WINTER 2017

154
THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK
STAR STAINLESS 2016 NIFMSE HALL OF FAME RECIPIENT - BRUCE WHEELER from page 142
Lets begin with:
RELATIONSHIPS - These play a key role in each of
our businesses, a larger role than many of you may realize.
Do not underestimate the power of relationships with your
customers, suppliers, employees, and for me I will also
include my wife Robin. You would be amazed what people
are willing to do if you have a truly solid relationship.
DEBT - I don’t believe in Debt. I don’t believe in
leveraging. Debt is an anchor holding you down. It forces
you to make decisions at times that are not sound for your
business. You project out your finances in an elaborate
spreadsheet. Everything looks good on paper.
You borrow, that’s all great if things actually go as
projected. But they rarely ever do. We don’t conduct
business in a perfect environment. Economies crash,
recessions hit, new competition surfaces and your bottom
line gets hammered. All of a sudden you are in trouble and
game over. Keep your debt low. It enables you to ride out
the storms.
In the course of my career I have seen over a half a
dozen companies enter into the stainless arena, some of
them in a big way. Where are they today ? Out of Business!
INVENTORY - Star’s claim to fame has always been
its inventory. People expect us to have the stock and we
painstakingly try to keep our stock flush. “You can’t sell
from an empty wagon.”
DO NOT DO WHAT EVERYONE ELSE IS DOING - If
you follow the trends of the times you become just like
everyone else. You become the norm. If you are the norm,
the best you can hope to be is average.
NOT ALL BUSINESS DECISIONS SHOULD BE
MADE PURELY ON DOLLRS AND CENTS - Operating
a privately held company has its benefits and not every
decision needs to be made solely for the bottom line.
Having a successful business doesn’t have to be measured
on how much money you can squeeze from it. You need
to decide if the impact of what you are doing is worth the
extra money it yields.
Here is an example: In 2008 when the financial crisis
hit, the fastener demand crashed, commodities crashed
and Star’s sales crashed. Our sales dropped over 35% in
one year. I made the decision to not lay anyone off and
carry the entire employee base, while most companies
began shedding bodies. I doubt this decision would have
been a popular course of action. If I had gone to business
school, there is no doubt I would have been taught its
”Hammer Time.”
STAR STAINLESS AT 2016 NIFMSE
LEFT TO RIGHT: KEVIN CHAVIS, BILL FIVEHOUSE, BRYAN
WHEELER, AND BRUCE WHEELER
As a matter of fact, if I worked for some of you, I would
have been fired for this move. This was an investment
in our people and the business, unlike inventory, this
investment paid big dividends of employee loyalty. Looking
back, it was the right move.
HAVE FUN - Life moves by pretty fast, you can
successfully operate a business and have fun doing it.
At Star our approach is far from conventional. Heck, we
were operating out of the box before the phrase was even
coined. When the parade goes right, we look hard to see
if we can go left. Over the years three people have now
emerged from Star and been placed in the Hall of Fame -
Bernard Golden, Wayne Golden, and now myself.
WE ARE NOT A GLAMOROUS COMPANY, WE
MARCH TO OUR OWN DRUMMER AND THIS HAS
BAFFLED PEOPLE FOR YEARS - During my career I
have watched many competitors come and go, but Stars
approach no matter how bizarre you may think it is, has
stood the test of time and I am perfectly content with our
business practices. It makes things interesting, fun and
creative.
THANK YOU - I would like to thank Sylvia, Wendy and
Barrie Golden for allowing me to run Star.
I would like to thank my wife Robin for putting up with
me, she is the voice of reason when I get all wound up.
I would like to thank my children for their patience
with my workload. I know it wasn’t easy at times.
My gratitude and thanks goes out to all the customers,
suppliers and employees for making Star the company it
is today. Without all of you, I wouldn’t be standing here
today.
I THANK YOU ALL.
STAR STAINLESS