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What do a gym, a tool truck, and beauty pageants have in common? Usually, not much, but in this case, the answer is independent mobile tool dealer, gym owner, and father of three, Brent Kaucky.
Kaucky spends four days a week working his route and visiting independent shops, small chain shops, and a couple of dealerships. One day is spent in his hometown Pahrump, Nev., and the other two are spent traveling to Las Vegas. However, the rest of his time is spent running Evolution Strength and Fitness – the home of Pahrump CrossFit.
Becoming a tool dealer
Before his gym and his tool truck, Kaucky worked as a technician for five years and before that, he worked at Blockbuster for eight.
“I got the retail experience from Blockbuster, and I got the mechanical knowledge from being a mechanic,” he says.
When Kaucky’s tool dealer, Max Shipler, first offered him his tool truck, Kaucky turned him down, but later that night when he called his wife to tell her about the offer, she said, ‘You better call him back right now.’
So the next day, he called Shipler and told him he’d reconsidered. Now six and a half years later, he’s still running the truck.
Off to the gym
Owning a gym came after starting his truck route. A few years ago, Kaucky received a call from his mom saying she wanted to open a gym and she wanted him to help run it, so with his love of going to the gym as well as his business know-how, Kaucky started a second business.
Regardless, he notes that owning the tool truck comes first.
“If the gym needs something and the truck needs something, the truck gets it before the gym does,” Kaucky says.
The key to success
While there may not be any one specific key to success, Kaucky has learned a thing or two and has this advice for new distributors.
“Plan on working more hours than you expect,” Kaucky says. “Take control of your business early. And what I mean by that is, realize that nobody is going to help you. Nobody's gonna save you. You have to do it. There's no secret to it. You got to show up every week. You gotta do what you say you're going to do, and you have to put the hours in.”
Though Kaucky does admit, a good relationship with your account manager can really help. Kaucky notes that he and his account manager, Willy, talk almost daily.
“He has helped me out so much,” Kaucky says. “If I'm struggling with something. ‘Oh man, sales are down a little bit. I need to figure out something to get me going again.’ He's always got an idea. I don’t think I’d be nearly as successful without him.”
Another thing Kaucky has learned while in business is that people like to think they’re getting a good deal. For instance, while trying to close a $1,500 sale, Kaucky offered to throw in a free $0.32 soda and that changed his customer’s mind from indecisive to “Let’s get this tool cart off the truck.”
Kaucky also tries to create a fun environment for his truck by joking around and “talking trash” to the customers.
“It’s all in good fun,” he says. “For me, I remember getting on the truck and that being the ten or fifteen minutes of the day that it was a break. You got to look at all the tools and it was an experience, and I wanted everybody to have a good experience getting on my truck.”
The most popular products on Kaucky’s truck come from Milwaukee Tool, GEARWRENCH, and K-Tool International.
Support system
Between being a dual business owner and a father of three, Kaucky has to get a bit creative with his time – like having his 11-year-old daughter, Quinn, join him on the truck to sell tickets whenever she’s competing in a beauty pageant, or having his soon to be nine-year-old son, Rhys, tag along during the summer and hone his tool selling skills. Kaucky says that Rhys plans on taking over his tool truck someday. Easton, Kaucky’s youngest at age six, hasn’t spent much time on the truck, but who knows, perhaps the two brothers will be running Kaucky’s route one day.
With his busy lifestyle, Kaucky notes how grateful he is to his wife, Miranda, and his parents for all their support. He knows that all this wouldn’t be possible without them.
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