MIRROR MIRROR

Ask any inmate what he plans on doing once he gets out of prison and he’ll tell you, “I’m going to own my own business.” I’ve seen some laughable business plans—too many worth mentioning. I promise only one: An inmate doing time for B & E thought he’d provide a valuable service of videotaping a homeowner’s possessions. “You get a lower rate on your home insurance,” he said, “if you can document what you have in the house.” He claimed to have researched the market. Boy, I’ll bet he’s got customers lining up for this special offer. Do you think he has ulterior motives? Even with the best of intentions, I informed him that camcorders are relatively cheap. “Why wouldn’t the homeowner videotape their own stuff?” I asked.

Here’s a sound business plan: Create a need for acrylic, magnetic locker mirrors. Start by printing a local radio station’s logo on the mirrors and get 7-Elevens to carry the product in exchange for free advertisement over the airwaves.

A friend of mine, someone I haven’t seen in years, gave up a fencing scholarship at Wayne State University (and an opportunity to tryout for the Olympics) to pursue his dreams of becoming a millionaire. At least he had a sound plan. His company, Magna Mirror, became a holdover for me once I quit engineering school, a place for me to work my proverbial ass off until I figured out exactly what I wanted to do with my life. Neal, the ex-fencer, took his business plan to a Chamber of Commerce meeting and met a land developer who fronted the initial investment. In the beginning, my brother and I delivered counter displays of “WRIF, The Home of Rock-n-Roll” locker mirrors to every 7-Eleven in the Metro Detroit area.

It wasn’t long and we had markets in Los Angeles and Houston as well. We were on a roll. Next, Neal coordinated a meeting with some purchasers at the KMart World Headquarters in Troy, Michigan. They were definitely interested in carrying the product for their back-to-school promotion, making an initial purchase of $180,000 worth of mirrors for every Kmart in the United States including Puerto Rico. Soon, Neal and his initial partner found a bigger investor, Richard Kughn, owner of Lionel Trains. He fronted the money for mass production.

We started manufacturing mirrors twenty-four hours a day. My brother, who stuck with engineering school, opted to work a press machine, punching out car hoods instead of staying with the company; whereas, I became Magna Mirror’s midnight supervisor of manufacturing. From the start, we had problems with packaging. The mirrors fit snugly into a bag and a staple machine attached a header card. The staples sometimes tore the bags and scratched the acrylic. However, Kmart increased their orders. Unfortunately, the initial investor started ripping off Mr. Kughn, and poor Neal got stuck in the middle. Mr. Kughn pulled his money out of the operation and Magna Mirror lost the Kmart account. Undeterred, Neal found other creative ways to move the product through fund-raisers and promotions. He still had a plan. In fact, he was trying to distance himself from the initial investor by coordinating a business relationship with Jostens (they sell class rings to the high schools). Unfortunately, the initial investor found out, and since he owned the building, he changed the locks.

It’s funny how things turn out in life. I had a responsibility to the people I supervised. I had to convince the initial investor to give me the new keys. People needed their jobs. I certainly needed mine. Neal, on the other hand, signed an agreement not to start another magnetic locker mirror company for one year, and left the company behind, absolving himself from the responsibilities of paying the various suppliers. To this day, I haven’t a clue as to what he’s up to.

I, on the other hand, stayed with the company through its bankruptcy, even after having two workchecks bounce. But I did go back to school, earning my degree and teaching certificate.
Sometimes the best laid plans backfire and you need something to fall back on. I guess that’s what makes us different than most ex-felons with big dreams.