I did something like this..
Started out with a pick up truck and a box of mix matched tool, and a strong work ethic. Got a partner he brought new trucks and bigger accounts, then he fell off into a drug problem, one of the bigger customers (never met the owner before) out of the blue gave me a loan to get started/interest free (just could not charge labor on his repairs. which got me started with my own nice truck/equipment. went around for a few years just fine till a seafood company started buying an italian piece of refrigeration equipment. the nearest dealer being in miami. I was filing warranty through that dealer till corporate found out (height of housing boom and trich and I were going to buy a house but talked her into investing in a dealer franchise for this Italian branded equipment. So we took our house money and did that (we were living in a little tiny mobile home in a decent neighborhood at the time) so we stayed.. First hurdel with this new dealership I needed a place to install equipment. so we moved into my dads garage rent free. just had to cleanit like a psychopath one a month and paint everything and fix the electrical and everything else he let go to pot over 40 years. then the neighbors complained so we moved into trich's dad's roofing shop . he let us do an install if we had one to do which we did maybe a dozen. Then I got my first 'big order of 10' from the orginal seafood company. so we took some of that profit money and bought into a year lease with a single bay shop just big enough to fit one full size van into. at that time we also start installing our own insulated liners I researched and designed.. That took off like wild fire. we took off the old units from the order of 10 from that sea food company. went though those refrig systems and paired with a used truck dealer and build refurbished refrigeration systems for truck. Sold like hot cakes.. after our year inthe one bay shop I was able to rent out a two semi truck bay shop, which would allow for two full semi truck or about 4 full size vans to be built... All the while selling this new itialian unit. On one business trip the normal guy who was the liaison between the italian manufacturer and the US dealers could make it so they sent 'massimo' who spoke english as well as I could speak italian. (it was brutal) but at a glance knowing the old schematics and looking at the new I was about to relay all the info Massimo couldn't to the US dealers. the following year they had me teach the two week certification course. I did. In the beginning I gave the final exame and everyone failed. at the end all but two passed and those two were at the nudie bar the whole time.
Then was asked to look at a special project the italians have been trying to get to work with a mill-spec battery manufacturer here. While in the very first meeting while they were explaining what they were trying to accomplish and why I literally came up with the needed circuitry and components all laid out in a rough drawing. I even boasted I could put the whole thing together from stuff I knew they had at an old electronic government surplus store for 500.00 and a weekend. the italians bock and hissed and the ex-nasa guys just laughed at me and said we don't even think your drawing will work it will take a month to vet out your electronic proposal. I said I already did that in my head/(The same way I answer little questions like how to combine evolution with creation without changing either)
So I said there is one way to find out, I said I'll put up 250 and someone spot me the rest and if it doesn't work I'll give you your 250 back. They gave me the batteries and the equipment they wanted to make work with the itialian stuff already installed on a truck and I went from there to the militar surplus store and bought everything I needed for 200. and literally put it all together on a saturday. it ran all day sunday (it being an all electric truck refrigeration system/Imagine running 4 house a/c systems for 8 hours on a series of 12 volt batteries. then have the whole thing recharge in 4 hours while still running. and at the end of 4 hour non running 6 hours running have it ready for another 8 hour shift.)
That's what I did and they battery guys along with the refrigeration guys could not do (neither one understood the other system well enogh to take and give power.)
We brought it in monday morning running all the way from my shop/1 hour away to the battery factory and it ran though out the 4 hour meeting with 1/2 a dozen engneers shaking their heads on both sides. both said this should not work.
Then I told them I could get the run time up to 12 hours if we make a few changes (not add battery power) but could also tap the truck power supply... Again they said no way and in a few days we got 12 hours. This went to a Home food delivery company in NYC who very popular for their orange trucks. they bought 4 prototypes to run and check out for a year. sandy hit and destroyed the wiring in one and I was sent up to rewire it. but other than that all 4 ran great for that period of time. then that company order 25 more..
that was patent#1 sold my share of that to the battery company and was able to move my company into a 12,500 warehouse, completed patent 2 based on 'banking refrigeration cold into plates and being to recharge those plate while driving (not having to be plugged in like the original designed) so the system could be almost self sustaining. from that one was able to move into a 25,000 place which was little over a year and 1/2 ago. at which time we also discovered that used truck dealers are mostly crooks. at least to us. so we got our dealers license so we could buy and sell our own trucks. now we are moving into the front 1/2 of the building we are in displacing another engineering firm with 30+ employees which will give us almost 50,000 feet of office and factory space along with a car lot. This all happens June 1. So we went from me working in an old pick up truck to 50,000 foot A/C factory floor with offices and a commercial and retain car business.. oh and somewhere in there we because a tier two nissan dealer which allows us to buy and sell commercial nissan truck new.
