Ron Feinstein has started half a dozen businesses in his lifetime: a washer equipment business, a smoke detector installation business, a real estate investment company, a construction company, a carpet business and a hair salon. He’s one of those special types of businesspeople: a serial entrepreneur. The keys to being a successful member of this elite club he says are fiscal conservatism and a keen eye for opportunity. In many cases, he has used his existing businesses as springboards for new ideas. For instance, his Van Nuys-based All Valley Washer Service has been a channel for Feinstein to connect to other opportunities related to the apartment industry, he said. “I see doors open, and I see an opportunity in a related business,” Feinstein said, adding that he has always been one to find new ways to make money. However, he added that he is also careful not to jump into anything too hastily. “I don’t go out and buy anything or build anything until I know that I’ve got a solid foundation behind me,” he said. “I try to figure out what potential problems might exist down the road, what opportunities might be there … and I try to proceed accordingly.” String of businesses The road to serial entrepreneurism started for Feinstein at age 15 when he and his father started running a service out of their garage in Van Nuys repairing personal washers and dryers in 1959. The service eventually expanded to servicing coin-operated washers and dryers in apartment complexes. When the business became incorporated in 1970, Feinstein became its owner and president at age 25. The company now remanufactures, sells, leases and maintains laundry equipment for apartments, condominiums, mobile home parks and government facilities. It now has 70 employees. In 1980, he had another idea. A California law setting stricter smoke detector regulations created a need for the installation of more smoke detectors in many places, including apartments. Feinstein started Smoke Detectors Inc., selling, distributing and installing photoelectric smoke detectors, which were seen as less likely to set off false alarms. After getting some support from the fire departments in a few cities, Feinstein’s business took off. “I became the country’s largest distributor and installer of single-station (photoelectric) smoke detectors,” he said. Feinstein said the business, which is still active, was thriving but started tapering off in the late 1990s after he became more involved with real estate investment. Real estate focus Around 1986, Feinstein started his construction company with a partner and later took sole ownership of the company under the name Feinstein Construction Company Inc. After he started buying properties and launched Feinstein Investments in 1995, he mainly used his construction company to work on properties he owned. Feinstein invests in residential and commercial properties, which he rents and leases. He now owns about 70 properties in Southern California, Arizona and Nevada. One property Feinstein owns includes The Highjack Ranch, a ranch west of Frazier Park where he raises organic Fuji and Gala apples, alfalfa, Arabian horses and Angus cattle. Another business Feinstein owns is Hairways Salon and Day Spa in Newbury Park, which he and his wife started in 1986. Feinstein had also started a carpet installation company in the early 1980s, which was active for about 10 years. Through the business, he sold carpeting to apartment complexes in bulk and performed installation. David Minas, who was initially Feinstein’s business partner in the construction company, said the entrepreneur is successful because of his business foresight. “His ability to recognize the potential of a business and to recognize the potential of people is just amazing, and everything he does he just gives back to the community,” Minas said. “If he sees something good, he usually goes for it and improves it. “ Minas is now partner at Minas Developments LLC and owner of David Minas Construction. Financial balance Feinstein is no big spender. “I don’t drive fancy cars or live in fancy rooms,” he said. “I just take enough money, sock it away, and when I have enough money to put down for a down-payment (and) have a little reserve, then I will buy a piece of real estate.” When opening his businesses, he has generally avoided using credit and he makes a personal commitment to pay off his properties within seven to 10 years of purchase. Feinstein said that has helped keep him competitive in the real estate market, even during the housing meltdown. “Sometimes people leverage their properties,” he said. “They borrow money against their property and then they go out and buy something else, and then they end up with a high mortgage payment. So, then they’re trying to get a higher rent. I can go in and my properties are paid for, or almost paid for, so I can drop my rents, put somebody in there and keep it rented during the tough times.” While Feinstein said more government regulation makes it harder these days to start multiple businesses, he added that others can do it successfully if they are money-wise. “I don’t believe in leveraging,” he said. “I don’t go out on a limb. I do a little bit, but I don’t go out on a limb so far that I’m leveraging everything. You take your money, and put it back in your business. Feed your business and it will feed you.”
Serial Entrepreneur Used First Business As Launching Pad
