To understand the impact of fast growth
on Wooster-based TechniGraphics Inc.,
you have to travel back 10 years.
TechniGraphics was a prime contractor,
providing digital mapping to federal agencies, but then it lost one contract and was
too intimidated to compete with larger
companies, says Dee Vaidya,
TechniGraphics’ president and CEO.
As a result, his company went from being a
prime contractor to a subcontractor for five
years, but found it difficult to be consistently
profitable. Then, after Sept. 11, Vaidya found
the courage to bid again, and TechniGraphics
won a 10-year federal contract.
From 2004 to 2006, the company grew revenue from $10.8 million to nearly $30 million.
Today, the company has nearly 400 employees with offices in the U.S., The Netherlands
and India.
Looking ahead to when the federal contract ends, TechniGraphics has acquired
three companies and is expanding into the
three-dimensional CAD industry.
Smart Business spoke with Vaidya about
how he recognizes a good deal.
Q: How can other CEOs grow their companies the way you’ve grown yours?
Even though a contract might seem so
large you feel like, ‘How are we ever going
to win this? We better not even bid because
it’s just a waste of time,’ you have to have the
courage to take a shot at it.
You have to stick to your knitting, in that
sense, and once you know that you’re
good, don’t be afraid to bid on really large
opportunities. That long shot might actually come in.
Q: What can prevent a company from
growing?
If somebody is not willing to take the
risks, then very likely, they are not rewarded by the growth. In the five years when we
didn’t take the risks, we hardly grew.
Q: How do you communicate the importance of taking risks?
We always say yes first and then make
sure we put in place whatever resources
are necessary to carry out the job. Whether
it’s making the proposal or delivering a certain product at a certain time.
It expands your capabilities because you
step up to do all kinds of things you didn’t
know you were capable of doing.
Q: How can companies stay motivated?
This CAD software activity of ours is only
$10 million this year, and we want it to be
$100 million activity by the end of 2012,
when our big contract comes to an end.
When you have a big, hairy audacious goal,
that leads to a lot of motivation.
(Employees) get all kinds of opportunities for upward-mobility, profit-sharing and
promotions. When people can see they’re
growing because this company grows, that
motivates people very well.
Q: What advice would you give another
CEO trying to grow his or her company?
The most amazing thing I’ve learned —
and it’s one of the toughest — is always
have a long-term focus. Because we are
privately owned, we don’t have to report to
Wall Street analysts, and we really don’t
care what somebody on the outside thinks
about us and how we’re doing.
If you are a closely held company, you can
afford to have that long-term focus of what
you want to be five or 10 years hence. That
really pays off the most. Of course, you have
to do the payroll every two weeks — you
can’t lose sight of that — but you have to
have a big chunk of your focus on the long-term.
Q: What happens if you don’t?
You start going zigzag if you chase after
every little thing that comes your way.
When you have that long-term focus, you
tend to go after the big opportunities,
which will carry you to your long-term
goals.
Q: How do you recognize opportunities?
Opportunities are like butterflies. You better net them while they’re fluttering by
because, if not, they’ll be gone forever.
Like Jack Welch [former chairman and
CEO of General Electric Co.] says, every
day, come in looking for deals and opportunities that you may be able to hang your
hat on, a new order from a customer who’s a little bit outside the norm, or some type
of work that’s a little bit outside your usual
work but might help you enter into a whole
new field.
You have to be on the lookout for what’s
happening outside your company. It requires
a lot of talking with customers and other
industry people.
The other thing I’ve learned is, some of the
best opportunities we have landed have been
when large companies are trying to divest
small portions of their activities. They’re not
so concerned about how much money they
get. They have all kinds of other considerations, such as their customers and their people are treated well. The money they get for
that sale is usually a secondary or tertiary
consideration so, a lot of times, you can get
these for a very reasonable price.
HOW TO REACH: TechniGraphics Inc., (800) 832-8779 or
www.tgstech.com