Singelstad Do It Best Hardware: Building a Model for Steady Growth on a RockSolid Foundation

ECi RockSolid POS customer SingelstadDIB

Kermit & Kris Singelstad, owners of Singelstad DIB Hardware

Dealership:: Singelstad Do It Best,; Lake Mills, Iowa
Industry:: Hardware
Affiliation:: Do It Best
In Business Since:: 2005

Singelstad Do It Best Uses:: POS software for hardware and lumber dealers

The year was 2005 and Kris Singelstad and his father, Kermit, had just bought themselves an 8,000- square-foot hardware store in Lake Mills, Iowa.

For Kermit, after working 25 years in the hardware industry for others, it was an opportunity to finally take control of his own business destiny. For Kris, straight out of college, it was a chance to work with his father, learn firsthand about just what it takes to run a successful business and let his own entrepreneurial juices flow.

RockSolid has impressive features. The user I talked to had good things to say about technical support and customer service.

As a small, rural community in northern Iowa with a population of just over 2,000, Lake Mills certainly wasn’t the largest market in the country. But for two budding entrepreneurs, it offered some outstanding benefits.

“The store we bought had been in operation since 1980 and had a solid customer base,” Kris explains. “It drew steady traffic from the smaller communities around Lake Mills and it was the only hardware store in town, with the nearest big box a good 25 miles away.”

New technology was needed to lead them into the future

But both Singelstads recognized that favorable market conditions, without disciplined management leading the business, would only get them so far. And once they started looking at their new acquisition in depth and planning out its future, it soon became clear that changes were needed, particularly on the technology front.

“We inherited a computer system and it just didn’t do the things I thought we needed to have done,” Kris recalls. “It wasn’t remotely user friendly, there were no reports beyond the very basics, adding new products was impossible and every time you wanted to enter a transaction of any kind, you needed a security code. We hated it!”

The time it saves me is unbelievable. Adding new products is no big deal and the reports I get now allow us to run the business the way it needs to be run.

By the end of their first year, the Singelstads had enough and went looking for a system that would take them where they wanted to go with the business.

"RockSolid got our attention right away"

“We saw RockSolid at one of the markets and it got our attention right away,” Kris remembers. “I drove 2-1/2 hours to another retailer using the system and he sat down and showed me how he used it and all that it could do for him. RockSolid came with some impressive features. The user I talked to had good things to say about technical support and customer service and, once I saw the price, it made the decision to switch pretty easy.”

The RockSolid customer service team made sure the conversion went smoothly and four years later, Kris Singelstad looks back on that decision as one of the best things he’s done for the business.

With only 8,000 square feet to play with, you need to know exactly what’s happening in your store, so you can maximize the value of every inch. RockSolid helps us do just that.

“The time it saves me is unbelievable. Adding new products is no big deal and the reports I get now allow us to run the business the way it needs to be run. When you’ve got over 25 different departments and only 8,000 square feet to play with, you need to know exactly what’s happening in your store, so you can maximize the value of every inch. RockSolid helps us do just that.”

The system tells Kris what’s moving and what isn’t and helps him identify departments in need of extra care and attention.

“Our customers like RockSolid, too,” he reports happily. “If they have any questions on billing or payments, it’s easy to look up their account history and get them taken care of quickly and easily.”

A strong foundation plus strong technology equals a steady business

Five years after Kris and his father embarked on their entrepreneurial journey, their little ship is trim and sailing along smoothly. Despite all the recent turmoil in the overall economy, business at Singelstad Do it Best Hardware is just fine.

“We don’t see a lot of peaks and valleys where we are but we’ve been able to post pretty steady growth since we started and we feel good about the year ahead,” Kris reports.

I wouldn’t try to operate this business without a good computer system. We’re always improving the store and RockSolid is a key resource to make that happen.

And those early concerns about technology are just a dim memory. “I wouldn’t even try to operate this business without a good computer system and that’s what we’ve got with RockSolid,” he says. “We’re always looking for ways to improve the store and RockSolid has become a key resource for us to make that happen.”