| It was
pre-feminism and I lost my first teaching job because I
was pregnant. A few years later, I didn't get a
promotion that I thought I deserved because, in my
opinion, I had the wrong anatomy. My first response
to that was anger, tremendous emotional pain and a feeling
of worthlessness! My second response was to
fight! It was out of that determination that my
business was born. Since then my husband has always
said, "If you want a job done, tell Carol that she
can't do it. Then it will get done."
So I bought out my second
partner from the business that I had started with $500 of
my own cash seven years earlier. It was 1980 - in
the middle of one of the worst recessions this country had
seen in years. Everyone thought that I was purely
crazy. But I was determined that no one was going to
knock me down - that I would survive. I set my goals
- my sales would be $X, my income would be $X and I would
own my own building. I accomplished most of it
within five years! In 1980, my company did $200,000
worth of business. In the past fiscal year ending
June 30, 2000, we did $31,000,000. We've doubled our
business every five years by setting our goals and
believing that we would reach them.
Was this all as easy as it
sounds? Of course not! It took me 21 years to
get a banker to give me financing of more than
$50,000. Why? Because their first reaction
was, "Oh, you're a woman." After they got
past that, they would say, "You run a service
business, and your assets walk out the door every
night." When I would show them my list of
receivables that included all of the companies that they
financed, their response was, "We don't lend money on
receivables!"
Our troubles really started
when my husband lost his job in December of 1981.
Now neither her nor I had a steady income, and we had
three sons in high school, who were used to the "good
life". Eventually, it was obvious that we were
a hair's breath from bankruptcy. My husband came to
me on a Saturday and told me that we would have to declare
bankruptcy, both personal and business. I said an
unequivocal, "No." He pointed our that we
were broke! I knew that, but I was brought up to pay
my debts and "never be beholden to
anyone." Bankruptcy was just out of the
question for me. We went to church that night, but I
have no idea what the service was all about. I sat
with this huge, black cloud handing over me. It was
then that I prayed, "I'm a 'tough broad', but I don't
know what to do. Help me!" God began to
send a message to me, which I questioned because it meant
spending money that I didn't have. And the message
kept coming and coming and got bigger and bigger.
Finally I said, "Okay, if that's what you want me to
do..."
I left church that night,
went home and designed ads for the newspaper, for which I
had no idea how I was going to pay. On Monday
morning I called my mini computer vendor and said, "I
want to buy another computer, but I'll have to pay for it
on the installment plan." About two weeks
later, I started teaching two word processing classes at
the end of each work day and another two on Saturday
mornings. On Sundays I went to the office and opened
it so that the students could practice. This all
happened at a time when word processing was new to the
world. Everyone wanted to know how it worked, and I
could teach them. We charged $100 per person and
brought in $3,000 a month. We persisted, and we
survived!
Always living on the edge
in an undercapitalized business, between 1985 and 1986, we
doubled our revenue and suddenly found ourselves extremely
cash poor. When closing the doors seemed to be the
only option, I got down on my knees again and asked God to
help! God sent Dick's name into my head. Dick
had done my husband's and my personal income taxes, but I
had never met him. I called him and unloaded my
troubles. He asked me if I could raise
$50,000. He said if I did, he would. I asked
him how, and he outlined a plan under which we would
borrow money from individuals in increments of $5,000 -
not to exceed $20,000. We would give them a
three-day demand note and pay them interest at 10
percent! We did just that; and in 30 days, we massed
$100,000 and survived again!
The lessons that I learned
through these trying times is to "give it to
God." So now when I have any kind of troubles,
I speak the words of an old hymn, "Take my life and
let it be-consecrated Lord to Thee." It's
amazing where the Lord has taken me - and where God will
take you - if you just truly give yourself over!
May God bless you and may
you be given the insight to know when you have been
blessed! |
