Getting to know Shawn Forsythe

Mikey P

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dude...


Why in the name of Lordy Jesus are you not in business for yourself?



having to kiss Tony Lema's ass every day is making you fat.




Do it already.







for the sake of this industry's future, PLEASE!!
 

randy

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Yep he should start up a specialized distributorship, carry 1-2 lines of truckmounts and a couple chemical lines. His helpfulness over the board would guarantee him some of my business. I always thought it was a shame to see steam Genie go away, perhaps he could resuscitate it.
 

Hoody

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Matt King owns the Steam Genie patent now, and is making them. I believe he makes a slide in version now. The previous company I worked for has a Steam Genie. The thing is very reliable and a work horse for sure. close to 20 years old and went thru 2-3 vans.

Back to the topic at hand. Shawn is a credit to our industry. We are all very lucky to have him with us; he's a wealth of knowledge.
 

Jim Pemberton

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If Shawn is being paid fairly and has a great benefits package, why would you all wish that on him?

He's a great asset to his employer and our industry.
 

truckmount girl

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Jim has a huge point.

Sometimes it's a lot better to be able to clock out at the end of the day and forget work. To not have to stress about making payroll, if the bills will all get paid and if Mr. Hackmaster, who's TM just burned up, is going to try to blame and sue your pants off, because he thinks you're a "rich, deep pocketed distributor with lots of insurance".

If Tony is smart, he pays Shawn very well, because Shawn is a great asset to his company. Tony has a way of picking up good people, he also has Bill Jensen, formerly of HydraMaster.

I could think of one or two more people he should nab while they're ripe.

Being a supplier is not all it's cracked up to be. It's a lot harder than being an owner/op and usually less profitable and more problematic. You kiss a lot more ass (customrers and vendors) as a supplier than as an employee.

Take care,
Lisa
 

Jim Pemberton

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If Tony is smart, he pays Shawn very well, because Shawn is a great asset to his company. Tony has a way of picking up good people, he also has Bill Jensen, formerly of HydraMaster.

Hey Shawn: PM me what kind of salary you and Bill Jensen are getting out there! :lol:

It just might be time to leave these cold PA winters behind.
 

Jimmy L

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I like Shawn because I can lern sompin from hims.


:shock:
 

hogjowl

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I wish Shawn worked closer to me. His chemical and technical advice would be much appreciated on an easy to access basis. I wish I had a local distributor that had a dude just like shawn.

I'd go there every day, put a paper bag over his head, and spend hours picking his brain.
 
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I had my own business for a little over three years. And although modestly successful, and an experience that I count as one of the most valuable of my life, it was just not something I wanted to continue. During that time I learned a great deal about financial principles, managing money and assets & doing things I had never done before. However, I also learned for the second time is that just because you can master something, it does not follow that you would enjoy it as a vocation.
CCCS originally wanted to use my company as a contractor, but it was readily apparent that the tasks were going to take much more time, and on an ongoing basis than could be reasoned for such a designation. It was I, who both wanted and pressed to be a full time employee, as I wanted for such things as Lisa touched upon. I was relieved to sell off the company, and so very much was my wife as well. Sure it had it's high points, but there were also lows that contributed to a lot of stress.

I like very much doing what I do now. I also feel very much blessed that in my employment. I have been allowed to grow, take on projects of interest, and still do things outside the company. I do miss serving with the regional association, but a great many things have filled that time well.
 

Jimmy L

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Shawn is the only person whom I would not like to eat his brain.

His brain has too much muscle and would be tough.
 

Bob Foster

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Jim Pemberton said:
If Tony is smart, he pays Shawn very well, because Shawn is a great asset to his company. Tony has a way of picking up good people, he also has Bill Jensen, formerly of HydraMaster.

Hey Shawn: PM me what kind of salary you and Bill Jensen are getting out there! :lol:

It just might be time to leave these cold PA winters behind.


I think Jim must have got scolded by his dad today... :lol:
 

Mikey P

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Next question:



Your brother in law want to enter this trade.


He knows nothing about it other than he cam make some serious chips if he has the passion.



Who do you suggest he does some ride alongs with, whaT TRUCK, tm AND CHEMS DO YOU SET HIM UP WITH AND WHAT MARKETING GURU do you have him listen to? and which ones should he avoid?


and most importantly, do you suggest he pre vacuum all jobs or just the ones that look dusty?
 

bob vawter

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Shawn...tell us all how you perceive the design and engineering of the Steam Genie Direct Drive unit....and what is the basic reason that they last so long?
 

Larry Cobb

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I had the pleasure of having dinner with Shawn, Bill, Tony, Scott and the rest of the CCCS guys at Connections.

They seemed like a dedicated group, working toward common goals.

Shawn always is working on R&D projects.

