Couple Chooses Flooring After Corporate Downsizing

St. Louis, MO, September 25, 2006--In 2003, Dave Stokes and his family relocated here from St. Louis for his job with Thomas & Betts. Three weeks later, Stokes says, he was let go in a corporate restructuring, according to the Commercial Appeal. "We realized," says his wife, Pat, "we were going to have to refigure life as we knew it." Since then, the Stokeses have become something of a model for families forced to start over. They've re-invented themselves as entrepreneurs -- and in a market, and a field, about which they knew next to nothing. They're the Collierville-based local franchisees of Nationwide Floor & Window Coverings, serving homebuilders and homeowners alike in their mobile showroom--a van that's stocked with product samples, befitting Nationwide's "We Bring the Showroom to You" slogan. A fitting line of work, wouldn't you say, for a family that had the rug pulled out from under it? Except that ... "We didn't know anything about flooring," Pat said. "We didn't know any more than the average consumer knows going into a carpet store, for example -- that's pretty, I like it." Even so, the Stokeses, who are in their mid-50s with a teenage son, were shrewd in deciding their next course. They took their time. "People think you've got to get a job right away," says Dave, who received several months of pay and health coverage after being let go. "I don't care what your financial situation is, you don't have to. If you do, take a part-time job. But don't rush. Don't commit." And they sought to draw on their backgrounds and strengths--Dave's project-management ability, and Pat's knack for networking and marketing. They may not have realized it, but this was textbook behavior for career reinvention, says a volunteer with the Service Corps of Retired Executives local chapter. "There's a lot of things people need to do before they even think about going into business," says SCORE's Susan Lane, retired from the company she founded, Champion Awards. "A lot of times we get people who come in and say, 'I bought this franchise, and I spent $60,000, and I'm wondering if I made a mistake.' "Nine times out of 10, they've made a mistake, and they've lost their money. "We do get quite a few people (starting over). We hope we get them before they make mistakes." The Stokeses decided early on to avoid the corporate life, fraught as it was with uncertainties. This wasn't Dave's first time to be "restructured" out of a job, after all, and he'd also been on the firing side of downsizing. "I was just really anti any more corporate moves," says Pat, a veteran of corporate executive-assistant roles. "When you go through something like that, if you don't learn some kind of lesson, something's wrong." Through an outplacement service, they were introduced to FranNet, a network of franchise consultants. A profile of the couple suggested several possibilities, including a company that refills computer printer cartridges, and Milwaukee-based Nationwide. "It's something that, to me, was semi-recession proof," Dave says of flooring. "Because if it's a boom, people are building new homes and you can sell flooring to contractors. When it's not a boom, people are trying to figure out how to upgrade their homes." There was extensive training--homework included--that culminated in two weeks at the company's home base in Milwaukee. They opened in April 2004, having invested $80,000 to $100,000 in the franchise fee, the customized van and other startup costs. To help overcome their unfamiliarity with the market, they joined local chambers of commerce and the Memphis Homebuilders Association. "And not just join," Pat advises. "Get involved." They anticipate sales this year of close to $500,000, and have grown enough that they'll need to hire a territorial manager or project manager.

Related Topics:Coverings, Lumber Liquidators

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