It wasn't all peaches and cream either remember Trich had her drug problem the first 7 years of marriage which means the first 6 years of this business she was stealing from me and hiding drug use and the whole 9 yards. it was tough for a very very long time, both physically and mentally. we almost lot everything 10 times because of the economy and various other bad decisions. But I refused to give up till God absolutely took it all from me., and when ever we made a little money we reinvested back into the company. Durning this time I was not speaking to my Father because He stole a 10 acre lot from me and said all sorts of evil things about my wife to try and split us apart. He then promptly beat up my sister and my little girl for eating his 'carrot cake' and I went over there to end him. I got there and only saw a pathetic weak old man. so I called the cops (pretended to) and he spent 5 days in the woods on my stolen property thinking the cops were looking for him. After that we did not speak for 8 years.
I did not even see him. it wa funny he went from have full hair with color to all grey and bald. I forgave him about 4 years ago He never apologise for anything he has ever said or done. The lord kept putting this on my mind and when I began with him doors opened for me. It did not take much, we started one day a week usually sat morning for breakfast. after 3 it was not allowed for him to call or come over for any reason (because he was a drunk and by 3 would be that same drunk a-hole I did not speak to.) So over time he began to get and respect my position. before long he stopped trying to force his drunk self onto my family... a year ago last august he sign my land back over to me. Immediately Trich and I began looking for a builder. it took almost a year to decide what we wanted and last Febuary we moved from a tiny mobile home to a tinier RV/5th wheel. from about 1000 square feet to about 400... for a year. then this last thanksgiving we moved in to our new home. We have 3 times the space as our little mobile home and it only cost 200 more a month because we already owned the land.
Then while ALL of this was going on I've had this 1967 mustang that I've been putting together since 1992 or 93. it spent 1/2 of the time I ever owned it up on blocks. I orginally put it back as a GT with a 289 orginal k code motor. but didn't like getting beat by the rice burners. so I then bought a wrecked mustang cobra and spent like 5 years re-engineering all the 95 electronics to communicate and take the controls and inputs from the 67 car so everything from the electric fan, ac transmission and rear end out of the cobra car works flawlessly with the 1967 body.
Started to do the same with an ultra rare 1979 F350 4x4 super cab and a 7.5L motor home engine and overdrive transmission.
My whole life has been built up like that little church and the only thing I do differently is give it all back to god in the end, yes the house the money and the mustang have all be given back and he has taken it back at last 3 times, and was given back to my 10 time over
Again not bragging, but I was prompted to share what God has done for me more openly. once we open up my front 1/2 of the building 6-1-18 I'll invite any of you to come see any of this for yourself.
Started out with a pick up truck and a box of mix matched tool, and a strong work ethic. Got a partner he brought new trucks and bigger accounts, then he fell off into a drug problem, one of the bigger customers (never met the owner before) out of the blue gave me a loan to get started/interest free (just could not charge labor on his repairs. which got me started with my own nice truck/equipment. went around for a few years just fine till a seafood company started buying an italian piece of refrigeration equipment. the nearest dealer being in miami. I was filing warranty through that dealer till corporate found out (height of housing boom and trich and I were going to buy a house but talked her into investing in a dealer franchise for this Italian branded equipment. So we took our house money and did that (we were living in a little tiny mobile home in a decent neighborhood at the time) so we stayed.. First hurdel with this new dealership I needed a place to install equipment. so we moved into my dads garage rent free. just had to cleanit like a psychopath one a month and paint everything and fix the electrical and everything else he let go to pot over 40 years. then the neighbors complained so we moved into trich's dad's roofing shop . he let us do an install if we had one to do which we did maybe a dozen. Then I got my first 'big order of 10' from the orginal seafood company. so we took some of that profit money and bought into a year lease with a single bay shop just big enough to fit one full size van into. at that time we also start installing our own insulated liners I researched and designed.. That took off like wild fire. we took off the old units from the order of 10 from that sea food company. went though those refrig systems and paired with a used truck dealer and build refurbished refrigeration systems for truck. Sold like hot cakes.. after our year inthe one bay shop I was able to rent out a two semi truck bay shop, which would allow for two full semi truck or about 4 full size vans to be built... All the while selling this new itialian unit. On one business trip the normal guy who was the liaison between the italian manufacturer and the US dealers could make it so they sent 'massimo' who spoke english as well as I could speak italian. (it was brutal) but at a glance knowing the old schematics and looking at the new I was about to relay all the info Massimo couldn't to the US dealers. the following year they had me teach the two week certification course. I did. In the beginning I gave the final exame and everyone failed. at the end all but two passed and those two were at the nudie bar the whole time.