Larry
 

Chris A

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Steven Hoodlebrink said:
Matt King owns the Steam Genie patent now, and is making them. I believe he makes a slide in version now. The previous company I worked for has a Steam Genie. The thing is very reliable and a work horse for sure. close to 20 years old and went thru 2-3 vans.

His website is down...?
 

Desk Jockey

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Humbleness is often overrated Shawn.

I'm glad you could share your thoughts on "there is a least one person smarter than you". :p

It's growth on your part that you recognize you may not be "all that".

No joke!
:mrgreen:
 

Loren Egland

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I can understand where Shawn is coming from. We were the Steam Way distributors for California for 5 years from 1987. We ran this out of our garage, selling equipment, chemicals, sponsoring educational classes, etc. It was a lot of work. It kept growing along with the carpet cleaning business we started the end of 1984.

We knew to do it right, we would have to go full bore with shop and employees. There just wasn't enough money in retail to justify it. We still made most of our money cleaning carpet.

I was told that the year we quit the distributor business (our best year) that West Coast Steam Way Distributors was the 9th best of all the Steam Way distributors. I think there were over 20 of them at the time.

I am glad to be on easy street cleaning carpet and making money that I can keep instead of reinvesting in inventory. BTW. did you know that carpet cleaners are the slowest payers? That can be real hardship to cover when the cash isn't flowing.

Loren

P.S. I agree about Shawn. I have saved many of his posts. Awesome resource.
 
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Mikey P said:
Next question:
Your brother in law want to enter this trade.
He knows nothing about it other than he cam make some serious chips if he has the passion.
Who do you suggest he does some ride alongs with, whaT TRUCK, tm AND CHEMS DO YOU SET HIM UP WITH AND WHAT MARKETING GURU do you have him listen to? and which ones should he avoid?
and most importantly, do you suggest he pre vacuum all jobs or just the ones that look dusty?

I was nearly finished with answering this post the other day, and I inadvertently did something that wiped out the whole answer I had typed out. Never again. Always answer using Word, then copy over. LOL So here goes…

Mikey P said:
Who you suggest he does some ride alongs with?
This sounds like a question that I would have to answer realistically. This being the case, t would have to be a local, but so the answer is meaningful here, it should be someone known to Mikeysboard people. That being the case, I would recommend to my BIL that he ask Jose Smith if he has some time to take him for ride alongs. Jose is both an active Association member and someone who is well versed in nearly all the disciplines that he might want o specialize. Jose has also “been around the block”, working for both a franchise and as an owner operator.

Mikey P said:
whaT TRUCK, tm AND CHEMS DO YOU SET HIM UP WITH?
If it was up to me, I would have him look at some good used equipment that I usually get to see before it goes on public sale. A decent dual-wand capable unit with low hours, perhaps from a user that is liquidating is frequently seen. In this economy you have a lot of good used units coming up for sale.

Chemical selection depends on the answer to many questions as there is no "magic bullet" chem, or brand. I would advise him that he limit residential cleaning selections to SOA compliant though. There's just no excuse not to. People erroneously think that efficacy is compromised, but some of the best tried and tested chems were good before their SOA approval, and remain so. This has nothing to do with the disagreements I have with the program, but purely with practical considerations. But also when it comes to particular choices, I put a great deal of faith in popularity. As a group, our customers know what works regionally, and that is evident in sales figures. I(we) are fortunate insofar as we carry most all major brands and all that have been found successful. But I also recognize that what I recommend here, in my neck of the woods, may not work nearly as well in other demographics.


Mikey P said:
WHAT MARKETING GURU do you have him listen to? and which ones should he avoid?
For someone just starting out, the fundamentals are of the utmost importance. A forms guru like Scott Rendall, who also has some substantial business plan building blocks, is the first stop. I think the business growth experts we usually dub as the sharp gurus are better left for later on down the road when one acquires enough business savvy to discern who is going to be helpful versus a waste of money. Wait on the boot camps for a while.


Mikey P said:
most importantly, do you suggest he pre vacuum all jobs or just the ones that look dusty?

This is the easiest question. You have to dry vacuum every single job. It’s a crucial step of any carpet cleaning operation to remove as much dry soil as is practical, when still in a dry state. The new IICRC S-100 standard, which is very close to completion, places a much greater emphasis on proper dry soil removal than ever before. This essential step is not just to make the cleaning process more effective, but we now understand other benefits, such as decreased dry times are dependent on an adequate pre-vacuuming procedure. We also know that consumers use vacuums, frequencies, and techniques that cannot be depended upon to substitute for your expertise and capability. If you choose to skip pre-vacuuming, you are compromising everything you do afterward.
 

Mikey P

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Jose Smith?


That snob wouldn't even let your BIL look at his road map to the stars let alone touch his golden wand.



You could have at least thrown Bawb a bone for a like NEW Genie.


Thanks Shawn!


See ya in Nashville.
 

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