Tales from the road: 49 years in and still going strong

When Paul Marstaller decided the time was right for him to go into the business of selling tools, the Maine-based mobile tool distributor left behind a steady job at a Cadillac-Oldsmobile garage where he was earning $2 an hour.

His employer offered him $2.20 an hour to stay with the promise of another raise to $2.40 an hour within a year, but Marstaller turned it down and opted to go into business for himself. The year was 1966. Now, almost a half-century later, he is still motivated to make his living selling tools. 

“I have to do something, and I still enjoy doing this,” says Marstaller, who owns an independent tool company called Tool Service that is based near Augusta, Maine. “I never get up in the morning and regret going out and seeing those people that I deal with every day. There’s always the good and the bad, but I still enjoy it.”

Marstaller got his start by borrowing a mere $5,000 to get his business running, and his first truck was a 1962 Ford Econoline van outfitted with cabinets made by a neighbor. A fellow independent distributor helped with inventory at the very beginning, and his wife, Florence, took care of the books. Though he had the support of others, Marstaller quickly realized just how elusive success could be for a inexperienced entrepreneur trying to sell tools.

“I started out really cold, but it grew with time,” he says. “I had faith in my customers, and they had faith and confidence in me after they got to know me.”

He also faced some tough competition in the form of an established distributor. 

“At one point, he serviced the whole state of Maine,” says Marstaller. “He didn’t like me too well because I was selling tools at a lesser price and getting some of his business, and he eventually had to change some of his ways.”

The business of selling tools is very different than it was when Marstaller got established, and many of those changes have forced both the longtime distributor and his customers to adjust and evolve with the times. Advancements such as the development of electronic fuel injection and the transition from shoe brakes to disc brakes and generators to alternators in vehicles, among others, have significantly affected how Marstaller runs his business. And then there are the prices of tools, which have gone up quite a bit over the years.

 “I can remember selling 1/4” drive sets for $19.95,” he recalls. “Today, just the ratchet is about $35 or $40.”

According to Marstaller, the desire to provide for his family was all the motivation he needed to overcome the adversity he faced in his early days as a mobile tool distributor, and his ability to provide quality service and identify the tools his customers needed to do their jobs effectively were the biggest reasons he’s been able to stay in business all these years. When asked what advice he would give a distributor just getting his or her start, Marstaller says they should always put forth effort to be fair, honest and focused on service.

“Get out there and do your work,” he adds. “Don’t worry about the other guy. Be concerned with whether you are doing the best you can.”