Jamie Renfrow - Owner Equipment Resource Connection
Many of our customers that we were counting on for work, either cut their construction back to absolute necessities or no construction at all. Thanks to Larry’s leadership and bulldog determination, we were able to find work. Moreover, and very significantly, Larry found new customers that we had never done work for before and convinced them to give us an opportunity to do their construction projects. Had he not found these opportunities, the outcome would have been uncertain and possibly failure of the business like several of our competitors. One of our key leaders, who had been with the company for a long time and had little faith in our sales team before Larry arrived, glowingly praised Larry by saying that he was convinced that the company would not have survived had Larry not have been in charge of sales and marketing during those difficult economic times. I agree. Several years ago, I left Renfrow Brothers and started my own industrial equipment business. I believed in his abilities enough to have him come out and help my new business. Larry shares great insight and strategies to approach the market and I have started implementing his suggestions. I am confident that we are making positive steps to growth with Larry’s help.Renfrow Brothers leaders, after counsel from Jim Dismore, made the commitment to grow the company to the “next level.” Upon the recommendation of Jim, we hired Larry Mohr to be our Sales and Marketing Director. Unfortunately, just after Larry was hired, the US economy entered into the downturn of 2007. The downturn took a heavy toll on the Industrial construction market and we found ourselves fighting for survival rather than climbing to the next level.…
Joe Bowen - Owner of Strap Jack
Next month will be six years ago that I had an idea. That's how Strap-Jack started...a simple solution to a common problem.I needed something to hold my strap on the input jack of my acoustic/electric guitar. I knew what I was looking for, I could picture it in my own head...but it didn't exist. When I made my way across the cul-de-sac to my neighbor Larry's house all I had was what could loosely be called a prototype...a quarter super-glued to the top of a 1/4 inch stereo adapter. That forty yard walk would change my life. All I had was an idea....and now a prototype. …
It was Larry who began to help me transition from a crude prototype into a business plan with measurable goals and a marketing plan that was more focused than my idea of trying to visit every guitar store within reach of the family minivan. When I needed someone to help me put my logo ideas on paper, it was Larry who put me in touch with the right illustrator and later a graphic designer who put it all together into marketing pieces and packaging.
The first real test of trust came very early on and involved guidance that I paid for from an expert. He told me not to bother patenting my idea but to use the resources to put the Strap-Jack into production and be the first-to-market; "make hay while the sun was shining", and then trust that no one else was going to go to the trouble to bring the idea to life. Larry had a different idea. But I had paid $180/hour for expert advice.....and now I was supposed to ignore it. However, when I listened, Larry made sense. Without a patent, what do you have to negotiate with Gibson or LR Baggs, or any other potential buyer? Without a patent, they could simply bypass me and make their own Strap-Jack. Larry was right.
Larry also taught me sound business principles that I still quote today: (1) from the Harvard school of business via Jim Dismore..."if you can't measure it, don't do it." Larry's version of that advice was more user friendly; it translated into installing a system that would keep track of inventory and sales. "Anyone who has an interest in buying this from you in the future is going to ask for sales numbers, right off the bat." He was right. Again.
Larry and I sat and analyzed the market and sales projections and from the very beginning we had a realistic sales goal and, ultimately, a realistic evaluation of the product's value.
On two separate occasions I have had phone calls from others who had the same problem and a vision of the same solution. The first was born in Alabama and the second in California. They both found me only through preliminary research into patenting their idea. The only thing protecting my idea was the patent that the expert advised against. Three weeks ago one of those phone calls, the one from California, turned out to be an investor interested in purchasing Strap-Jack. Six years later, and a long way from a quarter glued to a plug, the plan we hatched has come to fruition, just as Larry helped me to envision it. The first thing the buyer asked me for?....take a guess: Yep...sales numbers for the last two years.
Larry's two most critical pieces of advice were the only two things the buyer asked about: sales and patent rights. And yes, the buyer and I reached an agreement that came within 5% of what we set as our goal six years ago.
I had an idea and Larry had a plan. If you'd like to see what success looks like when an idea meets a fundamentally sound and proven business plan, visit www.strap-jack.com. Like the Strap-Jack, our plan was Simple But Certain. Thank you Larry.
Jim Dismore - Owner Kingdom Way Companies