Marlble and Granite Specialists, Neenah, Wis.

   With that vision in mind, Rick Meyer and Froy Garcia started on the path that so many entrepreneurs tread on their way to business success – and it would require a dedication to tried-and-true business fundamentals to make their dream a reality.
   In a time when many small businesses start with a trip to a bank or investor, instantly creating a years-deep financial hole, Meyer and Garcia began by gathering the knowledge of a group of retired businessmen who acted as mentors, and by piecing together whatever resources they could with their own savings.
   “Our first facility wasn’t big,” Meyer says. “We rented a section of cold storage with some heaters, and bought an old saw. We started with a lot of used equipment, but we were able to do it all without taking out any huge loans.
   “We invested our own money, and it was do-or-die. Thankfully, we’re still here and doing strong work today.”
   And that the company is successful – and growing – today is largely attributable to that modest beginning and some sound business moves in those early days. In place of leveraged financial capital, Marble and Granite Specialists thrived by relying on hard work and the resulting word-of-mouth attention that came their way.

LESSON 1: GET THE WORD OUT
   “We somehow got the first few jobs done and they turned out really nice,” Meyers says. “From that, we got more work from those jobs, through people those customers knew. Since then, it’s really coming along, and we’ve got a lot of great clients. It’s been better and better each year.”
   Careful to note that things didn’t just fall into place easily, Meyer recalls plenty of long days of relentless phone calls to area builders, remodeling companies and cabinetmakers to make sure the new organization got its place on the map.   Without the incoming revenue to support an advertising budget, it was the best (and possibly only) way to generate interest in the young company.
   “In the first years, it was really a challenge to keep the rent and bills paid while we were getting the word out,” Meyer notes. “You’re obviously the most-vulnerable in those first months where you don’t have much money coming in. And you just have to let people know that you’re there. We kept calling contractors and builders and slowly made connections with them.”
   The company also had the business sense to combine forces with a number of emerging cabinetmakers establishing their own businesses around the same time, effectively combining forces on a number of projects that acted as a promotion tool for all companies involved.
   And, that same organic mentality towards advertising their company remains today.
   “Right now, most of the projects we do still come from word-of-mouth,” he says. “A happy customer is more effective than any (advertisement). That’s been a huge key to our growth over the years. We really believe that if you do good work, it comes back to you. If you don’t, you won’t be around for long.
   “We’ve had a lot of satisfied customers over the years, and a lot of great clients because of it.”

LESSON 2: TAKE PRIDE IN YOUR PRODUCT
   With a growing customer base in place, Meyer and Garcia turn a great deal of their attention to follow-up by providing the best-quality product they can provide.
   That effort, Meyer says, begins with the staff of six employees that sets Marble and Granite Specialists apart from the many competitors in their area. Like any stone-fabrication business, they’ve seen their share of employee turnover in their time in business. But they’ve also got a core group of employees who understand what makes their company special, and who do their jobs well.
   “It’s hard to find good people, and we’ve gone through some young employees over the years,” Meyer says. “But thankfully, we’ve got our mainstays, some guys that are really good and have been with us for some time.
   That core of reliable, skilled workers allows the company to provide a more-consistent and higher-quality end product, Meyer notes.
   “The true benefit to having a seasoned staff is the quality of the work you can achieve,” he says. “You get guys who are dedicated to the attention to detail, and they know how to do the job well.”
   And while many fabrication shops put their focus on buying high-dollar equipment, Meyer and Garcia have consistently pushed in the exact opposite direction, focusing instead on quality and workmanship.
   To that end, the company relies primarily on a bridge saw manufactured by a small machine builder out of Chicago, Ghines s.r.l.’s sector routers for edge details, and a water-fed hand polisher.
    “While we could run CNC machines, we choose not to because we believe we do a better job by doing things by hand,” he says. “We believe that workmanship comes through in the quality of our product.
   “I used to work with a family that was from the old country, and he taught me a lot of the old ways of doing things, including hand tooling and hand polishing,” he adds. “They’re very primitive ways, I guess, but we believe it really shows through in the product. It’s our own personal touch.”

