We
celebrated the 25th year of Team Mates with a big party last month. I invited all of our local customers, many of
our suppliers and some colleagues within the ASI industry. I enticed them with the promise of my
homemade wine, some fabulous barbecue and the chance to embroider their own
shirt. The embroidery theme won the day.
We came up
with the ‘learn the art of embroidery’ concept at our 20th
anniversary party. We felt that this
would give our customers a better idea of the skills involved in decorating a
piece of apparel and we also wanted a chance to introduce customers to the
staff at Team Mates.
A lot of
people compliment me on Team Mates’ success.
My answer is that it is the people involved in this company
that make it a success. It is also our
customers and suppliers. It is not ‘my’
company. I just work here.
I spent
several years as a consultant to small businesses. It was not glamorous or fun, at least in my
experience. The first instruction that
every owner gave me was to ‘make the company pay them back’. It was always the same. In each case, the owner felt that his or her
investment of time, labor and money entitled them to a big return and that
whatever they were getting was not enough to justify the years of work. I only lasted about five years as a consultant. I got tired of telling owners that they were wrong.
A business is a living, breathing entity. It reflects its owners and as it grows, it is
transformed by the employees. It changes
and adapts if it is going to survive. It
stagnates if attention is drawn from it.
If an owner demands that the business provide more cash than is actually
generated, by, say, pulling out what might be considered a fair return on all
those years of investment, the business will die. The personality of a business, often confused with its 'culture' is affected by every single person who comes into contact with it.
The owner of
a successful small business understands this personality. The business is capable of
growth because there is ample credit and cash available. More importantly, there is an openness and
friendliness that welcomes customers and suppliers alike. The employees work at it with energy. The owner and managers and staff communicate.
Several
years ago, I asked our staff to help define what Team Mates is. Yes, we do embroidery. My questions related to what we are. Does Team Mates have a good personality? How do our employees view the company and
what can we do to make it better? What effect does a good customer have on our business and what happens when we have a poor customer?
The result was that we defined our relationship with the rest of the world. We identified our ideal customers and
suppliers. We created a model for them
and then actively sought them out. Internally, we helped our employees define their relationship with the company as a whole.
The process worked. Team Mates transformed into a better company, at least in our employees' eyes. No, I am not a believer
in having all of us sit around and do meditation. I do not look at any of this in some sort of
New Age way. We did these things in
order to create our business in a way that reflected the people who work here
and at the same time, allowed us to build a business plan that we actually fit. Yes, growth, sales and profitability are part
of the plan. The definition part, though, is
done with the goal of actually building a business that retains employees,
takes less risk and builds long-lasting relationships with customers, suppliers and staff.
The end
result, for me, was to discover something important about me and about Team
Mates. I work for the company. I took risks and worked hard at the beginning. At the end of the day,
though, I did not make this business.
Our employees did that. Our
customers did that. People who walked by
and noticed the company name did that.
Our suppliers helped us out.
I know that
while it would be nice to get rich from all of this, it is not going to
happen. At the same time, and at very
least, I have a place to work that rewards me with a little bit of money and a
lot of satisfaction in knowing that I work with a really great group of
people. When we had our party, I wanted
our customers to meet our employees. I wanted
them to talk, to get to know each other.
What better way to demonstrate that it isn’t just me showing the face of the
company. The attitude and dedication
runs all the way through. I think that we got the message across.
