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CEO Profile
<br /> "He's definitely not your.typical 4.0 scale, he moved to Noblesville and says Sapp."We decided we'd do things
<br /> suit-and-tie-type guy who hangs took a job as a salesman with HealthCo differently,and that's what we did."
<br /> • around the office all the time," says (now HealthCo/Ryker),a dental supply Sapp and Yates,who is still a finan-
<br /> Indy Lube District Manager David and dentist consulting firm. cial partner in the business,put togeth-
<br /> Graham, who's worked for Sapp since At HealthCo, Sapp traveled the er about $30,000 of initial capital,gat
<br /> the company opened in 1986. "You state,helping dentists design their busi- an equipment loan frontrPennzoil and
<br /> don't really look at him like a boss." ness facilities and manage their prac- went looking for a bank kiltn.It didn't
<br /> In spite of Sapp's affable nature, tices. It was there that he learned an take Sapp long to find ouwhat other
<br /> there is no naivete about his business or important lesson that he still applies small-business owners already know:
<br /> his customers' wants and needs. In six today at Indy Lube. "You'd see people "I think the biggest initial challenge
<br /> years, he's turned a one-sho nt_er- get into business for themselves, and was finding financing for a small busi-
<br /> prise into a 14-store operation sp ,d they're in control of the checkbook, ness," Sapp says. "I bet I went to nine
<br /> throughout central Indiana. -'}k and they just buy, buy, buy. We really or 10 banks with a presentation before
<br /> Indy Lube's nine corporate stores ,-t,,y to think about whether we really I could get anyone to even seem inter-
<br /> topped$3 million in n't"sales in 1991-.It t`ed something before we buy it.Do we ested. It was tough, and we ended up
<br /> a 687-percent increase s .er the comps-', ' •ally need that new fax machine? Do paying some extra points in interest,
<br /> ny's first full year (198 ., •.and Sa, We have to have that new computer? but it was better than going someplace
<br /> expects that figure to excee• ` ' ';••`,,,,„ qu've got to watch your expenses else."
<br /> lion in 1992.Including franchises, Ins eafefully, especially in the first few Despite Indy Lube's success, Sapp
<br /> Lube pulled in more than $4 million A '2" admits getting a loan can dill be a lot of
<br /> last year,and total sales projections for �t.''•althCo was good for Sapp, and work: "We've managed``to use, like,
<br /> 1992 top $5.5 million. The corporation Sap+ ••as,good for HealthCo. He spent seven different banks. One bank will
<br /> obtained a federal franchising license in 10 ye . wjth the company, soaked in loan you enough to build a building,
<br /> '89 (five of its current stores are fran- an abun Ttt +ce of business information then they want a three-to-five-year his-
<br /> chises) and Sapp has a long list of and exce i ,as a salesman. "The tory before they'll give you another
<br /> prospective franchisees. Eventually, he biggest thin tN out Jim is that he was loan.So then you go sell your body and
<br /> hopes to have Indy Lubes throughout always extremcustomer-oriented; soul to another bank to get that loan.
<br /> the Midwest. he went out of his\y to do the best for We're doing better now and we have a
<br /> • Indy Lube's tremendous success is his customers," r• Ylls Fred Boyer, history,but banking is just as challeng-
<br /> somewhat surprising, considering that manager of Hea .+Co/Ryker in ing. There are different problems now,
<br /> Sapp once rejected the very notion of Indianapolis and Sapp' +rmer super- more regulation. I think because of the
<br /> working in the automotive-aftermarket visor. "He was also ver '`rganized, S&L crisis,bankers have tightened up."
<br /> business as a career. His father, Ray, knew his products extren : •_well— Sapp feels the most important thing
<br /> runs a successful chain of truckstops really just a complete all-aro -guy.: he did while trying to get Indy Lube off
<br /> (Sapp Brothers Truck Plazas) located It's really not surprising Indy it ,e is the ground was not leave HealthCo.
<br /> on highways from Illinois to Colorado. doing well,because he has the tale "That kept money coming in. There
<br /> But after helping with the family busi- succeed in just about any business." •s a 3-and-a-half-year overlap in
<br /> ness as a youth in rural Nebraska,Sapp After five years as a salesman, Sap s'which I maintained my full-time sales
<br /> shied away from working there after he was becoming restless."I was the No. 1 'esition while juggling duties to Indy
<br /> began high school. "Like a lot of salesman in our region and I was get- I>r f+eian&my family.It was quite a jug-
<br /> teenagers and college kids,I was a little ting bored,so I decided to start my own gh ?'ract..- i was one of the first
<br /> rebellious,"Sapp says. "I wanted to get business. I didn't know what I wanted pe o in the st a to get a cellular
<br /> away from Nebraska and do my own to start,so I started looking at different phone because I was traveling around
<br /> thing. It's kind of a*Ike that I'm also avenues,different opportunities." tenni Indiana foHealthCo and so
<br /> in an automotive-related field." In 1984, Sapp and buddy Jim Yates much olfircstuff s going on."
<br /> A business career was far from went on a two-week camping trip in the As it"turned"out, Sapp needed the
<br /> Sapp's mind when he enrolled at the Rocky Mountains, serving as advisors money,because Indy Lube"started out
<br /> University of Nebraska. He studied to 14 boy scouts. One rainy night, the a little rough."Sapp and Yates signed
<br /> psychology and life science—a double- topic of business opportunities came an agreement to buy 12 acres of prop-
<br /> major Sapp recalls could have been up, and out of that discussion,the idea erty on the south side of Indianapolis
<br /> called the "I-don't-know-exactly-what- of Indy Lube was born. Sapp discov- on U.S. 31. "It was zoned C.S.,
<br /> I-want-to-do" curriculum. "I didn't ered the quick-lube market in explains Sapp, "and I thought that
<br /> take one business class,"he says."and I Indianapolis was still mostly untapped. meant commercial, but it was really
<br /> • wish I had." After graduating in 1978 "McQuik's had been here since the late special-use commercial.The bottom
<br /> with a 3.25 grade-point average on a '70s and had very little competition," line was, we went to get our building
<br /> INDIANAPOLIS C.E 0. AUGUST 1 9 9 2 1 5
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