Experience and knowledge can be gained with time, but a mobile tool dealer will never be successful if he or she lacks the requisite amount of passion and enthusiasm to grow and develop as an entrepreneur.
Detroit, Mich.-based Cornwell Tools dealer Kris Manders understood very little about the tool business when he decided it was the right career path for him, but he did not let that fact dissuade him from teaming up with his father, Dave Manders, and becoming one of his flagship’s most accomplished and consistent sellers.
“Honestly, I didn’t even know what a tool truck was before I got started,” says Kris, who has finished in the Top 30 in sales among Cornwell dealers in each of the past two years, and in the Top 100 for all eight years he has been in business.
Armed with a positive attitude, an unwavering confidence in the long-term potential of his business and an ideal partner in his father, Kris was able to overcome a challenging first year as a dealer. As he taught himself how to sell tools, Kris was cautious and conservative with his finances, allowing him to remain patient with his business and allow it to get established. He also was steadfastly focused on attending to his customers from day one.
“Whatever they needed, I took care of,” he says.
According to the younger Manders, he and his father bring different skills to the business. Dave handles the books, while Kris focuses on selling tools and servicing customers. Their arrangement has allowed father and son to enjoy a mutually satisfying professional relationship for nearly a decade.
“My dad will do this as long as I need him to,” says Kris, who describes the elder Manders as his best friend. “It works great for us. He’ll probably always help me, unless he gets tired of it. And I don’t see that happening anytime soon.”
Prior to establishing himself as a successful Cornwell dealer, Kris worked in real estate and in the sheet metal business. He says he has no regrets about taking a chance and trying to make a living selling tools.
“I think it’s the best thing I’ve ever done, and I wish I would’ve done it 15 years ago,” he says. “Now my business is pretty much running itself, and I plan on being in it for the long haul.”
His confidence in himself and the future of his business led Kris to recently order a new truck, one which will provide him with more space to better organize and display his tools to sell. And even though the mobile tool distribution business has changed somewhat since he got his start, the longtime Cornwell dealer says he thinks his customers will always find value in purchasing their tools from him.
“What it comes down to is guys don’t want to buy things online,” says Kris. “They want to buy it from the truck and make the weekly payment. Tools are expensive. And for the most part, when someone needs something, they come to me.”