Then was asked to look at a special project the italians have been trying to get to work with a mill-spec battery manufacturer here. While in the very first meeting while they were explaining what they were trying to accomplish and why I literally came up with the needed circuitry and components all laid out in a rough drawing. I even boasted I could put the whole thing together from stuff I knew they had at an old electronic government surplus store for 500.00 and a weekend. the italians bock and hissed and the ex-nasa guys just laughed at me and said we don't even think your drawing will work it will take a month to vet out your electronic proposal. I said I already did that in my head/(The same way I answer little questions like how to combine evolution with creation without changing either)
So I said there is one way to find out, I said I'll put up 250 and someone spot me the rest and if it doesn't work I'll give you your 250 back. They gave me the batteries and the equipment they wanted to make work with the itialian stuff already installed on a truck and I went from there to the militar surplus store and bought everything I needed for 200. and literally put it all together on a saturday. it ran all day sunday (it being an all electric truck refrigeration system/Imagine running 4 house a/c systems for 8 hours on a series of 12 volt batteries. then have the whole thing recharge in 4 hours while still running. and at the end of 4 hour non running 6 hours running have it ready for another 8 hour shift.)
That's what I did and they battery guys along with the refrigeration guys could not do (neither one understood the other system well enogh to take and give power.)
We brought it in monday morning running all the way from my shop/1 hour away to the battery factory and it ran though out the 4 hour meeting with 1/2 a dozen engneers shaking their heads on both sides. both said this should not work.
Then I told them I could get the run time up to 12 hours if we make a few changes (not add battery power) but could also tap the truck power supply... Again they said no way and in a few days we got 12 hours. This went to a Home food delivery company in NYC who very popular for their orange trucks. they bought 4 prototypes to run and check out for a year. sandy hit and destroyed the wiring in one and I was sent up to rewire it. but other than that all 4 ran great for that period of time. then that company order 25 more..
that was patent#1 sold my share of that to the battery company and was able to move my company into a 12,500 warehouse, completed patent 2 based on 'banking refrigeration cold into plates and being to recharge those plate while driving (not having to be plugged in like the original designed) so the system could be almost self sustaining. from that one was able to move into a 25,000 place which was little over a year and 1/2 ago. at which time we also discovered that used truck dealers are mostly crooks. at least to us. so we got our dealers license so we could buy and sell our own trucks. now we are moving into the front 1/2 of the building we are in displacing another engineering firm with 30+ employees which will give us almost 50,000 feet of office and factory space along with a car lot. This all happens June 1. So we went from me working in an old pick up truck to 50,000 foot A/C factory floor with offices and a commercial and retain car business.. oh and somewhere in there we because a tier two nissan dealer which allows us to buy and sell commercial nissan truck new.
It wasn't all peaches and cream either remember Trich had her drug problem the first 7 years of marriage which means the first 6 years of this business she was stealing from me and hiding drug use and the whole 9 yards. it was tough for a very very long time, both physically and mentally. we almost lot everything 10 times because of the economy and various other bad decisions. But I refused to give up till God absolutely took it all from me., and when ever we made a little money we reinvested back into the company. Durning this time I was not speaking to my Father because He stole a 10 acre lot from me and said all sorts of evil things about my wife to try and split us apart. He then promptly beat up my sister and my little girl for eating his 'carrot cake' and I went over there to end him. I got there and only saw a pathetic weak old man. so I called the cops (pretended to) and he spent 5 days in the woods on my stolen property thinking the cops were looking for him. After that we did not speak for 8 years.
I did not even see him. it wa funny he went from have full hair with color to all grey and bald. I forgave him about 4 years ago He never apologise for anything he has ever said or done. The lord kept putting this on my mind and when I began with him doors opened for me. It did not take much, we started one day a week usually sat morning for breakfast. after 3 it was not allowed for him to call or come over for any reason (because he was a drunk and by 3 would be that same drunk a-hole I did not speak to.) So over time he began to get and respect my position. before long he stopped trying to force his drunk self onto my family... a year ago last august he sign my land back over to me. Immediately Trich and I began looking for a builder. it took almost a year to decide what we wanted and last Febuary we moved from a tiny mobile home to a tinier RV/5th wheel. from about 1000 square feet to about 400... for a year. then this last thanksgiving we moved in to our new home. We have 3 times the space as our little mobile home and it only cost 200 more a month because we already owned the land.
Then while ALL of this was going on I've had this 1967 mustang that I've been putting together since 1992 or 93. it spent 1/2 of the time I ever owned it up on blocks. I orginally put it back as a GT with a 289 orginal k code motor. but didn't like getting beat by the rice burners. so I then bought a wrecked mustang cobra and spent like 5 years re-engineering all the 95 electronics to communicate and take the controls and inputs from the 67 car so everything from the electric fan, ac transmission and rear end out of the cobra car works flawlessly with the 1967 body.
Started to do the same with an ultra rare 1979 F350 4x4 super cab and a 7.5L motor home engine and overdrive transmission.
My whole life has been built up like that little church and the only thing I do differently is give it all back to god in the end, yes the house the money and the mustang have all be given back and he has taken it back at last 3 times, and was given back to my 10 time over
Again not bragging, but I was prompted to share what God has done for me more openly. once we open up my front 1/2 of the building 6-1-18 I'll invite any of you to come see any of this for yourself.