For Reading's Jim Martin, It's Back To Work He Goes

Jim Martin was following the retirement script. It goes something like this: work hard, retire, go to Florida, play golf.

But something about it didn't feel right. At 70 years young, Martin wanted to go back to work. So on the 15th hole at Thomson Country Club in late July, a life-changing discussion started. The fact he and his playing partner put two in the water, added a few extra minutes. By the time the conversation ended the seeds for a new career and a new company had been planted. Months later, Martin has created Home Project Minder, a company dedicated to making everything from big remodels to waiting on the cable guy easier for homeowners.

"I enjoyed playing golf all summer long and then I decided that winters were too boring. And since my wife works it would be poor form if I just decided to take off for Florida for a couple of weeks. So I began to get some ideas about things I could do during the winter to keep my self busy. The seed of the idea germinated when I was discussing how business was going with one of my guys at my club. He was telling me that scheduling was the biggest part of his business problem," said Martin of his friend who was involved in the sales and installation of heating and cooling units. "Scheduling correctly allows them to have their cash flow the way they want it. Once you make the sale it's key to get the installation done as quickly as possible because then they get paid. I thought of that and I said, wow, I can probably help with that.

"If I was to put myself out there and say I will come to your home and be there while the installers are there ... construction, installation, cable, what-have-you, I will come to your home and stay there and allow the people to come in, then lock up after they leave. If you don't want to be there, or can't be there, I'll be there to do that piece."

You might recognize Martin. He moved into Reading in 1985 and lives with Sylvia, his wife of 18 years. His two daughters went through Reading schools and still live in town. And you might call him "involved." He's gone to Board of Selectmen meetings and was at the first Reading Embraces Diversity event at the high school. He has opinions on the town and maybe even the upcoming override vote, but that's a story for another day.

He was born in Somerville and graduated from Somerville High in 1965. He then served in the Air Force from 1965-69. His first job was as a janitor at Polaroid in Waltham and he sells himself short when he says he "climbed the ladder." Climbed is right, all the way to becoming Polaroid's Federal Government Sales Manager. Classes at Bentley helped as Martin became the first employee in Polaroid history to move that far up the ladder.

After 26 years at Polaroid, he left to become the North American Government Sales Manager of British company DeLaRue, where he worked for five years. Then it was seven years as Government Sales Manager for Digimarc, which was based in Oregon but had an office in Burlington. His last stop was seven years as Director of Government Sales at Qmatic Corp, a Swedish company based in North Carolina. He guesses he retired in late 2012, maybe early 2013.

In all four jobs his focus was on large government identity solutions, like passports, driver's licenses, voting documents, and other forms of government identification.

Forty-five years on the job and you'd think that would be enough and retirement beckoned. And it did for a short time before he realized he missed it, which led to the discussion on the back 9 at Thomson. But Martin knew better than to leave the North Reading course and start a company. So he ran it by Sylvia.

"She was very supportive. I kept telling her 'I wish I was a professional person again.' That's the biggest thing I miss. I felt like I was losing my identity as a professional person so I needed to do something that was rewarding for myself that ran along a sales line so I could develop a solution to a problem, and then implement it, and sell it."

He also ran it by friends from his old companies. "They all responded positively. They gave me some good ideas."

One of his first steps was to get a professional and personal liability insurance policy because, "I thought that was an important component of what I was going to do to build trust for the potential customers."

Speaking of trust, why should a homeowner trust you in their house?

"Because No. 1, I'm insured so I went to that length to make sure that the customer is happy; No. 2, I think I've built up a lot of credibility in the community over the years; No. 3, while I was in the Air Force I had a secret security clearance. I was entrusted with very specific and confidential missions. In the business I was in there had to be complete trust because you don't want to be involved in any type of controversial activities around multi-million dollar procurements."

He's on Facebook and Angies List, his business model and pricing are complete, and he's pondering a website and an app. Martin is networking with people in town as well as area realtors. And what about the cost?

"I have a daily, weekly and a half day fee," said Martin, who hopes to stay within a 15-mile radius of Reading. "I think I'm going to pick up a lot of business because people say they'll come in and do your dishwasher or some small plumbing job, or the cable company is coming and they usually have a four-hour window. I'll come in for a half day."

And that half day costs $75.

He's already at work, what he calls his beta site, and helping out his brother-in-law in Magnolia who is gutting his home. Both his brother-in-law and his wife work, "so I kind of jump in there when they need me."

Martin has advice for others on the back-9, or the 15th hole as he was.

"If you don't want to drift off into deep retirement stay active, maintain a level of professionalism. You don't want to lose that identity that you had ... Don't be an 'I used to be' person."

Jim Martin used to be retired. Now he's back on the first tee, this time with Home Project Minder.

Photo by Bob Holmes