Article
by Aaron Moscoe
for the PROFIT website - First Person Series
The Promotional Specialists ("TPS") is a supplier of premiums, incentives, and promotional products. TPS supplies everything/anything imaginable with a corporate or brand logo - from trade show giveaways and business gifts to embroidered clothing.
Growth and Balance - You Can't Do It All Yourself
When my partner and I started The Promotional Specialists in 1988, we could not have envisioned all of the challenges that entrepreneurship would present. The largest obstacle that we have faced is the typical conundrum of the small business entrepreneur - you can't do it all yourself.
In addition to looking after sales and management of the company we also acted as the company's lawyers, bookkeepers, accountants, cleaners, computer and communications experts. While many of these tasks are now either handled internally by valued employees or outsourced to experienced professionals, our largest challenge is still balancing the demands of daily account management and the overall management of the business.
Having built this business personally, we like to have things done our way - and who better to do it exactly that way than ourselves. The problem is that there are too many accounts to manage to allow us the time to plan and manage our business properly. Like many small business entrepreneurs we have tried to just work harder. After a while you learn that there is not too much of this or that, but too few of you.
Hiring others to do jobs that you handled previously is tough because it means relinquishing some control. While you can train employees, you also need to trust them and to realize the various ways they can add value to your business, even if it is by doing things differently.
Perhaps the most important way to grow is to realize that you must inevitably rely on others. Whether employees, suppliers, couriers, financiers, or key clients, It is dramatically important to choose those strategic partners carefully.
The challenge of how to grow without personally taking on too much is often ignored by small business entrepreneurs - some would say it is our very nature to do so. In the long-term interest of the growth of your company and in your personal sanity, you must address the issue of balance. One of the most advantageous things about being your own boss is that you can determine the right balance (and it does change from time to time).
The Importance of Strategic Partnerships
Most of the projects we undertake are deadline specific. Clients don't want their golf shirts the day after their annual charity golf tournament. Because of this "time-is-of-the-essence" nature of our business, we realized that we require good, trustworthy, competitive and reliable suppliers in order to build a solid foundation for the growth of our business.
Dedicating significant time and effort on supplier relations enables us to perform for our clients, often where our competitors can not. Here are a few true examples:
- Client A needs 7,000 t-shirts with a complicated print for Monday by 3 p.m. in Toronto. It is now Thursday at 5 p.m. and the shirts are in Montreal. The job was completed on time and with outstanding results thanks to two dedicated suppliers.
- Client B would love to have 2,500 custom printed travel mugs in their hands for Tuesday of next week. It is Thursday at 4 p.m., every Canadian distributor of the product is out of stock and the client has no additional budget for airfreight. Our long-standing relationship with an American supplier bears fruit - by 6 p.m. Thursday evening they have received artwork via e-mail and faxed a proof of the art to the client for approval. Printing starts at 7 p.m. and is finished before midnight, thus allowing the necessary time for the ink to cure before packaging. At 1 p.m. Friday afternoon the mugs are on a truck headed from Tennessee to Toronto. The mugs were delivered to the client on Monday, one day early, and we secured a long-standing loyal client relationship.
- We embroidered caps for client C with their event specific logo on short notice. However, the client forgot to tell us that their corporate logo needed to be embroidered on the back of caps. This would not have been a problem had it not been 7 p.m. the Wednesday evening before Thursday morning's event. At 9 p.m. that Wednesday night our embroiderer was back in the shop and the order was completed on time.
Not all of our partnerships were willful and foreseen. In addition to the wonderful partner-like relationships we plan and foster, we have found ourselves with other "necessary" partnerships, some of which should have been better planned.
Like most growing businesses, TPS required capital to finance growth, particularly in order to undertake certain large and important projects. We had not been planning for these requirements adequately. We assumed that because we had a relatively trouble free relationship with our bank, they would be a natural "partner" with whom we could establish an operating line of credit and possibly project specific financing.
We had advised our account manager of our anticipated needs and she assured us they would provide the facilities we were looking for. A few large orders were approaching and we were continually told that "it was just a matter of the paperwork being approved, something that takes time but will definitely happen". By the time we were under the gun the bank, our supposed partner, took advantage of our vulnerability and charged us unbelievably excessive fees and interest rates. We were left with no other options other than to forgo two of the largest orders we had seen to date. Once the order was completed and the facility repaid, we renegotiated the original fees and actually received somewhat of an apology from our bank
We were persuaded to stay with the same bank after "the decision maker" on our file, the branch manager of the largest commercial banking centre in our area, had told us that he had been impressed with our business and ensured us that "we are here to finance the growth of your business". That relationship continued to be costly (in both time and money), inflexible, frustrating, and unproductive.
We have since switched to The Bank of Nova Scotia and now feel that we finally have a "partner" who understands our requirements, our resources, and our priorities. We are now expanding the scope of our business with Scotia and will never underestimate the need for strong partner relations in this area again.
In today's competitive world of the globalization of business, new products, new ideas, and new manufacturing applications, we continue to build new relationships. The amazing thing is that we continue to work with many of the same suppliers we did back in 1988. It is important to always develop new partnerships and foster existing relationships with suppliers, clients, creditors, employees, and advisors. Partnerships must be mutually beneficial in the long run if they are to last. Accordingly, it is crucial to work with partners who value the contribution that your partnership brings to them.
Managing business growth requires reliable partners whose goals are consistent with and are supportive of your objectives. As owner/operators of The Promotional Specialists we are constantly adjusting to find the right balance between business and personal life. Having the right partners makes our constant strive for growth and balance one that is more easily attainable.
Aaron Moscoe
The Promotional Specialists
110 Riviera Drive, Unit 1
Markham, ON L3R 5M1
Tel: 905 474-9304
Fax:905 474-1463
