{"id":2441,"date":"2012-12-28T09:18:34","date_gmt":"2012-12-28T14:18:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.123print.com\/?p=2441"},"modified":"2012-12-28T09:18:34","modified_gmt":"2012-12-28T14:18:34","slug":"transcript-123print-small-business-sense-bill-valway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.123print.com\/blog\/transcript-123print-small-business-sense-bill-valway\/","title":{"rendered":"[TRANSCRIPT] 123Print Small Business Sense – Bill Valway"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bill<\/span>: Hi my name is Bill Valway.\u00a0 I am the CEO and owner of Absolute Perfection, Inc<\/a>.\u00a0 We started about 10 years ago out of my parents\u2019 garage in Finksburg, Maryland doing auto tinting and I never thought that we would grow into the business we are today.\u00a0 Now we actually offer vehicle wrapping, window tinting on commercial and residential locations as well as marketing services such as video production, web design and graphic design.\u00a0 It\u2019s just really exciting for us.<\/p>\n

Question: What inspired you to start a small business?<\/em><\/p>\n

Bill<\/span>: I think the reason I started my business at such a young age is that my parents always instilled in me that if you want to do something and you really believe in it, you know, go out and do it on your own<\/b>.\u00a0 Take the risk.<\/b>\u00a0 And that was probably one of the best decisions I ever made in my entire life.\u00a0 It\u2019s been quite a journey, again starting out at 18.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t know that much about business but over the years I\u2019ve learned efficiency is very important.\u00a0 Customer service is number one<\/b> for us and I really strive to make sure that we\u2019re doing whatever we can to make the customer happy\u2014and that\u2019s not always easy but it is definitely something that we look forward to doing and helping our customers.<\/p>\n

Question: What are some of the challenges you’ve faced in starting and growing your business?<\/em><\/p>\n

Bill<\/span>:\u00a0Some of the challenges that I faced starting out at such a young age and not really knowing that much about business\u2014I didn\u2019t know what were the right and wrong things to do so there was a lot of trial and error.\u00a0 Thankfully it didn\u2019t bankrupt my business or run it into the ground or get me into any type of significant problems\u2014however learning infrastructure and implementing accounting tools and scheduling\u2014all the things, you know, when you start a business you don\u2019t really think about.\u00a0 And then, you know, you start having customers calling you and how you are going to manage those calls\u2014how are you going to communicate back to them\u2014marketing materials, how are you going to present your company to your customers\u2014and you know all those things kind of crop up after you start growing your business and developing relationships\u2014and you know that\u2019s always been really important to me is understanding what it is our customers want to see, understanding you know what kind of things make our customers happy when they do business with us<\/b>.\u00a0 And so marketing I think is one of my strongpoints in the business.\u00a0 I really like branding and getting our name out there.\u00a0 It\u2019s exciting to me to take a business like ours that really was started from a garage and by creating a good brand, a good reputation, getting it out there and watching it grow\u2014it\u2019s really exciting for us.<\/p>\n

Question: How did you first get the word out about your business?<\/em><\/p>\n

Bill<\/span>:\u00a0So the first thing that I did when I started my business was went and got a box of business cards<\/b>.\u00a0 And it sounds so simple and basic but that\u2019s what I did to promote my business.\u00a0 I had a box full of business cards that were very generic looking at the time but they worked.\u00a0 And I went out and handed them out to every business, every friend\u2014anyone I could possibly think of to promote the business.<\/p>\n

Question: Now that your business has grown, how do you promote your business?<\/em><\/p>\n

Bill<\/span>:\u00a0So now that our business has really evolved we\u2019ve implemented a lot of other printed items.\u00a0 We use brochures which we\u2019re really excited about now.\u00a0 It\u2019s a really great marketing piece.\u00a0 We have printed mailers that we do quarterly.\u00a0 We have a newsletter that we send out.\u00a0 And those are all great items to continue to just build a relationship and market our company and continually stay in front of our clients.\u00a0 And again that\u2019s back to what I truly believe in is that you have to continue to impress and awe your clients so that they\u2019ll continue to come back to you<\/b>.<\/p>\n

Question: How have you involved your business in the community?<\/em><\/p>\n

Bill<\/span>:\u00a0We recently added an internship program which has been really exciting for us.\u00a0 We actually work with Century High School which is right down the road and we bring in some young students that are looking to prepare for college.\u00a0 They either work with our graphic artists or video production team to kind of prepare them for whatever career they\u2019re going into.\u00a0 And the other thing that\u2019s really great about that is that they get to see how a real small business works.\u00a0 When kids go to college they really don\u2019t know what\u2019s in store for them in the real world, in the business world.\u00a0 And it\u2019s great for them to have an opportunity before they jump into college to come in, work with us, work with our team, and kind of see what business is really like.\u00a0 And I think that really gives them a stronger handle on what is going to be required from them when they do graduate from college.\u00a0 And that\u2019s really invaluable for them.<\/p>\n

