Today we’d like to introduce you to David Huse.
Hi David, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I Quit Pre med for a career in Sales. I worked retail for large Audio Video stores, national chains. Making 6 figures a year in sales as a very young man. In 2007 the company I was working for was going under so I took every dime I had and invested in myself. I spent my mortgage on a website, advertising and had to just figure out how to be self employed. I forclosed on my first house, spent every awake minute working on. my company, and even after three years I was still only making 30-50K a year. First two years made 20K only. My belief in myself mixed with stubbornness, refusal of failure pushed me. We are now a 6.5Mil company. #54 on the CE Top 100 list in the nation. We have won Home of the year Gold Awards at CEDIA for the last 6 years and 3 this year. We work with 6 builders and are their sole provider and the thing we are most proud of is our customer service record. We have never had less than a 5 star review by a client. They deserve the best and even when we slip..we fix it. We are relentless in quality and service. My story is about sacrifice and that in entrepreneurship…there is no luck.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Great personal sacrifice. Destroyed my credit paying for my company and dream over Bills and homes. Biggest Sacrifice is time and I still put in 100 hour weeks. Nothing has been smooth still to this day. Owning a large company and the growth of it from nothing with no money influx, family money is a struggle every day. Another struggle is with great growth scaling is very difficult and when we got to a certain size my wife had to leave her career to work for Theater Advice to bring on insurance, Open showrooms etc.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
My sales ablity is what I am most proud of but it’s not for any other reason than I know I sell with integrity. I talk people out of spending money they don’t need to spend all the time. I am design minded and want to design new and cool spaces for each client. I’d say what sets us apart in the most competitive market in the US is that we are not only award winning and have been in 50 magazines, but we’ve also won numorous customer service awards and have maintained 5 stars on Google. There is literally no reason not to buy from us. It’s the perfect buying experience because we make it so. Every system tailored to a client, their budget, their needs, their room and even aesthetics. We like to say “everyone will say they are the best, can they prove it?” we can. We are different because we truly are.
Alright, so to wrap up, is there anything else you’d like to share with us?
For Budding Entrepreneurs…. Just know the risks and sacrifices. The stress level will be 10X of any normal job with a boss and hours. At some point you will realize something very true and very scary. Even if you don’t sleep..you could use 100% of the day..you’re either working or neglecting work. You could spend time exploring, learning, marketing, networking, designing. There is no such thing as a day off if you want to truly be successful in the beginning. You might go 10 years before it breaks. Choose your niche and run your company with passion. If you want to be off at 5 and turn your brain off …have weekends off starting a biz isn’t for you and that’s ok. There are times I regret it but my clients deserve for me to be on all the time. You’ll still find me year 18…working on a Sunday, working on vacation, on the phone in a line at Disneyland. I’d say if it’s something you truly love go for it. But it’s not easy.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.theateradvice.com
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfHZRB93Ia95F7G0BjERiow
