Gary Shif was born in Israel. When he was a child, Shif migrated with his parents to the United States and settled in Orlando, Florida. A self-described “laundry cart baby,” Shif grew up in the laundry industry where his parents worked. While in high school, Shif worked in the family business, gaining valuable knowledge and experience. “During my senior year in high school, I started planning the dry cleaning store I wanted to open up,” Shif said of his early ambitions. “When I graduated high school, we opened up the first dry cleaner.” As an owner/operator for 31 years, Shif grew Best Cleaners to nine locations in the greater Orlando area. In September of 2017, he sold Best Cleaners to a private ownership group based in South Florida.
Toward the end of his career in dry cleaning, Shif fell in love with technology, the creation and development of websites, software and the cloud sector. The intellectual property that Shif developed was not part of the transaction when he sold Best Cleaners. “I actually planned to retire,” said Shif. “Then a good friend said to me, ‘Hey, I know what you did for your brand; can you do the same thing for my brand?’”
“I’m all about sitting in the back seat now,” said Shif. “I was in the front seat for a long time and don’t wish to do it anymore, but I can be in the back seat to help guide you.” In his “retirement” Shif gets gratification by helping about a dozen clients that he advises with marketing, strategic development, growth and other aspects of being a successful business owner. “I have no employees and no pressure,” Shif exclaimed! “I’m all about having fun and helping others succeed.”
Celebrating his 53rd birthday at the end of this month, Shif lives in Anna Maria Island on Florida’s west coast with Kathleen, his wife of nearly 26 years. Recreational activities revolve around international travel, saltwater and boating. Stone, their son, graduated from Auburn University and is a project manager for a national company.
When you were the owner/operator of Best Cleaners, what was your leadership style/management philosophy?
It has always evolved. When you look at the earlier years, you don’t know what you don’t know, so you modify as you go along. When you’re new into the business with one store, you have one style. When you have multiple stores and the labor force changes, the market changes and behavior changes, your wisdom increases and your style changes. So, I’ve evolved several times throughout my career. The way we did things in the 1980s was different from the 1990s and different from the 2000s and different when we exited. You have to adjust, modify, fine-tune and continue moving forward.
With the benefit of hindsight, is there anything you would have done differently as an owner/operator?
The honest answer from any operator is always ‘yes, I would have done things differently.’ But that’s only subsequent to experience when you don’t get what you want. So my answer is yes, but that’s only subsequent to what I’ve learned along the way. Sure, if I had to do it all over again, I probably could have succeeded in a much shorter time. I probably would have saved some money and headaches along the way. But that’s only subsequent to the experience I’ve gained and wisdom that I’ve acquired along the way.
Often when I hire a manager, train a supervisor or work with staff, I tell them, ‘look, if you listen to me, I’ll save you a lot of headaches because I know what doesn’t work. If we talk about it, I can help you succeed and achieve your goals faster and easier than if you were roaming around the forest aimlessly.’
What is your definition of success?
One of the first things I ask any prospect or business owner is, ‘what does the face of success look like?’ Because your success is different from my success, it is different from your partner’s success. The sad part about the United States of America is that we define success strictly monetarily. Each one of us sees success differently and defines success differently. What I try to do is make my client succeed according to their definition of success.
What are some essential qualities or characteristics of a successful person?
Equanimity, without a doubt. You see, success relies on several ingredients. The ingredient you must have is equanimity. You’ve got to be able to process what’s coming to you in a proper way.
When you talk about success globally or across your company, I’ll echo Stephen Covey and say that everything revolves around trust. If you don’t have trust, you ain’t going nowhere. Globally, with your company on a larger scale, surround yourself with people you can trust. I’m not saying to abandon internal accounting; never abandon internal accounting, but surround yourself with people you can trust.
What advice would you give to a new owner who is committed to building for the long haul?
I think some key elements are consistent with every successful business and dry cleaners are no different. You need to be a good leader; you need to understand how to be a good leader and become a better leader as you evolve.
Surround yourself with good, quality people, especially the skeleton crew and the people who actually run the company. I attribute the success we had at Best Cleaners to the quality of the people who were the company’s core operations and the trust we had among each other. They trusted me as the CEO and owner and I trusted them as the soldiers or operators in the field. That’s the key. Without that ingredient, it’s going to be extremely difficult to succeed.
What is your industry outlook? Where do you see things headed over the next 5 to 10 years?
Will there be room for dry cleaners at corner shopping centers and other areas? Yes, absolutely. Will the industry die? It will not die! The industry went through so many different evolutions. Look back at the 1970s with polyester. Look at the Gulf Wars and 9/11. I’ve been through three wars, stock market crashes and several recessions in 31 years. We found a way to persevere and be resilient. Those who find ways to reinvent themselves, those who are creative, those who are gutsy, those who are willing to try different things will survive.
Those who are going to stick to where they were yesterday and hold on to it as if it were the only way to provide services will not survive. What worked yesterday is not going to work tomorrow, unfortunately. Now is the time to change. I believe the next generation will probably have greater demand for wash and fold than they do for dry cleaning. Don’t get me wrong; they may bring a shirt in or a pair of pants. But the days of suits and ties? I’m giving up on that one; I think wash and fold service will replace it. You’ve got to evolve and continue to find things to be creative.
Do you have any final thoughts you would like to convey to the readers of Cleaner & Launderer?
I have this thing that I’m a big proponent of and I call it the ‘Triple R Factor.’ It’s one of those things that I like to plug into everything we do in life. The Triple R Factor is: in order to succeed at whatever it is you are attempting to do, you have to be Resilient, Relentless and Resourceful. When you apply the Triple R Factor to what you do, generally speaking, you have a pretty good outcome.
