When Mason's Wyeth-Ayerst Laboratories went out of business in May of 1996, Phil Mathews was one of more than 400 people thrown out of work. Mathews had been with the company for 20 years and was not expecting to have to look for work, but as the reality of the layoff sank in, he realized he had to examine all his options.
In the purchase of Sunny View, Mathews inherited a number of clients, but he's been steadily adding to the total since. He's especially targeting school district clients, but says it's difficult to get your foot in the door. As an incentive, he offers fixed monthly billing to larger clients, which he says can save a customer as much as 50 percent. He says he likes running his own business so far. "It's not as financially rewarding [as working at Wyeth-Ayerst was] at this point," he said, "but it's coming." Mathews' wife Kathy had to carry the financial burden for the family during the first few months, he said. "She's been very understanding. It took 11 months to squeeze out the first house payment."Mathews has operated a snow plowing business for 15 years as a way to generate extra income, but he knew that wasn't going to pay all his bills. He had to find something else. "I didn't want to go out and take a job for half the money I'd been making," he said, "and I wanted an opportunity to get something going for myself that I could grow." He started looking around for other business opportunities. Soon, a friend referred him to a Grand Rapids business with facilities in Holt: Sunny View Sanitary Supply. He bought the business in September of 1996.Wescon said the dual-axis control can be used with most hydraulic valves found in mobile applications and is especially applicable in uses such as snow plowing, as it allows the plow to swing and either raise or lower at the same time. "Helping hands" on the front of front end loaders in agricultural uses, is another typical application. Specially designed kits are available for vehicle body builders and equipment manufacturers.As preparation for running Sunny View, Mathews participated in the Lansing Community College "Bridge" program, designed to help adults who want to earn a degree, but who may have been out of school for several years. Wyeth-Ayerst arranged to pay for a portion of the tuition fees for former employees who participated in the program. The program was further subsidized by the BookMart, a Lansing textbook supplier. Mathews said, "I figured if you're going to be in business, you might as well take some classes and brush up on the skills you're going to need." He worked with LCC's Bridge Program Coordinator for Ingham County, Doug Klein, who happens to be from Mason also. "He kind of took me under his wing," Mathews said. At LCC, Mathews was able to "brush up" on his small business management skills, as well as public speaking, public relations, marketing, and computers. "I was computer illiterate before," he said. Mathews earned his associates degree in Business from LCC in May of 1997.
As the owner-operator of Sunny View Sanitary Supply, it's clear that Phil Mathews has learned his lessons well. He's taken the experiences of a 20-year career at Wyeth-Ayerst Laboratories, 15 years operating a snow plowing business, and the knowledge he gained in earning his degree at LCC and used it all to become an entrepreneur. Not bad for a guy who didn't know where his next paycheck was going to come from just a few months ago.
No comments:
Post a Comment