From frustrating plateau to an enormous smile on his face

From frustrating plateau to an enormous smile on his face. The story of Discount Office Suppliers.

Discount Office Supplies has been trading since 2010 but there’s no sign of the dreaded seven-year itch for managing director Dave McFarlane. Instead, the Blackpool-based office products dealer is enjoying its highest sales and profit ever and is confident of hitting its £1 million turnover target by 2020 thanks to its partnership with Office Power.

When Dave McFarlane decided to leave his successful 12-year career in sales to set up his own office supplies business in the north west of England, he hoped that his commercial expertise, unrivalled product knowledge and customer empathy would be enough to strike it rich. However, he soon found himself up against several unexpected – and major – challenges:

1          Doing it alone was not an option

“I set out to be my own boss, earn my own money and not have someone looking over my shoulder,” he explained. “But the business evolved quickly and I realised I would have to take people on to help through the process. Doing it alone was not going to be an option.”

2          It’s harder to get credit the quicker you grow

“Growing quickly was a really tough battle and the biggest challenge we faced was credit: when you grow rapidly you very quickly hit your credit limits, which got in the way of trading – this continued to happen as we grew.”

Dave explained that to get the best pricing from suppliers meant buying a lot of stock; product that was stored in a warehouse to be picked, packed and delivered when it was needed. When it got to the stage where the company had £16,000 worth of goods in the warehouse and £30,000 of outstanding invoices from suppliers, Dave realised the warehouse had to go.

3          You spend a lot of time not doing the things you are good at

“A lot of my time was spent in the office chasing outstanding invoices and wearing several hats in my business. That’s not me – I am a sales person – it diluted the time I could spend doing what I’m good at, which is prospecting and seeing my customers.”

Reaching the point of plateau

Dave reached a plateau with Discount Office Supplies after he had tried everything – including going for months without any wages – to cover the fixed costs he needed to support his growing turnover. The big eye opener came when the company’s finances started keeping him awake at night. It was at that point that he realised that focusing on finances rather than growing the business was not the most efficient use of his skills, so he sat down with a business angel who made it clear he needed to do things differently.

Dave’s response was to try various organisations that offer support services, hoping that this would free up his time to  to focus on selling. But as the company grew rapidly the support services were not giving the freedom he needed. They actually caused more problems and created more work and cost for him.

Business solutions for dealers are not all the same 

After breaking from the group offering these services, Dave contacted Office Power and explained his issues.

“They suggested that I go away and look at other business support options as well as Office Power before making a final decision,” said Dave. “I did. But none was as proactive or as responsive as Office Power. It made me realise that this approach was the right one for me but only if they could deliver a quality service. I thought Office Power could and we became partners in June 2016 and I’ve never looked back.”

Why Office Power is different

• The unique Office Power platform

“The Office Power platform was the biggest attraction for us – we were working with an antiquated ordering and CMS system. Yes, we had a web presence, but all that did was send us an email and we would have to place the order on behalf of the customer, which essentially doubled our workload. With Office Power, the customer can order direct – so once the order is placed online, it goes straight to the suppliers, where it’s boxed and delivered next day. We don’t have to do anything and this saves us so much time.”

• Cost of goods savings

“One of the first things I did with Office Power was look at pricing. I gave them our usage figures for a year and they came back with a list of our top 1,000 products and a 30 % saving on cost pricing for just those products. They have a buying power that’s second to none and it made me realise I had been working my rear end off for someone else to take the profit.”

3          The team

“There are still challenges ahead – Brexit and rising prices – but I’ve got a massive support team behind me that I know will get me through any rocky periods. 

4          The reporting dashboard

“Compared to the Office Power system, ours was so unfriendly. If I had a margin issue it would take hours to find. With Office Power, it’s real time or if I want to deep-dive I can run a report myself or I call our Office Power account manager, who is and say I need a report and I get it in minutes. After all, without reporting, it’s not possible to see – or fix – the problem.”

5          They don’t sit still

“They don’t sit still: they are forever refining and improving the technology and reporting systems.”

6          They care about my business

“If we don’t make money, neither does Office Power, so they have a vested interest in making us more profitable.”

Too good to be true?

“When I met the team, they explained how Office Power worked and how it was different to other solutions. It sounded amazing. But because of my previous experience, there was a little voice in the back of my head that wondered if it was too good to be true. What if they were just after my customers? Or what if their prices rose again after three months? But of course, nothing like that happened. They were totally true to their word. They don’t want our customers. In fact, they want us to find new customers and have better relationships with our existing ones. As I said before, they want us to succeed.”

Results?

“What we’ve achieved since working with Office Power less than a year ago – both for the business and for me personally – has been incredible,” said Dave.

• In January, Discount Office Supplies grew by 34% year on year
• The company’s turnover has increased by £10,000 per month
• Discount Office Supplies has recorded its highest sales to date
• Profits have doubled
• The company is confident it will hit its target of £1 million turnover within three years
• “I am more in control of my business because I’m now focused on my business and not focusing on finance, or dealing with suppliers, or packing boxes, or chasing customer invoices.”
• “My work/life balance has changed. Previously, I had no work/life balance – I would be working on my laptop in bed at 2 a.m. trying to get better deals from suppliers. Now? Office Power allows me to step away from the business knowing everything will be okay. I go home at 5.30 p.m. now and recently I took a day off.”
• “My childhood goal was to retire at 55 – Office Power has made that a real possibility.”
• “I now know that I’ll have a legacy to leave: a future for my kids.”

The last word

“I would recommend Office Power in a heartbeat – in fact, I already have.”