ACS Home & Work Blog

No wonder it took me so long to write this post. I have stopped and started this post so many times. Today I decided to finish it. I thought I would do a little more fact checking and bone up what I wanted to write about. There is a lot to write about, this is not going to be easy.

Basically I wanted to post my thoughts on Mike Wolfe and Frank Fritz and there American Pickers show on the History Channel. I have heard “Oh yea that’s a great show” or “I like such and such better” and when I searched Google I found some really mean spirited blogs. As a small business owner I think the show has great value. Not only is it fun to watch but there is a lot to learn.

First of all these guys are “Buyers” not pickers. But the show would not sound as appealing “American Buyers”, and most business have trade words, in their business they probably are called “Pickers”

You have to separate TV and the business part of the show. The show is meant for entertainment not business education.

Making a living from this type of business is not easy, especially since they have a building, an employee and other business cost. This is called fixed and variable expense. That means they have to keep the money coming in. They have to have a solid game plan to keep the cash flow coming in.

Garage sales and road side flea markets will not cut it for the type of business they run. They know this, and what they do is they “buy” Meaning they have certain customers around the country and they know what they want. One time they mentioned a prop company in Nashville. That makes sense, college and local theater need props. Another might be a restaurant designer. High end antique stores or antique stores that want the one piece they can put in the window, that can get you to stop and come in. When they go into a house or barn they are looking for certain things. At first I thought if they drove that far how come they did not buy more stuff. They know what they are looking for and what their customers want.

One thing you will see is they buy motorcycle stuff and old bike stuff. I think this is from years of doing this and they know the market. Plus I think Mike and Frank like that side of the business. The funky lamps that puts food on the table.

Take some time and watch the American Pickers clips on History Channel dot com, this is a business, and if you watch and listen closely you will learn a lot from these guys.

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