American Accessories was founded in 1960. They take orders for customized products needed in a short time frame. They have offices in the US and China, and partner with over 120 manufacturing facilities world-wide. The company has a high percentage of industrial engineers, and always hopes to improve efficiency in their work processes. They deal with fortune 500 companies, and hold no inventory. It is likely that they are working on 50 to 100 projects at any given time.
Eric Zeanah, the American Accessories president, majored in Industrial Engineering at UT. Before his senior year, he took a part time job at American Accessories. He soon joined as a full time employee, delaying his graduation. He enjoyed working with the company and took over the presidency in January 1995. At the time, the company was struggling. Eric recognized that if they continued with their current path, they would not be successful. He had a vision for a new direction, however, and has built and outstanding company to work with and for.
He values personal relationships in business. He stresses that the more personal your business relationships are, the better off you will be in the long run. He also stressed that this is a good way to determine what the market wants. You must listen when you have the opportunity, and take to heart what they say to you.
Eric is determined to have control over his business; he refuses to do business with anyone who attempts to determine how your interactions will be. He stated, "I will not let another company dictate the success or failure of my company." Because American Accessories is so successful, they do not have to do business with anyone that they don't want to work with. This is important to them, and they intend to continue working this way.
American Accessories values dedication, hard work, personal relationships, and a desire to learn. These values have carried them far, and will continue to do so in the future.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
John Platallero, EventBooking
We stayed in our classroom again this week and had John Platallero of eventbooking.com as our speaker.
John's first job was at Alcoa. During that time, he worked some on the side promoting concerts and became familiar with the concert industry. In 1993 or 1994, John saw a website for the first time, and thought it was amazing. He remembers that day vividly, and it played a major role in his ultimate career path. At one point, John missed an opportunity to book a concert because of calls back and forth. He thought to himself, "What if we can put calendars on the internet?" He thought that if he could get a calendar on the internet, then agents and venues would have a common place to look, and could book concerts more easily. He ran the idea by a friend, who agreed with him. He then began to run the idea by many people, trying to get honest opinions.
Through a unique set of circumstances, John was able to go back to school and get an MBA from UT. In a class, he wrote the business plan for eventbooking.com. When he started the company, he needed money for software developers. He warned that it is easy to look desperate when asking for money, which can give the wrong impression to investors. He got a few people involved in the company (two salesmen, one programmer), and went to speak with venues. The most consistent problem was that the venue managers were unfamiliar with the internet, the basis of his company.
They made the decision to deal with top-tier venues only. John advises that you should pick your market and stay focused on it. He also said that things take longer that you expect them to; it took five years to really get things going with eventbooking.com. He eventually got agents to back him up, and used them to get venues. There are approximately 450 top-tier venues in the US, and John had 200 of them signed up. However, there was a flaw in their business. There was too much customer work. The venues didn't update their online calendars because it was too much of a hassle to do.
At this point, John spoke with his customers about what they could do to improve the current system. He decided that instead of a portal for communication, it would be best to build an online application to improve "today value" for venues. They spent years winning one customer at a time and figuring how to change their company. They decided to focus only on the venues and let the agents continue their old ways.
Now, eventbooking.com is thriving. They get lots of calls from people that need web-based software. They have 80% of the arenas in the US using their software, as well as most of Canada, some in Chile, some in China, and plans to start in Europe. They are going back to working with agents again, telling them that they will book more shows with eventbooking. They recently booked Disney, and now are getting more calls than ever. They have applications for the iPhone, Droid, and Blackberry.
He says he has wonderful people working with him. His programmer never turns down an assignment or idea. He says that with enough time and money, we can do anything.
Eventbooking is a very customer-centered company. They have no automated answering machines, and work to interact closely with the clients.
They have no legal protection of their software; their only protection is constant improvement and trying to stay ahead of the curve.
John says that during his time with eventbooking, a scripture has led him. "Trust in the Lord with all your heart... lean not on your own understanding."
Eventbooking has been profitable for five years and currently has ten employees.
John's first job was at Alcoa. During that time, he worked some on the side promoting concerts and became familiar with the concert industry. In 1993 or 1994, John saw a website for the first time, and thought it was amazing. He remembers that day vividly, and it played a major role in his ultimate career path. At one point, John missed an opportunity to book a concert because of calls back and forth. He thought to himself, "What if we can put calendars on the internet?" He thought that if he could get a calendar on the internet, then agents and venues would have a common place to look, and could book concerts more easily. He ran the idea by a friend, who agreed with him. He then began to run the idea by many people, trying to get honest opinions.
Through a unique set of circumstances, John was able to go back to school and get an MBA from UT. In a class, he wrote the business plan for eventbooking.com. When he started the company, he needed money for software developers. He warned that it is easy to look desperate when asking for money, which can give the wrong impression to investors. He got a few people involved in the company (two salesmen, one programmer), and went to speak with venues. The most consistent problem was that the venue managers were unfamiliar with the internet, the basis of his company.
They made the decision to deal with top-tier venues only. John advises that you should pick your market and stay focused on it. He also said that things take longer that you expect them to; it took five years to really get things going with eventbooking.com. He eventually got agents to back him up, and used them to get venues. There are approximately 450 top-tier venues in the US, and John had 200 of them signed up. However, there was a flaw in their business. There was too much customer work. The venues didn't update their online calendars because it was too much of a hassle to do.
At this point, John spoke with his customers about what they could do to improve the current system. He decided that instead of a portal for communication, it would be best to build an online application to improve "today value" for venues. They spent years winning one customer at a time and figuring how to change their company. They decided to focus only on the venues and let the agents continue their old ways.
