Oct 15, 1998

The Real Decoy

 

To raise cash, some Inc. 500 CEOs resort to raiding their retirement funds. That's nothing. Frank Frazier sold his personal coin collection, several guns, and 300 duck decoys to get his grocery distribution business off the ground. Texas Premium Foods & Distributing's first rusty delivery truck was driven by none other than Frazier, who used the back of the truck to change into a suit before meeting with customers. His cheapskate ways paid off--that is, until last year: the company's ancient computer system died, taking with it a year's worth of financial data. He was forced to hire 26 temporary workers to reenter the information. Then he purchased new software. This time, he didn't need to finance it with duck decoys.