From selling candy as a kid to co-owning Longleaf Holdings, John Bauknight’s entrepreneurial career has seen plenty of ups and downs
Ten startups into his career, John Bauknight has seen all the ups and downs of business. He shares them in a matter-of-fact way, successes and failures getting pretty much equal weight as he tells his story.
That story begins with a boy who, from an early age, figured out how to turn a profit by breaking up packages of Now and Later candies to sell individual pieces to friends at a premium, “thinking my $0.50 I was making off of $0.10 was good stuff.”
Later, he started a window-washing business, and after three years had saved $1,500. He spent the money on a stereo system, as any young man would.
Today he is co-owner of Longleaf Holdings in Spartanburg. Longleaf is a holding company for businesses, partnerships and investments owned by Bauknight and partner Nick Wildrick. The companies cover commercial real estate, business training, storage and document destruction, and include a brewpub, RJ Rockers Brewing Company.
Bauknight says he probably spends as much time advising other people on their ideas and businesses as he does on his own ventures, and shared some of those insights with UBJ.
What got you into selling things as a kid?
After the Now and Laters, I really started trying to make money by starting a window-washing business in the sixth grade. I wanted to buy things. I was into music and over a two- to three-year period, I saved enough for a stereo system. I think I spent about $1,500 dollars on it. I obviously had to wash a lot of windows.
What could your child-preneur self teach us today?
I think the single biggest thing is persistence. It doesn’t come easily and you have to continue to keep knocking on doors. With a business plan or job, it’s about a three- to five-year window to really see whether it’s something they have a passion for, and whether they have the persistent nature to keep doing the things they have to do to be successful.
Do most people understand that it’s going to take a while?
Obviously people have different skill sets, but there are some folks who I can tell from their business plan have no idea what they’re getting themselves into. They’ll show me a plan that has them making beaucoup money within year. It’s a bit naive.
What put me and [Wildrick] on the map was our first shredding business we started in 1997. After about 14 months, we were doing $25,000 in revenue and spending about $25,000 or $30,000. You know how that math works. We had some real tough talks around 1998 about whether we’d be able to persevere as a business. We kept telling our wives, “We’re almost there!”
How did you two turn that around?
It was almost too good to be true. In the fall of 1998 a friend from Wofford asked if we could destroy returned computer software CDs for one of his clients. So we tried running CDs through our paper shredders and the next thing I know we’re doing up to eight tractor-trailers a day of music and software CDs. Then we started selling that scrap to a gentleman from China who’s actually now in business with us. It changed our whole business model and we ended up being one of the largest independent shredding companies in the country. In 2006 we sold that business to Cintas [a national corporate apparel company].
You said you used a “pros and cons” list to make that decision.
Yeah, any time I make a significant decision I try to get to that habit, which was taught to me by my father. He was not an entrepreneur but is a very thoughtful person, unlike me, who kind of flies by the seat of the pants. I use that as a tool to slow myself down when making a big decision.
How do you know when it’s time to walk away?
It’s never easy. We added recycling to the shredding business and after a few years found ourselves losing money again. We’d started growing horizontally because our customers wanted it. It was a humbling experience because we had to tell about 60 accounts, one of which was the city of Spartanburg, that we were getting out of the business and they should try to find somebody else within 90 days.
Was it hard to convince yourself to do that?
Yes, it was hard because like I said earlier, it’s about persistence. You’re used to having faith that things are going to get where you’re trying to take them. You want to hang on, but you have to know when to cut your losses. It’s not only difficult to go tell customers, but we had to let go of some associates. When you’ve got other people counting on you for their livelihood, that’s probably the hardest part and the greatest reason to try to hang in there.
What have you considered your failures?
That recycling business was the biggest financially. I tried to start a real estate investment firm around 1993 but my partner and I couldn’t make it work. We just didn’t have the money to make a go of it like we needed to. Twenty years later I still have a constant reminder of that failure with four homes. Selling them is one of my big goals for 2014. Other than that, it’s been a pretty good ride.
My Advice
John Bauknight, co-owner, Longleaf Holdings
- Persistence is the most important thing. It doesn’t come easily, and you have to keep knocking on doors.
- If something doesn’t work out, there’s a reason why. Don’t repeat those mistakes. That’s the definition of stupidity.
- To be a good mentor, you first have to have time, and then know what you’re good at and what you have to offer.
