The Journey to a 100-Year Company
??Spencer Smith, CSFS?
Host of the Self-Funded with Spencer Podcast and SVP of Sales for ParetoHealth - TX, OK, AR, MS
Issue 22 of the Self-Funded with Spencer Newsletter
Today's episode has nothing to do with insurance and everything to do with entrepreneurship. Gabe Draper has lofty ambitions with the company he founded - Factur - aiming to turn it into a 100-year company that outlasts him. Episode 79 tells a story of early success, of an unfortunate energy collapse that shuttered his family business, and ultimately of financial and emotional redemption through the creation of Factur.
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Episode 79 Summary:
Gabe knew he was going to be an entrepreneur from an early age, recalling that he didn't get the best grades, didn't love to follow rules, and even recounts knowing at the age of 14 he was going to build his own businesses. I joked with him too that his shirt choice suggests he has a rebellious spirit since it was covered in flamingos and AR-15s!
He studied entrepreneurship in college at Baylor University, but outside of making friends and meeting his wife there, his belief is that he would have been better off taking the $150k spent on four years of school where he learned somewhat outdated information, and just set up his own painting or landscaping business instead.
After college, Gabe joined the family business, a machine shop called Draper Manufacturing. Eventually, he bought out his father and grandfather, and turned the struggling business around and growing it to $3MM in revenue with 14% net income. Unfortunately, they were too leveraged to the oil and gas industry and ultimately lost 72% of their revenue overnight when the oil market crashed in 2014, losing their biggest contract with Haliburton. This meant the business had to shutter its doors, and Gabe was left without any income to speak of and a baby on the way.
From being on the brink of bankruptcy, where he had to move his wife and newborn child into a studio apartment after an oil market crash crushed his family business, to founding and building Factur, with 65+ employees, explosive growth, and a vision to create a "100-Year Company", Gabe's story should resonate with every entrepreneur out there.
The name "Factur" comes from the middle of the word Manufacturing, and this industry is one that Gabe not only knows intimately but that he believes strongly in his own team's ability to drive tremendous growth for these entrepreneurs.
Factur helps with business development for manufacturing companies.
They offer:
?? Lead Generation
领英推荐
?? Outsourced Business Development
?? Marketing Services
?? ?? Industrial Sales Recruiting
Every once and a while I like to deviate from the insurance-focused subject matter and offer up something more universal.
In this episode you will hear about entrepreneurship, faith, manufacturing challenges, how fracking works, dreaming big, building a company that outlasts yourself, growth, optimism, and more!
Chapters:
0:00 Intro to Gabe
5:40 The Family Business
9:54 The Collapse
16:24 Rebuilding From Scratch
23:11 What is "Factur"?
32:26 Thriving During Covid
37:12 Building a 100-Year Company
42:15 Closing Thoughts