Success Story
North KC site-utility construction firm benefits from SBTDC expertise
In her own words (below) Lynn Anderson tells the story of the company she and her husband started 14 years ago and how the counselors at the Small Business & Technology Development Center helped them.
What do you do when your employer decides to call it quits?
Picture this: you have worked your way up in this construction company from laborer, to operator, to foreman, to project superintendent, to estimator, to vice president. Then the boss says: "I'm closing the doors."
But, when one door closes, another one opens. The old boss gave us favorable terms on the equipment and tools he owned and Anderson Backhoe was established.
That was 1993. Fourteen years later, here we are. We incorporated in 1997: Stanley Anderson, president, and Lynn Anderson, vice president - a husband-wife team.
Stanley Anderson (right), along with his sons Neal (center) and Lyle, stands next to his company's 115-horsepower Komatsu backhoe.
From the meager beginnings of man and machine for hire, Anderson Backhoe Inc. has carved a niche in the plumbing and site utility construction field. As a licensed master plumber, Stanley sought jobs requiring permits, which was one way we began to establish a diverse customer base. Water main extensions, water meter installations, water line installation and repair are just a few examples of the work we do.
Small business owners wear many hats. In the construction industry, the same holds true. Learning the ropes from the bottom up, makes you appreciate the demands each job entails. And with the combined effort of all involved, the company achieves excellence as an end result.
Sounds easy, doesn't it? Hardly. Contractors today find themselves faced with demands unheard of by their predecessors. The days of the "good ol' boy" and gentlemen's agreements are long gone, replaced with pre-qualification questionnaires, HR, affirmative action and OSHA compliance, just to name a few.
The challenges we have faced over the years are not any different than those faced by other small business owners. Location was probably one of the first challenges. We started out with the office based in our home and rented space for storage of equipment and tools. As the business grew, so did our need for space. Then we purchased a commercial building conveniently located in Riverside, Mo. (in the north Kansas City area), where our office is currently located. It contains enough shop space to do routine maintenance on equipment and to store our tools and vehicles.
Visit www.missouribusiness.net/success/anderson.asp for the complete story with additional photos.
Your local Small Business Development Center can help with your business success. Appointments may be made for free consultations on small business issues by contacting the SBDC office near you.
Gear Up Early For Holiday Sales
Seventeen tips for success
The holidays seem to come around more quickly each year, particularly for those who own retail and service firms that count on this special season for a large portion of their annual sales.
To ensure your business gets noticed among the flurry of snow and shoppers, we've compiled the following list of tips that may prove useful to you as you face the busy holiday season.
- The holidays are a season of gratitude. Don't forget that when interacting with your customers. Yes, you want to make sales, but the holidays are a good time to acknowledge their patronage throughout the rest of the year with a simple thank-you card or e-mail message. No matter high-tech we get, we can't forget to be high-touch too.
- If you send a card, have it signed personally by members of your staff. Receiving a card mechanically stamped with "Holiday Greetings from the ABC Shop" doesn't create that warm holiday feeling you're seeking. Start early in the year, and have employees sign the greetings when they have some spare time.
- Give your customers a gift by offering a special promotion or incentive. Extend the promotion past the holidays into the new year so customers can spend any gift cash at your business. Discounts always help consumers make spending decisions, particularly on items they may want for themselves.
Visit www.missouribusiness.net/docs/holiday_marketing.asp for all seventeen tips.
For more on marketing for the small business, visit the MissouriBusiness.net Resource Library marketing section.
UMKC Small Business & Technology Development Center Offers Year-long Mentoring Program to Small-Company Leaders
Applications are being accepted for a year-long mentoring and professional development program aimed at chief decision makers of small established businesses.
The second annual "CEO Coaching & More ..." is set to start in January 2008, according to Carmen DeHart, director of the Small Business & Technology Development Center at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.
"This program offers world-class training, networking, analysis and strategic coaching services to help entrepreneurial CEOs take their high-potential companies and careers to new heights," says DeHart.
To qualify for the program participants must be their company's chief decision maker. Also the company must be at least two years old, have a minimum of three full-time employees, and generate $400,000 or more in annual sales. The program costs $99 per month and requires a one-year commitment.
