He worked many, many hours every day. It was hard to get parts, too, so he had to make friends with companies' parts salesmen and work his way on their supply lists.

He also had to go to mechanics and let them know he was in automotive parts business and tell them he would give them good service and good deals if they would buy parts from him. They would call him at 4 in morning to get 2 spark plugs and he would get up and go down to store just to sell them spark plugs, hoping they would appreciate extra service and come back next time they wanted something. He did this for years. I remember many nights when phone would ring and I would hear my Dad leaving to go to store.

Did he make it into a successful business? You bet he did! His business grew so much that he outgrew building he was renting and bought property and built his own store. He also added a service shop and hired 4 excellent mechanics to service cars and trucks. And he added an automotive paint center where he mixed and sold paint for cars and trucks.

"Great! Tell me about it!"

He proceeded, for next five minutes, to explain. It was on Internet. Doctors and lawyers are doing this as a side business and are doing very, very well. He said "It's a sort of mall on Internet, you should check it out." He gave me web address and then he had to tend to a customer.

I had no idea what he did.

Can you explain your business clearly to a complete stranger in 20 seconds or less? Can you do it in such a way that, if they are in a position to use your product or service they will want to know more? If not, you have some work to do!

Whenever and wherever you go you will meet potential customers, and you may not have much time to talk to them. If you cannot clearly explain your business in a very short time, you could lose an opportunity to interest someone in what you do; someone that would be a good prospect if they knew.