Maverick Metal Trading, Inc

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Five years ago and just a few months after the country was rocked by the attacks of Sept. 11, Brad Lane made a life changing decision. He had a stable job, working in the metal industry – an industry he had worked in for 17 years. But after the world changed on 9-11, he decided to take a chance and make a change of his own by opening his own business. “You hear the saying that 'it's not the destination, it's the journey that counts,'” Lane said. “If your not enjoying the journey, change it. I kept thinking about the guys on the plane that crashed in Pennsylvania. They knew where they were going, and decided to change the course.” Now in it's fifth year of business, Lane's Maverick Metal in Ennis continues to grow and prosper. The journey hasn't been an easy one, but it's clear that Lane has found what he was looking for. And in a business climate and industry dominated by the big chain stores, Maverick Metal has carved out a niche and built a loyal following of customers who appreciate the service they get from what started out as a one man show. “The best thing about what I am doing now is being able to talk to my customers and helping them solve their problems,” Lane said. Sitting down with Lane in his office at 2402 S. Kaufman, he is comfortable and relaxed, but the stacks of papers on his desk and the steady ring of incoming calls testify that his days are busy and his business is growing. When he started Maverick Metal, the business consisted of a small steel warehouse and Lane was the only employee. Soon his wife Debbie was pitching in at nights, helping with the bookkeeping, even though the couple was also running a separate business in downtown Ennis. The days were long but Lane was used to hard work and little sleep. Back in his college days, he had worked nights and gone to school during the day, sleeping as little as 3 hours out of every 24. “If I came home and there was a newspaper there, I knew I had to go to class. If I came home and my roommates were awake, I knew I had to go to work,” Lane said of those sleepless college days. “It just went round and round. There's no way I could do that now. I'm too old.” It wasn't long before the Lanes decided to close the downtown business and put all of their efforts into Maverick Metal, where customers were fast learning they could get a level of service that was often hard to find in the “big box” stores Lane was competing with. The new customers brought new requests and Maverick Metal was quick to respond to their needs. “We started off as just a small steel warehouse,” Lane said. “There was a need for metal buildings in this area and since I had the experience we started that. Now we do a lot more metal buildings than I thought we would do.” That ability to listen to his customers, adapt and add the products they want is a big part of Maverick Metal's success. “If different people ask me for something three times, I'll bring it in,” Lane said. It wasn't long before Lane learned of another need and moved to meet it. “A lot of my customers were asking about recycling so we added recycling and this year we have have added glass (recycling),” he said.

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