“The Secret to My Success”

This is how I did it and really didn’t know I was doing it.

I tell people I was in the right place at the right time. Working at Simms
Store when I was 15 years old as a bag boy and stock clerk, I wasn’t interested
in going to college after graduating from High School, so I had mentioned to
Mr. Simms the owner that I’d be interested in buying the store upon his
retirement thinking it might be a few years out, but during my senior year, Mr.
Simms decided to go ahead and retire due to a health issue. My dad co-signing
an 85,000 note for me and after graduating from High School, I was the new
owner of Simms Grocery.



When the word had got out that Mr. Tom L. Simms (better known as Sonny) was
retiring and I was going to purchase the local community grocery store, most of
the local customers knew me and said that if I run it like Mr. Simms did, I
should be able to continue the success.

Over the years the question would come up from time to time, how was I able to
run a grocery store at a very young age of 18. I really didn’t know how to
answer that question, because I didn’t really know myself. The key part of my
success was what customers in the beginning said; “if I run it like Mr. Simms
did, I wouldn’t have a problem being a success”!

So here is where the story really begins; My first day as the new owner I kept
up the routine Mr. Simms did. I’d walked the store each morning with a clip
board to make a list of items that needed done throughout the entire store.
From stocking a case of paper towels, to cleaning the bottom shelf of the milk
cooler. Every little detail was written down. I would hang this clip board on a
wooden pole in the stock room. During the day as the bag boys/stock clerks
would come into work, they would work off this list. The secret was I did this
everyday just as Mr. Simms did not missing a day for the next 10 years.

That was the magic answer to everyone’s question. I did what Mr. Simms did,
making a check-off sheet daily. By this list I got things done! The sad part is
that I didn’t know this until after I sold the small community grocery store and
opened my Hamburger place (O’Henry’s Ole Fashion Hamburgers).

When I sold the store and the down time I had while working on the O’Henry’s
project, I got out of the daily habit of making a check off sheet. I finally
was able to open O’Henry’s and during the first 6 months of operating that
business, things just didn’t flow like it did at the grocery store. During this
time, I had subscribed to a monthly publication from Regan Publishing (Common
Sense Working with People). A story was in there how a top executive was having
trouble getting things accomplished each day. An employee of his had come to
his office and mentioned to him to write down a list of what needed done today,
and what didn’t get done today, carry over to the next day. (((A huge light
went off in my head))). I just realized after 10 years; this was how I was able
to run that grocery store at a very young age. I had kept up the habit Mr.
Simms (Sonny) did. Pretty damn simple wasn’t it. I did what he did, doing a
Daily Check Off Sheet, as I call them today, made me successful.

Running the day-to-day operation of any of my businesses is really simple. It’s
just getting things done not just one day, but each and every day. Creating a
habit. I’ve been asked many times by my restaurant managers, why do I have to
keep doing these check off sheets, sometimes they quit doing anyway because in their eyes what we do is repetitious every day, so why have the same list every
day.

It’s all about habit, the big things usually take care of themselves, but it’s
the little things that get forgotten, plus as new employees come on board, it
shows them what it takes each and every day to run a smooth operation. They are
a great training tool as well to get them in the habit. It’s a much nicer work
environment when you walk into a work environment with everything is stocked,
organized and ready to go. I alone cannot do everything that the business
requires on a daily business to be successful, that’s the reason all business
have employees, It’s our job as managers to these employees and having them a
Check Off Sheet to go by, we all can get things done! From time to time, these
check off sheets need to be critique, new things added and somethings maybe
taken off. Keep working on the Check-Off Sheets and perfection will be met.

Everyone Benefits, your customers in the end are the true beneficiaries of a
business well organized.

You have to realize I didn’t know this until after I sold the store and opened
another business and was struggling. During the selling of the store and
opening the Hamburger place, (I had got out of the habit) of walking a place of
business and making a list. In the Hamburger place I started doing the list
again and haven’t got out of the habit since. My restaurants, my office, even my
desk, have Check-Off sheets in place.

