Man Gets Fired, Becomes Successful... Then Comes Back to Buy the Building


The story of Raymond Hill, the founder and owner of New Jersey-based Sequin City, is like reading a good book that has a happy ending. In the middle are all the ups and downs that keep you guessing how it's all going to turn out. But for Raymond Hill, it turned out very well. Basically, he was fired from his sales job--get this--for making too many sales, then started out on his own and eventually bought the same building where he worked before.

Raymond's success story

Raymond owns the only sequin manufacturer in the country. But ten years ago, he was actually fired from his sales job because the owner didn't want to pay Raymond his commissions. Guess he didn't think Raymond was going to be so very good at his job to reach over $1 million that entitled him to commissions. In fact, Raymond was so good that when his boss fired him, Raymond called all his customers to let them know he was going out on his own, and they followed him.

Ten years after the firing incident, the company Raymond had worked for went out of business and Raymond bought the building to house his own business, Sequin City. Not only that, Raymond is now sitting at the very same desk he used when he worked for the previous company. Now that is sweet!

Raymond's advice to others

Raymond commented that the timing could not have been worse for him when he lost his job, but he is glad it happened because it led to him doing what he always wanted to do and that is own his own business. But even though Raymond had excellent credit, he could not get a business loan. So he wrote a letter to the Governor of the state and eventually got a reply from the Governor's office, directing him to the New Jersey Economic Development Authority where he was able to get a $225,000 loan under the Small Business Fund. On top of that, he registered as a minority business owner and got a special rate as a supplier for a major theme park customer.

Raymond recommends to others to be ready for hard work and never give up. As he looks back at his own situation, he reflects "Even the difficult situations served a purpose. Had I not had those difficult situations I can’t say that we would have been as successful as we are.”

Way to go Raymond!!
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