How I Got Started in Wood Floors

How I got started in wood floors.

In Delmar, N.Y I owned a cleaning business. I washed windows, cleaned carpets,
 stripped and waxed floors, and did office cleaning. I had my own truck and did
 very well with it.

One of my customers owned a restaurant. He had a hot buffet every weekend.
It seemed that the bright red carpet was no match for the grease from
some of the food. I went every three to four months and shampooed the carpet.

One night he asked if I would be interested in sanding and refinishing the
 banquet hall upstairs. I went and looked at it and said, "Sure!!".

Prior to this time I had never sanded a wood floor before. I had no clue what
I was doing.  I just rented a machine and got started. I can relate to customers
 who try and do this job themselves with very little knowledge.

After I got to a point where I was too tired to do any more or I thought it
 was good enough ( I can't remember which it was ) I started to put finish on.

This was followed by a second coat the next day.

After the third coat it was apparent something was definitely wrong.
I assumed it must be the finish is wrong. After all I had worked really hard on
 this floor. When I got home I was sick about it and got the Yellow Pages out
 and called the first listing under "Floors".

I explained what I was doing and wanted to know if he could recommend a
better finish.

Within an hour he was over to my house talking to me. We talked for about 3 hours.
 This guy knew his business. He left me with the question, "If I teach you the
 wood flooring business would you be willing to take care of our local
 residential work during the summer while we are out doing gyms?"

I said, "Yes" and he left.

I didn't hear anymore from him for two weeks. Then I got a call from him and
 he asked me if I was still interested. I said, "sure". He went on to explain
 that he had a little problem. He had 16 gyms to do that summer. He asked, "Would
 you consider going out on the road with us and help us do gyms?"

I have been doing wood floors ever since.

The thing that I think this illustrates is that problems aren't "STOP" signs.

Problems are "DIRECTIONAL" signs. Once you adopt the mindset that every problem contains the seed to an equal or greater benefit almost anything is possible.

You start looking for seeds every time a problem comes up. I have personally
 never found a problem that did not have an equal or greater benefit hidden in it.
 I have challenged it many times.

OK what is the benefit from this problem? I have found it every time I looked for it.