Content brought to you by Professional Distributor. To subscribe, click here.
When Becky and Miguel Richards became pregnant, the plan was for Becky to quit her teaching job to stay home with the baby for a couple of years. But when Miguel found himself unemployed from his IT job a week after the birth, they were thrown for a loop. It wasn’t until Miguel saw an ad in the paper for a flag that sparked the idea of becoming a mobile tool dealer.
“[The ad] sort of jumped off the page at us and we thought, ‘We can do that’,” Miguel recalls.
Now 13 years later, what started as a career change for Miguel has now turned into a life-changing, family affair. A lot has happened over the years.
For starters, the Richards decided that after eight years with a flag it was time to make the switch to go independent and join the GEARWRENCH Street Team. Then a few years later, Becky went from handling the paperwork of the business and working full-time as a teacher to helping Miguel with his route by driving a second truck.
Working together
Miguel was putting in long hours on the road which meant he was coming home late and often missing family dinners.
To get him home earlier, they decided to have Becky train with Miguel for some time to learn the business.
“I have greater respect now [for Miguel] because I can understand what he was doing more than when I was just handling the backend,” Becky notes.
She then went on to take part of his route, first starting with one day a week and is now up to four days a week.
“It’s fun,” she says. “I really enjoy meeting different people and seeing the techs. I like being able to talk to so many different people across different types of work and there’s something different every day.”
Not to mention, Miguel’s just a phone call away if she needs help.
“I can call Miguel and have the customer explain to him what they are looking for on speakerphone,” she adds.
Although, over time those phone calls became less and less as she felt more comfortable.
“For a while she was calling me frequently about different questions on tools, but now she barely calls me,” Miguel says. “She has grasped all the information about the different products and tools and what they’re used for.”
Overstock overload
One thing that makes the Richards’ stand out with their customers is by always having fully stocked trucks. They have so much inventory on hand that they are now having to move because their overstock is taking over their house, literally.
“It first started with one shelf [in the house] and has since spilled into the dining room, living room, hallway, garage, and storage spaces.”
However, this overstock obsession has saved them a few times, including the time Miguel’s previous truck caught fire due to an electrical issue while visiting a customer’s shop and nothing was deemed salvageable as well as when Becky first started as a tool dealer.
In both situations, they were able to fill a truck quickly to serve their customers.
