Business
Episode 253: The Art of Shaping New Opportunities with Skip Thaler, Part I An obsession with opportunities started early with multi-venture entrepreneur Skip Thaler. The picture of Skip and Jill is taken in Turkey. We begin our first of three conversations when Skip is out of graduate school and working at IBM to give you and his family a foundational view of how Skip turns the art of sizing up opportunities into a financially successful, disciplined practice. A unique look into how opportunities are shaped and molded into viable businesses. Wholeheartedly engaging curiosity and passion doesn’t come without sacrifice, disciplined commitment, and experimentation within the boundaries of ethics, morality, and sanity. You will hear that underlying theme as we begin analyzing each of Skip’s multi-million dollar ventures. DOWNLOAD Skip goes about the tedious work of mining his history for pearls of learnings over seventy-some odd years methodically. Not unlike the attention to detail paid when dissecting each new venture calculating the financial risks and polishing off each grouping of learned lessons from the prior venture. You will hear Skip explain five prominent learned lessons from his early ventures. This includes a 5, 5, 2 theory he learned in his tire business. Is this theory what led him to his next venture with Tires Plus? His keen eye for observation and critical thinking help him face hard facts. The numbers don’t lie, and neither does the interpreter. His focus isn’t bent toward exploiting accounting loopholes and trying to outsmart tax laws to avoid responsibility. His mind is on exacting out financial details and getting the most out of the opportunity. This includes having everyone’s best interest at the heart’s center in each venture. You will hear how Skip creatively thinks about solving customer issues building customer loyalty in a competitive tire business climate. A key strategy in creating profitable and sustainable businesses. Fulfilling the promise of really solving the customer’s issues. Each new business takes a small collective village of people seeking to prosper with you while contributing to local, national, and international business communities. The local community is within the microcosm of what we call home. Skip will be the first to tell you the best decision he made was to marry his high school sweetheart, Jill Kroll, building a life together with their three children, and seven grandchildren. Skip was born into an entrepreneurial lifestyle. His mentor and father, who owned Petroleum Service, suggested Skip buy into his first real business investment, Fleetwood Franchise. This is where he learned how to build relationships, leverage them, and solve customer problems. Skip’s success is tempered by humility and compassion for others. Listening to Dolly Parton describe her ambition at age 74 during Friday evening’s PBS Newshour sparked a thought about Skip. Dolly Parton describes her ambition and inspiration—releasing a Netflix musical and her first album in 30 years “A Holly Dolly Christmas,”—saying this, “I would rather wear out than rust out.” Skip has embraced that same philosophy and so have I. Enjoy our conversation. Podcast Sponsor Strategies to Grow Your Business Monthly Bookkeeping Payroll Services Back Office Strategies and Support Contact Us Now Episode Resources Tires Plus Tires Plus published history: In 1976, two Shell Oil colleagues launched Tires Plus with three former Shell service stations in the Burnsville, Minnesota area. In 2001, Tires Plus was acquired by BSRO; today, Tires Plus has more than 5,000 teammates working in 400+ stores in 23 states. The Big Book of Small Business: You Don’t Have to Run Your Business by the Seat of Your Pants February 6, 2007, by Tom Gegax and Phil Bolsta Conscious Attentive Leadership Mentoring After listening, do the following three WeMentor C.A.L.M. Exercises: