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Davidson GrainCreston,How do you create something from nothing? How do you start a business from the ground up? How do you growyour business by leaps and bounds, with only your customers to do your selling for you? <strong>The</strong> answer, according toCarol and Ronald Davidson, the owners of Davidson Grain Incorporated, is simple; service. "We're all so busy," saidCarol, "the whole world is after good service."BeginningsRonald's grandfather, William, came to DeKalb Countyfrom Canada in 1905 when he was 16 years old. He started hisfarm with livestock and grain. Over the years, the farm has beenpassed down to Ron and his son John, who spends most of his"free time," when he is not at the Grain Business, working the4,200 acres throughout Ashton, Kirkland, Creston, and Rochelle.Carol Davidson wasn't raised with a farming background.From Southern Illinois, she is a nurse (non-practicing). WhenCarol and Ron met through a mutual friend, she was the administratorat Rochelle Nursing Home. <strong>The</strong> skills she utilized as administratorat the nursing home would soon be put to good use in theirnew business.In 1992, Ronald and Carol began using the elevator that, intwo years, would provide the basis for their new business. Ron and Carol worked in a little building behind the elevator.With little more than a frying pan, they put in many seventeen-hour days using just the bare essentials. <strong>The</strong>y slepton a couch that pulled out into a bed, all the while trying to ignore the sounds of the rats.Since she didn't have much experience in farming, the startup of the business in 1994 was a challenge forCarol. Sometimes Ron would throw out unfamiliar terms, and she felt like she might be making a big mistake. Goingback to nursing was becoming more and more attractive, especially since she and Ron worked such long hours. ButCarol kept at it, and soon she was up to speed with Ron. Today, a computer program handles all of their bookkeeping,but in those days Carol would keep track of everything manually. While Ron was up all night drying the corn, andthen handling the customers in the morning, Carol was keeping track of everything on a spreadsheet by hand.Ron manages the strategic job of purchasing and selling the grain. Keeping one eye on the market and one eyeon his storage capacity, Ron decides how much to buy, how much to ship out, and how much to keep open for storage.Up to 200,000 bushels of grain a day are bought and sold at Davidson Grain in the fall. Ron says it is all a matter oftiming, as the price changes often. Having learned how to work the market with his own farm, he expanded whenthey started the business. "I had quite a few good teachers,"Ron said.Growing<strong>The</strong> business started with Ron, Carol, Ron's son John, anda hired man. In 1996, they expanded with the purchase of severaltrucks. <strong>The</strong>y cover the entire Midwest with pickups inIowa, Wisconsin, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, and of course,Illinois. When a company needs a load delivered "just in time,"Ron and Carol will get the call because their drivers haven'tmissed a load yet. "<strong>The</strong> truckers are our salesmen out there,"said Ron, "so we have meetings with them to make sure theyrealize that." <strong>The</strong>y make sure that all of their drivers are trained
n Incorporated, Illinoison all of the equipment the grain business uses, and they don't sendnew drivers out to the fields until they work for their farm to makesure they can do the job well. That way, if a farmer needs help whenthe driver is out in the field, they can pitch in and help out, instead ofsitting in the truck and waiting. Because most of their drivers havebeen there for a long time, with the exception of a few part-timers thatthey hire in the fall, Ron and Carol have a strong relationship withthem, and in turn, the drivers have good relations with the farmers.At one point Ron and Carol thought perhaps business wasexpanding almost too quickly. <strong>The</strong>y now have 15 semis running andfour locations: Holcomb, Shabbona, and two in Creston. <strong>The</strong>y broughton Carol's son Hadley in 1997 and the four of them, John, Ron, Carol,and Hadley (see picture at left), began to learn each other's jobs. While Ron and Carol began the business, over theyears Hadley and John have begun to take over. "We never expected the business to grow as much as it did," saidCarol. "We never planned on being in the grain business." <strong>The</strong> two of them consider their customers to be their salesmen.<strong>The</strong>y know that if they do their best to show the customers that they appreciate their business, Davidson Grainwill sell itself.Service"In any industry, service seems to be lacking quite abit," Ron said. One of their customers often comments toRon and Carol, "You treat me like a big farmer." Hemight only have three loads, but when he calls for a truck,they send him a truck right away. <strong>The</strong> customer knowsthat he is just as important as the large farmers.Sometimes the small farmers can be ignored in the fallduring the busier times. Ron and Carol know that that ishow they built their business…with the small farmers. Infact, they picked up a lot of business from farmers whowould be sitting, waiting for trucks from their elevatorand right across the road they would see Davidson Graintrucks there and back as many as four times.<strong>The</strong>ir business has grown because of the personalservice that they offer to their customers. <strong>The</strong>y will helptheir clients with LDPs (Loan Deficiency Payments); all they have to do is bring in their paperwork and Carol orHadley will supply all of their records for them. Carol and Hadley will help their clients with the multitude of governmentfarm programs that are available and sometimes overwhelming. <strong>The</strong>y familiarize themselves with the governmentprograms and help out or even complete applications for their clients. Sometimes farmers come in and want to knowhow many bushels they've sold for their taxes and how much income they've had. Davidson Grain is happy to print outthe records for anyone who needs them. "Without the customers, we don't have anything," said Ron.At first, their clients would be cautious. Since Davidson Grain was a fairly new operation, they would onlybring a portion of their harvest in order to test them out. But when the farmers learned what Ron and Carol could dofor them at the end of the year with all of their records, and that they didn't have to go to two or three elevators, theybegan to bring all of their business to Davidson.To show their appreciation to the customers and their employees, Carol cooks a lunch for some of their clients and the
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