From My Desk: A Family Business

For some time, I have been wanting to start a regular blog post but have kept putting it off…well the time has come for that to change. My decision to start writing was kind of deep inside and hard for me to describe but one reason is I simply want to be a better writer. More importantly, I want to share some of the different business and leadership lessons I have learned throughout my experiences in a way that could help you in whatever it is that you want to achieve.

First off, a little about me. I’m a husband and father of three wonderful children. Sarah and I focus on raising our kids – Micah, Adella, and Titus – in a way that others can clearly see Christlike qualities. My wonderful wife has the most important job on the planet, being at home and taking the lead on teaching our kids right from wrong as well as taking care of all their needs at the same time. At this time in our lives, Sarah and I are into whatever our kids are into and we love it. More about my family in future posts.

I’m a 4th generation family business owner of HRM Enterprises (the parent company of Hartville Hardware, Hartville Marketplace, Hartville Kitchen and Lehman’s – it stands for Howard R. Miller, my grandfather) as well as the Chief Operating Officer’ of HRM Enterprises and President of Lehman’s. HRM was started by my Great-grandfather Sol as a livestock auction. Sol wanted to serve the community and provide a place for local farmers to sell their produce to the community he loved. After Sol came my Grandfather Howard. Grandpa Howard was the true entrepreneur and started many businesses throughout the years; some which were a flop and some which were a success. The three notable businesses that still stand today are Hartville Hardware, Hartville Kitchen and Hartville Marketplace. You can check them out on https://experiencehartville.com or on each of their individual websites.

Outside of business, Grandpa focused on creating a strong family. He did such a great job of it that my 19 cousins and I are closer than a lot of brothers and sisters. Grandpa loved starting new businesses, but he also loved serving others. For those that knew him best, the word “generous” comes to mind. Yes, he was generous with his money but, more importantly, he was generous with his time and talent. Although Grandpa has been gone for over 20 years, his personality still is evident in the culture of our business.

Our Founding Philosophy of Business still rings true today. These philosophies that Grandpa spoke about more than 20 years ago are still used today in making decisions about our business. One time when Grandpa was asked about what made him successful in business, his answer was simple but profound: Always put God first; treat our customers, suppliers and each other as we would like to be treated; and give back to our community. Do we do these things perfectly? No, but I can promise you these principles are still what we strive for today. Our purpose is to provide you with goods and services for you and we strive to treat you the way we want to be treated…because each of us want to be treated differently, each of us may or may not agree with how we go about it. I can promise you though, that our mission is to do the best we can. Until next time…

Zach Coblentz
330-620-9589
zcoblentz@hrm-enterprises.com

“I love to hear from customers – “Give me a call, send me a text or shoot me an email about your experiences with one of our family of businesses.”