The Shell station was on Route 9 in Wellesley, a busy divided multi-lane highway with heavy traffic and strong competition. At that time the oil companies were putting gas stations wherever they could, concentrating on market share rather than profitability, so there were many stations competing for the same customers. The location itself was good — Wellesley and nearby Weston were upper-class residential communities with well-maintained cars and people who cared about quality service.

The biggest challenge was not the competition from other stations. It was establishing a reputation from nothing. The previous Shell operator had used the station primarily as a high-volume gas outlet and had not invested in the repair side. When Shell kicked him out he moved to another location in Wellesley and took most of his regular customers with him. I was starting from zero.

The American mechanic from the Texaco station would not commute to Wellesley, so I had to hire new people — attendants to pump gas and a mechanic for repairs. Finding a good mechanic was not easy. I interviewed many people and was disappointed by most of them.

Zdenek Dana, an older white-haired man who was working at a steel mill in Norwood, came to see me about the mechanic position. He was Czech, had emigrated after 1948, and had been working as a mechanic for most of his life. He was calm and methodical and clearly knew what he was doing. I offered him the job at a salary that was better than what he was making at the mill.

A few days before he was due to start, I got a call late at night from Zdenek. He told me he had told his wife about the job change and she had made him promise not to take it. He apologized and said he could not come. I thanked him and hung up.

The next morning at 7AM Zdenek was at the station. He told me he had thought about it overnight and decided that his wife was wrong and the job was right. He worked with me for the next several years and became one of the most reliable people I ever employed.

Zdenek was quite a character. In Czechoslovakia he had spent many years in a communist prison for political reasons. He had a very direct way of speaking and very little patience for dishonesty. He knew how to read people quickly and his judgment about customers turned out to be remarkably accurate.

Zdenek knew 2 Czech mechanics who were working with him at the same steel mill. One was Milan — not my brother-in-law, a different Milan — and the other was Vasek. Both were excellent mechanics. Over the next few months I hired them both. We now had a strong repair team.

The first 2 to 3 years were not profitable. Everything I made went back into the business. I paid myself almost nothing. I was working 70 to 80 hours a week, pumping gas, managing the repair bays, handling the books, dealing with suppliers. Jeanne and I lived on her trust income and what little I could occasionally take out.

But the reputation grew. In Wellesley, word of mouth traveled fast. A customer who was satisfied told his neighbors. A customer who was not satisfied also told his neighbors. We made sure the satisfied customers outnumbered the others. When we made a mistake — and we made mistakes — we owned it and fixed it at no charge. That approach cost money in the short run and built loyalty in the long run.