Professional Distributor first caught up with John Wolfe in March, 2011 when he was featured as the cover story (Vehicleservicepros.com/10225456). The Plainfield, Illinois Mac Tools distributor now has 27 years under his belt doing business with a variety of shops, including automotive, equipment, mom-and-pops and large chains. He’s won a number of awards in years past, but Wolfe’s never been one to rest on his laurels.

These days things have changed some. Since that first visit with Wolfe the Chicagoland distributor has added six trucks to his fleet. He says most of his drivers had some experience in the automotive industry, but a few knew nothing about tools. He credits the smooth transition with finding the right people and treating them well. His team-centric approach translates to success out on the road.

“Part of being a good leader is treat your people well and they’ll treat you well,” says Wolfe.

The thought of adding on to one’s business can be daunting for some. And Wolfe agrees it can be -- at the start -- but he trusted his experience and maintains that after adding that first truck, it just got easier from there.

“Everything is so big when you have so many trucks-- the ordering is so big and the fuel is so big … everything is so big, including the collections. It’s just [a matter of] getting used to the numbers and how it’s done.”

He compares a one-truck business to an auto repair shop with with just one person at the helm. “[You have] one person in that repair shop and the guy does everything -- just like we do everything; not only is he fixing the cars, but he’s calling the customers, he’s ordering parts, he’s doing the paperwork, the bills and he’s the janitor, too. He’s the one who cleans the bathrooms, the floors … that’s what we do, too. Our bathroom’s clean, but we do everything. We do it all.

“So, you get a second truck. It’s like a shop owner hires a second mechanic; he’s still going to be doing all the things he was doing before, but now this other guy is going to be generating income, and it goes so on and so forth.”

Wolfe says buying that second truck is always harder because in a way, that truck is “half of what you’re doing all over again.” He adds, “But when you get to the fifth one, that’s 20 percent -- not half, but 20 percent. So it gets easier … provided you have the right people and everything else is in place.”

And his goals for the next six years?

“I just want to grow my business,” says Wolfe. “I don’t know where I’ll be a year from now. But at some point I would like to think I’ll have someone in my truck and I can work with that person as a helper or coworker half the time, and half the time I can be on the other routes.”

In addition to growing his business Wolfe still makes sure to create his own fliers and run a lot of raffles. Now, however, these marketing efforts are multiplied. “We’re six trucks strong,” says Wolfe. “Now there’s solid Mac Tools penetration that covers how many square miles. Mac Tools has been challenged in this part of the country in this market in Chicagoland. Not anymore.”