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The NC Small Business and Technology Development Center NC's Business & Technology Extension Service |
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CLIENT SUCCESS STORIES
Can-Am Custom Trucks When the price of steel steadily escalated in 2003, Can-Am Custom Trucks, Inc. of Charlotte started losing money for the first time. Siblings Tammy McElreath and Terry Potts, owners of Can-Am, were selling under 90-day contracts that did not allow adjustments for steel costs that were getting higher and higher. Their banker could offer no help, but a referral from Self Help Credit Union led Tammy and Terry to the SBTDC. Tammy and Terry presented the SBTDC with a six-year-old business that had started with $300 and matured into a versatile outfit providing installation and modification services for light-duty trucks, class 8 trucks, tractors, and vans. As a result of contact with SBTDC counselors Carl Beal and Bion Schulken, Terry most appreciates “an understanding of the business and how we can draw from other resources.” Tammy and Terry have extended their business acumen through such resource referrals as the N.C. Employment Security Commission and the business counseling program at Central Piedmont Community College. Tammy and Terry look forward to using the software as a tool to determine whether they can take on new business. “I’d rather achieve my promise to customers than fall behind,” Terry says. “When you build your business on relationships and trust, I don’t want to damage that.” Research that gave Tammy and Terry conviction to consider the software came from a team of MBA students from Montreat College. The team worked with Can-Am during spring semester 2005, and it won the SBTDC’s statewide Graduate Business Student Competition. The team also supplied supporting calculations indicating that Can-Am would benefit from a second shift of laborers. The second shift began in March 2005. Tammy says the result has been “larger volume out the door but we can also better serve our customers.” 2005 presented Can-Am with a net profit whereas 2004 presented a net loss. Tammy and Terry emphasize that what underlies Can-Am’s success is the multitude of resources that have become available. The MBA team’s recommendations, Carl’s accounting background, and Bion’s manufacturing background have been important suppliers of assistance. Terry’s advice to novice entrepreneurs bolsters the importance of multifaceted business support. “Find out the resources in your area before you start. Learn to float before you go swimming.”
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Bion also helped Can-Am’s owners to select Manufacturing Execution System software that will systematize tasks like job costing and labor costing. Before implementation of the software, “everything was manual and in Terry’s head,” Tammy says. As of February 2006, the software is in the implementation planning stage.