Of Thrift Stores and Vacuum Cleaners

-
When you work in an old warehouse from the early 20th century, dust and grime become your constant companions. We wage a daily battle trying to keep our workspace clean often with very little success. One weapon in our arsenal is the trusty vacuum cleaner. Unfortunately, Belay seems to be a place where vacuum cleaners come to die. I was reminded of this fact this afternoon when my assistant let out a yelp after the vacuum she was using started spewing dust like an erupting volcano.

A few years ago, I remember purchasing a new vacuum cleaner from the local Target store. I returned to Bud’s Warehouse and spent the next hour putting it together. I then left for a meeting. About an hour later I returned. As I was walking through the parking lot, I noticed a customer carrying out my brand new vacuum cleaner.

“Where are you going with that?” I asked.
“I just bought it.”
“But it’s not for sale.”
“Yes, it was and I have a receipt for it right here.”

I kindly explained to her that the sale was a mistake. I had just bought the vacuum at Target.

Now, when good vacuums go missing, I wonder. It’s the perils of working in a home improvement thrift store. Vacuum cleaners must be hidden behind lock and key…until their engines fill up with dust and they give out one last gasp. And then it’s back to Target.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Accidental Janitorial Company: Freedom Cleaning Services

-
Sometimes opportunity finds you. In 2003, Cherry Hills Community Church called Baby Bud's Director Dianne Sager with a question. The recovery organization that had been cleaning their facility had just closed and Cherry Hills needed a new partner. Would Baby Bud's be interested in cleaning the school at Cherry Hills? Normally a retail baby store would think twice about committing to a job completely unrelated to its core business. But Dianne had 20 years of experience managing a janitorial company prior to Baby Buds. She saw this as a new opportunity to employ more single moms. Within a couple of weeks, Baby Bud's added five single moms for a cleaning crew and Freedom Cleaning Services was born. Within a year, the business had grown to employ ten women with several other churches and commercial businesses as clients. One of the challenges to any business start-up is maintaining the focus on your core business when other opportunities arise. Sometimes it's good to pursue
Read more

Opportunity Knocks at Belay's New Beginnings

-
Image
If an ex-offender finds a job upon exiting prison, research shows that his or her chances of going back to jail are significantly reduced saving the $50,000 a year it costs a state to incarcerate an individual. With that in mind, Belay Enterprises' latest start-up New Beginnings Custom Woodworks employs and job-trains ex-offenders like Patrick Stewart in a faith-based cabinet shop venture t hat was recently profiled on 9News and in the Denver Post . "I got out of jail 9 years ago, but was unable to find a job because of my past offense," Patrick says. "It was only when New Beginnings was willing to take a chance on me was I able to get off welfare and start supporting my family."  Before starting at New Beginnings, Patrick had never built anything before. Now he's become an expert in crafting beautiful custom cabinets. "At one point in my life, I was just empty flesh walking around," he told the Denver Post , "Now, I have
Read more

For a long time there has been a hole in international development and business as mission in the area of sales training.

-
I was excited to be introduced to the Whitten & Roy Partnership recently over lunch by one of its consultants. There are so many great organizations implementing ideas in the developing world that are not realizing their full marketing potential because of a lack of training in sales tactics or a sub-par sales plan. I've had many long conversations with a sales professional friend discussing the need for high-quality help in this area. A well thought out sales approach in developing communities can even be a force for bringing about systematic change in disadvantaged communities: This company is redefining sales tactics for the base of the pyramid SAN FRANCISCO — Scott Roy, co-founder of an international sales consultancy, was doing research for a potential client in Cambodia when he heard about a sales tactic he found appalling. A team tasked with selling toilets to families would roll into villages with a set of latrine components. In order to close th
Read more