Our Story
Tim McNeal, founder of TMAPE, first went into business when he saw the need for a minister to have someone take care of his cassette tape ministry. This business included recording, editing on open reel-to-reel tapes and then mastering to cassette tape and high-speed duplication of the tapes. He also took care of the subscriptions and marketing of the recorded cassettes. Soon the business expanded to 16 ministers as clients with varying degrees in participation of the services offered. The volume of recorded cassette tapes being sold exceeded 10,000 annually and Tim added part-time employees. To help reduce the cost of the production of tapes Tim contacted BASF, a manufacturer of the tape that goes into the cassette shell about buying this directly from them. Tim hit it off with the sales rep who said, "We don't normally sell to a business as small as yours, but I like your tenacity and I'm going to set you up an account." This gave the business the ability to custom load the length of the tapes. Tim named his business McNeal Audio.
As the business grew it had the need for multiple business forms. Tim researched for wholesale forms suppliers to use for his clients. Also, with the added employees and the need for computerizing things like printing the labels on the tapes, addressing packages for mailing, automatically generating invoices, etc. Tim inquired computer consultants and found there was nothing available in the way of software for what he needed for the personal computer. IBM compatible computers were not available yet and the MacIntosh had not hit the market when Tim started. So, Tim set out to write his own software to cover these needs and his own payroll program for paying the employees and the government's share. The business name was renamed to McNeal Software and Audio.
Tim also began selling forms outside his own business and hired a salesman to work on commission. After a year of selling forms to outside businesses, Tim made an agreement with the salesman that he could have the forms business on the condition that the ministry business would get the forms at cost. Thus, the business was given to the salesman at no cost. The salesman renamed the forms business to Form-Masters. Chris, the salesmen had a heart for missions and eventually sold the business to another individual in which he used the sale of the business to start and support his work as a missionary in Mexico. You can visit the website of that business at Form-Masters, Inc. Chris is still active in his missionary work in Mexico.
Shifting Focus
A common saying in business is that 20% of your customers will bring you 80% of your business. This was true for Tim's business. Tim's main client had the opportunity to take on a pastorate in Indianapolis. With no internet in those days, it would not be easy maintaining a business of this type with two locations. So, Tim worked with another individual to take over the business locally and he moved to Indianapolis. The tape business continued to grow for a few years, but after a split ocurred in the church, sales began to plummet and eventually shut down. Tim got a job with the Private Industry Counsel, part of the Job Training and Placement Act (JTPA), as a Data Entry Specialist, but was really hired to write software for the branch. The pastor wanted a new start and went to another state. Tim eventually went to work for "The Trader," one of the largest commission ad papers in the nation which also owned and published the automobile sales magazine, "Wheels and Deals." The Trader also started a company called, "Traders Connection (TCON)" which was one of the first three Internet Service Providers (ISP) in Indianapolis. Tim continued on as a programmer for TCON. The Trader then sold out to a pulishing company in France which had no interest in keeping TCON. TCON closed down and Tim was immediately sought after by a startup company for his programming skills. Once the software was in place, Tim took on a programming position with United Airlines. During times of furlough, Tim did contract programming, sold insurance. delivered mail and even Customer Service for Northwest Airlines. Tim eventually went back to United Airlines and finally took an early retirement. In retirement, he went back into insurance. That is how the name "Asset Protection Enterprises" came about which is, TMAPE, or Tim McNeal's Asset Protection Enterprises. Insurance was not Tim's compassion, so he went to a school called MyComuterCareer.edu where he switched from software to hardware and networking. He was the first graduate to be hired as an instructor at the school. This was a part-time position and he was also getting contract work in the hardware field. Tim realized that "Asset Protection" was just as appropriate for a name in the computer industry as it was in the insurance industry, so the name stuck.
After about a year and a half, Tim was offered a full-time position to be a Field Engineer for a health company based in Tennessee that built and ran heath clinics across the country for corporations. Initally, Tim was to cover the Central Region of The United States, but the clinic in Columbus, Indiana required full-time support. After working there for a while, Tim told the District Coordinator of Operations what they could do to eliminate the problems they were having. If they adopted this, it would eliminate the need for a Field Service Engineer. The company did go with another software company and sought their advice and implemented their plan, which was the same that Tim had told the DCO. All the Field Service Engineers were phased out and Tim was the last to go.
Before leaving the health clinic Tim became exposed to internet sales. After leaving the health clinic he began driving for Lyft and started selling books on Amazon. When asked why books, he said that if he made a big mistake while learning this business, it wouldn't be as costly as making mistakes with big ticket items. Although, bigger ticket items are the goal. Tim expanded to other items and during this time has had items several times in what is called the Buy Box - that box you see next to the product listing just a few "other sellers." He also has had items listed as the main seller a few times. TMAPE is expanding and is always on the lookout for serious suppliers so TMAPE can provide quality & useful merchandise to consumers.