: Green Mountain founder shares entrepreneurial insights (Fort Worth Business Press) Rural Southerner Sam Wyly came by his self-made captain-of-industry status the hard way, developing a passion for business strategy by playing schoolboy football and observing his parents? natural gift for small-business operations and hard-bargain bartering. S.C.'s brightest complete Business Week (Columbia Star) Approximately 200 high school students from across S.C. have successfully graduated from South Carolina Business Week, presented by the South Carolina Cable Television Association, July 13- 18, at Presbyterian College in Clinton. Wellington West opens Montreal branch (CNW Group via Yahoo! Finance) Wellington West Holdings Inc., a privately held, employee-owned financial services firm, today announced the expansion of its national network with the opening of a Wellington West Capital Inc. full-service retail investment branch in Montreal, Quebec. Ctek Selects Kyocera 300 Module for Z4100 Wireless Router (Centre Daily Times) Kyocera Wireless Corp. (KWC), a leading global manufacturer of wireless handsets, devices and embedded machine-to-machine (M2M) modules, and Ctek, a leading manufacturer of specialized communications solutions for industrial and commercial applications, today announced the selection of the Kyocera 300 Module for Ctek's cost-effective Z4100 Router. The Kyocera 300 Module enables reliable, ... Memphis confident of growth campaign (Memphis Commercial Appeal) One year after the launch of a $64 million economic development campaign, city officials are increasingly optimistic about the impact of MemphisED on the Bluff City. Summer break project: JTCC student lives, learns nonprofit leadership with Pheonix Project (The Petersburg Progress-Index) CHESTER ? Jamie Poniatowski, a Class of 2008 human services major, spent her summer break in Petersburg, participating in the Phoenix Project?s 2008 Nonprofit Leadership and Social Entrepreneurship Program, which transforms committed undergraduate and graduate students into effective social entrepreneurs with the knowledge, skills and connections to succeed in Virginia?s nonprofit sector. Ctek Selects Kyocera 300 Module for Z4100 Wireless Router (Business Wire via Yahoo! Finance) SAN DIEGO & RANCHO PALOS VERDES, Calif.----Kyocera Wireless Corp. , a leading global manufacturer of wireless handsets, devices and embedded machine-to-machine modules, and Ctek, a leading manufacturer of specialized communications solutions for industrial and commercial applications, today announced the selection of the Kyocera 300 Module for Ctek?s cost-effective Z4100 Router. $1 Million Opus Prize Finalists Announced (PR Newswire via Yahoo! Finance) Seattle University and the Opus Prize Foundation today announced three finalists for the $1 million 2008 Opus Prize, one of the world's largest humanitarian service awards. Guided by faith and an entrepreneurial spirit, Marguerite "Maggy" Barankitse, Krishnammal Jagannathan and Michael Woodard are working throughout the world to give people the tools to transform their lives. Scotiabank Online Small Business Contest Last Call (CNW Group via Yahoo! Finance) The chance for Canadian small business owners to win $50,000 in cash prizes is coming to a close. As part of Scotiabank's 'Get Growing to a Million' Campaign, the online challenge has offered small business owners across Canada a chance to win one grand prize of $20,000 and six regional prizes of $5,000. In cinemas this weekend (Guardian Unlimited) RocknRolla | The Duchess | Bangkok Dangerous | Disaster Movie | Sweete Land | El Cantante | Never Apologise | Mera Pind My Home Site: entrepreneurialism - Google News Ohio House Speaker Budish touts regionalism in his first address - WKYC-TV
|
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Book Yourself Solid: The Simple Selling Process As a service provider you may not want to think of yourself as a salesperson. You are in the business of helping others and you may not feel comfortable with the sales process. Are You An Entrepreneur? With all the buzz about everybody being an entrepreneur these days wouldn't it be nice if you could really find out if you have what it takes?Sure it would.The following profile was adopted over a period of several years of research from successful entrepreneurs worldwide to assist would-be entrepreneurs determine if they have the traits to undertake a new venture. Why I Should Go In To Business Rohit Kochgaway was very upset with his boss for his rebuking him today in office. He was very upset with his job. Street Smarts Vs Book Smarts, What Does It Takes To Be An Entrepreneur The latest series in "The Apprentice" features 2 distinct groupof candidates. One group, who are only high school graduates aretermed as "Street Smarts" by Donald Trump whereas, the othergroup are all college educated with some having MBAs and advanceddegrees. 