Ron Whitley is fully aware that theworld’s appetite for steel is insatiable. Steelis built into cars, buildings, bridges and ahost of other things that make modern lifepossible.
Armed with that knowledge, a companythat makes and distributes steel could follow any number of paths to profit. AsWhitley charted a course for Ranger SteelServices LP in the early ’80s, the optionswere almost too numerous. Ranger hadbecome involved in a variety of steel markets since Whitley’s father, Roy, foundedthe company in 1958, but as Whitleyworked his way up through the ranks, hebecame concerned that Ranger wouldspread itself too thin.
“In the earlier years, Ranger was involvedin other product lines, which at the timedid work for Ranger,” says Whitley, thecompany’s president. “But since then, asthe world has changed and become morecomplex, so have the items and the sourcing of these items. So, in 1982, I made thedecision that we were going to focus onplate products.”
Ranger pulled out of other markets, someof which were putting them into directcompetition with their customers, andbegan focusing on delivering differentsizes, grades, thicknesses and widths ofsteel plate.
The new approach allowed Whitley tofocus Ranger — which earned $328 millionin 2007 revenue — on delivering two thingsto customers: steel plate and service. Withjust two overarching goals placed in front ofthe entire company, Whitley has been ableto focus everyone at Ranger on becominggreat at both of them, loading the company’sfinancial and manpower resources into oneniche instead of attempting to cast a widenet. But keeping it simple doesn’t meaneverything stays the same at Ranger, year inand year out. Focusing on a niche marketmeans having the ability to adapt to continue serving that market.
Not every company can home in on a narrowly defined niche and cast everythingelse aside, but Whitley says keeping yourcompany’s approach to business as simpleas possible is a goal for which you andevery business leader should strive.Simplicity helps your people stay focusedon building within your niche. It also helpsthe transition process in a time of change.
Whitley has had to help his company doboth at various times.
“We keep the model simplistic so we can behands-on,” he says. “A lot of companies mightoperate in a more complex fashion, and thatmight be right for their business model. But,for us, it would be totally disruptive.”
