The “Course helps owner navigate first year of ... - Longview News-Journal”

Course helps owner navigate first year of ... - Longview News-Journal

Posted: 13 Mar 2010 08:37 PM PST

In a challenging business and economic environment, having a competitive edge can make the difference between survival and sinking.

Tim Piggott knows first hand many of the obstacles a new entrepreneur goes through. It was about a year ago that he changed hats from an employee for the business he had worked for nearly seven years to owner.

Piggott is the owner of Longview Radiator and Automotive Repair Service at 1108 W. Marshall Ave.

When making the transition, Piggott said he felt comfortable in knowing the ropes of the repair side of the business.

What he was not so familiar with was the accounting and business office operations. Longview Radiator had been in business more than 50 years with the past 20 years under the ownership of Norm Hawes.

"I worked for Norm about seven years on a part-time and then full-time basis," Piggott said. He moved to full-time after graduating from LeTourneau University.

"The last couple of years I ran the shop," he said.

The transition of ownership was planned to be smooth with Hawes expecting to stay on board in an advisory capacity. That changed when an accident resulted in Hawes being hospitalized.

That put Piggott in the position of running the business he was about to take ownership of while monitoring the final weeks of construction on a new facility and attempting to learn the business office side of operations. The firm also was broadening its scope of service work from a strict focus on radiator work to handling a wide variety of automotive repairs.

Longview Radiator and Automotive also was in the process of hiring new staff.

"On the back side of the business, I had a steep learning curve," Piggott said of business office operations. This past spring, he enrolled in an eight-week business start-up course held by the Kilgore College Small Business Development Center.

Despite the time constraints and work demands, Piggott said making time to invest in the evening class sessions was a wise decision. He is already seeing the dividends from the broader understanding of the business.

Rather than focusing on theories, the Kilgore College Small Business Development Center business start-up course targets providing real world tips that new business owners such as Piggott and those considering making the plunge into entrepreneurship can put to use in managing their operations more efficiently.

"When I took the course last spring, it was really amazing how, on a weekly basis, we were going over in class a lot of what I was dealing with on the job," he said. With help from instructors in the class, Piggott was provided tips he was able to use in developing a business plan to take to the bank.

That business plan ultimately helped Piggott get the financing he needed to buy the business. He credits his faith, ongoing prayer and helpful tips picked up in the business start-up class with helping make the transition as smoothly as it has been.

"The Lord has really blessed us," Piggott said of his leap into the ownership side of business. "The winter months have really been a test of faith."

Those months are normally the slowest of the year in his business. That, combined with the recession, caused him some reservations about surviving.

"But we had the best February the business has ever had," Piggott said. "I would recommend that course to anyone considering going into business. I credit that with helping us turn a profit."

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