Small Business Today Magazine MAR 2015 IMPACT STONE DESIGN | Page 10

EDITORIALFEATURE

Truly custom artisan stonework is produced on a daily basis at Impact Stone Design, Inc.
Photo courtesy of Impact Stone Design, Inc.

where the previous company had been to
look at receipts and bills. He decided to
charge less than they had and went around
to residential contractors outbidding everyone else! Irma officially became in charge
of all the billing, invoices, and even ideas on
how to expand. Marketing at that time was
strictly by word of mouth. Offers from contractors grew as people heard about Joel
and his work. If Joel told someone a job
would take two weeks, then he would work
day and night fourteen days in a row to be
sure it was done. If a customer wanted a
project done too quickly, Joel would be honest and say that he could not do it if it meant
he would be compromising quality.

the side business. “We never kept any
money during that time,” explained Irma.
“All the money went to the employees, reimbursement, and other expenses.” Little
by little, Joel was earning a reputation for
his honesty, loyalty, quality of work, and the
impact he made on the community.
It was during this time, a company in Dallas, Texas approached Joel to work directly
for them. Although Joel worked for another factory, the contractor did not want
to go through a middleman to hire him.
They were offering him a lot of money that
could be put towards the growing savings
fund he and Irma were planning to invest This beautiful stone design was donated to a local Houston church.
Photo courtesy of Impact Stone Design, Inc.
in their own business. Their dream was beHigh quality work did not go unnoticed.
ing auctioned off that was housed in the
coming a reality!
same building. Just as Joel had predicted, Soon a day came when Joel was doing inIn 1989, Joel went to his employer and that one day he would own an expensive stallation and caught the attention of none
said he was giving his two weeks notice to stone-cutting machine like the one where other than Tilman Fertitta, CEO and sole
go out on his own. His supervisor told him he worked, he not only bought the one owner of Landry’s, Inc., one of the nation’s
he would never be successful. “You don’t up for auction, he also bought the building largest restaurant corporations! Fertitta
speak English well and you know nothing where it was housed! This way, he didn’t personally approached Joel and asked him
about business! You won’t make it. You will have to spend money moving the machine! to come sign a contract to work for him!
come back here after you fail,” he was told. The best part was that Joel and Irma were Joel asked if the business mogul would mind
Undeterred and with his business-minded able to employ some of the workers there stopping by his house because he had to
wife at his side, Joel left to use the savings who would have otherwise lost their jobs get back home and check on his family and
he had worked so hard for to \