A New Idea.
I just couldn’t bring myself to title something in the predictable “best of 2008″, “A new year!”, “insert redundant new year wit”.
So I’m going to do something a little different. Rather than wave our “everything we did right this year” flag. I’m going to wave something a little different. We know what went right and while nothing went incredibly wrong this year. We know where we can improve.
2008 for us was a year of learning. A year of reaction to market changes and absorbing human behavior. Not necessarily in the marketplace.
In 2008 we set a few sales records. We didn’t set them every month like in some years past.
In 2008 our bottom line grew. It didn’t grow by 15~20~70% like in many years past we’ve seen it grow. Seeing it grow just the same is encouraging.
In 2008 we didn’t lose money. The company is still doing just fine amidst all this economic concern. That’s a testament more to our customers than it is to us though. We know that.
In 2008 most of our re-investment went to infrastructure and the solidifying our future rather than trying to reinvent the world of audio.
In 2008 we saw the same thing most companies in 12v saw. A shift. Most of that shift was picked up by growth in home audio products and business. Neglecting to say this would be a convenient way of avoiding it. There’s no sense in avoiding it. The market talks. It’s our job to listen.
In 2008 we launched considerably more products made in Iowa than we did made elsewhere. In 2008 our % of revenue of built in house goods shifted upwards by a huge amount. Now accounting for well over half of revenue. Considering a few years ago it wasn’t likely be over 5% hopefully that gives you a very clear vision of where we hope to take this company.
We’re working in 2009 to continue to bring as much in house as possible. Our bottom line may not grow like it used to year over year but I don’t think we’re looking to do that forever. We’re a small reliable business who has a fantastic customer base that wants to serve it from top to bottom as much as possible. Until we add another building we just can’t support that sort of growth.
I don’t expect us to change the world in 2009. I do expect us to show the world there is more to us than black boxes and bass. Everyone who knows us know success’ are simply reinvested.
I do expect us to continue on a positive growth pattern and bring more manufacturing in house while making product improvements. I also expect us to move away from markets primarily dominated by the necessity of insanely high quantity overseas production. We can’t survive in a race to zero. I highly suspect our development dollars will go more for equipment and machines over FEDEX overnight shipping of parts from overseas from dozens of different vendors.
We’ve built highly reliable relationships with many vendors. Vendors have become partners and friends just the same. The past 4 years has built us into something I didn’t imagine.
2009 isn’t a year the world is going to change at eD. It will be a year where you can watch eD settle into its own skin a little as a company who knows what it wants to do, who it wants to sell to, and how it wants to act.
Elemental Designs around the office as I see it represents a idea. Everyone here making the calls knows what that idea is. It’s not really a catch phrase and it’s not really a marketing term. It’s a perception.
2008 has brought more data and knowledge and about inventory prediction and tracking. Organization and implementation of various systems that improve our workflow. Our warehouse now compared to 6 months ago is like an auto parts store that became a doctors office in terms of organization.
The lessons learned from 2008 weren’t about money. They were about people and structure.
2008 has brought one offset realization for me. I’ve always wanted to be able to say something like “We’re still the same guys and company we were on day 1.”
That’s just not true. We’re nothing like we were on day 1.
On day 1 we sold speakers with a name on it. There wasn’t much knowledge about how to run a business or how to treat people. There wasn’t an idea about how to negotiate freight rates or leverage currency exchanges against raw materials cost. There wasn’t even the slightest inclination of the ability to custom order packaging to match our ‘vision’ of what we wanted people to see. Thankfully even on day 1 there was a pretty easy to understand concept of don’t spend more money than you make. You’ll go under pretty fast!
As we sit today it’s old customers (thankfully still current as well) doing the customer service with current clients. The customer experience is defined by customers. The best thing is for me is it’s pretty easy to know if something is going on that isn’t in the customers best interest. The guys in charge are customers. They are normally pretty loud about it.
Elemental Designs as a company has come into it’s own a little more over the past year. Initially we just didn’t have the funds to do things in house. Now we’re sitting on certain things until we can and bringing more and more here. When there is a extra 10k or 20k in one place. We don’t buy new cars or go on a new TV spree. It goes into a new booth or more baskets. Simple right?
Dear client,
Thanks for the building, the inventory, the food you’ve put in my stomach over the years and the gas (even when overpriced) you put into my car to get me from point A to point B.
Thanks for your continued support and honesty in situations where you could very easily have treated us like any other company. Thank you for deeming the things we do everyday worthy of the money you work to earn.
- Elemental Designs
2009 for us is a exercise in concentration and focus. Not one of reinvention.