Minneapolis, Minnesota: Meet two gentlemen who opened for business in 1976. By 2000, they had 150 stores with 2,000 employees generating $200 million in annual sales.

It wasn't easy. There were hills, then mountains and several very hard falls along the way. They talk about it all in this episode of the show.

"If I don't do this my life will be incomplete." You hear these words at the close of every episode of the show. Like so many of the people we profile, Tom and his partners started working in big business. They were readily promoted and had very good, big corporate jobs. But in time, they began thinking, "I can do more." So, in 1976 Tom and his partner, Don Gullett, quit the security of Shell Oil and bought a couple of gas stations. Quickly they discovered they made more profit selling tires than selling gas. They focused on systems and began expanding. But they were faced with total implosion in 1989 - divorce-debt-disease. So, they asked hard questions about themselves and began focusing on their people skills.

It all turned around. And, Tires Plus began selling more tires in the state of Minnesota than any other company. Tom attributed that growth to their commitment to employee education.

Words do matter. After 1989, when Tom and Don hit the wall and redefined their business and themselves, when they hired people to help them, there were team players. There were no more "employees." There was no, "You work for me; do as I say." And then when they needed some middle management, there were no bosses, only coaches. They decided that people are happier when they are learning and that they learn best from coaching, not bossing.

They also borrowed from Disney; customers became guests. Though these folks had just come to have their tires changed, balanced or rotated, Tom and Don wanted their customers to be treated as if each was a guest in their home. How refreshing it must be to come into a traditionally dirty business and find a clean, comfortable place to wait with a cappuccino and the Wall Street Journal.

Connected? Tires Plus put up their web site in 1995. Though it provides customers with access to information about tires and stores, everyone agrees that using the web internally is even more powerful than using it as a sales and customer service tool. At one time their support center would e-mail and fax forms to the stores; now forms are accessed from the web. E-mail was quickly replaced by on-line internal bulletin boards, instant messaging and collaboration.

» Words matter: Tom Gegax says, "Nobody wants a boss but everybody wants a coach." He did not take the title of CEO of his company; he was the head coach. Today, this man does not need anything; yet, something deep is driving him. His love of people. His love of life. His pains throughout the years. One of his key drivers is simply that he wants to help others get over the hurdles and avoid the pitfalls of growing their business. We say that he is one of the graduate saints among those of us -- he is back to give back. First, he's writing! We especially recommend two books:
1.Winning in the Game of Life:
Self-Coaching Secrets for Success
2. The Big Book for Small Business.

Plus, he's speaking around the country and around the world. Listen up, because here is pure wisdom that will effect your bottomline within a month.

Tom's books are available in most bookstores or directly from his website.

» READ THE TRANSCRIPT. To read and reflect on what happens as we go online all the time, read the dialogue from the show. The transcript of this show along with the study guides, profile/overview and streaming video equals a Master Class.

» CASE STUDY GUIDE: We start our business with a "big idea" but we sustain our business with key ideas. There are links (just above in the green box) to the fourteen key ideas from this episode of the show. Because these case study materials are now published as part of over 40 leading college textbooks in business schools, these materials are being used daily in virtually every college and university throughout the country.

So, please, spend some time with the eleven key ideas within the case study guide.

CONTACT:
1. Tom Gegax
URL: gegax.com
Tel:612-823-5355
Email:Click here
Book:The Big Book for Small Business

2. Tires Plus
URL: http://www.tiresplus.com/
Tel:800-754-6519
Email:Click here

We invite your COMMENTS OR QUESTIONS.

We learned so much, but let us reinforce a few ideas:
1. Growth can come from within.
2. Even if 16 banks tell you "No," don't give up.
3. There are many opportunities to build a business within those industries that need to be "cleaned up."
4. It's better for two partners to divide and conquer than to step on each other's toes.
5. Hire people with nice parents.
6. School is always in session and you are always welcome to learn even more.

To go in-depth: Study the eleven key points in the case study guide (top right box). We extend a special thanks to Carolyne Fox for her substantial contributions and insights with this guide

» WATCH THE SHOW ONLINE And, drill down into these help pages to learn more about systems.

» GET A COACH AND BECOME A MENTOR: Though the key points of the case study guide (links above) are a great tool to learn a little about self-coaching, there are many professional organizations for coaches that will help you find a coach in your neighborhood.
1. Get some help, perhaps a little coaching!
2. Find a local coach!

» OVERVIEW: That's this page! Also known as the Profile, it is always about doing something. We say, "Take constructive action. Create more value in our world. Make a difference."

» WATCH TV ABOUT VALUE CREATION: Turn off TV about people exploiting people. It brings us all down. To find SmallBusinessSchool, check your local PBS-member station. If you don't find us there, drop us a note and we will get it on your local government station for economic development. You can also check the rebroadcast of PBS-member station signals on DirecTV and Dish Network.

» CASES BY BUSINESS TYPE. Click on the heading to find all the business types and then click on your type of business to check out those case studies. This episode contributes insights into Retail, DistributionBusiness Services / Continuing Education

» MORE ABOUT RETAIL. And, you could also look at our other stories about retail and the your specific retail group within the National Retail Association.

