Happy new year and welcome to 2024. A new year always brings new beginnings and continuations of (hopefully) the good things in our lives. That statement couldn’t hold more validity for us here at Floor Covering News.
The new year quietly brought the culmination of Dustin’s and my purchase of FCNews from former owner Mike Blick. Even though we have been running the publication for 15 years, the official buyout was a 10-year agreement where we gained more and more equity with each passing year. It was an arrangement that was beneficial to all parties by virtue of the three-fold growth we executed during that span.
Before I go any further, I want to pay homage to Mike. He didn’t have to sell the business to us. He wanted to. He has been a friend, mentor and father figure to both Dustin and me, given how we both lost our dads at young ages. When Dustin and I arrived here in late 2005 and early 2006, respectively, Mike gave us only one marching order: Run the business like you own it because someday you will. On Jan. 1 Dustin and I officially owned 100%.
I mention this because I want all our readers to understand that we are no different than you: small business owners. We face many of the same challenges you do on a daily basis from growing the business to managing increasing expenses. We wake up at night worried about the same things as you. That’s probably why we are so good at providing the content you need to be more profitable and professional.
Many of you bought your businesses from family, an employer or a random stranger. Many of you have worked hard to grow your businesses over the years. You missed your kids’ birthday or spring concert. Many of you sat up at night worried about your future when a recession hit or COVID-19 forced you to shut your doors. We feel you because so did we.
Most of you were not born with a silver spoon in your mouth. Many of you graduated from the school of hard knocks rather than some overpriced university. Many of you built something from nothing. Many of you are living your dreams that you never thought would come to fruition. We’re right there with you.
Dustin and I didn’t come from much. I grew up in an apartment in Queens, N.Y., without air conditioning. On a hot summer night, we cooled off by getting in my dad’s Chevy Bel Air station wagon, rolling down all the windows and using the breeze as a make-shift AC. Fun consisted of throwing a Spalding rubber ball against the apartment building until the super would chase me away. We moved out to Long Island when I was 10 because my parents feared me getting killed in the “bad” junior high school. The house we moved to had neither a finished basement nor enclosed patio. The basement was never finished; the patio never enclosed. I had to beg my parents to buy me the same sneakers and jeans everyone else wore to avoid ridicule. The one thing I did have was family. I was taught values that allow me to have the desire to help make you all successful.
Dustin also grew up on Long Island in a modest, relative-owned ranch house. The difference between us was that he was in and out of trouble as a teen and learned street smarts at an early age. He learned how to be resolute and overcome adversity. If I say I came from nothing, he will tell you he came from less than nothing. His father passed away when he was 17, forcing him to immediately enter the workforce. He always had a knack for sales and servicing customers, which plays well in our business today. For example, as a salesman for a moving company, he had to work with customers on a regular basis and understand their needs. That plays well in his dealings today with our advertising partners.
Advertising was always in his blood. In his 20s he took job at a local newspaper and saw how advertising could help his customer. He saw it as a good, honest living. When I met him at Floor Covering Weekly in 2004, he was initially charged with selling classified ads. The person who sat in that seat hadn’t grown the business in 10 years. Dustin doubled the business in the first year, making him an attractive target for FCNews.
Dustin learned the value of hard work and checking your ego at the door. Today he wears 20 hats at this company, overseeing sales, circulation, printing, human resources and more. Just like you all do. Some days we both can be found vacuuming the floor or ordering lunch for the team. We will never forget where we came from.
I’m sure almost all of you can relate to some of the above. It’s why we understand you and your plight. We’re in this together. For the long haul.
Now, let’s have an incredible year together.
