NEWS

Jan and Howard Fisk built business one mile at a time

Sony Hocklander
News-Leader

Call the office of J. Howard Fisk Limousines and the first person who answers could be Howard Fisk himself.

Although Fisk has served on more boards and committees than he could name in one breath and wife Jan Fisk is a city councilwoman, the Springfield business owners stay hands-on running the business they established on a shoestring 38 years ago. And it shows in their success.

In a city where startups are more than a trend and entrepreneurship is encouraged, a new generation of business owners can find inspiration from pioneering generations before them.

"There is a lot in common between startups 30 years ago and startups today," said Jeff Seifried, city councilman and regional development manager for the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce. While Fisk Limousines is a prominent business now, it didn't start like that, Seifried added. "They bootstrapped their way through, like a lot of startups have, and they stuck with it."

Fisk Limousines employs 60 to 65 people and serves an important role in the community. Over nearly four decades, the Fisks have adapted their business to travel trends, new technology and customers' needs. They've made mistakes – just ask about the failed trolleys – but they've survived a changing market, increased costs and a financial recession at a time when other chauffeured transportation businesses across the nation have not.

Quality service, attention to detail and good business management is what makes Fisk Limousines a success, Seifried said. And the community supports that. Likewise, the Fisks care about the community and have helped shape many issues, he added: "There is no issue they have not had their fingerprints on."

Rob Dixon, interim Springfield chamber president, said the Fisks take an entrepreneurial approach to whatever they do. He has received countless calls from Howard Fisk that start with "I have an idea and I want to talk to you about it." Not only that, "they don't just come up with ideas, they are willing to roll up their sleeves and make it happen," he said.

And as role models to local entrepreneurs, "I think the most important thing is to realize you can be both successful in business and in your civic life. You don't have to sacrifice one for the other," Dixon said. "The business and philanthropy have gone hand in hand for them."

Growing a startup

Dixon said the Fisks' business and social contributions have been "a thread that is woven through our community, not just today but for many, many years."

That longevity is evident inside the company's warehouse-like headquarters. Just inside the front door, a vintage car is parked left of a reception desk. Howard Fisk's open office area, filled with collected mementos, photographs, awards and trinkets, creates an island to the right.

While Fisk regularly drove for the first 25 years while growing the couple's business, it's not typical today. But if every driver is busy, he doesn't mind donning a cap and getting behind the wheel like he did last month for one client's wedding. Did the bride and groom know their driver was the company's namesake? No, Fisk said: "I've been in a lot of wedding pictures, and they don't know."

Weddings and other social occasions were their bread and butter when the Fisks started what they call their "Mom and Pop" business with a vintage Rolls Royce in 1976. The initial investment was around $10,000 — most saved, about a third from a bank loan. Their first customer, Howard said, was Bass Pro Shops owner Johnny Morris' dad for his 65th birthday. Bass Pro Shops continues to be a regular customer.

Like entrepreneurs often do today, the Fisks worked other jobs to earn a living while growing their new business. For about four years they operated only on weekends, said Howard, known to family by his first name, Joseph, and as "J" to many friends and associates.

Jan just calls him Joe, as she has since they were kids growing up in Lebanon.

Howard and Jan Fisk started their business, J. Howard Fisk Limousines, with one vehicle in the 1970s. Today they have around 75 in their fleet.

The Fisks have known each other since school days, and their parents were friends, they say. Two years apart, they started dating while both performed in a high school musical, and married in 1970 — a year after Jan graduated — while Howard was serving in the Navy.

After his service, they moved to Springfield to attend Missouri State University. By the 1980s, they both worked at their chauffeured transportation business. They raised a family — son Barrett and daughter Hilary, now adults — and became active in the community. Jan focused on family while the kids were young; after they'd grown, she ran for city council.

Volunteering in the community has always been important to the Fisks who have served on numerous local boards and organizations including CoxHealth and Ozarks Technical Community College.

"We had nothing when we came here," Fisk said. "The community took us in and took care of us and we feel it's our obligation to be an asset the community, and the only way is to give more than take."

The Fisks enjoy reminiscing about their early years, when chauffeuring celebrity performers was a bigger part of their business. They have served the likes of John Denver, Red Skelton, the Beach Boys, Elvis, Martha Stewart, Phyllis Diller and many more.

They had billionaire customers then and they have them now. The Fisks don't talk about local clients or say much about current celebrity travelers. Confidentiality and discretion are as important as good service.

Adapting to the market

Success in business and surviving recessions requires adapting to market needs, Fisk said.

In 2001 there were 12,000 operators nationwide among businesses that include or specialize in limousine, bus and motorcoach travel, according to statistics cited by Limousine, Charter & Tour magazine. By 2006 that number had declined to 8,000, and continued to dip and fluctuate until industry recovery began after 2010. Although it's on an uptick — with more than 10,000 nationally in 2013 according to the survey — the industry has changed.

After terrorist events of Sept. 11, 2001, "Everybody said, 'Wait a minute. We need to stop traveling. They looked, and found, alternatives and it didn't come back," Fisk said. "That was one of the trends that didn't favor us."

But the Fisks' success is evident by the company's 75-vehicle fleet parked in a warehouse garage and fenced yard. Here, black town cars, a few Mercedes, SUVs and Escalades — industry standards — dominate in the garage, with vans and various size coach buses parked outside. The fleet also includes a couple of Rolls Royces and white stretch limousines.

In spite of the business name, the market no longer has much demand for limos, Howard Fisk said. Today's business traveler or visiting celebrity prefers the less ostentatious black town car — or Escalade, the car hired recently for reality show host Sabrina Soto when TV crews in Springfield filmed a local resident's Christmas light display.

Limos are hired primarily now for parties, weddings and social occasions, Fisk explained. Even wedding parties lean toward small coach transportation, as do corporate customers. "Those really have replaced limousines," Fisk said.

The business now includes self-driven van rentals, which "allows us to say yes to customers that couldn't afford a chauffeured vehicle," Jan noted. And a lot of business comes from affiliate companies that book Fisk Limousines for travelers

A growing segment of business is group travel, one reason the company recently bought more vans and will soon purchase more coach buses. The buses feature cloth seats, seat belts, overhead luggage racks and a TV screens. Various sizes hold from 14 to 35 people, serving college athlete groups, corporations and visiting business groups.

"Last weekend I noticed we had buses in 11 different cities," Howard said. "Every vehicle we had was gone."

One more lesson for new business owners: Expect to make mistakes.

Take those 2006 trolleys: There appeared to be an interest in having trolleys downtown, so the Fisks purchased two. Ultimately, there weren't enough customers to pay the bills, so a couple of years later the Fisks had to sell.

"I lost my shirt on those," Howard said.