Major Overhaul: Address Weaknesses in Your Business

Mike Majors was stuck. Back in 2004, Majors Home Improvement, in Milton, Fla., had produced an annual revenue of around $1.2 million each year for several years, but Majors wanted to grow the business. Since he wore all the hats — sales, marketing, scheduling, production, human resources — as well as lead the company, he couldn’t dedicate the time to make the sales happen. Then, a series of hurricanes forced him to make dramatic decisions.

“Because of the hurricane damage, leads were starting to come in fast, but I couldn’t handle them because I was handling everything,” he says. “I had to make a change.”

Know Your Limitations

Majors decided to add staff. First he identified his own weaknesses: marketing and selling. “I could close sales but that was ... because my name was on the company,” he says. “If I was serious about growth, I needed good salespeople.” He was determined that once he hired good people he would maintain the revenue needed to keep them.

“I never ran help-wanted ads because I don’t want people who are looking for work; I want people who are successful in their current position,” Majors says. He spread the word, and a mutual acquaintance introduced him to Jonathan Wells, then working in a local advertising agency. With an MBA and years of experience in direct-response marketing, Wells turned out to be a great fit.

Next, Majors focused on sales. Again, mutual friends told him about Chuck Mepham, another MBA who had proven his sales success in years with Sears. Today he is Majors Home Improvement’s sales manager.

Let Go

In 2005, the company grew to $3.2 million and both new team members earned significant compensation. Now that the hurricanes are a thing of the past, volume has dropped but is significantly higher than before Wells and Mepham joined the team.

It wasn’t easy for Majors to hand over control of two major areas of the business. “It was difficult to give the responsibility,” he says, “but I think that the fact we were so busy and I had so much to focus on forced me to let go.”

Majors still keeps his finger on the pulse of the company with daily lead, sales, and production reports, and his key managers have earned his confidence. “Now, while they may run some things past me, I trust their judgment and know that they are better at their jobs than I ever was. This confidence lets me focus on other important aspects of the business.”