Entrepreneurs expect to take risks. It is a characteristic
defined by taking actions that have unknown consequences. Chad Gollnick
epitomizes the definition in his business ventures that he began in 2010.
By all standards, Gollnick was rising up the corporate
ladder in Colorado’s satellite uplink industry. Educated as an electrical
engineer, he quickly advanced to managerial levels. But at age 28 he wanted to
control his own destiny. Feeling there was only a short window of opportunity, he
left the corporate lifestyle in 2011 to acquire his first business.
Gollnick and a former partner purchased a warehouse full of
welding and metal manufacturing equipment and launched Iron Outfitter in Black
Hawk, SD. Ironically, Gollnick does not know how to weld. He does know how to
hire the right people and increased the employee count to 10.
“If you have the right people on the bus, the bus will drive
itself,” says Gollnick, adding that contracts have been secured from across the
nation.
The path to entrepreneurship has not been easy. Early on, Gollnick
found himself more than half a million dollars in arrears and debt. But six
months later Gollnick turned the business ledger into black. He says profits continue
to double every year since that rocky start.
Even when business slowed at Iron Outfitter, Gollnick made
sure that his employees remained on the payroll. It is a strategy, but also a
sacrifice. He wants to find an ethos that is a “net win for everyone.”
“You end up making more money,” he confirms.
Gollnick states that business owners do not necessarily need
partners, but they do need stakeholders. His stakeholders are first his
employees, customers second.
“Happy employees means happy customers, which means happy
bankers,” says Gollnick.
He invests in employees by not only ensuring adequate pay and
benefits, but providing them with a 15% profit share every quarter. Referred to
as “Dollar Days,” Gollnick meets with employees to discuss the profit/losses and
what worked and did not work before distributing their share. He believes in
transparency in his business.
Gollnick was born in Aberdeen but has lived in Montana,
Colorado and South Dakota. He believes that South Dakota is the best place to
operate a business. Although he considers himself a “national guy,” he has discovered
many people in other areas do not have the talent or the desire to do the work.
“In South Dakota, we make a list of all of that needs to get
done, and we do it,” says Gollnick.
And he exemplifies that business posture. Not only does he
own and operate Iron Outfitter, he has three other companies that he has either
helped start or is in partnership—and he still consults for satellite uplink
services. When asked if he ever sleeps, he said no. Through his involvement
with Dakota Rising, he is learning to find time to do things not work-related.
“I
feel 10 to 15 years older than I am,” says Gollnick.
He has no regrets about his choices. He runs a young crew
and the long term looks good. He wants his employees to believe that he cares.
Gollnick believes his actions impact more than himself. He says that he has to
know what the down sides are and to focus on the up sides, and he realizes that
it is just not about him but also his employees and their families.
One of Gollnick’s employees described him as energetic and affirms
that Gollnick gives them the resources, sets up a strategy and expects them to
get the work done.
“I am not anti-process. But I believe that if you have the
right tools, right people and the right hands, you can stay out of the
process,” says Gollnick.
He likes to quote Henry Ford and is a self-proclaimed
information junkie—reading everything from space exploration to metal fabrication
to project management. He enjoys talking with accountants, bankers and other
professionals about industry. However, his role models are his parents. His
father is a painter and his mother worked for social security administration,
and he grew up seeing them work hard and setting the stage for his
entrepreneurial mind.
Gollnick sees entrepreneurs as recutting the same pie or
making a bigger pie. “I want to make bigger pies,” says Gollnick. It looks like
there could be a lot more pies coming from Gollnick’s kitchen in the future.
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