OnlinePlumbingAdvice.com: How to find the best plumber, plumbing products and plumbing advice (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780982983904)

Master plumber Mike Quick has over thirty-eight years experience as a licensed plumber. He served as a delegate to a national plumbing association and as secretary for a northern Virginia plumbing association. In 1981, he started Quick Quality Plumbing and Heating, later known as Quick Quality Plumbing Inc. Quick Quality Plumbing Inc. is one of the few plumbing companies that received top customer satisfaction ratings consistently for over a decade by a non-profit consumer magazine. Mike Quick is a veteran of the U.S. Army with experience in mountain climbing, glacier climbing, cross country skiing, NASTAR invitational downhill racing and arctic survival. In addition, Mike is a certified scuba diver and a multiple award- winning volunteer for homeless animals. Mike learned many years ago that survival skills, athletic skills and just about everything we do requires focusing on details. Mike started his career in 1961 (at eleven years old). Working in a country store separating soda bottles (for less than a dollar a day) was his first real job. Three times a day Mike would roll baskets of bottles to the back of the store-and-place the bottles in their proper order. Realizing that people were being paid two cents for each bottle they brought to the store (AKA two cent deposit) - in his spare time Mike would search for bottles alongside the road. Sometimes Mike would wade out into the Potomac River at low tide and pull bottles out of the mud. Wading in mud for two cents per bottle was worth it-but-soon Mike learned to think like a business man. Cleaning mud from the inside and outside of two cent bottles is not worth the two cent deposit. Collecting soda bottles for the deposit, working at the store and gradually finding other money making adventures, helped Mike learn that hard work and proper business practices had its rewards. It didn't take long for Mike to become a well rewarded stock-boy, paper-boy, grass cutter and entrepreneur. Mike grew up in a disadvantaged family (financially)-but-his family always stuck together and maintained their focus on personal responsibility without excuses. Mike earned high grades in college (majoring in police science)-but-dropped out when he decided he wanted to be a plumber. Mike started his plumbing apprenticeship in 1969, he realized that working alongside a licensed plumber with over twenty- four years experience would provide an opportunity to learn details that often make the difference between good and bad long- term results. Attending plumbing classes at night and working with an experienced plumber during the day taught Mike to focus on details. As he continued his career, he always focused on details. Mike learned that focusing on details concerning how small business communicates with customers is just as important as the quality of the services provided. Learning the best plumbing skills from the best plumbers while learning business skills from owners of small plumbing businesses shaped Mike into the small business owner he is today. Early in Mike's career, he developed a business plan. The plan included four phases that require many years to develop; 1. Learn as much as possible about plumbing and how to run a small business, 2. Start a plumbing business, 3. Write notes concerning experiences along the way so a book can be written before it is too late, 4. Publish the book with up-to-date information. Mike researched and monitored available plumbing advice for over two decades and took hand-written notes on what works and what doesn't. Using his notes, experience and knowledge, Mike published a book. Mike plans to publish more books that focus on frequently overlooked details.