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FLS TRANSPORTATION
“ were three guys with a dream ,” says Mike Flinker as he recalls the very earliest days of FLS Transportation . Fast forward 30 years and the Canadian-born President now leads a $ 400 million a year business that was taken over last year by a private equity firm , a development that will allow the business to now look for acquisitions of its own .
But it wasn ’ t anything like all plain sailing ; with just $ 1,100 between them , the three business partners only had enough money to incorporate the business , confident that their past experience of the transportation would be enough for the banks of Canada to open their doors , battling for the chance to offer the burgeoning business with financing .
Not so . “ With no capital to speak of , the banks turned us straight down ,” says Flinker . Instead , the trio were forced to approach former clients asking if they ’ d support the newly formed FLS Transportation , with one caveat – could they pay us right away ?
“ Initially it was a surprise how many of our former clients said they ’ d put business our way , but to ask for money up front really did startle a number of them , which is understandable because we ’ d always received payment from them in a timely manner . It was really tough to explain to them that it wasn ’ t a case of not trusting them , but rather the banks not wanting to finance the new company .”
Perhaps surprisingly , a number of trusting clients agreed to turn around payment straight away ,
102 August 2017