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A small distributor planning to grow his business finds the terrain may change en route
By Rebecca Trela
BACKGROUND
Editor’s Note: In the June 2007 issue, Print Solutions profiled Tim McClellan, a Washington, D.C.-area distributor who set three goals for the year: reach $1 million in revenue, hire an employee and get organized.
We asked five business experts, Tim’s clients, his wife and even Print Solutions readers to provide insights to help him attain his goals. At the halfway point, we checked in with Tim to find the business growing, although a few of his goals have changed.
To catch up on the back story, including reader comments and online-exclusive interviews, visit www.printsolutionsmag.com/issues/june07/page26.cfm.
“I am building the ark before the flood comes,” Tim McClellan says, explaining an e-commerce system, part of the many preparations he’s making to offer new products and opportunities to his clients. Since charting a path for three major business goals six months ago, the Fairfax, Va., distributor has often discussed laying the foundation for a long-term growth plan.
After selling for a Virginia printer for 13 years before starting his own business, McClellan is a print industry veteran. He knows commercial printing inside and out, and it composes the bulk of his work with Washington, D.C.-area associations, nonprofits and religious groups. The one-man business is four years old, earning a healthy revenue while allowing McClellan time with his wife, Kristen, and two-year-old son, Josh.
In the spring, however, he decided to formalize a few aspirations—grow his revenue, hire an employee and get organized. “I know the plan has changed a little since then,” Tim says, “but it’s changing to different needs and opportunities as they arise or I learn something. If I make a goal, get there halfway and bring on a handful of new clients, it’s moving in a forward direction.”
E-xamining E-Commerce
To save time and become more technologically proficient, Tim tried a software program, the P3 Expeditor, which handles back-end processes at a distributor’s office. “It saved me time with redundant tasks,” he says, “but I wasn’t hit with a lightning bolt.” Compared to the more robust e-Quantum and DemandBridge systems, he says, “It’s like comparing a VW bus to a Ferrari.” After deciding on e-Quantum, however, it’s been lots of educational time—evening hours about three or four times a week for a month and a half.
In June, Tim attended the e-Quantum client conference in Savannah, Ga., as a brand-new customer. “There is so much to learn about this software, I can’t do it justice in just a few sentences,” he told fellow distributors in a PrintSolutionsMag.com online discussion. “I’m looking at this like a part-time job or a semester class. Also, the focus on increasing revenue is always in the forefront. The more flexible schedule will have to wait.”
The e-Quantum software, he says, “basically runs a distributor’s office. There are a lot of things that I don’t do yet, but I’m working on.” He knows he needs to offer an e-commerce solution, McClellan says, and is working toward that goal. “I’ll probably use a few of my older customers as guinea pigs,” he says. Ideally, the e-commerce capabilities will attract new customers he couldn’t otherwise get and will build revenue.
“Tim mentioned that he was going to buy some software and set up online purchasing,” says Daisy Kinard, production manager at a national association for admissions counselors and a longtime client of Tim’s. “I told him that sounds okay, but there are a lot of glitches to watch for.” Online software she’s used in the past, she says, was ultimately frustrating because it wasn’t intuitive and took up too much time. “But I like that Tim isn’t limited in the things he can do, and he’s always suggesting a new creative idea,” she says.
One of the reasons to add e-commerce software, McClellan says, is because his competitors do or will—and in that group, he includes local direct-selling printers, many of whom are very web-savvy.
Staffing Woes
“Another thing I felt I got strong advice about—from the business experts, from the SDS, from everyone—was to hire someone,” McClellan says. He’s been looking for someone to work part time on the business but has yet to find the perfect situation.
Initially, a partnership with another distributor or sales rep was his ideal arrangement, but he later learned that that arrangement can be a legal and financial nightmare. “Figuring out how to run a small business is a skill all by itself,” he says, “in addition to the skill of selling print.”
In the late spring, he started talking to a full-time mom on his block with graphic design experience. Tim works from home part of the time, and when he was gone she would perform CRM duties and occasional graphics work for his clients, about 15 to 20 hours a week.