» BUY A BOOK: If after studying this episode of the show, you want more, consider buying one of Tom's books. Also, this case study guide, as well as hundreds of others, appear in the top-selling business textbooks in colleges and universities throughout the USA through Thomson Learning, South-Western.

Check for continuing education classes with your local university, Small Business Development Center, Chamber of Commerce, and Economic Development Commissions.

» TRADE ASSOCIATIONS & PUBLICATIONS. You can always learn more from the your specific trade association. If you don't know your association, type in your "business type" + association into a search engine and you will discover at least one:
1. International Franchise Association
2. Tire Industry Association
3. Other tire-related associations

» THE SELECTION PROCESS: Businesses are recommended to us every day and here are a few of the pointers to Tom and Don:
1. Minnesota Business Hall of Fame
2. Inc 500 (magazine)
3. Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year
4. U.S. Tire Dealer of the Year by Modern Tire Dealers (magazine)
5. Tom serves or has served on the board of American Cancer Society, American Heart Association, Center for Ethical Business Cultures, Center for Science in the Public Interest, Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE), Waterkeeper Alliance and Wisdom Business Network.

» REVIEW STEP 7: SUSTAINABILITY. Very few founders of companies grow a business past 10 or 20 employees. Even fewer businesseses get transfered from the founders to a next generation of leadership.

Over 9 million of our small businesses have fewer than five employees. There are fewer than 8000 businesses with over 500 employess and fewer than 4000 businesses with over 5000 employees.

For Tom and Don to build what we see today is amazing; they truly beating the odds.

Franchising worked well for them. If you think you might want to franchise your business, you may want to look at these other episodes of the show about franchisors.

» START PLANNING YOUR STEP 8: EXIT AT THE TOP. Are you just a little jealous of Tom and Don? We are! They really hit a Grand Slam (with the bases loaded at the top of the ninth) for the World Series of Small Businesses-Grown-up- And-Then- Bought-By- A-Publicly-Traded-Business! Look at these other succession strategies as well:
1. Sell to a publicly-traded business:
The Art Institute of San Diego and International Wine Accessories.
2. Sell to your employees: ESOP stories.
3. Sell to another business: It is never easy.
4. Other businesses: People who have bought to expand or sold to become liquid.

» OTHER REFERENCES. We encourage everybody to learn from people within a specific business type. Please select your business type and study those episodes of the show. These are about retail:
1. Joan and Bill Keller, LeTravel Store
2. Bill Sugars, Mickey Finn's Brew Pub
3. Carol Schroeder, Orange Tree Imports

» FIRST PRINCIPLES: Starting a business is the road to economic independence for most of us average people. Read a little more to see why incorporating a business keeps the passion of the American revolution alive!

» JOIN, JOIN, JOIN: Your professional associations in your industry are your key to continuing education, market research, collaborations, strategic partnerships, capital and so much more ... often you'll find that you enjoy like-minded people and many will become friends for life.

» SUPPORT PUBLIC TELEVISION:
Become a member of your local station. If you are already, great. If not and your business is doing well, consider joining the Producers' Club ($1000). Too much? Get a twenty employees, customers and/or suppliers to join en masse with you at $50 per person.

Just get on the inside of your local station and learn how to become a producer.

Tome and Don's story is a good story unto itself, yet today we're looking into the question about tipping points.

» Tipping Points: Perhaps Malcolm Gladwell's book, The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference, popularized the concept, but as children most of us tried to balance a cup of water on its edge -- at the tipping point. And, most of us got quite wet in the process! Yet, there is a point when all our efforts suddenly add up and everything coalesces and much bigger things happen.

The web is a new tipping point for all of us to see ourselves in new ways and see our little globe for what it is.

A QUESTION ABOUT TIPPING POINTS: Because of the transparency of the internet, have we reached a tipping point where ethics, goodness, values and creativity will come back front and center as the focus of business?

We do not know the answer but we hope so. In this episode of the show, we learn from a master entrepreneur about the meaning and value of life. Tom Gegax is pulling and pushing us up the ladder. When they sold their business, he became an author. His latest book, The Big Book of Small Business, is more like The Book in that he wants each of us to succeed beyond our wildest expectations.

Today, we are constantly learning, and today we are learning more rapidly than ever. We have so ratcheted up all the equations, we just may be reaching a tipping point.

First, we are all becoming increasingly impatient with the mindlessness of Hollywood. We are watching less mindless television. And it seems that we are looking at our own lives in new ways. Many of us Baby Boomers are looking at retirement and saying, "No, I'm going to do what I've been dreaming about all my life and I'm going to do it before I die or die doing it!"

Your time of wisdom. Implicit in this story is one's exit strategy and truly planning the most important phase of your life: the final chapters. We establish our legacy and begin giving back. Some of us will actively begin preparing the next generation to take over. As Hattie says at the end of the show, "Retirement is obsolete -- a bad idea because you are no longer busy giving to life, but busy getting ready to die."