All of us enjoy personalizing the items we own. Embellishing our cars and trucks with signs is our own way of showing what we love or stand for. Within these, chrome emblems and chrome letters began gaining a lot of popularity and this is the reason why Jamie Quint launched his own business of chrome emblem or signs online.
Mr. Jamie Quint strongly believes that the World Wide Web can be effectively used by businesses to reach out to a large number of customers and launching one’s own website according to him should be a pre-requisite for any business.
eBrandz caught up with Mr. Quint so that he may speak to us about his successful journey as an entrepreneur and what it takes to make it large.
Kindly give our readers an introduction to your business.
We are located in Crown Point, Indiana, USA and have been in business for over 35 years. We offer the largest selection of Chrome Emblems and Chrome Letters on the web and ship them worldwide. We possess a large inventory and all orders are shipped on the same or next day.
Kindly give us a brief description about yourself.
I graduated college with a Bachelors in Fine arts and Business degree in 1981. After graduation I immediately started my Sign business, a small family-based business from home.
What ignited the spark in you to start a new business venture?
Many of my ‘Sign’ customers were asking for chrome letters and chrome emblems to accent their signs, cars and trucks. So after conducting research on chrome suppliers, I decided to open a new department within my ‘Sign’ business. www.chromeautoemblems.com was thus created to direct all my customers to our huge inventory.
How important have good employees been to your success?
Yes, finding good employees is a must for any business to succeed. Trustworthy, dependability, knowledgeable and efficient, these work qualities are what make for exceptional employees.
What three pieces of advice would you give to college students who want to become entrepreneurs?
Willingness to work long Hours, not being afraid to invest in your ideas, Create a website – if not for sales, then only for information and samples of your work.
If you had the chance to start your career over again, what would you do differently?
Nothing. Everything has been great since the beginning and is just getting better with each year.
What would you say are the top three skills needed to be a successful entrepreneur?
Ability to work long hours, managing your finances and sticking to your budget and finding qualified employees to help are the top three skills required to be a successful entrepreneur.
How long do you stick with an idea before giving up?
I never give up; if one strategy does not work, I try something else to make it work.
How many hours do you work a day on average?
12-16 hours a day and mostly 7 days a week
How has being an entrepreneur affected your family life?
Working together as a family in fact, has brought us closer in many ways.
What motivates you?
Seeing my customers happy, vacations around the world and having the ability to help friends and family is what motivates me.
How do you generate new ideas?
I listen to my customers – their wants and needs and then try to find ways to solve them.
What is your greatest fear and how do you manage fear?
My greatest fear is not being able to work because of health reason; to manage this fear I eat properly, get proper rest and exercise to remain as healthy as I can.
What are your ideals?
I live by the golden rule – treat others as you would like to be treated.
How do you define success?
Success is measured by the amount of friends you acquire in your lifetime. Money is nice but it does not measure true success.
What is the best way to achieve long-term success?
The best way to achieve long-term success is to Always be truthful and treat others kindly.
Where did your organization’s funding/capital come from and how did you go about getting it?
We started out as a small business and kept investing as the revenue grew. The faster it grew the more we invested.
How do you build a successful customer base?
Again, always be honest and give the customer what they paid for. Also, always be prompt and deliver your goods when promised or sooner!
How did you decide on the location for your business?
Since it is a family-based business, I work from home which is located on a very busy street in my neighbourhood.
Do you believe there is some sort of pattern or formula to becoming a successful entrepreneur?
Hard work, Honesty, Punctuality and not overcharging is the formula to becoming a successful entrepreneur.
If you could talk to one person from history, who would it be and why?
I would like to talk to Abraham Lincoln(, learning to deal) so that I can learn how to deal with all kinds of people and be honest with them equally.
Who has been your greatest inspiration?
My greatest inspiration has been my grandfather, also an entrepreneur.
What book has inspired you the most?
I don’t really read much.
What is your favourite aspect of being an entrepreneur?
Working my own hours, and taking vacations when I want.
What would say are the five key elements for starting and running a successful business?
Be honest, deliver what you promise, don’t over charge, use quality materials and be friendly to your customers.
What has been your most satisfying moment in business?
My most satisfying moment in business has been to start my own websites and sell my products worldwide.
What do you feel is the major difference between entrepreneurs and those who work for someone else?
Entrepreneurs are able to set their own hours, own salary and have the ability to not do something because you did not want to.
How do you go about marketing your business? What has been your most successful form of marketing?
The local yellow pages was the first step in building my business locally then the web helped me build my business internationally.
What kind of culture exists in your organization? How did you establish this tone and why did you institute this particular type of culture?
The culture that exists in my organization is to Work quickly and efficiently. In order to establish this culture, bonuses are given to best performers.
In one word, characterize your life as an entrepreneur.
Fulfilling.
What are some of the biggest mistakes you’ve made?
I have been unsuccessful in finding reliable web designers. I have gone through many of them and still cannot find honest designers to create the online design tools.
How can you prevent mistakes or do damage control?
I supervise my employees very closely at first and give them more responsibilities only when I feel they are ready.
What are your hobbies? What do you do in your non-work time?
I own several pets and spend my off-time with them and my family
What makes you happy?
Making others happy makes me the happiest.
What sacrifices have you had to make to be a successful entrepreneur?
I have not been able to spend as much time as I would like with my friends and family.
Excluding yours, what company or business do you admire the most?
SUBWAY – I like their food and the way they advertise
Where do you see yourself and your business in 10 years? 20 years?
In 10 years I would only like online sales and no more walk in customers and in 20 years I want to be able to retire and have my family run the business.