P38: Surviving a Labor Union Takeover to Reach Success (🔐 a Continuation of EP 206 🔓)
Video & Audio of Our Call:
Background:
Welcome to the second part of our very truthful and inspiring interview with Ethan Wendle of DiamondBack Truck Covers. This is the continuation of the early struggles of DiamondBack and how they were able to survive and fight back amidst all the brutal challenges. We highly recommend checking out the first part of this interview Episode 206 if you haven’t listened to it yet. Founders Ethan Wendle and Matt Chverchko first met each other while attending Penn State University in 2003. Birthed in ENGR 407, an engineering entrepreneurial class, DiamondBack Truck Covers got its start because of a classroom project which grew from a garage operation into an American corporation.
Some of Ethan’s accomplishments include designing and patenting the DiamondBack HD Cover. Also, he was nominated in 2007 for the Ron Webster Memorial Award for Engineering Excellence to recognize DiamondBack’s achievements in the light-truck accessory industry. In 2015, he was named to the Pennsylvania Business Central’s list of Top 100 People. As a company, DiamondBack Truck Covers has been on the Inc. 5000 list of the fastest-growing private companies.
Time-Stamped Show Notes:
- [0:25] In the early months of 2008, Ethan had several business contracts with other companies and everything was doing great in terms of profit and sales. However, when August came along, things turned out to be disastrous.
- [6:15] After a very tough 2008, Ethan decided to raise the price of their product by getting rid of the middlemen.
- [11:40] As a last-ditch effort to save the company, they launched four new businesses in 2009.
- [13:29] Ethan shares an interesting story that happened at the end of 2008 involving their metal supplier and the diamond plate they were using for their product.
- [17:04] Ethan met his wife during a turbulent stage of his business.
- [20:55] It took the business ten years to break even.
- [22:16] A person from the sheet metal union called Ethan to tell him about their plan to unionize DiamondBack.
- [25:07] The Labor Relations Institute helped Ethan and gave him solid advice on how to tackle the problem of labor unionization.
- [31:44] Ethan had to beg his employees not to vote for the union.
- [34:12] A lawsuit was filed by the union against DiamondBack because Ethan fired one employee.
- [35:43] Guys from the union wearing black beret military-style outfits showed up on the day of the union election.
- [38:02] After the labor union incident, Ethan began focusing on better company culture and mission.
- [42:30] Ethan believes that the turning point of the company began when they established a company culture that prioritizes employees and customers.
- [49:43] The StoryBrand by Donald Miller was a major influence for Ethan and DiamondBack. Attending the StoryBrand conference was a game-changer for them to fix their website and marketing strategy.
- [56:20] A book called The Lean Startup is another big influence for Ethan to identify their engines of growth.
Key Point from the Interview:
- “If you’re going to be an entrepreneur and you’re really gonna succeed, it takes a ton. I mean, quite honestly, I would not… knowing what I know now, I would not start the type of business we started. Certainly, there are far easier businesses to start than a manufacturing company, but you know I wouldn’t start the business we started now with a wife and kids because I wouldn’t see them for 6 years.”
Resources Mentioned:
- Email: [email protected]
- LinkedIn: Ethan Wendle
- Crunchbase: Ethan Wendle
- DiamondBackCovers.com
- LongRamps.com
- StoryBrand.com
- The Lean Startup
Secret Resources:
