Keeping a small team of loyal workers has helped AllStar maintain their vision of a team mentality.
In a world where everyone is out for themselves it is good to know that there still are those that want you to be a part of a team.
All star cable, Inc. in Whittier, are a low voltage cable and wire distributor that have surpassed their first year projections by bringing a level of customer service that many larger companies can’t manufacture.
The husband and wife team of Kenny and Mary Venegas, combined, have over 30yrs of experience in the wire distribution business. They met at their previous employer where both were top salespeople.
“I fell into this business and stayed in it,” said Kenny. “A lot of people change jobs often and I was lucky enough to stay in this business and learn the way it works from the bottom up. If I didn’t know this industry so well I wouldn’t of gambled on opening my own business,” he added.
Both Kenny and Mary excelled in sales and they wanted to challenge themselves to do more.
They were also beginning to dislike the way their employer was managing the sales team. They didn’t like the fact that there was too much in-fighting between salespeople and departments.
It was a natural step for both of them to step away from that and open their own business.
“When you excel at something you like, you always want to find ways to challenge yourself and find higher highs, opening a business was the next step for us,” said Mary.
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She said sales is what they love to do and wire is what they know. If it was paint they knew that’s what they would be selling.
Their level of customer service and attention to detail kept their customer accounts loyal. When they left their last employer many of those old accounts came looking for them.
“We gave them 60 days to pay their invoices and they would pay on delivery because they knew we needed the payments, being a new company,” said Mary.
Mary’s effervescent demeanor and ear-to-ear smile are a perfect compliment to her husband’s mellow attentiveness. They are both very good listeners. They want to understand their clients and they want to make sure their clients understand them.
They came up with the name AllStar to always remind them of the team mentality.
This philosophy goes across the board at their company.
“My job is not more important than the girl answering the phone or the guy shipping the cable,” said Garcia.
Like any new company owner, they do not consider themselves 9-5 people, sometimes they have to come in early on a Monday morning or stay late on a Friday afternoon. All the time staying friendly and pleasant to the customer calls.
They’ve managed to surpass their first year projections by staying conservative when it comes to spending. They projected to gross $1,000,000 in sales and made a total of $3,500,000 by years end 2006.
This has given them better buying power.
To start the business they took out a loan against their home.
“If I don’t make the payments I lose my house.” Said Kenny.
At this point we don’t draw money out of the company unless we absolutely need it. That way, they always keep a good reserve of funds for inventory and large purchases.
Most new entrepreneurs get large lines of credit and borrow money from investors. This money is not really theirs, so it makes it easy for them to spend it.
If they can parlay any advice to new entrepreneurs it would be, “hire a good accountant, keep your taxes clean and take good care of your employees.”
They have insurance coverage for all employees, medical, dental and vision. And all their employees get paid well over the minimum wage. That’s not something that many employees of small businesses see.
Now that is a team mentality that leaves you thinking, “Pick me, pick me!”
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www.allstarcable.com
1.888.33.ALLSTAR
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