5 TIPS for Home-Based Business Entrepreneurs Have you ever heard that only a small part (5%) of 'all' Home-Based Business entrepreneurs achieve success?Do an online research on your favorite Search Engineand you will understand what I mean.In this article I'm going to show you the KEY to Home-Based Business entrepreneurs success; you'll find out what makes an entrepreneur succesful in the home-based business field. Lessons Learned from One Entrepreneur on Vioxx For the past ten-months, I tried every drug from the popular Vioxx, Celebrex and Aleve, to the long-standing Percocet, Ibruprofen 800, with some other fabulous ones like Fexeril, Ulltram, Naproxyn, and Antevert. (And, this is my short list). Getting Rich Isnt a Bad Idea You've seen plenty of articles claiming to offer you the secret to getting rich. Some ideas, however, are thin veneers covering some scheme that often involves multi-level marketing or a service with questionable intents. What Qualities Do Franchisors Need? When I got into business I wanted to build a company, which helped people and provide a product and service that people loved and were willing to pay for; one I would not have to sell or convince anyone of. Something that people truly wanted to extend and enhance their pursuit of happiness. 10 Secrets of Successful Entrepreneurs Running a one-person business is a creative, flexible and challenging way to become your own boss and chart your own future. It is about creating a life, as it is about making a living. 10 Ways Entrepreneurs Shoot Themselves In The Foot Entrepreneurs and their businesses have a tendency to ambushthemselves when they aren't looking. This affects how muchrevenue they can generate, how fast their business rises,and even if they survive after the first few years. Outcomes - Thats What You Need to Focus On Successful business owners and managers need to be veryclear about what outcomes they want. Whether you call them goals, objectives or targets, theseare the factors that you're ultimately judged on. Judging Entrepreneurial Ideas Most entrepreneurs constantly come up with new ideas. Whether they are working on another project, driving, or lying in bed, their minds are constantly churning out new products, services and ways of doing things. Top Ten Ways to Increase Your Profitability 1) Go back to basics.Take a couple of steps back and address the fundamental facts or principles of your business. The Term Sheet's Role in Raising Venture Capital Entrepreneurs and companies who are seeking venture capital often negotiate with one or more venture capital firms on a number of important issues. These issues include the amount of capital to be raised, the investment terms, etc. Interview with Best-selling Entrepreneurial Authors Barbara Winters and Nick Williams Ray Bradbury's quote, "You've got to jump off cliffs all the time and build your wings on the way down" may sound extreme but, as anyone building a business knows, it has a lot of truth in it.As a newly self-employed journalist / writer and life coach, I found Barbara Winter's book, "Making a Living Without a Job" invaluable so when I got a chance to interview her and Nick Williams in London, I was delighted. Starting a Company on a Shoe-String Budget A lot of people never start businesses because they believe they don't have enough money to do so. Unfortunately, these same people don't realize that many of the world's most successful companies were started on a shoe-string budget by an entrepreneur with limited resources. Do You Have What it Takes to be a Successful Entrepreneur? Print off this page, take the quiz and find out if you've got what it takes! See the scale at the bottom to mark yourself.Answer the following questions on a Scale of 1 - 51 - definately not 2 - not likely 3 - sometimes 4 - probably 5 - definitely--------------------------------------------------------------------------------1) Do you have many hobbies (besides TV viewing and playing video games)? ____2) Do you take a leadership role in group settings? _____3) Can you discipline yourself to finish a project, even if it means late nights and low recognition from your peers? ____4) Do you often think of new and innovative ways to do things? _____5) Do you enjoy meeting new people? ____6) Have you had success in the past in planning a project, and carrying it through to it's completion? _____7) Would you consider yourself a positive person? ____8) Even when things go wrong do you try to "learn a lesson" from the experience? ____9) Do you enjoy working alone? ____10) Do you manage your time well? ____11) Do you like to set goals and achieve them? ____12) Do you like to take calculated risks to achieve an objective? ____--------------------------------------------------------------------------------ScoringIf most of your scores are 5's you have a very strong "entrepreneurial streak" and should strive for your goals. Delivery Companies Make the Grade In the United States we have the most efficient delivery service companies in the world. This is because the free market competitive system has pushed entrepreneurs to become more efficient to make more profit and to keep costs down. Executive Suites - A Way To Save Cash Cash is one of the most important resources to a new business. One of the best ways to conserve cash for a startup business that is in need of office space is to rent an executive suite rather than to rent traditional office space. Identify the Growth Factors In "The Incredible Hulk", mild-mannered scientist Bruce Banner discovered that when he was exposed to "gamma rays" he was transformed into a massive beast that could ferociously muscle his way to victory in any situation. Other than being disfigured, green, and in nothing but his boxer shorts, the Hulk discovered that a single growth factor could drastically change his ability to handle his problems.
|
| Home | Site Map | Resource Links |
