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| Tony Ramos - Publisher |
Entrepreneurship
While every business is unique and different in certain ways, there is a common thread that runs through many of the specialty stores, retailers, dealers, distributors, and manufacturers in the patio, hearth, barbecue/grill, outdoor-kitchen, and outdoor-living industry. That's the fact that a large number of entrepreneurs make up our industry. For the most part, our industry does not consist of Fortune 500 companies or of companies that are recognizable names on the New York Stock Exchange or NASDAQ.
Ours is an industry that is largely composed of individuals or groups of individuals who set out with a creative and unique idea for a product or service, tapped into personal savings and/or a relatively small line of credit from a financial institution, threw caution to the winds, and (for the most part) ignored the risk factor associated with starting a business.
Over the past four years, the majority of specialty stores, retailers, dealers, and manufacturers profiled in the pages of Patio & Hearth Products Report have been founded—and are still operated—by entrepreneurs. In this issue alone, check out the number of businesses that were started by entrepreneurs. Most of these companies are still being run by their founders:
- in Spotlight (page 14), Caluco, Koverton Classics, Kingsley-Bate, and Skyline Design;
- in Marketing Maneuvers (page 16), Outdoor Elegance Patio Design Center;
- in the Marketing Maneuvers sidebar (page 18), Oxford Garden;
- in Hearth Specialty Retailer (page 20), Hickory Fireplace & Patio;
- in the Hearth sidebar (page 22), Forshaw;
- in Outdoor Grilling (page 24), Outdoor Kitchen Creations;
- in Showroom Showcase (page 28), Southern Casual Patio & Rattan;
- in the Showroom Showcase sidebar (page 30), Protégé Casual;
- in As I See It (page 32), Couristan;
- in My Turn (page 34), Three Birds Casual;
- in Last Word (page 38), Harman Home Heating; and
- on page 39, American Fireglass.
Our industry is fortunate that it has a large number of entrepreneurs at the helm. While these businesses are not going to see any bailout money from the federal government—and while most of the businesses in our industry will not benefit from a run-up in their stock prices or a two-for-one stock split—entrepreneur-run businesses have the advantages of being resilient, customer-focused, driven, and innovative (along with the ability to turn on a dime, if necessary).
Most entrepreneurs understand and accept the fact that change is simply part of being in business. In fact, many entrepreneurs started their businesses based on a change that took place in their own careers. It's not that there is anything wrong with working for a large corporation, but many successful businesses have been started by individuals who were let go by the corporate world due to restructuring or downsizing.
It's interesting to note that the vast majority of North Americans work for small or medium-sized businesses. Entrepreneur-run businesses do more than bring new and creative products and services to the marketplace; their tentacles reach far and wide, providing employment to millions. They help to stimulate the economy (based on the number of other companies they do business with), and many times, entrepreneur-run businesses continue to grow while large companies are looking for ways to reduce staff and cut back on purchases.
Never bemoan the fact that your business may not be as large as you originally envisioned or growing as quickly as you would like. Take solace in the knowledge that entrepreneurship is paramount in the long-term success of our overall economy; that it provides solid employment for millions of people; that it gets new, innovative, and creative products and services, at competitive prices, into the marketplace; and that it is at the heart of the success of the patio, hearth, barbecue/grill, outdoor-kitchen, and outdoor living industry.
Tony Ramos
Publisher
tramos@peninsula-media.com
PHPR May/June 2009
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