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Biz owners in Goldman Sachs program top peers Automation By Chad Halcom chalcom@crain.com
Maybe the poet Langston Hughes was right: A dream deferred really can explode — at least when a business owner who has one finally stops putting it off as impractical and starts to execute. Small-business owners in metro Detroit who took part in the first few groups — or “cohorts” — of Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s 10,000 Small Businesses program have outperformed their peers in the 20 other local markets that have joined the national program since 2010, based on revenue and jobs growth after six months. Andrew Androff, co-owner and sales director of Professional Movers.com Inc. in Walled Lake, thinks that may be partly because companies here have more opportunity to make a name for themselves than small businesses in more crowded or competitive markets. Another reason might be the potential to diversify here. Androff, a graduate of the third cohort, said his company has added 11 employees since he completed the program this year. Head count is around 40 right now, including some summer help. Revenue is on pace to top $3 million this year, compared with about $2.6 million when Androff applied to participate in 2014.
COURTESY OF PROFESSIONALMOVERS.COM
Founder Chris Androffand co-owners AndrewAndroff and Patrick Crowley in front of one of the two trucks that ProfessionalMovers.com added to support the company’s growth. “I had friends outside of my business but never really had the chance to work in a group of people like this,” he said. “There were business owners of various sizes, people who were where we were five years ago or were where I wanted to be in five years. It was a good selection of business in different stages and each of the issues they face.” About three-fourths of the local participants in 10,000 Small Businesses had achieved revenue growth within six months of graduation, compared with about two-thirds of participants nationally. The program was introduced in Detroit in late 2013
by Goldman CEO Lloyd Blankfein and hosted by Wayne State University, Macomb Community College and Oakland Community College. Nearly 52 percent had added employees in metro Detroit in the same period since graduation, compared with 46 percent nationally. “It seems like once they committed and put the program in Detroit, it’s been very satisfying to see Detroit outperforming its peers,” Androff said. “They can see now that we were a leading city, not a trailing one or a pity invite.” Sean Gray, associate director of 10,000 Small Businesses at Wayne State, said the graduates not only outperformed the national average but also are doing better as a group than participants in any other region thus far. About 125 business owners have completed the program to date, while a fifth cohort of 31 participants began training in June and will complete it in October. A sixth cohort begins Nov. 6, and registration ends Dec. 11 for a seventh cohort that starts next April. “One challenge in metro Detroit is that people compete in a way by hiding their best ideas,” Gray said. “But one of the things we analyze is what gives you identity. If your biggest two contracts walk out the door, what is your business about now? What still makes you special?”
Gray said it’s too early to have any research on why Detroit is doing so well in the program, but he suspects some industries are so structured to encourage conformity and tailoring skills to customers that some business owners find an untapped market when they break out on their own. “If I’m doing $4 million a year, and $3 million is in this line of low-margin business I don’t really like but it’s what I’m expected to do, and the other $1 million is in something that’s highmargin where I have a lot of ideas — well, what if you took your capacity and instead did more of that thing?” he said. Androff said his company, founded by father Chris Androff in 1978, found new life five years ago after acquiring a formerly unavailable Web address and rebranding from Professional Movers Inc. to ProfessionalMovers.com. The company also shifted from a primary emphasis on freight and delivery service to office and residential moving services, which is now a majority of its sales. The company, with offices in Walled Lake and Detroit, also hopes to grow geographically with locations in western Wayne County and possibly Macomb County under a business plan Androff developed during the Goldman Sachs program. 䡲 Chad Halcom: (313) 446-6796 Twitter: @chadhalcom
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Alley: Trade missions spark exports By Dustin Walsh dwalsh@crain.com
Trade missions coordinated by Automation Alley have led to more than $507 million in export sales for participating companies, the organization reported today. Since 2001, 170 companies have participated in 24 trade missions to Mexico, Indonesia, Chile, Saudi Arabia and other countries. Company growth as a result of these trade missions has led to the creation of 2,817 jobs, the Troy-based business accelerator said in a release. “Our missions are results-oriented,” said Noel Nevshehir, director of international business services for Automation Alley. “These are not junkets; they are purely business, and our goals directly align with our results.” But new international export contracts often don’t come easy, Nevshehir said. “There’s this misconception that companies will go and come back with contracts in hand,” he said. “These trips are about building relationships, and the gestation period between these meetings and a deal can be anywhere from a year to five years.” Automation Alley’s next trade missions are to Mexico (Sept. 2025), the United Arab Emirates (November), Germany (April 2016) and Cuba (fall 2016). The organization said it is expanding its company pool to 14 from eight for the Mexico trade mission to “support Mexico’s extremely weak supply chain,” most of which will be automotive. Nevshehir said 82 percent of the global buying power is outside the U.S., so for small and midsize companies to compete, building international relationships is a necessity. “The future success of any business relies on diversifying globally,” he said. “And U.S. companies have an advantage. … The world craves U.S. brands for our quality and innovation.” 䡲 Dustin Walsh: (313) 446-6042 Twitter: @dustinpwalsh
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“The future success of any business relies on diversifying globally. The world craves U.S. brands.” Noel Nevshehir,Automation Alley