How long you been hanging around rug suckers? Too long.
Where and how did you start in this business? Grew up in Dallas. I’m a degreed geologist, worked in Midland, TX for a time, left oil exploration the day before it crashed ‘85. I was a successful trader at that time, love to fish, as a boy, my best friend then had gone on a fishing trip with his dad somewhere in Colorado. He showed me pictures of what he caught - Rainbow Trout. The prettiest fish I’ve ever seen (beat hell outa Carp, catfish, bass and Gar). So I wanted to move somewhere I could learn to fish for Rainbow Trout. I picked Sacramento cuz it’s centrally located in Rainbow country (ocean to the west, Mountain streams to the east, native streams north & south). Since then I’ve fished just about every river from Sacramento on up into Alaska. Most of them just once. People say fishing is boring – you haven’t been with me. God I love to float down a river sight unseen, size it up, plan the cast, then land it, all on the float. The biggest dream of my life was fulfilled packin that UHAUL and burnin brakes down that long straight stretch across Nevada, moving there to ‘learn how to fish for Rainbow Trout.’ At that time, Chinook were shoulder to shoulder at the Nimbus Dam, a solid black mass from bank to bank almost 2 miles long. Nowhere else in the world. Every one of them was right at 32lbs. While in Sacto, I got into real estate, sold a house to a carpet cleaner, watched him clean the carpets, I was shocked at how well HWE worked. I bought into his business, fell in love with cleaning, helping people. Did a lot of floods, fires and repair work. But the salmon runs died so I moved north. Someday I‘ll be forced to live in Alaska I guess. Maybe I’ll run into Kodiak John his own dan self. Btw John, you’ll probly find me on the Karluk R. still the largest native runs of SH I ever knew. But the native Indians are a pathetic breed, I’d have better luck with the grizzly.
What do you like most about the business? That a ‘nobody’ can do so well.
What don't you like about the business? The fact that so many have done so well turning it into “business.” **** that. I got into this to help people, make some money and go home and forget about life for awhile. “Marketing” as we’re taught it – **** that too.
What person do you look up to most in the business? The little guy struggling to make it, especially the honest little guy who’s just really trying to do things to the best of ability.
What's the biggest problem with the carpet cleaning supply/distribution business?
Not enough of them. Too much controlling the ones there are and ‘exclusives.’
Who's your most favorite Rug Sucker? I guess Dave Rampage, followed by all the ‘strugglers’ like me. May we never see a BNC tech come & go while we’re on a job.
Work with me a bit on this one Joe....Do you or have you ever gone camping with Ken Harris? Don’t make me laugh. He’s kinda pissed at me right now cuz I’m kinda pissed at him right now.
What is your biggest regret in business?
I don’t have any. Life’s a journey. I live a whole life every day in my trading. That’s my real love. I could die right now and I’d show pissed off on the outside, but inside I’d be smiling.
When and why did you get into wand sales?
Cuz Westpak makes a good valve and didn’t know how to market it. I’ve made the fucker a household name even though all the ‘salesmen’ tried to call it theirs.
Plus
glides, and shear, and untraining guys on the ‘scrub wand’ ideal. The wand is our tool. I’m just trying to help make the most of it. I was playing with extensions years ago, then took Ernie Lombardi’s challenged to do it right – on a bunch of wands. What else does an old fart like me do with his time? I’m almost done. B’fore log, many cleaners will be doing it on the wand they use everyday.
What in your opinion is the ultimate wand?
Ask you know who. And when he’s done I’ll copy it. I’ll copy anything good he ever does for trying to **** me in ’05.
Are carbon fiber wands the way of the future?
I wish GG would donate a glide to all the people who have or want to send back the CCF wands I sold them. LOL. Seriously, these wands redefine CHATTER. Makes me sick too cuz they really do have potential. We just need the slide of the glide.
Do you have any future with.....er, .. ah, .... teflon?
Hell yes, but I’m playing the lamb still, hoping the USPTO does the right thing.
Funny how it’s all ended up back in their lap, right where it started. Pisses me off that Patent office doesn’t punish applicants more for NOT making reasonable effort to meet their obligation in disclosing prior art. That’s the big problem in Patent & Trademark Law – no enforcement - they leave it up to the individual entities to enforce things, not what the founders had intended. IMHO.
When are you coming out with a JoeBilt upholstery tool?
I have a good idea that will help several of them but just an idea at this point.
I do wish people would stop making them and focus more on making them better.
Explain each and every one of these cool cuffs and how you best use them.
It IS pretty lame huh, the way they’re just all lined up so neat with no explanation as to their use huh? Well my plan is to show more ‘use’ pictures in other pages. So how am I doing? You people have any suggestions for making it better?
