By telling what we have done over the years and how we got started building, what we consider to be a very good business, someone else may relate to it or pick up an idea and it will help THEM.
In April of 1975, John Soukup came to us (we were already in TWO other businesses) and TOLD me we were going to get in the SYNTHETIC OIL BUSINESS!!!! I think that my comment, at the time was, "What the heck is SYNTHETIC OIL?" I had changed oil every 2,000 miles, back then, and I was very religious about NOT going over 2,000 miles BECAUSE I KNEW THE VALUE OF GOOD LUBRICATION AND KEEPING IT CLEAN! When John told me I did not have to change this oil for 25,000 miles I KNEW HE WAS NUTS and there was no way ANY oil would last over 2,000 miles, let alone 25,000!
Because WE KNEW JOHN AND FLO (Unfortunately, John passed away in December of 95) and we knew he wouldn't mislead us, WE SIGNED UP TO BE SYNTHETIC OIL DEALERS! Not only did he want us to sell this stuff.... NOW HE WANTED ME TO USE IT TOO!?!?
We had just purchased a brand new 1975 Olds Tornado and THERE WAS NO WAY WE WERE GOING TO PUT THAT "STUFF" IN A BRAND NEW CAR.... It would VOID THE WARRANTY.... What would I do if it didn't work???? IN ADDITION THIS "STUFF" WAS $5.95 PER QUART! And.... HE WANTED US TO SELL THIS "STUFF"!!!!
It took me SIX MONTHS to get up enough courage to put this in my car AND THEN I PUT IT IN MY 1965 OLDS (not the new one!!). Well, you know, it seemed to work pretty good in the "old" car so I finally got up enough courage to put it in the new one! You know what??!! IT WORKED THERE TOO!
Well we sold a little bit of oil here and there and I was (believe it or not) in the Roller Skating Business! We were managing skating rinks and teaching artistic skating and we actually were working 80 to 100 hours per week! By this time WE KNEW THE OIL WAS OUTSTANDING and the Marketing Program was OUTSTANDING!
Your dealers, many times, tell you they don't have time AND WE DIDN'T! We wanted to sponsor dealers, attend meetings, etc., but there was no time to do it! (Heard that before?) We also had our meetings and conventions to go too, and we didn't have time to do anything else with anything! Intentions were good but time wasn't! Over the years we did sponsor a few dealers, sold some product and USED THE PRODUCT ALL THE TIME!
Back in about 1982 I had some time for a short while and I worked like crazy. With the volume of my dealers we qualified as Direct Jobbers. Except for the volume of our sponsored dealers most of that volume came from a lot of personal sales (WE DIDN'T HAVE THE COMMERCIAL AND RETAIL ON THE SHELF PROGRAM THEN!!). When we got busy with another skating rink the time evaporated and guess what...! OUR DEALER VOLUME HELD UP BUT THE SALES VOLUME DID NOT! That is why it is so important to SPONSOR DEALERS AND BUILD A GROUP! Without the organization the volume went down!
We continued in the skating business until July of 1990 when I started to have severe health problems (I had a kidney transplant in 1989 and it was going bad, etc. etc.) and I knew I could no longer work 80-100 hours per week. We had a decision to make...I had a "boss" I didn't like, I had no retirement, I had no disability in the skating business and I knew no one was going to hire me at 50 years old and could probably only work 2 or 3 days per week full time??!! (I would have to go on Kidney Dialysis soon!)
We decided to make a TOTAL COMMITMENT AND WERE GOING TO BUILD THE AMSOIL BUSINESS STARTING RIGHT NOW! In 1990 in Albany, Ga., NO ONE knew anything about Synthetic Oil, let alone AMSOIL! And this "stuff" sold for $4.95 PER QUART!!! NOW (1990) we had a COMMERCIAL ACCOUNT PROGRAM! NOW we had a RETAIL-ON-THE-SHELF PROGRAM! We didn't have them previously! AMSOIL HAD MADE IT EVEN BETTER FOR THE DEALERS! NOW we had outstanding testimonials, we had COLOR catalogs and many other things which really were a help to the dealers getting started!
I went to some companies that I worked with in the skating business and asked them to use AMSOIL and set them up on Commercial Accounts. We got a few people and companies USING AMSOIL so we could use them as "local testimonials". I remembered that in the early 80's when we made Direct Jobber I was "selling" a LOT of products AND THAT VOLUME DID NOT HOLD UP. THIS TIME WE WERE GOING TO DO IT RIGHT!!! We started SPONSORING! We SPONSORED some more! WE CONTINUED TO S-P-O-N-S-O-R dealers.
We WORKED WITH THOSE DEALERS... and then sponsored some more! WE REALIZED THAT MANY OF THE DEALERS WE SPONSORED MAY BE LIKE US... not have a lot of time... SO WE SPONSORED SOME MORE! We had a lot of dealers - WHOLESALE BUYERS - and a few of those dealers WERE ALSO SPONSORING! Our business has continued to grow to what it is today and we are proud of it! WE THANK ALL OF OUR DEALERS AND DIRECTS and we know they will also have a profitable and LIFETIME business as long as they continue to SPONSOR AND TRAIN THEIR DEALERS!
The really IMPORTANT dealers are the ones that do $50.00 to $300.00 per month! WITHOUT THOSE DEALERS THERE WOULD BE NO DIRECTS, ETC. NEVER forget the "little" dealers like we were for so many years! They are going to be YOUR "HIGH VOLUME" DEALERS down the road! Today, we still SPONSOR dealers, work with our Commercial and Retail-on-the-Shelf Accounts and we hold training meetings to help those who want a real income security to develop it! They CAN AND WILL!
BECAUSE WE SPONSORED DEALERS, here in Albany and other areas we really found out what INCOME SECURITY is all about! In May of 1994 I had to have my transplanted kidney removed and went on dialysis. From May of 1994 till December of 1994 I had a lot of sickness, etc., and was in the Hospital 9 or 10 times during that period. Again, BECAUSE WE SPONSORED DEALERS, and I could do hardly ANYTHING in the business during that time, OUR INCOME CONTINUED TO GROW! THAT is the type of income security I NEVER HAD IN MY PREVIOUS BUSINESS! We have that with AMSOIL and IT JUST GETS BETTER AND BETTER EVERY DAY!!!!!!
We work VERY HARD and put in long hours in this business. At least we know that if something happens WE WILL HAVE AN INCOME FOR LIFE! (It passes to the kids, too!)
Some dealers think they get started a little slow... no one was slower than we were... but we made up for lost time! Everyone you talk to... everyone you give a catalog to... everyone you either do or do not sponsor... YOU ARE PLANTING "SEEDS"! It just takes some "seeds" longer to sprout than others!
You have the BEST BUSINESS IN THE WORLD! You also have the BEST PRODUCTS (BY FAR) IN THE WORLD! You can make it WHAT YOU WANT IT TO BE! And we will help you any way we can!
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