Past Winner Stories
Priio
www.priio.com
In the fall of 2003, the firm had three partners, a technician, a software engineer and an office manager. Financial reports showed an inexplicable decline in business. Although there was plenty of work, there was not enough cash to cover the bills.
The partners stopped taking paychecks, met weekly to review the financial situation and sought ways to improve income and decrease overhead. By March 2004 the situation was dire. What they didn’t know was that from October 2003 till January 2004 the office manager had been embezzling from the company and providing fabricated financial reports to the partners, outside accounts and the State of Indiana.
When they woke up to what was going on, they had $90,000 in credit card debt, $60,000 in unentered invoices, $0 left on their line of credit, $5,000 in the bank and a looming state sales-tax audit.
“Some business owners may think the only choices in a situation like this are staff reductions, bankruptcy or closing,” says President Larry O’Cull. “We did not.”
The partners were honest with their employees about the desperate financial situation, informing them that the partners were diligently working to correct it, but that they could miss a paycheck or two in the meantime. The employees expressed their commitment to the company and, fortunately, missed no pays.
The partners immediately called suppliers, admitting to what felt like a problem that stemmed from sheer ignorance. From the beginning, the company’s policy had been to make sure suppliers were paid on time and treated professionally, a policy that paid off when every supplier extended terms to allow for recovery.
When they called their customers, they responded with input like, "We’ve been thinking about some things that need to be done. Would it help if we paid 100% upfront?"
“This incredible demonstration of faith by our suppliers and customers caused us to really look inside,” O’Cull says. “It provided strength and conviction to become innovative in finding a solution fast.”
The partners decided they needed "heavy-duty" business help. “We had been working ‘in’ our business and not ‘on’ it for some time,” O’Cull admits. They hired an advisory board to help with management aspects of the business and help create a debt reduction plan that included an SBA loan with Regions Bank.
“The SBA loan process forced us to put together a well considered business plan,” O’Cull says. “During the plan generation we realized we had no specific brand presence. We contacted 5MetaCom and worked closely with them to define and refine our core values and brand nucleus.”
During the brand discovery process the partners realized what they were good at: developing products that are intelligent and interactive. “We learned the value of branding a company or process, and how important it is to provide the people in the organization with the reference standard and expectation of a brand to work toward,” says O’Cull.
With 5MetaCom's help, Priio developed materials to promote its business and draw attention to the company and its newly trademarked name. They discovered areas where they lacked "process" methods to improve communication with customers, systems to control the quality of the services provided, systems to secure accounts and data, as well as tools to help secure customers’ and their own intellectual property.
The company formalized documentation and procedures. They created systems of accountability and acquired software to keep the process of tracking and data management as simple and as automated as possible. As processes improved, so did progress.
The result has been smart growth. Priio’s staff has grown to 12 and sales to $1.2 million. The company continues to expand its resources and capabilities.
“Even though we will continue to pay on the debt created by our ex-employee for some time, we are believers in lessons learned,” O’Cull concludes. “Trust people, but institute systems to protect your business, brand, employees, suppliers and customers.”
Meeting daily business challenges is difficult enough for a growing company, but product design and engineering services firm Progressive Resources LLC (now Priio) saw its existence threatened from within when it traced cash shortfalls to an embezzling office manager. The changes it made to engineer its comeback have made it into a better, wiser company.
In the fall of 2003, the firm had three partners, a technician, a software engineer and an office manager. Financial reports showed an inexplicable decline in business. Although there was plenty of work, there was not enough cash to cover the bills.
The partners stopped taking paychecks, met weekly to review the financial situation and sought ways to improve income and decrease overhead. By March 2004 the situation was dire. What they didn’t know was that from October 2003 till January 2004 the office manager had been embezzling from the company and providing fabricated financial reports to the partners, outside accounts and the State of Indiana.
When they woke up to what was going on, they had $90,000 in credit card debt, $60,000 in unentered invoices, $0 left on their line of credit, $5,000 in the bank and a looming state sales-tax audit.
“Some business owners may think the only choices in a situation like this are staff reductions, bankruptcy or closing,” says President Larry O’Cull. “We did not.”
The partners were honest with their employees about the desperate financial situation, informing them that the partners were diligently working to correct it, but that they could miss a paycheck or two in the meantime. The employees expressed their commitment to the company and, fortunately, missed no pays.
The partners immediately called suppliers, admitting to what felt like a problem that stemmed from sheer ignorance. From the beginning, the company’s policy had been to make sure suppliers were paid on time and treated professionally, a policy that paid off when every supplier extended terms to allow for recovery.
When they called their customers, they responded with input like, "We’ve been thinking about some things that need to be done. Would it help if we paid 100% upfront?"
“This incredible demonstration of faith by our suppliers and customers caused us to really look inside,” O’Cull says. “It provided strength and conviction to become innovative in finding a solution fast.”
The partners decided they needed "heavy-duty" business help. “We had been working ‘in’ our business and not ‘on’ it for some time,” O’Cull admits. They hired an advisory board to help with management aspects of the business and help create a debt reduction plan that included an SBA loan with Regions Bank.
“The SBA loan process forced us to put together a well considered business plan,” O’Cull says. “During the plan generation we realized we had no specific brand presence. We contacted 5MetaCom and worked closely with them to define and refine our core values and brand nucleus.”
During the brand discovery process the partners realized what they were good at: developing products that are intelligent and interactive. “We learned the value of branding a company or process, and how important it is to provide the people in the organization with the reference standard and expectation of a brand to work toward,” says O’Cull.
With 5MetaCom's help, Priio developed materials to promote its business and draw attention to the company and its newly trademarked name. They discovered areas where they lacked "process" methods to improve communication with customers, systems to control the quality of the services provided, systems to secure accounts and data, as well as tools to help secure customers’ and their own intellectual property.
The company formalized documentation and procedures. They created systems of accountability and acquired software to keep the process of tracking and data management as simple and as automated as possible. As processes improved, so did progress.
The result has been smart growth. Priio’s staff has grown to 12 and sales to $1.2 million. The company continues to expand its resources and capabilities.
“Even though we will continue to pay on the debt created by our ex-employee for some time, we are believers in lessons learned,” O’Cull concludes. “Trust people, but institute systems to protect your business, brand, employees, suppliers and customers.”