History

As he applied this learning to the business, sales grew steadily, along with profit margins and bottom line return on investment. When Brunswick Corporation sought a strength equipment company to acquire, they concluded that ParaBody was the only company in the industry that, in their words, "knew how to make money."
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Breaking Through
After assisting with the transition under Brunswick Corporation, Jerry was left to ponder what to do with the second half of his life. He decided he wanted to help other entrepreneurs experience the success he had achieved. Jerry's first step was to incorporate all of his knowledge and experience into a strategic planning regimen called "Break Through Thinking" (see a summary of this system under Our Process ). Through the Break Through Thinking process, Jerry has helped over 60 companies develop and write their strategies.

Initial Successes
Less than a year into its Mission, Breaking Through began working with Octane Fitness, a recent start-up company who was marketing elliptical training exercise machines through Specialty Fitness retailers. Breaking Through provided expertise to help secure financing, implemented Break Through Thinking, provided expertise in accounting, finance, and operations, helped recruit a Board of Directors, and remains involved on the Board. In five years, Octane Fitness was sold to an investor group, providing a six-fold return to investors.

Breaking Through is currently working with Torque Fitness. See Our Companies.

Jerry Dettinger, founder of Breaking Through, started a business in 1989, grew it into a $25 million company over 20 years, and sold it to Brunswick Corporation in 1999. This is the story of one company's pursuit of the American Dream, and the founding of another company, Breaking Through, to help pre-launch or recent start-up companies realize their own piece of the American Dream.

The Beginning
Most companies you see today, large or small, started out in someone's basement, den, kitchen, or garage. In 1989, Jerry Dettinger and Steve Duncan started making weight lifting benches in Jerry's father's garage. They named the company ParaBody. Their Vision was that strength training was about to become an accepted regimen for mainstream athletics and conditioning, and they saw a need for equipment that was safer, easier to use, and more biomechanically correct. After the initial success that is characteristic of many new start-ups, they began to encounter the disorganization and near chaos that comes with growth. So Jerry sought the counsel of Henry Teipel, a business consultant.

The Turning Point
After listening to Jerry talk about his business for nearly an hour, Henry leaned forward and said, "Young man, you don't know anything about running a business." This moment changed everything. Jerry embarked on a self-education journey through books, articles, published studies, seminars, and consultation with experts in their field.