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Published April 28, 2020

In last week's column, Pete Mayer, owner of Foam-Fit Tools of Green Bay, shared his story as a successful business owner and MVP in the latest session of the Green Bay Packers Mentor-Protégé program.

This week, Paul Tutskey, his mentor and Green Bay SCORE volunteer, talks about his approach to utilizing his many years of experience to help entrepreneurs.

Tutskey, who holds two MBAs and spent almost 20 years at Snap-on Business Systems, worked his way up through the ranks to become director of franchising, overseeing individual franchisees who generated $3.1 billion in sales.

Now retired, he feels compelled to give back to the "community I love so much."

He has participated in the Mentor-Protégé program for several years and now serves on the program's board. When he was matched with Mayer in the most recent session, he saw an opportunity to apply his experience in the tool industry. "At Snap-on, I worked with 4,000 franchisees and did hundreds of business and marketing plans in that industry," Tutskey said. "Since Pete is in the tool accessory business, there were areas where I could share some of what I've learned."

Although Mayer sells via e-commerce and Snap-on is a direct sales company, Tutskey says that basic business principles are the same and understanding the industry is beneficial. And, even when the industry is different, there are standard practices he follows when consulting and evaluating a company.

"First, I try to fully understand the business. I will order the products or service blind (so the owner doesn't know that he is the buyer) and that allows me to see what the process is like," he said. "I will look at the owner, where they've been, what they want to do, their manufacturing process. I will talk to employees and customers."

That review provides helpful information on the customer and employee experience, and if a business has not done likewise, he recommends making these conversations a practice.

In addition to those conversations, Tutskey said he looks at the business financials to make sure the margins are where they should be. This is a shortcoming for many business owners, but Mayer was not one of those. He keeps on top of it and does frequent reviews. "For others, you need to make sure your margins are there," Tutskey said. "If they aren't, it doesn't make much sense to stay in business. Some people will say you need the volume more than the profit, but you have to make money or you won't be in business." All of this leads to a business plan that should be checked quarterly, and a strategic plan that should be updated every year. A final recommendation is a vision statement.

"What do you stand for? You should have metrics and trend lines that show you day by day and at least week by week where your business is. the expenses and the revenues? so you know where you are at any given time," Tutskey added.

Setting goals and preparing those documents were part of the Mentor-Protégé program, and Mayer and Tutskey felt most objectives were accomplished. There are areas that Mayer is working on to expand his business by identifying new markets (he currently has a solid base in the aeronautics industry). Tutskey says that FoamFit Tools fills a critical need in other areas.

"Another large market is technicians who want the efficiency of having quick access to tools," Tutskey said. "When a job is paid on a flat-rate basis, every minute counts and it is costly to spend time searching for the right tool."

As a mentor, Tutskey said he was impressed with the product and Mayer's growing business knowledge. He applauded Mayer for taking advantage of programs like SCORE and the Mentor-Protégé program. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, Tutskey says education will continue to be important as business owners define a new normal to weather the current crisis and its aftereffects.

He said: "Readjust your business for today and still plan for the future. If you are overextended, scale things back. And, any time, maybe especially now, grow as much as you can afford to. I don't think this is a time to slow down, but make sure your growth is planned and you can pay for it."

A final suggestion is to stay in contact with employees if you need to put them on furlough for a period of time.

"Keeping good workers is a huge asset to your company," he said. "If you've furloughed someone, you need to find a way to retain them."

Tina Dettman-Bielefeldt is co-owner of DB Commercial Real Estate in Green Bay and past district director for SCORE, Wisconsin.