Assured Elegance Flooring and Window Coverings - Rod Sternhagen

Remember when you were young and had a vision of the life you wanted to create, how you wanted a career where you could advance through the ranks and achieve professional success?

This month's story is about a young man that had that dream, set goals and achieved them only to realize that he sacrificed his main priority... his family.

Rod Sternhagen has now taken control of his future, put his family first and is our Entrepreneur of the month.  Congratulations Rod and welcome to the world of entrepreneurship!

 

Rod Sternhagen   Rod Sternhagen is a bright hard working young man. He was the first in his family to graduate college. After a short career selling cell phones, he went back to school and received a Masters Degree in Training Development. But jobs in this field were hard to come by in his geographic area, so he took a job in the flooring department for a new Home Depot. It wasn't his dream job, but it was a paycheck and got him out of the house to establish a career of his own. Rod was a quick learner. He set goals with his manager of being an assistant store manager in 2 years and a store manager in 5 years.  He worked hard, listened to the experts and provided extra value in whatever he did. Within a short time he was asked to set up and manage the flooring department in a new store. He then went on to open other new stores, putting in long hours and living in various cities. Soon he was promoted to assistant manager and almost 5 years to the day he was offered a job as the store manager for the Rhinelander, WI store.  Rod always dreamed of living in northern Wisconsin. Some call it God's country. For 3 years he worked hard putting in a 60 plus hour work week with inconsistent hours. He increased sales and profitability for the company, but at the expense of being with his family. He knew this wasn't what he envisioned for his life and his entrepreneurial thoughts started to rise. For years Rod had thought about a business of his own, but he didn't think he was financially qualified. He dreamed of coaching his son in sports, yet there was no time in his life to do that. It wasn't until the day that his boss made him feel guilty about attending his daughter's birth rather than be there for inventory when he knew something needed to change. Rod and I discussed his priority of having a balanced life with his family including time to coach his kids. Controlling his destiny, schedule, building equity and being rewarded for his efforts were all important to him.  We looked at several business models that would allow him to have the lifestyle he was seeking. But it was his initial experience and success in the floor covering department at Home Depot that was his deciding factor to purchase a Nationwide Floors and Windows franchise, a mobile shop-at-home floor and window covering business. Rod liked that Nationwide could be operated out of his home, utilized his people and customer service skills and was 95% referral based. Over time, he could scale up his business and build equity. After one year in business, Rod was awarded The Rising Star Franchise of the Year. He didn't make the sales goals he set for himself, but  he by far exceeded his profit levels.  He adjusted his living style slightly so he could continue to grow his business. But it was the lifestyle rewards that are the true measure of his success. In Rod's own words; "The free time from owning my own business became invaluable. I have time to coach my son in every sport he wants to play, take him to school and my daughter to daycare. I found that money became secondary to the time spent with my family. Now I am able to enjoy the best of both worlds."  Rod will continue to build his business and be successful because he's hard working and customer focused. But life and business is often full of surprises. Because of the downturn in the economy, his franchise headquarters closed down. Rod rebounded quickly and changed the name of his company to Assured Elegance Flooring and Window Coverings. "The franchise helped me to get my business off the ground and now without them I am again able to persevere and provide for my family." Assured Elegance is located in Eagle River, WI serving Vilas, Oneida, Forest , Lincoln and Marathon Counties. Servicing residential and commercial customers, Rod brings the showroom to you offering an extensive selection of carpet, vinyl, laminates, hardwood, tile, stone and area rugs along with large selection of name brand window coverings. "Shop our Showroom in the comfort of your home" is his motto. Rod takes pride in providing service, time and cost savings for his customers. If you, a friend or relative need floor or window coverings and live in Rod's marketing area, do yourself a favor and give him a call at 715-477-1040. He'll make your vision a reality.

Rod put his priorities in order. Money became secondary to the time he now spends with his family. His ambition of being a store manager was replaced by his vision of being the dad and husband he wanted to be.