Chapter 17: A Board Meeting In the Woods

Posted: July 23, 2011 - 05:37:47 pm

It was the beginning of October and a chill had settled into the air. The days were getting shorter and the sunsets were arriving earlier every day. The trees hadn’t begun to change colors yet, this far south, although there were hints of it in little pockets. The state park was practically empty, except for two campers parked in adjacent camping spaces.

There was a small campfire burning in front of one of the campers. The wisp of smoke rose lazily in the air. Two people huddled around the fire pit with hands out seeking the warmth of the flames. The third joined them.

Dexter leaned over and picked up a small pot that was warming by the fire. He filled a mug containing hot chocolate mix with the hot water. He held up the pot to see if anyone else wanted some. Ed and Janet shook their heads in the negative.

Dexter replaced the pot before stirring his cup to dissolve the powder. He took a sip and sighed in satisfaction. He wrapped his hands around the cup enjoying the warmth.

Ed looked across the fire at Dexter with a grin and asked, “Where’s your PA?”

“I gave her the day off,” Dexter said.

“She’s a feisty little thing,” Ed said with a chuckle. “The first time I told her to interrupt your meeting, she told me that only God could do that, and he’d have to get through her first.”

“Sorry about that,” Dexter said with a grin.

“No, you’re not,” Janet said.

“You’re right. I’m not. In fact, I’m proud of her.”

“You should be. She didn’t believe me when I said that I was God,” Ed said.

Janet laughed.

“You weren’t the first to try that,” Dexter said.

“That I would believe,” Ed said.

Dexter said, “She’s got my time organized to the minute. She makes sure that I’m ready for every meeting. She’s amazing. I don’t know what I’d do without her.”

“I’m halfway convinced that Amber would take a bullet for Dexter,” Janet said.

Janet had watched Amber take to her job with a vengeance. Amber had total control over Dexter’s schedule. She took notes at every meeting. She also kept a complete dossier on everyone who Dexter met with and would brief him before any meeting. She fielded telephone calls and monitored the emails intended for Dexter. There were times when Janet wondered when Amber ever got any rest.

While his secretary made travel arrangements, typed letters, and handled the office for him, Amber made sure that Dexter’s needs came first. His secretary only dealt with Dexter as it pertained to Legacy Coffee Makers. Amber essentially coordinated Dexter’s activities for the coffee maker company and his website company. To be honest, she also managed a bit of his personal time.

None of the three were drawing a salary from Legacy Coffee Markers. Dexter was still living off the income from the website. For that matter, Janet was living off the income from her investments. Ed wasn’t actually working at the company on regular basis although he did facilitate the interactions with Daimler Plastics and did reach out to others for sales. They were owners and not employees. It made a difference in how they viewed the company.

Ed said, “I guess we should get this meeting underway.”

Janet picked up a pad of paper and a pen to take notes. Her secretary would type up the notes later to form a quarterly report. She looked up and said, “I’m ready.”

“Same here,” Dexter said.

Ed said, “I just love idea of having a ‘board’ meeting in the ‘woods’. There’s just something ‘punny’ about it.”

Dexter groaned. Janet tittered in amusement.

“How’s product development going?” Ed asked looking at Dexter.

“It’s right on schedule. We had a minor setback with UL certification for the six and twelve cup coffee makers, but we eventually got through it. The single cup coffee maker had no problems. We’ll be entering production on the single cup maker soon,” Dexter answered.

That was just the summary of the situation. Dexter had put together a team of small and medium size firms that were desperately looking for work. Even Ed had been impressed when he met the people involved. There was real dedication to seeing the product succeed.

Dexter had made arrangements for the coffee makers to be assembled by a start-up factory in Detroit, Michigan. A group of unemployed auto workers took advantage of some tax incentives and the availability of a large number of buildings at near fire-sale rent to locate a business there. The high unemployment in the area helped them to fill the factory with workers. Knowing the men applying for jobs, they could pick and choose the best of the best. They were assembling all kinds of products there so that the final product could be labeled, ‘Made in America.’ The operation was running lean, but Dexter was confident that with their business thrown into the mix that it would thrive.

The heating elements for the various coffee pots were made by a firm located in Cleveland, Ohio. The owner of the firm had been ecstatic to get a new customer after having lost some of his business to Chinese firms. Dexter’s initial plans weren’t quite up to the level of demand they’d had previously, but it was enough to keep the firm busy so that they could see further opportunities for sales.

Dexter wasn’t sure where the rest of the electronic parts were manufactured. He left the American distributor from whom he bought the parts with instructions to buy American where economically feasible. One day, Dexter wanted to be able to put a label on the coffeemaker to identify the total number of people who was involved in making it.

A glass company that had once made the glass portion of headlights for an automotive parts company made the coffee pot. The glass company was on the verge of bankruptcy when its customer was put out of business by having its product illegally reproduced by a firm in China. The owner was ten minutes from taking his life when Dexter approached him about producing coffee pots.

