Ozarks Profile: John Gott

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Tell us about your company.|ret||ret||tab|

The business has been an evolution of Sound & Lighting Specialists, a company that I started with my past partner, Rick Norton, in 1990. I have been in this same type of business since 1972 when I started in business with a retail music store on The Plaza Shopping Center called The Rock Shop. In the past three years, SLSLoudspeakers has redirected its focus from the design, installation and rental of sound and lighting systems to being a manufacturer of quality loudspeaker systems. We are publicly traded on the Over The Counter Bulletin Board under the stock symbol SITI and our stock has tripled in the past 30 days. A-mong other growth developments, as the result of recent trade shows, internation-al distributors have been signed in Canada, Singapore, Mexico, Greece and Korea. SLS Loudspeakers does business under the corporate ownership of SLS International Inc.|ret||ret||tab|

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What are some of the "growing pains" you have encountered?|ret||ret||tab|

The growing pains have been many. The main one is that we are located in Springfield and most of our business is now national and international. This causes lots of travel. It has also been difficult to generate local support because it seems that the local people don't seem to think that something that is a new worldwide leader in technology could come from here. It seems they don't associate high tech with Springfield. They should look at what has come from here in the past. Many great products, companies and people. Don't sell Springfield short. We are creative and entrepreneurial hillbillies.|ret||ret||tab|

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To what do you attribute the company's success?|ret||ret||tab|

Our people, our tenacity and our ability to change hats regularly every day. A few of us do the work of many in larger companies. We have built an organization that has products rivaling companies with 1,000 employees and billions in revenue. The success is due to the talent of our team at SLS and their ability to work in sometimes very difficult situations and get the job done.|ret||ret||tab|

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What advice would you give to businesses working to achieve growth?|ret||ret||tab|

Work hard and pay attention to your customers' needs and requests, and don't get caught up in a day-to-day routine and lose focus of your dream. Get outside of the box and make plans and look at those plans every few days to stay focused on the future. If you snooze you lose.|ret||ret||tab|

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Tell us about your family.|ret||ret||tab|

I have two great children who are both very bright and creative. My daughter Amanda is 23 and is working on a degree and career in fashion design. My son Bryce is 15 and is becoming a very proficient musician and songwriter. However, my extended family consists of all the employees of SLS and their families. SLS is not just me, it's all of us here. I'm just the guy that supplies the oats and water to keep the wagon train heading to the gold mine and the field of dreams!|ret||ret||tab|

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What are your spare-time pursuits? |ret||ret||tab|

My spare time activities are child raising, golf, exercise, off-road bike riding and occasionally playing music. I'm an old rock-n-roll drummer.|ret||ret||tab|

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