Making a Switch for Success

By K. Schipper

ST. LOUIS – For a lot of people, owning their own business is the epitome of success. For Sander Coovert, founder of Absolute Tile and Stone, it became time to rethink priorities.

Absolute had moved strongly into fabrication just as the housing market fell through the floor. At the same time, the tile market fell even further, leaving Coovert with a company skewed toward countertop fabrication and little idea of how to get the work done profitably.

Click photo to enlargeCoovert’s expertise was in sales. In the shop, he had Charles Evans, a man with experience in getting stone shops on their feet and a strong desire to own his own company. Why not make some changes and get the best for everyone?

The results couldn’t have been better. Today, Evans – known since childhood as JR – is the owner of Absolute’s assets related to stone fabrication, and Coovert is doing what he does best: selling stone and tile projects for Evans.

GIFT OF GAB

Coovert readily admits that sales are his forte. He began in residential real estate in the early 1990s, and then started doing custom home development.

“I very quickly saw the potential in the growing natural-stone industry,” he says. “In 1998, I decided to start a tile-and-stone business, and in 1999 we began doing tile installations – very successfully.”

In those days, Coovert had a partner whose name was on the business. Although the partner left in 2005 after problems with the partnership agreement, his name stayed on the business until 2007.

“That was when I renamed the company Absolute Tile and Stone, which corresponded with starting the fabrication business,” Coovert says. “We really got into fabrication just as the market was crashing.”Click photo to enlarge

Not only did the move involve a huge learning curve, but –  even as the countertop market fell – fabrication remained stronger than tile. Before too long, 75 percent of the business was in stone fabrication.

One advantage Coovert had over many others struggling with new economic realities was his membership in a worldwide group headquartered in Alexandria, Va., called the Entrepreneurs Organization (EO).

He explains that the group’s main goal is to help entrepreneurs learn and grow. Coovert adds the idea is that while many people start a business doing something they’re good at, they’re soon overwhelmed with other things.

“Very soon you find yourself doing things that you have no business doing, like payroll and accounting and human resources and public relations and marketing,” he says. “E.O. is a catalyst for personal and professional success; it’s about working on your business, not in your business.”

With that background and a lot of introspection, Coovert realized that sales, rather than production, were his strong suit.

“I also knew, with the economic downturn, that it became more and more important for every job to be maximized for profit, just because there weren’t that many jobs,” he says.

AMERICAN DREAMER

While Coovert faced up to the fact that parts of his dream weren’t so pleasant, Evans continued his focus on owning a fabrication shop.

Evans explains that there are two distinct industries in his background: stone and restaurants. He was exposed to both while still in school, and they’ve both taken up parts of his working life.