Building Multi-Million Dollar Businesses with Skip Thaler, Part II

Episode 344: Building Multi-Million Dollar Businesses with Skip Thaler, Part II

Multi-venture entrepreneur Skip Thaler talks about his terrifying moment after merging his Fleetwood Franchise with Tires Plus and how he influenced a workable partnership with Tom Gegax and Don Gullett to expand Tires Plus from 11 retail stores to 40 or from $25M to a $50M business. Timing and the right partnerships made the difference between success and failure in Skip’s life, always teeter-tottering on the fringes between financial disaster and exponential growth.

I just finished reading the inspiring book Shoe Dog by the founder of Nike, Inc., billionaire Phil Knight. Terrifying moments were part of his journey too. A must-read autobiography for every business owner and entrepreneurial leader who wants to learn what it takes to build a global brand. Phil wrote that until he took his athletic shoe company Nike, Inc., public in 1980, he had been in debt most of his adult life. He directed Nike from 1962 until 2004.

Phil and Skip’s journeys show how women were unconsciously left out of leadership. Phil organically created his executive teams with people (men) he knew in track-n-field. The first female executive hired at Nike was in 2010, executive vice chair and general counsel Hilary Crane. Skip followed a similar course in working with men in his circles.

Growing profitable businesses is intense and expensive. Phil’s borrowing to pay for his ideas started with the 50 dollars he borrowed from his dad. This led to borrowing millions of dollars from banks and other investors. Phil’s well-told story validated my experience working with business owners and entrepreneurs over these past 30 years, including Skip’s experience as he reflects on his journey here.

The intensity to drive profits never lets up, which is part of the excitement and other emotions like the fear of survival that can drive humans to new heights in self-awareness and brand expansion. Cash-flowing businesses can become a science of mastering intuition and calculations in financial risk-taking, timing, and circling yourself with the right team and money resources and operating together within the restraints of moral and ethical behavior.

I marvel at Skip’s impeccable timing that he has honed over decades of launching, growing, and shaping new ventures. He trusts his intuition, especially when he is freaked out. Even his hobbies of growing 1,000 orchids and sailing worldwide have a depth of time mastery in their life cycle.

When the idea starts taking shape and curiosity grows, is that when Skip’s passion emerges, and his focus, skillsets, and energy take hold? Or does his entrepreneurial leadership process take shape differently? You decide.

Another element in timing is within the ‘windows of opportunity’ where critical decisions can create wealth. Skip discusses those leaps of faith and how he lands firmly on his feet with boundaries that support healthy relationships.

Below are some pivotal moments within the spectrum of timing we discuss.

The business model of the wholesale and retail sides of the tire business begins competing. Now what?
He was turning over inventory. How about someone else worrying about turning the inventory? Skip has another idea that works better for him and his temperament.
Who of the four partners has the most significant financial exposure? How long can one sustain financial exposure? How many nights can you go without sleep before changing your economic model?
A hiring technique that works for each new hire.
I am regaining self-productivity by founding Intercontinental Marketing Corporation.
Learning the international marketplace with a $5,000 investment: bank site drafts and third-party freight forwarders lowers financial risk and is efficient.
Tires have cosmetic issues, too; how. Skip capitalized on blemishes—building a family-owned business.
Passing the baton from one generation to the next.

This meaningful conversation is one you don’t want to miss! Timing is everything. DOWNLOAD

P.S. It is Cyber Monday; please consider donating to my podcast. Donations and Sponsors like you keep this podcast of meaningful conversations and my ability to lend a hand up to others going. DONATE HERE!

NEXT STEP: Challenge yourself and do the Conscious Attentive Leadership Mentoring (C.A.L.M.) Activities, below.

Podcast Sponsor

HIRE A MENTOR

Episode Resources

Phil Knight, Nike, Inc. Founder

Shoe Dog by Phil Knight

Tires Plus

Tires Plus

Conscious Attentive Leadership Mentoring

After listening, do these three C.A.L.M. Activities:

Take this risk: create a list of the year 2020 and its terrifying moments in your life and business and the opportunities within those moments. You heard Skip’s terrifying moment that led him to get out of his Tires Plus partnership and launch his next venture, International Marketing Corporation.

Apply Self-Compassion: As you complete your list, make sure you name your feelings tied to the terrifying moment. I felt frozen and a rude awakening, like I was coming out of a trance or horror movie when a second wave of the coronavirus took hold in September/October 2020. Our spirits were awakened. We survived. Acknowledge the courage it has taken to name your feelings, sort out the opportunities within each tragedy and heartbreak, and then make tough decisions. Experience the sheer fragileness of our existence. This is what humanity feels like and what it means to be in the present moment.

Welcome Appreciation: I appreciate your effort to complete today’s risk. Say this to yourself: “I am grateful for being able to release the emotions in my heart and my being. I appreciate having the ability to give my feelings a name. I appreciate the time I am taking to acknowledge the difficulties in living through this year and being circled by so much loss, tragedy, and sheer chaos. I have felt out of control and uncertain. When I acknowledge my feelings, courage surfaces, and I can see opportunities to grow from learned lessons. I can decide what to do with what I am feeling. My feelings are giving me good information I can use and then let go of. I appreciate myself and those around me. I am right where I need to be. Present and aware, ready to make tough decisions.”

“Most of the problems in our lives and world are caused by relational dysfunction, a dysfunction in how we relate: as social groups, as individuals, to animals and the environment, and even to ourselves. Therefore, developing relational literacy—the understanding of and ability to practice healthy ways of relating—is essential for personal, social, and ecological transformation.” —Melanie Joy, psychologist, author, theorist, educator

When WeMentor… your life becomes more meaningful!!! Redefine how you lead while redesigning your business. Dual Innovation Leadership WORKS.

Podcast Guest Mentor

Skip Thaler. Multi-venture entrepreneur, Skip Thaler, loves the challenge of starting and growing successful new businesses. He is hard-working, generous, and competitive. Prospecting and capitalizing on opportunities in the marketplace to create new businesses has been the lifeblood of his success.

Skip was raised in Chippewa Falls, WI, as the eldest of 4 children. His father was influential in his successful entrepreneurial journey that began in the 1960s. He married his childhood sweetheart Jill Kroll and was blessed to have raised three adult children: George, Sara, and Tim. They now have seven grandchildren.

Skip’s undergraduate degree was earned from the University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, MN in Business and Economics. His master’s degree is in International Business from Bowling Green State University in Ohio.

His first job out of school was in sales with IBM. He left there to start a manufacturer rep. A business selling Fleetwood tires. And that led to the most successful Fleetwood Franchise in the United States. He created a brokerage tire business to sell discontinued and blemished tires that grew into $13M in sales per year. This financial success positioned him to merge his company with Tires Plus, combining the sales volume to $25M.

At Tires Plus, Skip worked to help grow the business to $50M, selling his ownership in 1991 to his two business partners. Semi-retirement allowed Skip to pursue his love of sailing and found an international tire wholesale business, Intercontinental Marketing Corporation (IMC), while upholding his 5-year United States non-compete agreement. IMC is the birthplace of three pledges Skip made to himself. No more hiring of W-2 employees. IMC will not carry accounts receivable. He will not own inventory.

Keeping faithful to his three promises, Skip prepared his company for George, his son, to join him in 1998 to learn the tire trading business. They diversified into motorcycle tires and used truck tires (casings) for retreaders. That business generated more than $10M in sales. Uniquely positioned in the marketplace, they kept their expenses under 8% of their gross profit, so 92 cents out of every dollar went to the bottom line.

In 2012, his other son, Tim, joined the business as Skip transitioned into a new business. The business of acquiring brownstone apartment buildings in Minneapolis and St. Paul. Skip acquired 25 buildings with more than 400 apartment units.

2020 turned into a liquidating year instead of expanding his real estate holdings when a confluence of events came together. The coronavirus pandemic hit. Riots in Minneapolis and a growing adverse political climate towards Minneapolis businesses created an adverse environment for business property owners. Skip sold off his portfolio and diversified into fractional ownerships of companies like Walgreens, Amazon, Tractor Supply, and companies in other business-friendly states. As a result of the confluence of events, Skip and Jill have decided to build a new home and take up residency in Florida. In the photo, Skip is sailing with friends in the Virgin Islands.

In addition to enjoying time with family, Skip has traveled all seven continents. He is a member of the Lakeville Rotary and recently served on three non-profit boards. He is a gardener, skier, and avid sailor. He has sailed across the Atlantic Ocean from The Canary Islands to St. Lucia and the Mediterranean from Greece to Gibraltar. He has logged more than 40,000 miles of sailing so far with more adventures into the foreseeable future.

In the picture above, Skip is enjoying a Gopher Football Game with his buddies.