Jason Prescott - Wholesale 101: A Guide to Product Sourcing for Entrepreneurs and Small Business Owners

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To my mother, Iris. Mom, I love you so much. I can only hope
that I am able to touch as many lives as you have. Thank you
for the gift of life and blessings of love.

To my daughter, Deanna Rose; brothers, Jonathan and Justin;
and best friend/CTO, Lester C. Hughesmy passion comes
from you and burns for you.

11/11/2012

SURVIVAL IS a basic instinct that has been ingrained in me since childhood. My father left my mother with four boys when I was nine years old. We grew up very poor and relied on food stamps for groceries and free meal passes for school lunches. Iris, my mother, worked 60 hours a week and went to school full time to finish her degree in nursing. While us boys were often busy getting into trouble and fending for ourselves, Iris was busy surviving. She didnt want anything to stop her from receiving an education. Her intention was to lift us out of our difficult circumstances. I ended up dropping out of high school and hopping around living at various friends homes until one day I decided to get a GED and enroll in a local community college. The decision was simpleI wanted more out of life and realized that street smarts were only going to get me so far.

Then, in November 2000, I found out that in nine months Id be a father. At the time, I was 23 years old, finishing up my B.S. in law administration at Western Connecticut State University. My experience in the professional world was pretty much limited to watching news clips on CNBC. Living in Fairfield County, Connecticut, where the main industries are financial services, information technology, and medical and chemical manufacturing, meant that the chances to learn about digital media, product sourcing, and global trade werent easy to come by.

On a chilly morning in November, I had an interview at Sumner Communications, Inc., with Mr. Scott Sumner. Sumner Communications was a small business-to-business media publisher that owned the Merchandiser Group magazines, Cover Magazine, and Wholesalecentral.com. Scott was not impressed by my rsum. My credentials were limited to a few construction jobs and clerical duties at retail stores. He saw something else, though, that could not be reflected on a piece of paper.

My passion and drive to succeed were insatiable. During the interview, when all else seemed to be failing, I remember that my plea for being hired was that I was poor, smart, and hungryboth literally and metaphorically. Somehow the account-executive job that I was interviewing for became mine. I stayed with Sumner Communications until the end of 2004, when I joined another market incumbent for four months until starting JP Communications, Inc., in April 2005. Many people think that JP Communications stands for Jason Prescott Communications or, because I have two brothers in the company (Jonathan and Justin), that it was named for all the JP siblings. But the true story behind the name is that I founded the company with my partner at the time, Joseph Preston. Since both our initials were JP, JP Communications, Inc., seemed like the right choice.

While at Sumner Communications, I set many sales records. A few folks whom I know who still work there tell me that my records have not been surpassed. The nickname given to me around the office was the Golden Child. Being the new kid on the block and the only business-development employee under age 30 certainly brought its pressure and stress to perform. Often I found myself making over 100 phone calls a day and averaging over three and a half hours of phone time. And there was rarely a day when I wasnt the first to arrive and the last to leave. If there was a commission to make, I wanted to make it.

My knowledge of import/export and the retail/wholesale industry was more than limited at that timeit was nonexistent. So how in the world did I obtain 30+ accounts per month, receive various promotions, take on duties that included print and web sales, and become the top financial earner at something I knew so little about? I found that enthusiasm was more than 50 percent of the sale. It was a contagious virus capable of turning the average Joe into a superstar money rainmaker.

I had enthusiasm not only for my daily jobs duties but also for the industry. I picked apart every single magazine, piece of literature, web article, and person I could learn from. I didnt stop until my thirst for knowledge was fully quenched. The day Joseph Preston and I made the switch from being employees to entrepreneurs maximized the level of enthusiasm already bottled inside me. It was the first company I ever started, and now the responsibility of having to do more than generate enough sales to produce income for survival was paramount. I had to understand business operations, accounting, human resources, client services, and executive leadership. They all had to become high-level and equal priorities.