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The Mule In Him Kept His Clydesdales Going By: Peter McClaranDoug Albrecht shoes Katie, one of his prized Clydesdales.
He's been operating his carriage ride business, Plantation Carriages At Kilohana, for 10 years under conditions that could have broken even the grittiest entrepreneur. At the end of 1996, after four straight years of losses and mounting debt, a Small Business Administration official told Albrecht he should file for bankruptcy. It only made him more determined to hang in there. "I've never even thought of giving up," he said. Good thing he didn't. August and September of this year were the best months he's had since he started his business in 1986, and this year will be his first year that he will break even since Hurricane Iniki hit in 1992, he said. Albrecht said his gross revenue this year will reach $135,000, up from $100,000 last year. He attributes this year's improvement to an upswing in the visitor industry and diversification. In addition to providing a carriage seven days a week for tours of the grounds at Kilohana, he's focused on marketing to wedding coordinators. Donning a top hat and tails and driving a formal wedding coach, he and his majestic Clydesdales transport bridal parties for weddings at Kauai Lagoons, the Hyatt Resort, the Princeville Hotel, the Kanai Coconut Beach Resort, the Lawai Beach Resort and Embassy Suites at Poipu. "This is the fastest growing part of my business," he said. Albrecht also has a sugarcane field tour in which he takes passengers on a historical and educational journey into the fields behind Kilohana in a big red wagon. Now that his business is back on track, Albrecht has the sense that he's been here before. He took a few moments recently while shoeing a draft horse named Katie to reflect on the past decade. He struggled for the first five years, but Albrecht said he was buoyed by revenues that increased steadily from $59,000 in 1987 to $130,000 in 1992. "I felt like I had finally made it," said Albrecht. "I guess Hurricane Iniki was God's way of knocking me back down to earth."' While he and his wife Justine and their one-year-old boy Donny were holed up in the Bank of Hawaii building with their friend, banker Jim Mayfield, the storm knocked the top story off of their house next to Kilohana, destroyed much of his equipment and much of their personal possessions. To make matters worse, Iniki blew a four-foot-high and 20-foot-long aluminum culvert from Grove Farm's commercial center into his storage area, destroying his best carriage, which was not insured. His six Clydesdales weathered the blow in their large pasture. Luckily, none left through the broken fence, and none got even a scratch. A friend of Albrecht's who was on the second floor of Kilohana said that during the calm of the eye, the horses changed their positions to put their backs to the shifting wind before it even started from the opposite direction. "They're pretty smart. They stayed away from the trees and debris," Albrecht said. "We lost everything we had except what was really important, our family and our animals," said Justine. For two years, they lived and worked in their 20-foot by 20foot office. At the same time, debts mounted. With no source of income, Albrecht mortgaged what was left of his equipment and got a $100,000 loan from the SBA. They spent the money to feed the horses and rebuild the facilities. Each of his six horses eat 40 pounds of feed a day, Albrecht said, including rolled oats, rolled corn, alfalfa and vitamin supplements, costing $8 a day each. "We went to the food bank and spent our money to feed the horses," Justine said. ~ Albrecht managed to get lines-of- credit from feed stores Tire Warehouse, Hale Kauai, Gary den Island Motors and the Kilohana Partners. Today, he makes monthly payments on $200,000 of debt that he didn't have before the storm. "I told them, 'give me a couple of years, I'll pay you off. Then, I'll be around to give you more business,'~ Albrecht said. "Without their help, there's no way we could've made it. I wouldn't want to go through a hurricane anywhere else," he added. In spite of the adversity,
Albrecht said he's still glad he accepted the offer when Kilohana Partners,
owners of Kilohana Plantation, recruited him to come to Kauai in 1986. At that
time Albrecht was operating a carriage ride business with his dad on the
historic streets of Fairbanks, Alaska. He started in the business at age I5.
"I just tell people, Yes, we live in paradise, and all we do is horse
around," said Albrecht. Even if that horsing around means working 80 hours
a week giving tours, marketing himself, fixing fences, feeding, grooming and
shoeing horses, mowing pastures, and trying to keep creditors satisfied.
Albrecht said, "Some |
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They've helped pull him through the worst.
The mule
in him kept his Clydesdales going. A question: Why do some small businesses
last while others fall by the wayside? If you ask Doug Albrecht, the answer
would be "sheer stubbornness." 
