Secret Of My Success -- Plating-Shop Owner's Got Brass

Dean Allstrom, president Art Brass Plating

Accomplishment: Allstrom, 56, has been in business for himself off and on since 1962. In 1979, he bought Art Brass Plating, then a three-person shop that did mostly decorative plating. Plating coats the surface of a material with a protective layer of metal, such as brass, copper or nickel. Customers, for example, include owners of antique cars. Other jobs have included plating airplane interiors and wood stoves.

At one time, in the mid-1980s, employment at the shop went as high as 45; now it stands at 22. Allstrom, dressed in blue jeans, a flannel shirt and satin jacket, speaks with a folksy drawl:

"A lot of people have taken a chance on me throughout my career. I try to return the favor, whenever I can. You can still trust people in business, you bet," he says.

Quote: "Sometimes I'm really stubborn. Back me into a corner, and I'll fight like mad to get out, whether it makes any sense or not."

Secret: "I've seen people smarter than I am, working just as hard or harder, who didn't make it," he says. "And I've seen people who haven't worked as hard, who are no smarter than I am, make it bigger. It's luck; that's all." Hard work and determination have helped, he says, but "sometimes you just get lucky."

Setback: Early in his career, Allstrom suffered two business disasters. In 1964, an explosion in a big curing oven - used to cure metal parts that his company was painting for corrosion protection - ripped the company's main work area. Fortunately, no one was in the area at the time; Allstrom had left the room just moments before the explosion. He and his partner moved the company and started over.

Two years later, a major fire in the new factory nearly gutted it. Allstrom says he got out of the corrosion-protection painting business after that and into metal plating. "Maybe the explosion and fire were lucky, too. They got me out of the painting business," he says.

Advice: "I don't think I could tell someone how to be successful," says Allstrom. He laughs: "First, I'd probably tell them not to do it at all. But, if they were intent on it, I'd just say, `Do it.' " Allstrom's one piece of practical advice for someone going into business for themselves: "Make sure you've got enough capital."

Reported by Times business reporter Tim Healy. Send your nominations for this feature to the Times, Business News department, P.O. Box 70, Seattle, WA., 98111.