Homeseller on the fast track thanks to training

Doug Gorman didn't just sit by and watch as his competition increased 50 percent, he did something about it.

Despite the number of his competitors growing from 12 to 18 in a single year, he increased his sales 25 percent for the year that ended in the Spring of 1998.

That in itself is remarkable. But the story gets even better when another fact is thrown into the mix: sales during that year remained the same as the previous year.

"The pie was the same size, I was just able to get a bigger piece of it while the number of my competitors increased," said Gorman.

Gorman owns Home-Mart, Inc., an independent manufactured home retail business at 9516 E. Admiral Place. He is literally surrounded by a sea of chain and independent operations that also sell manufactured homes.

Gorman has an edge on the competition, however.

He got that edge by attending Premier FastTrac, a nationwide entrepreneurial training program presented locally through the Oklahoma Small Business Development Center and the Metropolitan Tulsa Chamber of Commerce.

One of the first things Gorman did during the FastTrac training was consolidate his mission statement. "Now it's short and we live by it."

Just that alone, he said, would have made the $500 he spent for the 11-week course worth every penny, he said. "But I learned so much more."

Gorman started his business in Tulsa with a good business plan, he said, but learned through FastTrac to review and update it annually as things change. Another lesson was to examine his organization structure for efficiency.

"The business plan we created in FastTrac helped us focus on how to better position Home-Mart in the marketplace," Gorman said. "The instructors and course materials enabled us to develop a truly comprehensive marketing strategy."

To earn a larger percentage of the business that comes to his neighborhood, Gorman takes advantage of 100 percent of the space on his business card. Not 50 percent as in the case of most businesses.

On the back of his card he includes the fact he was the 1998 Manufactured Housing Institute's Retailer of the Year. A much-coveted industry award he, as of two weeks ago, has won for two consecutive years.

He also prints Home-Mart's mission statement on the back of his business card: "To achieve customer satisfaction by selling enhanced value homes in a comfortable shopping atmosphere."

To make customers feel welcome, they are presented a map of the lot upon arrival and given the option of having a salesperson accompany them. Prices are posted clearly on refrigerators in each home, a practice other dealers shun, Gorman said.

"My competition won't do that. We're not afraid of them doing competitive shopping with our information in hand," Gorman said.

After comparison shopping, Gorman feels customers will return due to his open door policy.

"My understanding of good marketing is to find out what the customer wants and then give it to them the best you can," said Gorman. "I don't think they want to be told they have to have a salesman with them and that all houses are locked until their salesman unlocks it."

The front of Gorman's business card is also different from most. "I put my home phone number on it so if a customer has a problem and our office is closed, they can reach me without having to wait until the next day."

That does two things, Gorman said. It builds credibility and it allows him to solve problems that might otherwise result in lost sales.

He didn't always have the company mission statement on the back of his business card. "It was so long it wouldn't have fit and I never could remember it," he said laughing.

The reason it now fits and that he can recite it without a moment's hesitation is because he learned a mission statement is no laughing matter.

Several other Tulsa entrepreneurs have completed FastTrac training and boast of its value. Among them is Carl Gotcher of Automation Concepts Technologies.

"We developed a comprehensive business plan that has provided more direction for our company than the $40,000 we invested last year in developing a strategic plan," Gotcher said.

Cindy Hooper of Nightmagic, Inc. said, "It gave us insight into some loop holes we hadn't identified before. It also gave us a lot of direction of how to expand our business effectively and make us more profitable."

Jeff Horvath, the local FastTrac administrator and regional director for the Oklahoma Small Business Development Center, said the training is a comprehensive educational program that provides entrepreneurs with business insights, leadership skills and professional networking connections so the participants are prepared to create a new business or expand an existing enterprise.

Horvath said entrepreneurs, by their nature are independent, focused individuals who like to have control of their lives, yet feel isolated because of the amount of time they put into their businesses.

FastTrac is unique, he said, because it offers solid business content and gives entrepreneurs access to the bigger business community. Students meet with knowledgeable business instructors, peers experiencing similar business challenges and business advisors such as bankers, CPAs and marketing experts.

Horvath received the FastTrac Administrator, Site of the Year award at the organization's recent national conference in Phoenix.

FastTrac itself was honored when it was selected from hundreds of nominations as the recipient of the U.S. Small Business Administration's Vision 2000 Models of Excellence Award for Entrepreneurial Education.

Bill Lohrey, owner of the CPA firm Lohrey and Associates in Tulsa, was recognized as one of the nation's top instructors.

One of seven organizations to receive the award, FastTrac is the only nonprofit organization among the group to offer entrepreneurial development programs nationally.

The Denver-based organization is sponsored by The Kauffman Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership in Kansas City, Mo. By the end of this year, more than 28,000 entrepreneurs will have completed FastTrac courses.

While FastTrac helped Gorman make his operation more efficient and increased the company's bottom line, he already had an aggressive marketing plan.

Home-Mart has been the exclusive manufactured home retailer displaying at the Tulsa State Fair the past 11 years with 150,000 people going through the model home each year.

Even though he's highly successful, Gorman doesn't stop. He is overseeing an estimated half million dollar improvement project that will include establishing an environmental display at his business.

For more information about Premier FastTrac, contact Jeff Horvath at 583-2675 or go to the web page at www.fasttrac.org.