In 1981, a single mom with three kids from Okemos invested $350 in an old moving truck.
Last year, the company had more than $220 million in sales and last week was named one of the top 25 franchises in the world by the Wall Street Journal.
“If you have an idea, go with it,” said Mary Ellen Sheets, the woman behind Two Men and a Truck.
Sheets, founder and chairwoman of the company, shared some of the lessons she learned from her experiences at the Economic Club Luncheon on Monday at Bella Notte Ristorante.
Sheets said one of her sons started a moving company to make extra money and she helped out by buying the $350 truck, the only money she ever invested in the company.
In 1987, Two Men and a Truck became a franchise and Sheets quit her job of 20 years with state government, foregoing retirement to focus more on the business. Sheets said people told her she was crazy and laughed at her behind her back. But she has no regrets.
“Love what you do because life is not a dress rehearsal,” and “Don’t listen to negative comments” were the lessons Sheets drew from the experience.
Sheets was named “Entrepreneur of the Year” in 2004 by the International Franchise Association, the first woman to win the award in the association’s 40-year history, and her story has been told in The National Enquirer and on “The Today Show” and “The Oprah Winfrey Show.”
Image from Two Men and a Truck.
MaumeeMom on March 8th, 2008 at 8:23 am
“Don’t listen to negative comments”
Recently, I learned Ms. Sheets does not llisten to negative comments when I contacted her for help with a dispute I had with the Toledo, OH franchise. The head office in Lansing basically washed their hands of the problem saying that Toledo is independently owned and operated under a franchise agreement so they can’t force them to make good on the problems.
I am highly disappointed in Ms. Sheets and the company, Two Men and a Truck.