Not sure what happened to his first set of answers
I suspect during his James Cooper tantrum, he may have selected them
http://mikeysboard.com/threads/getting-to-know-martin-sutely.233045/
they were hidden by a messed up quote:
-What led you to get into this business?
Frustration.
-Describe your best cheerleader and what it took to make him or her so.
It's hard to single out one and describe her. Like most here, I have several. Most are women, but a few are men. I think they are so loyal to me because I offer them a no nonsense, no BS relationship with great service and no dog and pony show. They can leave the key and a check and I take care of their cleaning needs.
-Where was your business five years ago and where will it be five years from now?
I've been in business 20 years. Five years ago I was suffering from bulletin board confusion. I had lost focus on what people want and was following bulletin board fantasies ... trying to OP clean, encap clean and and being an ICS pricer. The Mikey 12 step cleaning program didn't help much either. Today I am more focused on what my market wants and what will make me more successful.
Five years from now I will be set up for my retirement run.
-Who do you emulate in this industry and why?
That's a difficult question to answer. Who is anyone in this industry ... really? From what I have seen, the industry pillars I have met are never what they appear to be on the boards. The one man bands that I have met, who are industry writers, teachers or bulletin board gurus are just BDCC's who have learned how to build an image. The "successful" multi-truck owners I have met are miserable trying to meet payroll, pay bills and manage schedules. I don't know that I have met anyone who I want to be like. YOU, Mikey, are as close as I have seen from being what I would want to be like, but I don't like the gay tendencies necessary to position myself the way you have in your business and your personality quirks are so annoying that I fear following your path would make me a social outcast.
-Start over from scratch, how would you go about it?
I would completely avoid internet interaction and would stick to the basic Ken Snow, Stanley Steemer, business type. I would purchase a stock
Butler, not make any "improvements" and clean with a 2 step method. I'd start traditional marketing from day one, never quit, and price over the phone. I wouldn't diversify into floor covering the way I did 10 years ago and I wouldn't venture over to the vlm cleaning world. The kooks over there will suck the life out of you.
-What Mikey Board would like to Punch you in the throat the most?
Nobody. I don't take anybody here that serious.