Hope this helps to make you a little more successful in what you do!!

Yours Truly,

Johnny Fleeman

Johnny was a budding entrepreneur starting from the early age of 10 years
old. With a little red wagon, Johnny starting picking up empty soda pop bottles
on the winding country roads of Lawrenceburg, Tennessee for a little extra
change and back in those days empty soda pop bottles were worth 10 cents each.
Needless to say, Johnny hustled and amassed quite a collection of stuffed Piggy
Banks!

Johnny started his 1st business at age 12 when his Dad let Johnny use his
Riding Mower to cut grass in the neighborhood. One of Johnny’s first great
business lessons was when he heard a knocking noise coming from the mower. He
asked his Dad about the noise and his dad replied, “Son you have to put oil in
the engine every once in a while!” It was Johnny’s first lesson on taking care
of his equipment. During the Winter when there wasn’t any grass to be cut,
Johnny would use his trusty BB gun to shoot mistletoe out of the tree tops and
sell it door to door.

When Johnny was 15 years old, there was a local grocery store named the
Simms Store that Johnny wanted to work in but he knew that you had to be at
least 16 years old for Mr. Simms to hire you. So the day Johnny turned 15 he
wanted to get a jump on the competition so he went down to the store and asked
Mr. Simms if he could put his name on the list. Mr. Simms must have admired
Johnny’s enthusiasm because he hired him on the spot to start out working 2
days a week.



Mr. Simms would always pay employees at the end of the week but working only 2
days a week, Johnny’s paycheck was small so one Saturday night Johnny asked Mr.
Simms if he would wait and pay him once a month. Mr. Simms’ reply was “Why do
you want me to that?” Johnny replied, “I would like to take a larger paycheck
to the bank.” Mr. Simms chuckled and hired him 5 days a week.

Like most teenagers, during his Senior year at Lawrence County High,
Johnny was 17 and didn’t exactly know what he wanted to do in life. Johnny knew
he liked hard work and he really liked working in the Simms Store so he
consulted his Dad on what to do. After a long discussion at the kitchen table,
Johnny’s Dad advised him that one day he needed to ask Mr. Simms to sell him
the store when he got ready to retire. Johnny knew this was to be his next move
so he discussed it with Mr. Simms he agreed to give Johnny the first chance to
buy it when the time came. A few months later, Mr. Simms health had declined
and his doctor advised him to go ahead and retire. Johnny had just turned 18
and Mr. Simms didn’t want to sell the store as he thought Johnny was just too
young at the time. Johnny pleaded with Mr. Simms that the local community knew
he wanted the store and that if he ran it just as he did then the store would
continue to be successful. Upon that conversation he agreed to sell it to
Johnny.


Mr. Simms would always pay employees at the end of the week but working only 2
days a week, Johnny’s paycheck was small so one Saturday night Johnny asked Mr.
Simms if he would wait and pay him once a month. Mr. Simms’ reply was “Why do
you want me to that?” Johnny replied, “I would like to take a larger paycheck
to the bank.” Mr. Simms chuckled and hired him 5 days a week.

At age 19 and in the summer of September 1976, Johnny Fleeman became the
proud new owner of the Simms Store. There were a great many experiences owning
the grocery store but below are just a few:

Johnny’s parents lived only a mile away from the store and he would always go
and eat supper with them. Every time Johnny would leave his Mother would always
say, “Be sure to be on the look out, there may be someone waiting to rob you.”
What she didn’t know was that she was scaring the heck out of Johnny, but at the
same time it kept his guard up.

The store had a couple of drink machines setting outside and someone was always
breaking into them for the change so Johnny had a security system installed.
One night about 2:30 a.m. the alarm went off so Johnny looked outside saw a Van
by the drink machines. Johnny grabbed his gun and told himself there was no way
he could miss this thing, so he opened fire.