Eventually, he says, she wanted more graphics work and fewer administrative duties, and wasn’t interested in learning the e-commerce system. “The D.C. area is a really hard job market,” he laments. “There are a lot of high-paying jobs around here and it’s difficult to find someone who’s a good worker and still be able to pay them.”
Tim’s wife Kristen, who worked in sales for 10 years after college, also considered lending a hand at Strategic. In this plan, Kristen would have made sales calls and added promotional products to the mix, possibly calling on her old contacts in the pharmaceuticals industry. Her mother, a schoolteacher, would take care of Josh part-time.
The needs of balancing work and family life, however, have put this plan on hold, at least for several years. Kristen is expecting the couple’s second child in March, and won’t be spending her time on sales calls.
Tim is still looking for a good fit, however. “I’m still continuing with this idea. I need to find someone to be in communication in the office so I can go out and do what I do best. It just hasn’t worked out yet.”
Revenue Streams
Today, after a quick lunch in Alexandria, Tim is on his way to iron out some details with a new client, a contact who moved to a new firm. So far, the work has been commercial printing, 4-color brochures and some business cards, but today’s meeting is about a variable data print program.
The Washington, D.C. consulting firm has a government contract, and the program will offer personalized benefits to wounded soldiers. “It’s a very nice program,” he says, “and it’s really personalized to each soldier, not like some variable postcards I’ve seen. It’s got a lot of pieces to it.” It will be Tim’s first VDP program, representing another foray into the “next level” of savvy, successful distributorships.
Referrals, he says, continue to be the strongest way to grow his business. Although the initial goal was to add all-new clients, McClellan has found expanding his worth within branches of a business or association to be a better source of revenue for him. He’s picked up a few new clients this year, but counts one of his more rewarding successes the reopening of an account he lost about two years ago.
“The company had represented a huge chunk of my business at that point, and all of a sudden, a new manager there decided that they were going to work only with New York companies, where they’re based.” With a personnel change, Tim has won back the business.
Part of the problem finding new business is attributable to marketing, Tim says, not blaming the recent economic rollercoaster of subprime mortgage fallout or sinking value of the dollar. “Here in D.C., the housing market is pretty insulated and for the most part, none of my clients were hit.” Tim’s last marketing program, versioned 4-color brochures, didn’t yield as many clients as he’d hoped.
“A lot of the problem, I think, was that it wasn’t enough contact,” he says. “I’ve read that the right number of contacts is six to eight, whether it’s phone calls or pieces of mail or visits or something else. You have to keep yourself relevant in front of the prospect.” He knows he needs to write a marketing plan, he says, but needs outside help to fine-tune a schedule and goals for several years into the future.
Joe Walkup, president of Nashville, Tenn.-based distributorship Innovative Business Products, invited Tim to speak at the 2008 Small Distributor Summit. Unfortunately, Kristen’s due date for the baby is that weekend, but Tim says he will use the summit as a motivator to start and monitor a marketing plan, with the hopes of sending his results for Joe to share with the group.
“I admire Tim’s business,” Walkup says. “I’m glad he’s going to use this as a way to stay focused.” Walkup, who is a father himself, knows how hectic caring for children and managing an office can be. “I have a wonderful staff here,” he says, “And as Tim grows and he can add an assistant, he won’t get as bogged down in the paperwork aspect.” The key to staying on top of the task, Walkup says, is developing an all-encompassing plan to put the marketing in context.
Despite the hours logged learning an e-commerce system, time management and growth are otherwise on track, McClellan says. Their family managed to steal away to the beach for nearly a week in September “Only a few phone calls!” he confesses.
“I’m trying to keep the right perspective on life,” he says. “Right now, I’m busy with fall orders and that’s great. But I don’t want to be in this for the riches and end up with no family time.” Of course, he clarifies: All owners are in business to make money. “I’m excited about what I’m doing with the business. But at some point it’s important to put down the phone and live your life. Actually, compared to this time last year, I think I’m happier, all things considered.”
Rebecca Trela is assistant editor at Print Solutions magazine. Email comments to rtrela@psda.org.