A 10-year Rent to own industry veteran, Steve began his career as an account manager for Rent Way, working his way up to opening and managing a store for them in Milford, less than a half mile away from his new location.

Ribbon cutting at the Milford, Delaware Premier location.

"When it comes to walls, they threw up every one at me," says new Premier Rental-Purchase dealer Steve Newman. "But every time I hit a wall, I was persistent, and I got around each one."

Indeed. He opened his Premier franchise store in November in Milford, Delaware and feels it was worth it all.

A 10-year Rent to own industry veteran, Steve began his career as an account manager for Rent Way, working his way up to opening and managing a store for them in Milford, less than a half mile away from his new location. He feels his commitment to customer service was a main reason his was one of the best stores in the company. In fact, as recipient of Rent Way's Director's Award, he managed one of the best stores in the region at that time.

But Steve was called up for active duty as a MSG in the U.S. Army Reserves in 2002, and although he was stationed at nearby Dover Air Force Base, it looked like he would have to put his RTO career on hold. That proved not to be the case, however. Shortly before being released from active duty, Steve learned that Rent Way had been bought out. That news compelled him to consider his RTO future and what career he would return to after his military obligations were fulfilled. It was then, even with one year still to go in his military assignment, that he decided he wouldn't return to the industry unless it was in his own business. And he began working on a plan to do just that.

This was not Newman's first time to start a business or have it be interrupted by a service deployment. Ten years earlier he had been sent to Bosnia and had to leave behind the travel business he had started, and which ultimately failed in his absence. This time he decided to structure his operation differently. He would hire a manager to run things until he could return to his civilian life and devote the time needed to properly run his business.

"I have always wanted to own my own business," Newman said. "This time around I just wasn't sure where or what to go for." RTO was the logical choice. He continues, "I love this business because I love working with customers. I love seeing people pay off a washer and dryer and come back for something else. That's one of the nice things about this work."

Aside from his dream of ownership, which he shares with his wife, Christine, Steve wanted to give customers in Milford another choice for rental purchase. There were already three other stores in town, but they were all owned by the same corporation. Steve felt he knew what could be done with the market and wanted to offer something different. After some extensive research, he found Premier Rental-Purchase and liked its structure, and the support they provided. Starting a Premier dealership seemed like the next right step to take.

Financing was a big part of the process for him and proved full of challenges. "I talked with Premier CEO Trooper Earle and got my projections together. Once I gave him that information, he helped me with my business plan. It was a very professional business plan that was ready to go for the bank. Premier has great software to help you organize your numbers."

With the bank loan secured, start-up became easier, and details fell into place. Now that he's open, Steve reports that "things are happening; people are coming in and realizing they have another choice for their needs. The store is merchandised to look like home. Plates are on tables, bedspreads on beds. We even have stuffed animals on kids' beds. Customers feel the homey atmosphere when they walk in. They talk about how beautiful the store is, how nice the merchandise is and how great my employees are, and they're telling their friends."

"They also really like my terms," he continues. "Because of the way I can buy merchandise, I can offer lower terms on items than the competition can. I don't have to buy in such bulk. I can buy more direct. Because of that and the fact that as a Premier dealer I don't have the tremendous overhead like the bigger competitors have, I can pass savings along to the customer. They like being able to pay things off faster yet not pay a higher price."

According to Steve, "that is being customer oriented, rather than dollar oriented. Sure we all want to make money, but we also want to take care of people while we're doing it. Customers want to be respected and not just viewed as dollars. I agree with the concept of rent and collect, but customers keep us in business. You can rent all you want, but if you have a bad reputation with customers, you're not going to grow."

To ensure his business will grow, despite his ability to run it only at arms length for now, Steve followed through with his idea of hiring a manager. In fact, she used to work for him, as did several others who he has hired for his new business. They will run things until he finishes up his last year of active duty. By that time he hopes his store in Milford will position him to open up a second store. And it will be a Premier store.

"I like everything about Premier," he says. "I like Trooper; he helped me get everything started. We spent a lot of time on the phone. At the APRO convention in Reno earlier in the year, I met other Premier dealers and they were all happy-go-lucky. Mike Lewis, vice president of operations, is a wiz when it comes to numbers. One of the nice things about Premier is that if you want, they are there to help. But you only have to use the services you need. It's a big plus for Premier." Steve says he uses Premier's human resources program, including payroll. "Premier will take care of all that, so I don't have to. It's going very well."

Steve has found that owning his own business is a huge responsibility – more than I ever dreamed. But when I walk into my store, it looks nice. I say to myself, ‘Look at it. It turned out great!'" He says to anyone on the fence about being their own boss, "As a business owner, you can accomplish more than you can with a large competitor. You can make your own decisions. Give it a shot. As long as you've got the drive and determination, you can do it."

The national office of Premier Rental Purchase is located in Williamsburg, VA. All Premier stores are independently owned and operated. Visit Premier's website at www.premierrents.net or call (800) 2Premier and ask for Trooper Earle.