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You're Not Lost Until You Are Out Of Gas

Guest post by: Bob Janet

Article Overview: Everyday I receive telephone calls and email message from sales professioanls and business owners asking what to do increase their sales. Their sales are down, and expenses are up. Lower store traffic, some even have bills past due. Many are worried they are losing so much business that they will not survive. But they are not lost until they are out of gas.

You're Not Lost Until You Are Out Of Gas

When I turned 16 years old my parents gave me my first car, and my father, Meyer Janet, gave me two pieces of advice.
1. Drive as far as you like without gas, but never drive an inch without oil.
(driving a motor vehicle without oil will destroy the motor)
2. You are never lost until you are out of gas.

Little did I know that the second bit of advice “You are never lost until you are out of gas” would serve me so well. It was years later that I realized he was not just talking about operating an automobile.

In the winter of 1972 a hurricane named Agnes decided to settle over central Pennsylvania. Within 24 hours we were informed by the national flood warning system that our business would receive 2 to 3 feet of water within the next 12 hours. We immediately prepared for this onset. We moved every piece of merchandise and machinery up 6 feet on platforms. We felt we were ready for whatever Mother Nature handed out. However there were some miscalculations. 24 hours and 9 feet of floodwaters later we watched, from a hill ¼ mile away, we watched or largest building collapse and float into and destroy our other 3 buildings.

In less than ½ hour we lost our Tire Retread Shop, Electronics store, a warehouse, the building that was to be our new appliance store in 3 weeks and our entire inventory. We lost everything. Everything. My home was flooded and so was my parent’s, but luckily with only 2 feet of water. For the first time in my life I found out what LOST meant.

The next Day as the water receded and we were able to better survey our losses at our businesses we discovered we for certain had lost everything. The retreading machinery, the tires, the electronic merchandise and displays, our office furniture and equipment. Even the safe that took 4 men to move was gone. All lost. Even most of the masonry and metal components of the building were gone. My father only said, “After you get your house cleaned up, come up to our house.”

Late the next evening my wife and I finished cleaning our flooded downstairs and went to my parent’s house. My father was sitting at the lawn table with a tablet, busy writing. As I got out of the car I was thinking what my father would do now to make a living. We not only lost everything in the flood, everything we lost was mortgaged and we had no way of making the payments. My thoughts were that my future would be going back and teaching high school as I did before I went into business with my parents.

As I sat down next to my father he said, “Why are you so gloom?” I replied: We just lost everything!!” He stood up and asked? “Do you still have your talents of selling? Do you still have your energy and spirit to succeed?” I nodded, yes. He said,
“You are not lost until you are out of gas.” My talents, energy and spirit were my gas.

The next day I went to the bank and sold them on the idea that if they did not loan us more money, even though we had little collateral, they would never get back any of the money we owed them. I used my selling ability, my gas, to secure enough capital to rebuild and restock.

My father used his selling ability, his gas, to convince all of our suppliers to send not only merchandise but also trailers to sell out of and makeshift buildings.

Five days after the floodwaters receded we were back in business. We were soon retreading and selling tires. I started a flood sale and had our best week ever in electronic sales. We received the appliances on the date we planned and had the grand opening sale of our new appliance store, under a tent, two weeks later as scheduled.

No matter how difficult the circumstances and happenings in business and life you face,
Your not lost until you are out of Gas.

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Article Tags: 3 feet, appliance store, building collapse, central pennsylvania, electronic merchandise, first car, flood warning system, floodwaters, hurricane, masonry, metal components, mother nature, motor vehicle, national flood, new appliance, office furniture, platforms, time in my life, tire retread, two pieces



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