7 minute read
The Holiday Season
Iwas thinking about writing an article about the business side of towing, but because it’s the holiday season I want to talk about what towing means to me. I want to look at the positive things that I encountered in my 25 plus years in the towing industry:
1. Towing provided me a great lifestyle 2. It gave me relationships that will never end 3. It provided opportunities allowing me to grow my business
Things to be thankful for: let’s start with all the towing media companies that support our industry. I had the opportunity to write articles for American Towman Magazine, Tow Times magazine, and Tow Professional magazine. All of them allowed me to hold seminars at their tow shows and educate the industry on private property towing.
Just to show you how successful my seminars were, I was holding a seminar at one of the shows. After the class 2 lawyers from Colorado came up to me and told me they wanted to learn about private property towing. I gave them a video I had made about private property towing and over the course of the next year they would call and I would answer their questions. A few years later a tow company in Dallas came to me and wanted to buy my company. I sold it to him
and he operated the business for the next 4 years very successfully.
We were having lunch one day and he told me he was selling the company I sold him. Jokingly, I asked him who he talked into buying the company. He said it was crazy, he was sitting in his office one day and two lawyers from Colorado walked in and said they wanted to buy his company. He sold it to them and today it is still running strong.
I have met people from the magazines that I have known for 25 years and will be friends forever. They gave me a platform that allowed me to meet many towers from all over the country. I never had children of my own, but 20 years ago I met a tower from Virginia that I adopted as my temporary son. We meet up once a year in Baltimore and I refer to him as son and he calls me pops. Recently I met a tower in Syracuse, New York that I now call my son as well.
Let’s talk about the towers I have met over the years. When you do seminars all over the country you meet and build relationships with many towers. We partied together, we drank together, and more importantly we shared business ideas.
When I started my latest company (TowTrax) I needed money so I reached out to big investors I had some big fish lined up when the epidemic hit. All my big investors went and hid. I decided to reach out to the people in the industry. In my first round we raised $250,000 and in my second round I raised over $700,000. I did it with people from the industry. It amazed me that I talked to towers in:
1. Oregon 2. Minnesota 3. Wisconsin 4. Pennsylvania 5. Michigan 6. Alabama 7. Texas 8. Ohio
These are people I never met, and they did not know me other than what they learned from googling Dan Messina. They all invested in TowTrax and I call on them when TowTrax needs to make major decisions. I flew to their locations to meet them personally. I remember going to Pennsylvania to meet with a potential investor. We stood behind his shop and I threw the ball to his dog while he asked questions. When we were done, he said to go in and tell Kim to write a check. If you would like information about investing call me.
I don’t want to talk about my success. All these stories are a reflection of the industry I love. I know it’s hard and you feel like you would sell tomorrow if you could. But again, look back at what you have and all the rewards of the industry. There are resources that you can call to get you through anything.
I tell my wife we are blessed at what we have and how we got there. I did not do it alone; I called on the industry.
I’ll turn 74 in a few months, but I’m not done yet. Two years ago, I started TowTrax. A phone platform that provides tow companies with free tows. I have several thousand companies registered and receiving tows from TowTax. In less than a year we are doing a million two in revenue. Something’s I am looking to working on in the next few months are: 1. A tow academy – This will be the biggest challenge in the future. I talked to tow companies all over the country; they all have the same problem. We need drivers. I’m working with a tow company in Dallas that will provide a location with a training facility that will be perfect. I’m talking to
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the California Towing Association who has a training program that we could use to start. I’m missing two components, instructors, and students. I have some ideas but I could use your help with some ideas. 2. Cut Insurance – One major expense is getting insurance for your company especially if you have an accident. I want to create a self-insurance program for our industry. Who knows more about what we need than the tow company itself. Imagine never worrying about getting insurance if you have an
accident. I had a friend in Dallas who had a major accident, the first one in over 20 years. It almost put her out of business getting insurance and I’m sure they are paying dearly for what they have. 3. Electric Cars – If the government has its way everyone will have an electric car. As an industry we will need training on how to tow these cars without damages or injuries. I’m working with a group that could get us what we need. Its my plan to work with the towing associations to offer this training. It’s a good class they can provide their members and make money for their association at the same time.
I feel these are the three challenges of 2022 and I believe, as an industry, they can be overcome. As you look forward to Santa to see if he is bringing you a rotator, look back at what you have and be thankful. It’s all about the great people in the industry.
INGENUITY
AMERICAN CRAFTSMANSHIP
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Have a Safe and Merry Christmas!
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