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This is the story of Theatrical Lighting
Systems (TLS) and Janet and David Milly.
They will
show you how slowly adding value, one day at a time, is how each of us has
built a business. Some people get lucky and their formulas click. Some of us
are lucky that we get in on the ground floor of a new business
revolution.
It is
possible for all of us to be revolutionaries like those who have came before
us.
David Milly
started early. When he worked in a grocery store, he decided that he wanted to
be the boss. He also observed a neighbor just a few doors down the street who
had started his own business in his garage; it was called SpaceCraft, Inc..
Olin King's company became SCI and today has 33,000 employees in 19 countries
... one of the largest businesses in Alabama.
Watching
others do it is always inspiration.
When David
was a studnt at University of Alabama at Huntsville (UAH), he earned money
booking entertainment and dances for his school. From his first booking, Earl
Scruggs Review, a country-bluegrass band (of Deliverance fame), he knew
this was what he wanted to do.
But besides
the fiddlers, David also booked the lighting package for the show. He engaged
Luna Tech, a sole proprietor, and they struck up a friendship. By the time he
graduated they had a partnership and then they formed a corporation (1975) to
protect themselves from the liability involved with manufacturing and creating
pyrotechnic special effects. David was initially a 25% stockholder in the
business, yet by 1981 he negotiated a buyout of just the lighting division to
go out on his own.
That's a
story, but this one just gets better.
At that time
there was no trade association for the lighting industry. In 1987 a few of the
fellows started one, Theatrical Dealers Assocation, and David was quick to join
and serve on the board. He initiated a Small Business Development Committee.
Today this
national association is known as ESTA or the
Entertainment
Services and Technology Association. And, here you find an aggressive
association; they are out in front of the Occupational Safety & Health Act
(OSHA) in developing safety standards for their industry. Lori Rubinstein, the
executive director of ESTA, comments, "We are in fact accredited by the
American National Standards Institute to create standards for our industry."
She went on
to say, "David Milly is an ideal trade association member. This industry has
unique problems and David has always been an advocate to share what he knows
and to get specialists to come in to educate all of us about new financial and
management practices. Of course he cares about Huntsville, but he also cares
about this industry and how to make it better."
David has
also been an active member of the Huntsville Chamber of Commerce for over 25
years and
Better Business Bureau for twenty years. Yet,
he continues to look for new ways to participate; he recently joined the
Alabama Business Council and the National Federation of Independent
Businesses.
We have heard
it so many times, "Stay on top of financials." Janet (CFO), David's life
partner and business partner, also insists that their employees stay on top of
the financials as well. David says, "Every single person within this company is
a salesperson; and through profit sharing, they also focus on the bottom line."
Plus, every year David and Janet meet with their banker and do a "dog and pony
show." Janet says that their bankers always give them a lot of good ideas.
Janet prepares weekly "Flash" report for all the managers so they know their
key critical ratios, a bellwether into the operational and fiscal integrity of
the business. Competitors take note -- their bid bond rating is so good they
qualify for jobs where you might not even be invited to compete. One of the key
reasons is that Janet makes sure every vendor is paid within 30 days.
Get some help
from some outside resources. David and Janet worked with David Griffith
(847.825.8806) of
George S. May International, management
consultants since 1925. David comments, "...spent $40K dollars and made it back
in four months."
- CONTACT:
Janet & David
Milly
Theatrical Lighting Systems, Inc.
1221 Jordan Lane, PO Box 2646
Huntsville, Alabama 35804
Tel: 256.533.7025
Fax:
256.536.7846 or 800.229.7320
Email:
Click
here.
URL: http://www.tlsinc.com
- SUPPORT PUBLIC
TELEVISION:
Become a member of your local station. If you are
already, great. If not and your business is doing well, consider joining the
Producers' Club ($1000).
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- Selection: In 1993, Theatrical Lighting
Systems,Inc. won Huntsville/Madison County Chamber of Commerce Small Business
of the Year. In 2001 they won ESTA Manufacturer's Choice Dealer of the Year.
- Learn
about the Risk
Management Association, a consortium of 3000 banks and 18,000 other
financial organizations. You can take courses with the RMA to learn how to
calculate and interpret your key critical ratios. They also know, based on the
annual results of over 150,000 loan docs, what the standard means -- key
critical ratios -- are within your industry.
- JOIN, JOIN, JOIN: Your professional associations in your industry
are your key to continuing education, market research, collaborations,
strategic partnerships, capital and so much more ... often you'll find that you
enjoy like-minded people and many will become friends for life. David holds
membership in many nationwide professional groups including the Gospel Music
Association, ESTA, Country Music Association, and locally is a member of the
Better Business Bureau and the Huntsville/Madison County Chamber of Commerce.
David and Janet read the publications associated with the national
trade association and publication: ESTA (a quarterly),
Lighting Dimensions,
Entertainment Design,
Mix Magazine,
Sound and Video Contractor,
Lighting & Sound International,
Mix, and
Broadcast Engineering and
Millimeter.
- FIRST PRINCIPLES: Starting a
business is the road to economic independence for most of us average people.
Read a little more to see why
incorporating a business keeps the passion of
the American revolution alive!
- 1500+
Questions and Answers within SmallBusinessSchool. Within every show there
are about 15 questions and answers. Within the school, there is a place to
record your answers to these questions. Your answers to the same questions that
Hattie has asked all the other business owners become part of your own secure
database where you have options to re-display your best answers within this
site as your own
profile page (that is this page), essentially
an executive summary , a
study
guide and/or a
transcript.
-
MORE ABOUT FINANCES. We have a section
about money and it can be useful. BUT, we all need
to know about RMA --The Risk Management Association. This is real
insiders information on your financials so take note.
This
organization is the banker's banker. They know more about key critical
ratios than anybody on earth. Over 3000 banks and 16000 other kinds of
financial organizations contribute the essential financial data from their loan
inventory to RMA's "Annual Statement Studies" to calculate key critical ratios
for every major industry type (and for most subsets of business vis-a-vis the
SIC and NAICS). With over 150,000 loans per year,
that is statistical relevancy.
Do you know the average key ratios
within your industry? We haven't learned ours yet for the TV/Production
Industry, so we all need to ask our banker. To really make a study of
it, keep an eye out for the next seminar by RMA in your area. It'll be the best
money you'll spend to understand the organic nature of your business, and learn
what it is that your banker so quickly knows about your industry. For more,
read online:
RMA
seminars,
RMA
history, and their
small
business scoring (i.e. used by the SBA for their Low Docs).
Study
the history behind the RMA (it goes back to Robert Morris, a signer of the
Declaration of Independence).
The RMA to help you learn and there is no better
episode of the show to review than this one with Jim
Schell.
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