Most of you know that Grandpa Milo, our friend Ron, and I own a small business in Idaho named Quality Corners. We make moulding accessories which we sell through distribution to big box stores like Lowes and Home Depot. When the housing downturn hit about a year ago, we started losing business pretty rapidly. We were very worried so we started working with our various customers to see if there was anything we could do to increase our business. It turns out many of them had a hard time getting product from China in a timely manner. Product had to be ordered in large quantity to make it worthwhile to ship such a long distance at a reasonable price.
Our customers did not think we could compete, but let us quote the business anyway because it would not hurt and they all generally needed a second source, particularly if that source could deliver in smaller quantities to back fill what they bought in China. It turned out that, with the exception of one line of products that accounted for less than ten percent of the normal order quantities and that was labor intensive, we were significantly cheaper than China, even in large quantities. That allowed us to recover about sixty percent of the reduction in business that we experienced when the building boom died. Now, we have attracted enough new business from new customers, again these are people who previously purchased the products we make from China, to be on target to increase our sales to levels we experienced during the boom.
I do not know if other companies have experienced the same thing as Quality Corners, but suspect they have. Well run, highly automated, small businesses capable of rapid change can take advantage of opportunities created by tough economic conditions. No one knows what the future hold, but I am starting to think Grandpa Milo’s statement that he has decided not to participate in this downturn might actually be possible.
October 19, 2004 – Lorena takes her first test
October 20, 2004 – Test results for Lorena