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Three years ago, Buddy Richardson was looking for answers on starting a business. During this process, he soon found his list of questions was growing faster than his list of answers. As Richardson said, “I would find one answer, only to have uncovered ten new questions.”
He stated, “After feeling overwhelmed, I realized that I needed a systematic approach to developing a strategy and plan for starting a business. I contacted the Small Business Development Center and soon found myself sitting in a FastTrac class trying to get my head around a business concept. I needed a vision of what this business would look like under the surface. On the surface, it’s about selling sand. Sounds simple, but below the surface lies the biggest portion of the iceberg. How do you deliver processed sand and its by-product in the most cost effective way?”
According to Richardson, “Sand is heavy, but cheap, compared to other materials of the same tonnage. Transportation of materials makes location a big factor, multiplied by factors of time and fuel cost. Equipment to make extraction, cleaning and handling is costly. What started out small and simple was quickly becoming what seemed to be an insurmountable project.”
The first thing Richardson learned in the FastTrac class was not to worry about getting the right answers; instead, concentrate on asking the right questions. Richardson stated, “I recognized that I needed to slow down and feel good about the questions. This was accomplished by writing a business plan that I felt good about, not just something on paper to satisfy a lender. I needed to be confident that I was moving in a positive direction. While getting answers that led to feeling secure in my decision, I soon found that changing plans or a direction on paper was easier than trying to do it after dollars have been invested in time and equipment.”
Mr. Richardson soon discovered that in the process of gathering data and putting ideas together, he should not turn a deaf ear to anyone. Also, when questions and research receive a different answer than anticipated, they should not be discarded. He found that the scope of the sand business went far beyond what he previously thought. He needed to be open to changing his ideas and business plan as he went through the process.
“I found that the weeks spent in class did not come with answers to all my questions;” stated Mr. Richardson, “but it did help me formulate the questions that I needed to be asking, and in some cases, where I needed to go for the answers. In other words, no one book holds all the answers. You should be able to recognize the answers when you see them. With FastTrac I became so immersed in developing a business plan that I found myself asking all of the right questions, and within weeks I started to recognize and decipher the answers to my questions.”
“It sounds simple, but that is what I found happening while developing American Materials Company of South Carolina, LLC. Before the tenth week of class, I was 80% sure of the direction I had chosen for my business. I cannot divulge my secrets on our structure and operation, but it is working for my company, even in this economic downturn.
Lloyd (Buddy) Richardson, II American Materials Company of South Carolina, LLC
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