By Jeff Gau, Marco CEO – As I look back at Marco’s history and our transition from a small typewriter shop, we have had to navigate through many storms. The Great Recession is among our defining moments.
The Recession tested our abilities as leaders to refine our business. Anyone can manage during good times. You find out how strong you are during the challenging times.
There are a series of key components to building a resilient company. Here are two that rise to the top:
- A healthy balance sheet.
For a sales organization like Marco, this took some discipline. We built our cash reserves and maintained little or no debt. This allowed us to make moves when others couldn’t and accelerate our growth. - Focused strategic direction for the future.
Most of our sales revenue used to come from project-based business and operated under the “hunt to eat” mentality. Then, executed a plan to launch and scale a recurring revenue model with Managed Print and Managed IT Services. Today, this is one of the highest growth, most profitable and predictable parts of our business.