The following are some of the differences I've observed from running Chilton Vending with my Dad, and being a Sugarloaf/ Coinstar corporate employee.
Perform or you're out: I've seen people go from superstars to ex-employees at every level in this corporate environment. It can happen, and quickly, to anyone at any level. There is no room for non-performance. That is mostly because a profitable business is built on the collective performance of everyone, and everyone must pull their weight. In a public environment, or a private equity environment or any situation where it's someone else's money, you make the hard decisions every day. In Kansas, we rarely fired anyone, and when we did, it was after long deliberation, and probably too many chances. In a small business, if you miss a number, oh well, you'll get it next quarter. In a corporate environment, well, you just don't miss, period.
Less stress: Real killer stress is not when you're a day late on a monthly corporate report. Stress is handing out $10,000 in payroll checks and only having $1,000 in the bank. I don't miss the financial stress. I'll never forget the day I was standing over an eight-foot putt, and the only thing I could think about was that the next day I owed Terry Moss of Moss Distributing a payment, and I had no idea how I was going to get it. I knew at that point this was not a high quality of living.
Stress is a major detriment to business performance too: The absence of stress makes you better at what you do and makes you a stronger negotiator. Failure at Chilton Vending meant someone might lose their home. Failure at Sugarloaf means someone loses their job. Big difference.
Your calendar is not your own: I always wondered how people that worked in big companies, from 8 to 5, found time to go to the drycleaners, get a haircut, drop by Home Depot. Now I'm one of those guys. I get it done but it requires scheduling. I'm embarrassed to tell you how many haircuts I've gotten in airports.
I don't work on Christmas and Thanksgiving mornings anymore: Really, I used to look forward to it to get things done.
Family-owned businesses are not what they're cracked up to be: Being a son or a daughter or a dad is a tough enough assignment, let alone combining that with a business partner, the second hardest relationship to manage. Some people in our industry do it well, and I admire them. For me, I'm a son again, closer to my father than I've been in years, and that's what it's all about. The business disagreements with my father today are few and far between. He plays with his grandkids instead.
In the corporate world, the talent pool is very deep: At Sugarloaf, and now Coinstar, I'm amazed daily at the talent level I'm surrounded with. I've said in many meetings with my own team, "You guys sure are smart!" We have people that specialize in everything, and we hire consultants to assist us all the time. In our small business, between my father and I, we used to be the President, Director of HR, Loss Prevention, Product, Asset Management, Sales, etc...
"There are no magic numbers in this business:" That was a quote from Stan Chilton, circa 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985...1998. This has all new meaning to me now, but what he was saying is that whether you're buying one machine or 1,000 machines, the ROI needs to be there or you'll go broke. Whether you set one location or 10,000 locations, the deal must pass the profit muster. I've seen first hand very large companies make bad deals just to get the business, and you wonder how they do it. Bottom line is that in every case it has caught up to them in the end. I think a key to Sugarloaf's success is that we've never knowingly agreed to a bad deal just to get the business. You'd be surprised at how many deals we've walked away from. It hurt at the time, but it was always the right thing to do.
Don't let your ego run your business: It's business; it's not personal. When it gets personal for you, you will generally lose.
Just because you say it, doesn't mean it gets done: Used to be, when I said it, it got done. Now I've got to convince others through a committee process, and that's not always easy.
It's still relationships, one customer at a time: People want to do business with people they know, respect, like and can depend on. There is no difference here between big, medium or small business.
Don't miss lunches: I learn a lot of key information by going to lunch with other executives. It's caused me to add a few pounds, but it's an important part of the corporate ritual. Al Kress told me this seven years ago. He was right.
Some people are not team players: That's been a hard one to accept. It's rare, but a reality of corporate politics in all companies I suspect. I call them "corporate guerrillas." They're masters of corporate politics, and they never last.
Big is big, but not necessarily better: I used to think that the only survivors in this business would be big national players. The reality today is that clearly big national players have opportunities of scale, but small local players continue to impress me with how good they can be in this business.
The big squeeze is on the large regional player working with national accounts: That's especially true if they are specialists in only one category. Most national companies are looking for single suppliers who are reliable and competent, in multiple categories.
I get less mail now: And I love it.
Stock options are an interesting way to have equity in a business: Enough said.
Private equity firms are an interesting breed: Wellspring Capital owned us for three years and made literally millions of dollars by buying us, fixing us up and selling us to Coinstar.
Suits vs. jeans: I used to go to AMOA Expo and wear jeans. Now, I wear a suit. Not sure why, it's just what we do.
I now work to live, not live to work: I'm better at what I do because of it.