Steve Kay
and Jerry
The story
of how we started. In 1992 I got off of passenger cruise ships after 6 years and decided
to become a film actor and director. I took a job as a taxi cab driver in San Francisco as
a way to keep the money coming in. I learned a lot in the summer of 1992. In October 1992
I produced and directed a short film called "It's in the Bag". I then
co-directed another short film. I also appeared in over 10 major feature films including a
speaking part and close-up in "So I Married an Axe Murderer". I worked as an
"Extra" in Kuffs, The Rock, Fearless, The Joy Luck Club, Angels in the Outfield,
Metro, The Net, Copycat, and Jack. I studied acting for 3 years. I continued driving a
cab. After 6 years the daily amount to lease a taxi had risen from the $55/shift in 1992
to $95/shift in 1997.
I figured out that more and more people were taking Town Cars as a
means of transportation to the airport. It seemed like a natural for me a make a move and
start my own Town Car Service. I bought my first car from an ad in the paper and started
in January 1997. I started working with some of the hotels that I had been with as a cab
driver and then added a few corporate accounts. As I continued marketing the business I
got to a point that I was giving away more orders than I was able to drive myself. After a
couple of months of this overflow of orders I figured that with all of this business I
could afford another car. In October 1997 I bought my first ever new car. It is the 1997
Town Car. February 2, 1998 the 1994 was rear ended and in the week that it
took to fix the car I quickly realized that having 3 drivers, enough business for 3 cars
and yet only one car was impossible so I bought a 3rd car. It is another black on black
1997 Lincoln Town Car. Then in April 1998 I took a trip to Los Angeles to be at the
Director's Guild of America premiere of my the first film that I got to star in called
Candle smoke. While I was in LA my friend Paul took me to the headquarters for
Krystal Coach where I bought my first stretch limousine that day. I took delivery
May 1, 1998. I have now bought 3 new
cars in the 1998 and things were moving fast. My focus was on
the corporate accounts and less on hotels. I then had to make some tough decisions.
I was finding that we were doing a lot of business but were not profitable in view
of the new growth which added overhead, new taxes, and insurance.
So I met with my
accountant (Peter) and we determined that we needed to raise the prices. On June 1,
1998 we raised the rate to and from San Francisco Airport. The strategy is to get
profitable in the next year. Well we grew again. November 25, 1998 we got
our first 1998 Black on Black Town Car. We then had 5 cars. The original plan
was to replace the 1994 original car and upgrade the fleet. I was encouraged to keep
the 1994 to see if we could use it to help with the still increasing business. I
did. We still had it as of February of 2000. In December of
1999 we had another first. This was the first month that we bought 2 cars in the
same month. I got a 1999 Black on Black sedan and a Tuxedo (black on top and white
on the bottom) 1995 Krystal 8 passenger stretch limousine. I also ordered
an all new 6 inch factory stretch 2000L model . We took delivery of it in
2000L.
I added a TV/VCR to the L series and it is now the new
"supersedan". I hope that we can replace the other cars with
this combination. The branding of the supersedan is a winner.
I also opened our e-commerce site www.mrlimo.net
that allow for online payments in 2000. It was a bit difficult to set up but now
that it is working it has been terrific. I also set up our online database
that allowed customers to make online reservations and get confirmations within
2 hours by utilizing ASP page technology. It is a very slick system that
notifies me on my pager, Palm VII, and in the office every time an online
reservation is made. It has made online reservations a 10 second
process.
I sold the original MRLIMO5 to a nice couple in Napa who are
using it to start their limo company in late 2000. We then went to 7 cars.
With the economy slowing in the dot com sector in 2001 our business is going to
be growing at a little slower pace. I paid off 5 cars by the end of
2001. 4MRLIMO was paid off as of January 2001. Mid 2001
we paid off MRLIMO3. July 2001 we paid off MRLIMO8 and MRLIMO1. We
have also introduced in car wireless credit card transaction terminals and GPS
fleet tracking. The death of the dot.com seems to have taken its toll on
many companies however we actually had increases in gross in the first half of
2001. The events of 9/11 were difficult to deal with. The first week
after the event we cancelled $10,000 dollars in reservations. The grosses
for the next few months slipped an average of 20%-35% per month.
Somehow that seems ok in view of the fact that many other companies went
bankrupt. Other companies were down about 50% per month for the next 3-4 months.
I am glad that we had paid off 5 cars by the end of 2001. We currently
only have 1 car payment. I think the future may be brighter. We have
been dealing with the slowdown of the Iraqi War and hope with the end of the war
that business will improve. We have sold our Tuxedo 8 passenger 1995 limo
and now have recently sold MRLIMO1 to Jose and MRLIMO5 to a guy from
Colorado. The fleet is down to 6 cars including 4 sedans and 2 stretch limos. With
about 12 good months in 2004 we may be out of debt soon.
Then I had a
dramatic change in my life. In June 2004 I went to
the hospital. I was diagnosed with AIDS. I spent about 2 months in
hospitals. While I was in the hospital I sold my company to my lead driver
Jose. He had dispatched and driven for me. I sold him the company
for the price of the cars. He took over the Mr. LIMO name September 20th 2004. Since
then I moved out of my apartment in Pacific Heights and into a board and care facility for people living with AIDS called Maitri.
They have 24 hour nursing and all my needs are attended to. The doctors
have told me that I have neuropathy, lymphoma, and taxoplasmosis and have given
me a prognosis of 6 months to live in July 2004. I gave up my apartment
and liquidated all my assets. I prepared to die.
It is now May of 2005 and
I am still alive. I have been told that now I am to healthy to continue
living in my present living situation even though I had pneumonia in January and
23 stitches from abdominal surgery in May 2005. I have been reunited with my purpose and have
reclaimed Jerry my ventriloquist puppet and have began to get him out the box. God is working
miracles in my life and I continue to be grateful to be alive everyday.
Brian from AIDS housing alliance told me that if I got an MRI of the tumor in my
brain that if it looked like it was going to explode he would personally
advocate for me to stay in the hospice but if it was in remission and if I felt
good enough he would help me get an apartment. In June 2005 I had the MRI
of the tumor in my brain. After that an amazing event happened. The
doctor called me and told me that the tumor had disappeared. I was then
told by my doctor and the administration of the hospice that I was to healthy to
live in a hospice. I moved into an apartment south of Market in San
Francisco August 26, 2005. I moved out of the hospice August 27,
2005. I have had Jerry's suitcase repainted to reflect "our" new
image as a ventriloquist/poker player. Miracles continue in my life
and I thank God everyday to be alive.
Several events have happened since then. January 1st
2006 I started typing daily updates of the process of the newly diagnosed Lymphoma
if the lungs that I got in November 2005. You can read the updates at www.stevekay.com
if you are interested in the progress of this disease and my way of dealing with
it.
Please pray for me and
continue to use Mr. LIMO and support Jose and the boys. We are glad you have found your way
to this page. Enjoy the ride with Mr. LIMO. Thanks for you
support. The
growing pains have been many. It seems like just when I take one step forward there
is something to send me two steps back, but I am persisting. I remind myself of a Zig
Ziegler quote quite often: "Inch by Inch it's a Cinch". I also ponder a quote that I learned in college. "Luck is when Preparation meets Opportunity".
So far I have been prepared and found the opportunities. Some would say that
I am very
lucky. I feel GOD is watching over me. You be the judge.
Mr. LIMO is here to serve you.
Steve Kay
Steve Kay
Copyright © 1997-2005
All rights reserved.
Last Revised: January 25, 2006