We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Shane Mummery a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Shane, thanks for joining us today. Alright, so you had your idea and then what happened? Can you walk us through the story of how you went from just an idea to executing on the idea
It was the 2021 and the Pandemic was still in full swing.
In my role as CEO of a medium sized medical manufacturing company, I was working remotely as were most of the office and administrative staff under my guidance. My office was my home and it was boring.
It was then that I decided to work remotely in the fall and winter from my 42 foot sailboat traveling the Intra Coastal Waterway from Maryland to Florida, rather than sit in my office at home.
After receiving all the “green lights” from our Board in Europe we left Baltimore Harbor October 21, 2021 for warmer destinations.
During the trek south in November of 2021 from Baltimore, my Board of Directors decided to break their promise of cooperation and insisted that I return 800 miles in December to Maryland and work from my home.
This of course, was never going to happen and it was then that I decided I would end this relationship in four months. I needed a plan that would allow me to sustain an independent lifestyle of being a snowbird on my boat with the freedom of marching to my own drum and not someone in an office in Austria.
There is a point where no amount of money can make you happy and I found it.
Summarizing into one simple question: “How the heck can I go sailing and get paid for it on my terms?”
After some time considering the pro’s and con’s of a life of being a snowbird , my wife and I decided to make this plan happen.
Being a somewhat analytical person by nature and at the same time leaning towards being a “bull in a curio shop” kind of person this was just a matter of eliminating those things that I either (a) could not do and (b) would not do and then look at the financial side of things.
The rest was easy…knowing my skills and how best to leverage them.
Having been an aviator and a sailor for the better part of 30 and 50 years respectively, I chose to insert myself in the Marine Industry and created a “blueprint” of what the business options could be. The aviation industry wasn’t in my wheelhouse. Pardon the pun, so we would focus on pleasure boaters and sailors.
I would become a traveling Manufacturer’s Agent for Marine Products. This job would be the standard ” we eat what we kill” scenario, where if we don’t sell we don’t get paid and we have a 30 day shelf life..meaning there is no long term employment guarantee. A 1099.
Of course, now I needed to identify my targets and initiate a “seek and acquire” campaign for companies that I thought would be a good match to represent.
First, I needed a “story”. to tell. Yes, everyone likes to hear a story about breaking the mold, spirit, adventure and hope.
Now let me stop here and just say that although I’m an energetic 67 year old, my enthusiasm for making this work, was over the top. People I spoke with, emailed and met in person could see it. That goes a long way in closing a deal.
After a few months, we started acquiring product lines to represent. We discarded the lines that felt were not a good fit for us and kept the ones that made sense.
But the fact of being a Manufacturer’s Rep as my only income source did not sit well with me and I felt I needed to create a “B2C” business of online sales, where we are in control but not where we ship the products.
Again, with some hard work, we identified companies with products in our sales niche that would ship for us.
Next came the physical and financial investment of marketing. This is the “skin in the game”. We needed to be better than the competition and know their vulnerabilities.
Rather than dip into savings, my wife and I did everything we could for the first six months to pay the bills; from making sales calls, craft shows and driving Uber.
With the help of online technologies to make artwork and old-time relationship building, the company was now forming its own persona. Booking tradeshows and building websites were the first steps, setting up paid advertising campaigns, followed by good old – fashioned networking was part of it also.
Never a moment went by when we didn’t talk up our businesses to anyone that would listen.
Our first order finally came in after 120+ days….
Shane, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I have been in the Industrial Refrigeration and Process Manufacturing sector since I was 21. I have specialized in Application Engineering sales and spent most of my career with European-owned companies, helping them bridge the cultural gap in business expectations. I’m a glass-half-full mindset and believe that building relationships is the key to success in business and personal growth.
In my career, I have had the opportunity to work as a leader inspiring others to understand the work/life balance as well as hone their “killer instinct”.
Our companies are B2B and B2C , which is an interesting mix. We specialize in innovative products that are good for environment such as Solar Energy, Desalination Systems that make drinking water from the oceans and sailing systems that provide sailing circumnavigators peace of mind with maintenance and trouble free operation.
Our clients are located on and around the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway from Baltimore to Florida. We sail over 3000 miles annually going down and up the ICW making our sales calls on marinas and sailors alike.
www.aladofurler.com
www.icwstore.com
theshaneagency.com
We’d love to hear your thoughts about selling platforms like Amazon/Etsy vs selling on your own site.
Ecommerce , not managed correctly can be a disappointing experience. The big names such as Amazon and Etsy are expensive and very competitive.
Focus your efforts on SEO and Blogs, keep you pay per click costs low and write at least two articles per week.
What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?
Our reputation is based on knowledge and reliability.
If you prove to your client that you have these traits, you will have their business forever.
Don’t Under Promise and Over Deliver – It’s unreliable.
Do answer your phone.
Be honest and don’t sell on price alone. A discount never earns respect.
Keep your word, never backtrack.
Contact Info:
- Website: theshanagency.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aladofurler/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SailingKyanII/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/theshaneagency/?viewAsMember=true
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/IcwStores
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsmFPgl35CZKgwQEyK5DvwQ
- Other: aladofurler.com