Question: What are some struggles you’ve faced?<\/em><\/p>\n

Bill<\/span>:\u00a0Being in business has been one of the best things that I\u2019ve ever done in my life.\u00a0 It\u2019s been extremely challenging.\u00a0 I love what I do every single day I wake up and go to work and I can say I love what I do.\u00a0 That\u2019s what it\u2019s about.\u00a0 That\u2019s what really small business is truly about and I love it.<\/b>\u00a0 There are some days where they\u2019re just extremely trying and those days are, you know, when an employee doesn\u2019t show up or when a job goes south\u2014and controlling those types of things\u2014sometimes it\u2019s just completely out of our control\u2014but there are certain things that are within our control and we just don\u2019t have the resources or tools to really deal with them as a small business.\u00a0 You know, understanding what the\u2014what your employees need, you know what your customers need, how to control costs such as product expenses and things like that.\u00a0 And it\u2019s really taught me so much about business.\u00a0 You know, it\u2019s not just about being the best salesperson or the best marketing guy, or the best HR guy.\u00a0 You have to be a really well rounded business owner to be successful<\/b>.\u00a0 And you really have to think about others than yourself.\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t mean that you always have to give in to what other people want, but you also have to know how to pick your battles and understand when it\u2019s appropriate to stand your ground and when it\u2019s appropriate to allow others to voice their opinion and kind of let them win the battle.\u00a0 You know that\u2019s kind of how I lead my business.\u00a0 I try not to micro manage or force my opinions on my employees.\u00a0 I like to let them have free rein to make their own decisions.\u00a0 And I think by doing that that\u2019s allowed our business to continue to prosper because it brings in new talent.\u00a0 It brings in new ideas and that\u2019s ultimately what makes America what it is, you know.\u00a0 We can continue to allow that freedom of coming up with great new ideas and prosper.<\/b><\/p>\n

Question: Who in the business world do you look up to?<\/em><\/p>\n

Bill<\/span>:\u00a0I watched my father having extreme success and also having some failure in his life in the business world.\u00a0 And you know I learned a lot of valuable lessons through that.\u00a0 One is that you always have to protect the business.\u00a0 You always have to make the best possible decisions for the business<\/b>.\u00a0 And that\u2019s in finance, that\u2019s in planning\u2014you know you have to have a plan.\u00a0 In the recent years I\u2019ve actually developed a relationship with a group called Vistage.\u00a0 And that\u2019s a CEO or Executive leaders mentoring program\u2014and that has been extremely helpful to develop my knowledge as a CEO and a leader to group of CEO\u2019s\u2014about 15 CEO\u2019s that meet on a monthly basis.\u00a0 And then I have a chair that I actually meet with once a month and we focus on specific issues in my business.\u00a0 And it\u2019s all focused around me making the decisions.\u00a0 I don\u2019t have someone sitting there telling me what to\u2014the decision to make\u2014but he\u2019s asking me questions so that I arrive at my own decisions.\u00a0 And it\u2019s really been a great benefit to our company.<\/p>\n

Question: How do you balance work and life?<\/em><\/p>\n

Bill<\/span>:\u00a0I tend to be all or nothing and, you know, it\u2019s a struggle for me all the time.\u00a0 In the summertime we are extremely busy and I want to just continue to work, work, and work until the project is done.\u00a0 And the reality is you just can\u2019t.\u00a0 You have to focus on the family life and you have to take some free time to unwind and relax.\u00a0 The only way that I would say that I do that is by, you know, having a good relationship with my wife and my family and they kind of help me to stay grounded<\/b> because if it wasn\u2019t for them I would constantly be working and focusing on the next project, the next big thing.\u00a0 And you know, having the family members that enjoy being around me and spending time together\u2014they say, \u201cDo you really have to work until 10:00 o\u2019clock tonight?\u00a0 Why don\u2019t you come home and have dinner,\u201d or my wife says, \u201cGet home and have dinner.\u201d\u00a0 Those are the types of things that help to keep me grounded and I\u2019m very grateful for those.<\/p>\n

Question: What is the best piece of advice you could give to someone starting a small business?<\/em><\/p>\n

Bill<\/span>:\u00a0My best advice to someone who was starting a business is to remain teachable.\u00a0 Don\u2019t be afraid to ask questions from people who are successful in business.\u00a0 I\u2019ve really focused on the people that are more successful than me or the people that I admire.\u00a0 Those are the people that I try to hang around and get advice from and I think that\u2019s really worked well for me.\u00a0 You know, listen to what your employees\u2019 needs are and listen to what your customers\u2019 needs are.\u00a0 Don\u2019t get too big, too fast.\u00a0 Focus on building infrastructure and reinvesting in the company and don\u2019t use the business as your personal piggy bank and you will probably be successful.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Click here to watch the “123Print Small Business Sense – Bill Valway” interview<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Check out the official Absolute Perfection website: www.aptinting.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Let us help your business succeed! www.123print.com<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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