The thieves were startled at all the shooting and drove away. Johnny called the
local sheriff and told him he had been robbed so the sheriff called the sheriff
in the next county over to tell him that there might be a Van coming their way.
The Van was in fact, stopped in Giles county and was filled with holes! They
escorted the thieves back to the Lawrenceburg sheriff’s office and low and
behold two women got out. One walked past Johnny and said, “Who the heck was
shooting at us?” Johhny said he had been the shooter as he owned the store to
which she replied, “Don’t you know you could have killed one of us?” They recovered
the stolen money from the drink machines and kept the thieves in jail for 48
hours before sending them on their way.

No one else attempted to rob the Simms Store and Johnny became known as the
“Sheriff of New Prospect.” As the saying went, if Johnny will shoot at a couple
of women then he’ll shoot at anybody!

Back in those days, the local grocery store was sort of a one-stop shop for
everything a family would need. We sold everything from small appliances to
hardware and even had a section where you could check out Library books. Back
then, the State of Tennessee had a large RV that went to rural communities and
offered library books. You’d be surprise how many people used this little
section!

Johnny operated the Simms Store for another 10 years before eventually selling
to try his hand at his next venture.

In 1986 Johnny had found a restaurant in Gallatin, TN that had recently
closed. The location was favorable so Johnny decided that he would try his hand
at the restaurant business and opened his first restaurant and named it Old
Henry’s Old Fashion Hamburgers.



The loan officer at the Bank asked Johnny why he was opening up a place when
three similar places had opened and failed. Johnny simply said that his place
was going to be different as it was going to serve a real good hamburger at a
good price that people would come back for and tell their friends about. The
business was extremely successful and after only two years Johnny sold it to
pursue his next restaurant venture.

Johnny was home in Lawrenceburg, TN for the Holidays in 1988 when the
owner of a favorite local restaurant, The Brass Lantern, asked if Johnny would
like to purchase it from him. The deal was done and Johnny knew he wanted to
make some changes with the place so he called his Mother in for help. While
Johnny was in Gallatin, TN there was a famous little diner that served really
good food so he thought maybe he could copy what they did at lunch by offering
a high-quality meat and three during the day but then offer an expanded menu
like steaks, pizza and pastas at night. Doing business in a small town, Johnny
knew he had to rely on repeat business from the locals so offering two
different menus was the success of the Brass Lantern. Locals could come out for
lunch and get a hearty meat and vegetable plate and then come back for dinner
for a thick steak, pasta or pizza. Johnny also asked his mother if she would
share her special recipes and the place became known for “Home cooking just
like mom’s in a restaurant!”

With The Brass Lantern being new to steaks, Johnny knew he wanted to sell
only fresh, not frozen, meat options and having a grocery store background,
Johnny knew how to cut meat. So the thought came to Johnny to try and develop
his own meat Marinade. Plus, the restaurant could get an extra two to three
days shelf life out of the steak by simply marinating them ahead of time. The
popular Marinade out there at that time contained 51% sodium. Johnny knew his
Marinade had to be lower in sodium content if he were to marinate his meats for
a longer period of time so after several hundred gallons of experimenting he
finally came up with a flavor profile that was a hit and it only contained 17%
sodium.

After getting the 1st batch of Johnny Fleeman’s Steak Marinade produced,
Johnny went to Kroger Company and asked if they would be interested in stocking
it in some of their stores. The buyer asked Johnny how many stores he could
call on in Lawrenceburg, TN and surrounding areas. Johnny told him as many as
he would give him so he gave Johnny a list of 13 stores in Middle Tennessee and
North Alabama. At the time, Johnny had an old Cadillac that he would deliver
his Johnny Fleeman’s Steak Marinade in so the other vendors would always
chuckle a bit because he was delivering out of a trunk of a Cadillac. But
Johnny had the last laugh as his hard work and word of mouth about the Mariande
spread. Johnny Fleeman’s Steak Marinade was distributed to about 120 stores at
the time.