CEO or Cheerleader

Richard H Yaun Jr C.E.O.

From time to time I’m asked just exactly what my role is at Yaun Company. “You seem to be more involved in the day-to-day activities than what you were as the company’s past President.” My reply to this and similar questions is that I have redefined my role to better respond to today’s difficult economic conditions.

Let me explain. During my 40 years of experience in a small regional business, I have seen the company evolve. At one time Yaun Company employed as many as 120 people. My experience has not been of a cursory or figurehead nature, but rather a hands-on, get-involved type. Since my time with the company, I’ve experienced 4 economic recessions, this current condition makes five! Experience allows me to better plot a plan for dealing with the difficulties now and for what lies in the future.

Yes, the economic circumstances surrounding each economic downturn were different but the fundamentals are similar; a short supply of credit and a lack of consumer confidence. My responsibility is to steer our way through these times and have my team step up and take responsibility for the performance of the company. However, perhaps more importantly I have become a cheerleader!

When I remember the cheerleading squads of my school-hood days, I remember the girls (they were mostly girls in those days) who would put all of their effort in trying to raise the enthusiasm of the spectators and rally the team’s performance. All the players putting forth a 100% effort was needed to overcome any foe. Each player had to know his role and play it to the hilt! If one player falters, the others must pick him/her up and push forward.

No matter the politics, the how and why, we are in a recession. It is how each of us business owners reacts, plans and executes will be the key to survival. As the government dumps trillions of dollars into bailouts for major companies, the fact is that most replacement jobs over the last three recessions have been created by small businesses and entrepreneurs. A few statistics from the Small Business Office of Advocacy might be worth noting. A small business is defined as an independent business with fewer than 500 employees. Such businesses represent 99.7% of all employer firms, pay nearly 45% of the total U.S. private payroll, have generated 60-80% of net new jobs annually over the past decade, hire 40% of high tech workers , are 52% home based and 2% franchises and produce 13 times more patents per employee than large patenting firms.

Interesting to think that in 1980 Google and Microsoft did not exist. Biotechnology and nanotechnology did not exist. Photovoltaic systems and commercial windmill farms were in their infancies. You, the small business owners, are the backbone of our country.

And so I get back to cheerleading: rallying our order fillers and order entry people to up the service level. Make sure the order is clearly understood, that the material is correctly packed and loaded for delivery and delivered when promised. Should we make a mistake, we’ll do what ever it takes to make it right! Rally the purchasing people to be able to offer the highest quality products at the fairest price. Rally the bookkeepers to be sure that invoices are correct and timely so that our contractor base can collect their money in a timely fashion. Rally the sales team to make sure our contractors are up to date on the latest products, that requested literature is readily available, and that the scheduling of training seminars is made known. Our consumers are getting ever more educated, and so you as trade contractors should keep up with the latest technology.

Our job as owner and operator of a small business is to do many jobs. That’s the fun of operating your own business. Directing you business is part of the job and so is cheerleading. You need to take a positive approach to the negatives from the political pundits on the recession and make plans to adjust you business and product mix to take advantage of the rebound that will come. Those who do will thrive, those who don’t, won’t be here.

Our business is doing relatively well, we are identifying our customers’ needs, and responding to them with new products with cutting edge technologies. We are continuing to offer training to our trades people. Last year we are proud to say that more than 300 contractors took advantage of our training seminars and many more attended our several open-house trade shows. We see great possibilities this year with our new training center, “More Than Heat.”

With the help and support of our experienced team here at Yaun Company, our vendors and the partnering with our loyal contractor base, we’ll get through this challenge as we have the others.