Among the benefits, participants will receive monthly one-on-one assistance from expert coaches; design a custom professional development plan; participate in six high-impact training seminars; form a peer-to-peer group of fellow entrepreneurs for networking and peer coaching; and receive a progress update.
For more information or to apply contact the UMKC SBTDC, 4747 Troost, Kansas City, MO 64110; phone 816-235-6063; e-mail umkcsbtdc@umkc.edu or visit www.ceocoachingandmore.com.
Deadline for applying is Dec. 1, according to DeHart.
The program is a collaborative effort of the UMKC SBTDC, the Helzberg Entrepreneurial Mentoring Program and the Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at UMKC.
Business Going Green
TAMKO recycled products hit the road
TAMKO Building Products Inc. is one of the nation's leading independent manufacturers of residential and commercial roofing products, waterproofing, composite decking and railing systems, and cements and coatings. The Joplin, Mo.-based company also is taking the lead as an environmental partner.
One TAMKO project uses trimmings from new shingle manufacturing to pave highways. Instead of taking scarce landfill space, the shingle material is ground and blended into high-quality rut-resistant asphalt that costs nearly $5 per ton less than conventional asphalt.
For a typical paving job that savings can add up to $150,000.
Another TAMKO product manufactured with recycled plastic, sawdust and other trace materials, may soon be stabilizing landslide-prone slopes along the nation's highways.
The project was initiated in 1998 by MU civil engineering professors Erik Loehr and John Bowders, who devised a new way to support unstable roadside slopes using recycled plastic pins inserted into the soil every three-to-six feet. The Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) tested the technology on interstate embankments and found the pins prevented slides at a lower cost than more traditional techniques.
MoDOT promoted the technology to American Association of Transportation officials, who designated the Missouri project as one of the premier advances in the transportation infrastructure industry for 2007. This designation will encourage transportation departments in all 50 states to use the product and technology.
Article on Patent Basics Available on MissouriBusiness.net Web Site
Missouri Business Development Program staff just added a new learning module on patents to the MissouriBusiness.net Web site. Entitled How to Obtain a Patent, the module, part of the "Jump Start Learning" series, offers a basic review of the subject and answers to frequently asked questions regarding patents.
The piece is based on information derived from the United States Patent and Trade Office and is authoritatively reviewed by Mark Manley, patent agent and consulting engineer with the SBTDC at the University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg. It addresses such issues as patent searches, types of patents, and the patent application process.
To learn more about patent basics, find the module at www.missouribusiness.net/training/jumpstart/patent1.asp. For specific questions on patents and other intellectual property issues contact Manley at www.ucmo.edu/x71364.xml.
MU's IAC Program Honored by DOE for Energy Efficiency Efforts
The Industrial Assessment Center at MU's College of Engineering recently received a certificate of appreciation from the U.S. Department of Energy, according to Bin Wu, industrial and manufacturing systems engineering professor and director of IAC.
Alexander Karsner, DOE assistant secretary and head of the department's energy efficiency and renewable energy office, awarded the certificate in recognition of IAC's "contribution to achieving energy efficiency." The certificate is related to IAC's participation in DOE's Save Energy Now program, which has several hundred partners from across the nation including industrial plants, companies, trade associations, utilities, consultants, government agencies and universities.
MU's IAC provides energy and productivity assessments to Missouri industries. It promotes best practices in energy efficiency, reusable energy, waste reduction and productivity through integrating activities involving the University, state agencies, MU Extension, the Manufacturing Extension Partnership program, and statewide and local utilities and industrial associations.
"Specifically, we offer an energy audit and productivity assessments to qualified small-to-medium-sized manufacturing companies," says Wu.
To be eligible for a free energy efficiency and productivity improvement assessment manufacturers must: have annual total energy costs between $100,000 and $2 million; have no more than 500 employees; have gross annual sales of $100 million or less; and lack in-house professional expertise in energy use and conservation.
For more information on MU's IAC consult the program's Web site at www.iac.missouri.edu.
Send this newsletter to a friend
For more information about doing business in Missouri, visit the Web sites at www.missouribusiness.net or contact one of our service centers. You can find a list at www.missouribusiness.net/sbdc/centers.asp.
Subscribe to this newsletter at www.missouribusiness.net/newsletter_sign_up.asp. Unsubscribe information is found at the bottom of each eNews letter. We will never share or sell your e-mail address to others.