LESSON 3: PROVIDE SUPERIOR SERVICE
   The care and attention to detail that Marble and Granite Specialists puts forth in its product also carries over into the way they work with customers, Meyer says. Few products in any industry are superior enough to compensate for poor service, especially over the long-term.
   “We definitely take care of our customers’ needs, before and after the sale. If they have questions, we do our best to be there for them. That’s something that we get a ton of compliments on,” Meyer says.
   And that’s true of everyone – the owners, the fabricators and the office staff.
   “Our office manger, Melissa Meyer, really takes good care of the people that come in, and we get great feedback from people about her on a regular basis,” he says. “Our goal is for 100-percent satisfaction, and we work hard to achieve that. She’s a big part of why we are able to achieve total satisfaction so regularly.
   “Through the whole company, we know that people want to be treated well, and they want to feel comfortable. If you can help them to do that, they’re in most cases going to go with you for the job.”

LESSON 4: KNOW YOUR CUSTOMER’S NEEDS
   Another key to the success of Marble and Granite Specialists is the owners’ ability to offer the products that most customers desire.
   The company focuses primarily on kitchens and baths, and fills in the gaps with fireplace surrounds and a local trend towards outdoor grill areas. They do a lot of new construction and home remodels, as well as occasional office buildings and other commercial work.
   “Around here, condos are really getting a lot more popular, so we’ve done quite a few condo developments lately, and that helps to keep the money coming in,” Meyer says. “You have to keep an eye on what jobs are coming around,” he says. “You might not get (every unit in a complex), but you know a few will come around, and it’ll help to tide you over during slower times.”
   While the company offers engineered stone for its projects, the overwhelming majority of its customers request natural stone. The company purchases imported marble and granite – primarily Brazilian, Indian or Chinese – from distributors in either Milwaukee or Chicago.
   “We offer manufactured stone, but people just don’t generally ask for it,” he says. “Most people come in and look at it next to a natural stone, and they just like the beauty of that instead. The quality of it, you just don’t see it in the man-made stone.”
   A keen eye for his customers’ preferences has allowed Meyer, Garcia and the staff to maintain a consistent production rate of one kitchen per day on average, and up to 10 kitchens a week during its busiest periods.
   “We are not the biggest place, but we concentrate on putting out a quality product,” he says. “That’s kept us busy.”

LESSON 5: LIVE UP TO YOUR HARD-EARNED REPUTATION
   While many businesses with steady success feel they need to constantly grow to maintain their thriving pace, Marble and Granite Specialists holds a different mindset.
   In fact, with the exception of a recent move into a more-accommodating, -accessible and -visible facility a few miles down the road from their former HQ, the company is interested more in maintaining its reputation than expanding its operation.
   “Our customers appreciate the sense of ownership we take in our work,” Meyer says. “We get a lot of letters from customers that comment on that; they just enjoyed the company and the way we do business. That’s part of the reputation we have: a company that focuses on great service, attention-to-detail, the product quality and hand-worked stone.
   “Later on, maybe I’d like to grow a little bigger, but right now it’s working for us, and I don’t want to change it,” he adds, aware that many companies have tried to get too big, too fast and lost sight of what makes their operation special.
   “The way things are going right now, we feel really fortunate that we all get to do something we like, and make a decent living off of it,” he says. “And that’s all right with me.”
   While that perspective may seem shockingly refreshing in today’s fast-paced, grow-at-all-costs business environment, it seems to be paying dividends for the owners and staff at Marble and Granite Specialists.
   Jake Rishavy is a Denver-based writer on industrial-graphics topics.

This article first appeared in the August 2008 print edition of Stone Business. ©2008 Western Business Media Inc.