I read your article on character (“In Principle,” Smart Business, June 2003) and can’t agree more with everything you said.
Anyone can get by (although we all don’t) when things are going well. However, I’ve always said, especially lately, that the true test of a person’s character happens when things are rough. This is when really good people shine.
I think that my employees and I have been shining for about six months now. Some of our luster seems to be wearing off. I own a sign company and an unrelated start-up. To get badly needed working capital for both companies, I’ve decided to sell, merge or take on a partner for CI-AD. We took on R&D expenses related to our new revenue streams, funded my new company through CI-AD and moved to a larger facility during the 9/11 crisis.
Needless to say, this has cost us quite a bit in both real dollars and opportunity.
Finally, we are starting to see the fruits of our labor just over the horizon. We have gotten our core business of signs back on track and are starting to see our new revenue streams kick in. We have very good clients and a very willing staff.
I read your article and it struck home. I will never give up, that’s for sure.
Richard Loeffler
CEO
CI-AD Industries Inc.
