When the stock market crash of 2008 occurred, Steve O’Leary found himself laid off as a journeyman electrician and in need of a job to support his family. His father-in-law was a Mac Tools distributor which got O’Leary thinking he could give selling tools a try.
Now, 10 years later, O’Leary runs a multi-truck operation within Hudson Valley, New York.
“I actually like going to work,” he says. “I like what I do. I can sit and BS with my friends and they give me money. How can you not like it?”
With three other tool distributors on his team, O’Leary manages four connecting routes. The routes are well mixed, ranging from landscapers, construction shops, and mom and pop shops to “anyone who wants tools.”
He will even make house calls, noting that once he sold a guy a four-post lift and a toolbox at his home.
O’Leary learned early on that the key to being a successful business owner is to always look ahead.
When he first started out, he did better than expected. Although that sounds ideal, he burned through the little cash reserve he had too fast which became a challenge in and of itself.
“It was a good lesson,” he notes. “Now, I’ve learned to always look as many steps ahead as I can... Especially as a business owner, you have to look three, six, nine months ahead and try to envision where you are going to be financially and where your business will be.”
That lesson early on, along with his planning-ahead management style, helped him overcome a six-month, out-of-nowhere downturn in 2016, which he still finds perplexing. Nevertheless, it proved to him the importance of planning ahead.
And when COVID-19 hit in 2020, O’Leary knew, once again, he was able to handle it.
In fact, this tool dealer’s success hasn’t gone unnoticed. Over the years, O’Leary has racked up five Eagle Awards for being a top distributor in the region with Mac Tools. One as a single truck distributor and four as a multi-truck distributor.
In addition to planning ahead, O’Leary has also learned that trusting your instincts when it comes to customers and providing quality service are important.
“With online competitors, service is so much more of a premium than ever before,” he says. “[In years past,] customers bought from a tool dealer because they showed up and the customers didn’t really have a choice. In today’s market, they absolutely have a choice. It’s not about the price; it’s completely about the service.”
As for local mobile competitors, he says laughing, “I let them worry about what I’m doing.”
O’Leary doesn’t plan to settle down soon. His goal is to expand to five trucks and then he’ll see about cutting down his road time to “take a breather."
