| Daily Preparation Fuels Phenomenal Growth For Flooring America of Tampa
Manchester, NH (September 5, 2006) — How do you go from three employees to 87 employees and $900,000 in sales to $25,500,000 in sales in just six years? If you’re Rufus Ashby, you start early.
Every morning at 6:30 a.m., the owner of 11 Flooring America stores in Tampa and Jacksonville holds a breakfast meeting with his vice president and top sales associate. Over coffee and croissants, they pour over the day with a single goal in mind – having a strong sales day or landing just one new account.
“I know it’s a cliché, but that’s how you build the business,” says Ashby, “one sale, one account at a time. We get an early start to make sure we’re ready for whatever the day brings. And being prepared has brought explosive growth.”
Ashby is preparing to open a 12th store in the Jacksonville area next month, and he recently was named the 12th fastest growing privately held company in all of Tampa Bay – and all of it since opening a single 9,000 sq. ft. Flooring America store in 2000.
In the fast-paced and highly competitive world of retail floor covering sales, Ashby’s “no surprises” approach means he completes his daily sales reviews, correspondence, contract negotiations, advertising buys, and staff briefings before 10:30 a.m., leaving the bulk of the day to manage normal operations.
“I know it’s boring, but I believe in detailed, day-to-day planning, sticking to the game plan and following through,” said Ashby. “You need to be flexible and adjust when necessary – sometimes in a hurry – but most of my success has been built on careful planning and making small adjustments well in advance as we go along instead of having to overhaul everything all at once. If you have to do that, you know you’re in trouble, and avoiding that is worth getting up early for.”
Ashby says he joined the Flooring America cooperative because he was impressed with the training program, member-centered attitude, and overall professionalism. He also was attracted to the national insurance program and wanted to help expand and enhance this profitable and growing segment of the floor covering business.
"Nobody has a more compelling track record than Rufus Ashby,” said Flooring America President Vinnie Virga. “He’s really put together a jaw-dropping rate of growth and we’re very fortunate and grateful to have him in the Flooring America family. His operational vision, and outstanding business skills are a tremendous example for all of us.”
Flooring America and Flooring Canada, with a sales volume of $1.55 billion, consist of more than 575 member-owned floor covering stores throughout the United States and Canada. Flooring America and Flooring Canada provide members with exclusive brands and warranty programs, comprehensive multi-media advertising programs, complete Showroom merchandising packages, plus training in management and sales. They operate as a division of CCA Global Partners, the world’s largest flooring group. For information on becoming a member, call Chris Ramey at 800-450-7595
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