My name is David Manley and we started our business, ProLift Garage Doors of Amarillo in 2022.

So, the majority of my adult life, I was in retail management. After 26 years, I got tired of it. Me and my wife [Natascha] spent two years kind of going on a journey, trying to find something we would like... a lot of praying... Ultimately, we landed on ProLift.

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What's one of your favorite memories in your business?

There's a couple of them, but the most favorite is the day we signed our franchise agreement. But, there's some other ones, like taking care of a customer when their door messed up on them. When we're able to go in and  take care of them - those are pretty rewarding as well.

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How does your business get to positively impact your community?

We partner with Fill with Hope through our non-profit, Kids Lift. That's been so rewarding for us just to give back. We started a food drive with them. We do a food drive in Canyon every year in October. We help them with their mission to stop hunger in Canyon ISD. It's the right thing to do when you have the avenue and the means to do it.

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What tips do you have for other people starting a small business?

Hold onto your cash. That's one thing I wish I would have known before. You think that, when you're in business, you still think like a consumer. "I've got the money to buy this new truck and trailer. Why do I want to finance it?" So, I spent thirty grand on a truck and trailer. I wished [later] I would have financed that even though it doesn't make sense financially, but [I learned] to help grow the business, you really need to hold onto your cash.

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How did the SBDC help on your business journey?

If anyone is looking for a good resource to help your business, the SBDC is the place to be. It's a great asset to have in our community.

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If you had a time machine would you visit the future or the past?

I would visit the past, for a couple reasons. To meet my wife sooner, we've been married 5 years, and to take the information that I have now when I first started my business. That would be very helpful.