Small Business Today Magazine MAR 2015 IMPACT STONE DESIGN | Page 5

PUBLISHER SCOLUMN SBT Houston Staff MARCH 2015 Chairman John Cruise President/Executive Publisher Steve Levine From the Publisher Steve Levine Vice President /Associate Publisher/ Creative Director/Editor Barbara Davis-Levine Business Development/PR Aaron Kaplan Lisa Lopez Shir Maxfield Graphic Designer Lavinia Menchaca Photographers Gwen Juarez Contributing Writers Don Brown Barbara Davis Dr. John Demartini Paul Franzetti Heather Green Warner Mila Golovine Jeff Jones Bruce Hurta Hank Moore Mike Muhney Mayor Annise Parker Howard Partridge Christi Ruiz Rita Santamaria Gail Stolzenburg Holly Uverity Aimee Woodall Chief Advisor Hank Moore Publisher’s Advisory Board Shah Ardalan Helen Callier Sonia Clayton Donna Cole John Cruise Dirk Cummins April Day Dr. John Demartini Maya Durnovo Kathie Edwards Mila Golovine Dory Gordon Greg Grant David Holt Richard Huebner Jeffrey Jones Darryl King Sandy Lawrence Craig Klein Wea Lee Hank Moore Lisa M. Morton Mike Muhney Leisa Holland Nelson Tony Noun Mayor Annise Parker Page Parkes Howard Partridge Susan Repka Maria Rios Grant Sadler Rita Santamaria William Sherrill Pam Terry Linda Toyota Jack Warkenthien Carlecia D. Wright Aaron Young Phone: [phone] E-Mail: [email protected] Or Write: Small Business Today 5380 West 34th Street, Ste 230 Houston,TX 77092 See us on the web at www.SBTMagazine.net Free APP for Android & iPhone go to your APP Store and type in Small Business Today Magazine SMALL BUSINESS Today MAGAZINE IS PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY LEGACY PUBLISHING GROUP, LLC. 5380 WEST 34TH ST., STE. 230 HOUSTON, TX 77092 EXECUTIVE PUBLISHER - STEVE LEVINE: 832-419-2814 CHAIRMAN - JOHN CRUISE: 832-460-2020 www.SBTMagazine.net ADVERTISING RATES ON REQUEST. BULK THIRD CLASS MAIL PAID IN TUCSON, AZ. POSTMASTER: PLEASE SEND NOTICES ON FORM 3579 TO 5380 WEST 34TH ST., STE. 230 HOUSTON, TX 77092. ALTHOUGH EVERY PRECAUTION IS TAKEN TO ENSURE ACCURACY OF PUBLISHED MATERIALS, SMALL BUSINESS TODAY MAGAZINE CANNOT BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR OPINIONS EXPRESSED OR FACTS SUPPLIED BY ITS AUTHORS. COPYRIGHT 2012, LEGACY PUBLISHING GROUP, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART WITHOUT WRITTEN PERMISSION IS PROHIBITED. I Your One Thing A Business Lesson from the Movie “City Slickers” love the scene in the movie “City Slickers” where Billy Crystal’s character, Mitch, is alone with Curly who is played by Jack Palance.  Curly is giving Mitch some worldly advice that may just prove to be the greatest advice ever given for one’s self and business.  Curly asks, “Do you know what the secret of life is?”                                     Holding up one finger, Curly then answers, “This.” With a puzzled look on his face, Mitch asks, “Your finger?” Curly responds, “One thing; just one thing.  You stick to that and the rest don’t mean s**t.” Mitch again asks, “But, what is the one thing?”                                                Curly replies, “That’s what you have to find out.”  What’s your one thing regarding you and your business?                                   Let me go ahead and give you the answer. - It’s your WHY.                              Why did you start your business? Most of us started our business because we wanted that business to work for us versus the other way around.  We started that business with a dream and a belief that our business could get us to that dream as we serve others. Zig Ziglar often said,“You can have everything in life you want if you will just help other people get what they want.”  But somehow on our way to that dream we lost focus on the WHY.  A business plan doesn’t mean a thing unless it is tied to our dreams. So get out a piece of paper and write down your WHY and post it in as many places as possible so that it will serve as a constant reminder of why you started that business in the first place.  That is your one thing! Our cover honorees this month are the Reyna-Lara-Torres families that make up the leadership of Impact Stone.  Joel Reyna started Impact Stone with a WHY that others thought would be impossible for him to ever achieve.  After working for several years for a granite fabricator and doing jobs on the side, Joel had saved up enough money to buy a small saw and gave his supervisor two weeks notice.  His supervisor told him that he didn’t speak English well enough, that he didn’t know enough about the business, and that he was not going to make it.  His coworkers also laughed at him when he told them that one day he would buy a machine like they had at his job that cost about $130,000.  Four years later, the company that Joel had worked for had gone out of business.  Not only did he buy their machine at auction, he took over the location where the company had been, and also hired some of their employees!  Joel’s WHY \