"The world stopped."
That's how Renee Wasylyk, principal and founder of Troika Developments, described what happened to her company when the financial markets crashed in 2008.
As a land and real-estate developer, Troika relied on banks for project financing, and, suddenly, nobody was lending.
"Sales stopped," she said, explaining that the company was living "hand to mouth" cash-wise. "It put us into a very difficult position."
Wasylyk said she started questioning whether it would be easier to give up the business rather than keep struggling to keep it afloat. But a conversation with her mentor, Len Tonn, changed everything.
As a farmer, septuagenarian Tonn had been through several financial downturns. He told Wasylyk that tenacity was the only reason he had been successful when others had failed.
"Every single day, wake up, put your pants on one leg at a time and get out the door," he told her. "Just keep walking."
Wasylyk said his words ignited an internal drive, and the shift in her attitude was instant. She gave up the idea of shutting the business down and started looking at what the company could do right away to ensure Troika would survive.
Given the new economic climate, Troika completely altered its product mix. It went from selling towers to selling single-family lots – a change Wasylyk described as "radical."
"Our construction company turned on its head and became a custom homebuilder rather than just dealing with $5 million to $25 million commercial structures," she said. "We slashed prices before others did to make sure that our inventory was moving first. We had to revamp quickly and do it well."
Wasylyk said the company has been very successful over the last five years. In 2012, sales increased 300% to $40 million.
"In the end, we sold product in a timeframe that others were not."