Now, eventbooking.com is thriving. They get lots of calls from people that need web-based software. They have 80% of the arenas in the US using their software, as well as most of Canada, some in Chile, some in China, and plans to start in Europe. They are going back to working with agents again, telling them that they will book more shows with eventbooking. They recently booked Disney, and now are getting more calls than ever. They have applications for the iPhone, Droid, and Blackberry.
He says he has wonderful people working with him. His programmer never turns down an assignment or idea. He says that with enough time and money, we can do anything.
Eventbooking is a very customer-centered company. They have no automated answering machines, and work to interact closely with the clients.
They have no legal protection of their software; their only protection is constant improvement and trying to stay ahead of the curve.
John says that during his time with eventbooking, a scripture has led him. "Trust in the Lord with all your heart... lean not on your own understanding."
Eventbooking has been profitable for five years and currently has ten employees.
Barry Goss, Pro2Sorve
We stayed in our classroom this week and were visited by Barry Goss of Pro2Serve (Professional Project Services). Barry is the CEO of this company, founded in 1996. They started small, as all businesses do, but now have over 300 employees and eight separate offices. Pro2Serve sells knowledge and solutions, but not products.
Barry has a Ph.D. in engineering and has no formal business training, aside from a few workshops. He began working with SAIC, a large employee-owned engineering organization. He soon began to develop an interest in the business side of things. He went to Europe and the US to determine what was changing in their field and how to compete with those trends. He learned to get a half a step ahead of the market and stated that if you are a full step ahead, you will go broke, and if you are even, you are a commodity. The best place for a business to be is just a half step ahead.
The DOE set up an environmental management organization and needed three people to head it. One was to go find and manage the project, one was a proposal manager, and the other was a program manager. Barry played the role of all three of these on five major bid efforts in one single year. They won all five bids, and created hundreds of million dollars in business. Barry states that the sign of a great business leader is to detect an overwhelming trend and make it their goal.
He likes an atmosphere of new and interesting products being produced by new and interesting projects. He noticed trends, and began collecting articles about them in a folder. Finally, one day, he went through them all.
He says that the experience of being a group senior vice president at SAIC was what taught him to run a business, but the job made him feel like he was wearing golden handcuffs. He didn't want to let them go, but he wanted to try starting a business on his own, from the ground up. The president of SAIC even offered to help him out, but Barry needed to get out on his own. Luckily, though, he was able to take his stock with him and burned no bridges in the process of leaving.
"Built to Last" is Barry's favorite management book of the 90s. He built a company that grew quickly, but he knew that they had to prepare for bad times. They made changes that other people did not understand, preparing them for what was to come. All his changes were made with careful regard for the company's original values. He advises, "Good companies have a core set of values that never change. The market always changes. Be ready." He wanted to establish a company on a set of values that he believed in. They established early in their bylaws that they were committed to giving back to the communities in which they work. Ten percent of each year's profits, dispersed over the next year, is spent on the community.
Pro2Serve does not advertise. They do not hold press releases. They were blessed with angel investors. They have been very lucky.
Governmental contracting requires an auditable financial system. You must figure out what your core competency is and protect it.
Barry's last words of advice were that when you go to work for someone, you should look for a company with the same beliefs and values that you have. If you don't believe in what the company is doing, you will never be happy there.
Barry has a Ph.D. in engineering and has no formal business training, aside from a few workshops. He began working with SAIC, a large employee-owned engineering organization. He soon began to develop an interest in the business side of things. He went to Europe and the US to determine what was changing in their field and how to compete with those trends. He learned to get a half a step ahead of the market and stated that if you are a full step ahead, you will go broke, and if you are even, you are a commodity. The best place for a business to be is just a half step ahead.
The DOE set up an environmental management organization and needed three people to head it. One was to go find and manage the project, one was a proposal manager, and the other was a program manager. Barry played the role of all three of these on five major bid efforts in one single year. They won all five bids, and created hundreds of million dollars in business. Barry states that the sign of a great business leader is to detect an overwhelming trend and make it their goal.
He likes an atmosphere of new and interesting products being produced by new and interesting projects. He noticed trends, and began collecting articles about them in a folder. Finally, one day, he went through them all.
He says that the experience of being a group senior vice president at SAIC was what taught him to run a business, but the job made him feel like he was wearing golden handcuffs. He didn't want to let them go, but he wanted to try starting a business on his own, from the ground up. The president of SAIC even offered to help him out, but Barry needed to get out on his own. Luckily, though, he was able to take his stock with him and burned no bridges in the process of leaving.
"Built to Last" is Barry's favorite management book of the 90s. He built a company that grew quickly, but he knew that they had to prepare for bad times. They made changes that other people did not understand, preparing them for what was to come. All his changes were made with careful regard for the company's original values. He advises, "Good companies have a core set of values that never change. The market always changes. Be ready." He wanted to establish a company on a set of values that he believed in. They established early in their bylaws that they were committed to giving back to the communities in which they work. Ten percent of each year's profits, dispersed over the next year, is spent on the community.
Pro2Serve does not advertise. They do not hold press releases. They were blessed with angel investors. They have been very lucky.
Governmental contracting requires an auditable financial system. You must figure out what your core competency is and protect it.
Barry's last words of advice were that when you go to work for someone, you should look for a company with the same beliefs and values that you have. If you don't believe in what the company is doing, you will never be happy there.
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