Several months back, Evan Gerhart approached his father and expressed a desire to go into business for himself.
As someone who spent about 30 years of his professional life working in middle management, Michael Gerhart understood his son’s career aspirations and possessed the same entrepreneurial spirit. Only two years prior, Michael decided to stop trying to climb the corporate ladder and embrace a new path as a mobile tool distributor for Matco Tools.
It didn’t take long for father and son to hatch a plan: they would work together as tool dealers.
“Evan worked in the heavy truck industry,” says Michael, who has been in business for three years and is based out of Honey Brook, Pa. “He enjoyed doing that type of work. He always loved having tools.”
Eventually, Evan spoke with the owners of the place where he was working at the time, and they informed him that going into the mobile tool business was a better professional opportunity in the long term.
“At that point, we started to make in-roads to see if it was something we could do,” says Michael.
Evan attended his first Matco Tools Expo this past February and started on the job the following week. While he was concerned about his youth and inexperience in the tool business, Evan found success right away.
“The first week or so went extremely well,” he says. “I sold my first toolbox within my first week and got pretty good receptions from all the guys for the most part.”
Now that Evan has got his start, he and his father agree about what it will take for them to be successful for the long haul: be consistent and follow through on what they say they are going to do.
“A lot of the business I’ve gained over the three years is because I show up all the time, I’m consistent, and I always do exactly what I say,” says Michael.
As a distributor who has seen year-over-year growth ever since he went into business for himself, Michael points to his unwavering focus on his customers’ needs and his willingness to provide them with service after a sale as key reasons why he has seen continued sales, growth and profitability.
“If there’s an issue with a tool, I take care of it,” he continues. “There are no excuses. The customer doesn’t want excuses. They want results. If you are going to get into this business, it’s 95 percent service and 5 percent sales.”
Now with Evan in the fold, Michael is quite excited to see how his business will evolve in the next few years.
“As we continue to grow, especially with having Evan come on board, I should be able to do some consolidation, get a little bit leaner and be able to gain some efficiency,” he says.
“I think the future is bright, and I think Evan will make a very fine tool man,” Michael continues. “I look forward to him someday being able to take over (everything).”
