- Story by Tess Van Straaten Photography by Don Denton

Story courtesy of , a Black Press Media publication
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After more than 15 years running a busy and successful company, Nanaimo entrepreneur Dominic Staniscia says the biggest mistake he made was not launching his business sooner.

鈥淎 friend of mine and I had been talking about it for years,鈥� says Dominic, owner of City Tile Nanaimo. 鈥淚 should have done it sooner.鈥�

Dominic was selling turkeys and chickens for Lilydale 鈥� a job he鈥檇 been doing for 10 years 鈥� when he finally decided he鈥檇 had enough.

鈥淲e were out fishing one day and we were 25 miles offshore and I said, 鈥榁ince, let鈥檚 do this, I鈥檓 ready to do this,鈥欌�� Dominic recalls.

That was August of 2003. By the end of November, Dominic and his partner, Vince D鈥橝ndrea, opened City Tile Nanaimo. For Dominic, the drive to be his own boss and make the company a success fuelled his passion.

鈥淔or nine years, I worked seven days a week, and then my kids got involved and I was able to take a day off,鈥� jokes Dominic, who is 60 this year and still works six days a week. 鈥淚 just love it 鈥� I love the business.鈥�

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All of that hard work and passion has certainly paid off. City Tile Nanaimo celebrated its 15th anniversary last November and business is booming. The first location was 2,200 square feet. After seven years of growth 鈥� including during the recession 鈥� they expanded 400 per cent to a 9,100-square-foot facility before buying land to build their current 13,000-square-foot location on Boban Drive.

鈥淲e鈥檝e grown it to the point where now the kids can run it,鈥� says Dominic. 鈥淚n order to do that, you have to train the kids properly, so I鈥檓 working lots to show them what true work ethic is. If I didn鈥檛 work as I hard as I do, I don鈥檛 think they鈥檇 get it.鈥�

Dominic and his wife, Rose, have three daughters and they all work in the business, along with two son-in-laws. It鈥檚 a family affair and Dominic says it鈥檚 also important to treat staff like family.

鈥淭he best advice I鈥檝e ever received is that you can鈥檛 do it on your own,鈥� he says. 鈥淵ou need good staff and you have to treat your people properly and respect them. You need to treat them like family, and if you do, everything should work out.鈥�

Dominic admits that when he started the company there was a lot to learn. And over the years, he says, the biggest lesson has been about buying product.

鈥淵ou don鈥檛 make money selling 鈥� you make money buying,鈥� Dominic explains. 鈥淵ou have to buy right or you鈥檙e not going to make a profit. You have to focus on getting it at the right price and then selling it at the right price. If you don鈥檛, you鈥檒l be stuck with product and you鈥檒l lose money.鈥�

Dominic travels all over the world to source the best tiles. He regularly travels to Italy, Turkey, Spain, Brazil and China. It鈥檚 something he loves to do, but also says it鈥檚 key to the businesses鈥� success.

鈥淵ou really need to do this because the manufactures are there with all the newest trends in design and if you鈥檙e not there, you lose out,鈥� he says. 鈥淲e receive these containers on a weekly basis and it鈥檚 nice to see the world in a different way.鈥�

One of the ongoing challenges is to keep inventory fresh in a face-paced industry with constantly changing design trends. A few years ago, they ran out of space to hold new products and had to decide what to do with older stock.

鈥淩otating stale product with new product involves risk, decisiveness and, at times, sacrifices,鈥� says Dominic. 鈥淲e came up with a solution that gave us both room and cash flow. We purchased two tents to hold the outdated product and priced it at such a significant discount, the products sold very well and that gave us much-needed cash flow to purchase new inventory.鈥�

Looking to the future, Dominic still wants to grow the business but says his goal is also to 鈥渟emi-retire鈥� and let his children run it.

鈥淚 plan on slowing down a little bit because you have to have balance,鈥� he says. 鈥淢y wife and I have been married 38 years come September and we want to travel more.鈥�

As for quitting his day job and deciding to launch the business? Better late than never.

鈥淚 was 45 years old when I started the company, so it鈥檚 never too late to start a business or do things you鈥檝e always wanted to do,鈥� Dominic says. 鈥淵ou鈥檝e got to love what you do. If you don鈥檛 go to work happy and raring to go, you鈥檙e not going to succeed. You have to be passionate about what you鈥檙e doing.鈥�

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