Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Chad Cooley. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Chad , thanks for sharing your insights with our community today. Part of your success, no doubt, is due to your work ethic and so we’d love if you could open up about where you got your work ethic from?
My work ethic comes directly from my Family. Both of my parents were children of Farmers, and quite frankly, the older generations tend to have MUCH better ideas of what constitutes hard work or even a good pace of work. My work ethic pales in comparison to theirs and it seems as though it gets less and less as generations go by. To some extent it makes sense as there really does seem to be less opportunity for younger people to go into business for themselves. Even people that don’t need to borrow money have to jump through ridiculous hoops with banks for loans and government interference makes it even worse. That being said, the hardest working people always do well in any company as they’re invaluable and the President of our company started out running a store with 4 employees and now makes 7 figures. I know that this covers a second topic, generosity, but again it comes from my Family. Despite paying the highest taxes in America for personal income to go along with all the other taxes levied against us in this “free” country, it’s a beautiful thing to be in a position to help those that simply can’t help themselves. It’s my duty to pay my taxes, it’s my privilege to help charitable organizations helping others.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
My job and my greatest joy has always been found in customer service. Having the opportunity to help someone have a better day by being kind, generous and caring has always been my favorite part. Unfortunately, my businesses have grown to where I rarely get to spend time with customers and am instead forced to deal with problems with employees, vendors, and government regulations, many of which I agree with. Our business has been a runaway success and we’d open more if we could find anyone to work. After 5 years of being dreadfully understaffed (much of it due to the Pandemic) we are almost fully staffed.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
Optimism, Determination and flexibility are almost always hallmarks of the success of new enterprises. LISTEN to your customers! Even horrible responses or reviews can have good advice. The Best advice I could give anyone about to open a business is to get an attorney or an amazing entrepreneur to take a look at your lease agreement before signing it, and if possible, to NEVER personally guarantee a lease. I would also talk to as many people in that business or any related business to learn as much as possible. Most good business owners are happy to help someone, even if they would seem to present competition.
Who has been most helpful in helping you overcome challenges or build and develop the essential skills, qualities or knowledge you needed to be successful?
I was very blessed to have a Father who has both succeeded and failed many times in big ways. Being able to learn from his mistakes (when I was wise enough to listen) made all the difference. Look for a mentor. I guarantee you that there are people in every section of business that would absolutely love to help someone learn from their mistakes. The next suggestion would be to avoid partners at all costs. If you’re unable to to that, rely on an operating agreement that gives you the kind of control over the operation so that it isn’t taken from you or undermined. My biggest challenge is, and always will be, finding and developing great people. Along those lines, almost everyone burns out at some point. I’ve always waited way too long to give up on people that have worked hard for me and it was an expensive disservice to both parties on every occasion.
Image Credits
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