Of course, all of the plastic parts were manufactured by Daimler Plastics. Ed Daimler had banged on the table in the boardroom and said, “Do it.” The current crop of executives scurried around to make sure it got done. A future as a door greeter, forced to wear a pink tutu, was the punishment for anyone foolish enough to argue. No one even wanted to speculate what would happen if someone lied. The fear was only at the top level. Promises of performance bonuses energized the lower levels of the company.

They’d had a trial run of a hundred units of each product six months earlier. Those units were used in testing, certification, and distribution to a handful of users. Dexter had been impressed with the products. It felt funny to hold the product in his hands, knowing that he’d had a part in its existence. The software he’d written couldn’t actually be touched. He had always missed that small moment of validation that came from physically holding the product.

Janet said, “I’ve been using one of the one cup prototypes for a while now. I love it.”

“We used a one in the camper all summer. It’s just a sturdy rugged little machine,” Ed said.

“Any problems with it?” Dexter asked.

“We forgot to stow it one day. It fell off the counter and rolled around in the camper for an entire day while we drove from one campground to the next. When we got settled, we plugged that sucker in and it worked like a charm,” Ed said.

“That’s good to know,” Dexter said.

He was a little worried about the twenty-year in-store replacement policy they were going to offer. Hearing that it could take a beating under less than controlled circumstances made him feel better.

Ed said, “I have to say that the six and twelve cup coffee makers are plain and simple machines. It’s hard to see a difference between ours and a dozen other brands out there on the market.”

“Have you used yours much?” Dexter asked.

“We’ve used the six cup machine around the house. It’s good, but nothing too remarkable about it,” Ed said.

Janet said, “We’ve been using the twelve cup maker at the company. They’ve put a lot of coffee through it. It still brews just as good as when we got it.”

“That’s a good sign, I guess,” Dexter said.

He had read the test results on the two coffee makers. The test results had been very positive. They had held up to passing water containing toxic levels of minerals. That allowed them to see the effects of long-term buildup of minerals in the tubing of the coffee maker. He didn’t doubt the machines would easily last twenty years, even under hard usage. Enough parts were replaceable that even abuse wouldn’t be a problem.

“Every office in our building has a six or twelve cup machine. We haven’t gotten any complaints yet,” Janet said.

“Are we in agreement that the products are good?” Ed asked.

“Yes,” Dexter said.

“I think so,” Janet replied.

While the six and twelve cup coffeemakers were good, she was really impressed with the styling on the single cup machine. It was a good-looking machine. Malcolm was proud of it, and had given his grandfather one of the first machines off the production line. His name was imprinted on the side in cursive writing.

Ed asked, “So when will we have our first full production run of single cup machines?”

“Two months,” Dexter answered. “We’ll start small with a batch of fifty thousand coffee makers. The assembly plant can quickly scale up to larger production runs with a couple of weeks warning.”

“Good,” Ed said.

“How are we doing with respect to money?” Ed asked.

Janet said, “We’re on budget. Our biggest expense so far has been payroll.”

Ed asked, “Is there any problem paying for the first production run?”

“No problem,” Janet said. She reached into a briefcase that was on the ground next to her and pulled out a stack of papers. “I’ve got the report here.”

She handed a copy to Dexter and another to Ed. Dexter glanced through the report knowing the numbers that would be in it. They still had a lot of their initial investment intact and a line of credit that would see them through any financial emergency.

“How about paying for a double run?” Ed asked.

“We have the money for that available, but we’ll need some income soon,” Janet said.

Dexter bit his bottom lip while thinking about it. Finally, he said, “Money might not be a problem, but I’ll have to see if our suppliers would have any difficulties in delivering parts.”

“I need a hundred thousand of the one cup coffee makers,” Ed said with a broad grin on his face.

“Why?” Dexter asked.

“I made a sale to a hotel chain,” Ed said.

“You made the sale to the Hinton Hotel chain?” Dexter asked with his eyes widening.

“You bet. Closed the deal last night,” Ed said with a grin.

Dexter felt like a huge weight had lifted off his chest. He had been worried that they would create the best coffeemakers on the market, and no one would buy them.

“What’s that mean?” Janet asked.

“It means that we’ve sold a quarter of a million units with delivery spread out over a year,” Ed answered.

Janet said, “Excellent.”

Dexter couldn’t agree more. He had wanted to work up to five percent of the annual coffeemaker market in the first two years. That would require them to produce 750,000 units a year and would represent about twenty-five million dollars a year in retail sales. This initial sale would make it much easier to hit their target numbers.

“What about the six and twelve cup machines? Do we have any orders for them?” Dexter asked.

“I’ve got orders for a hundred thousand machines of each size with one of the larger ‘big box’ stores,” Ed answered.

“That’s a good start,” Dexter said.

“Wait until we start advertising. I’ve got a feeling that we aren’t going to be able to produce enough machines over the next two years,” Ed said.

That actually worried Dexter more than not getting enough sales. He was afraid that the company would grow too large, too quickly. For one, he was afraid that the assembly company wouldn’t be able to handle the demand. It was also possible that the initial growth would make the inevitable decline in sales once the market stabilized, a serious problem.