Letters

Readers react to articles from the State of Small Business, June, and July 2000 issues of Inc., including "The View from Brooklyn," by Norm Brodsky; "If You Build It, Will They Stay?" by Joshua Hyatt; and "True Grit," by Edward O. Welles.

Tweet

As September rolls in and the academic year begins, our readers remind us of the Inc. stories that have provided the most valuable lessons: pieces featuring time-honored business principles like knowing your market, bringing in profits, and constructing a strategic vision -- not the giddy and often ephemeral madness of E-riches.

E-nough already
This past spring the topsy-turvy Nasdaq deflated the billion-dollar dreams of many dot-com superstars, heralding the resurgence of old-fashioned business values. Some of our readers would like to see Inc. concentrate on the fundamentals.

What ever happened to good old small businesses that don't start with "E-"?! Yes, there is a major industrial revolution going on out there, and we want to know about it. But I for one long to read about the good people who also produce bits and bytes out of stuff you can hold in your hand. Can we tip the balance back a bit please?

Lorenzo Majno
Instron Corp.
Canton, Mass.

My wife purchased a subscription to your magazine for me. She did it to help me with my business. Although I use the Internet and computers for work, E-commerce is not my primary interest. I understand that this is the direction that business is going in, but your publication seems to have lost the content of basic business management/ideas/theories that can help newer companies survive and compete. Are you ever going to "get back to basics"?

Scott D. Meyer
CEO
SC Meyer Enterprises
Lindale, Tex.

Fresh start
Norm Brodsky must be on to something. After our veteran Street Smarts columnist aired his interest in the business of information destruction (that is, paper shredding) in " The View from Brooklyn," in our State of Small Business issue, scores of readers wrote in with questions, start-up stories of their own, and -- in a reversal for Brodsky -- lots of advice. We'll be following Norm's progress with his new venture in regular installments, beginning in November.

I greatly enjoyed reading your article "The View from Brooklyn." You hit the nail on the head. I have been in the document-shredding business for six years and haven't regretted it for one second. There are several markets in the United States that I believe are ripe for a shredding service. There are also several approaches you need to evaluate: on-site versus off-site shredding, franchise versus independent, high-speed versus high-torque shredders, and so on.

Andy Erler
President
Secure Shredding Services
Charlotte, N.C.

I read the Street Smarts column in each issue, and it happens to be thoroughly informative as well as a voice of reason that I wish more people would hear.

Secure destruction of documents is an excellent, very profitable business. It is becoming a very populated industry, though. Your article won't slow that down; in fact, if you are looking to start such a business, you might have just bought a ton of competition. My observations of this industry have told me two things: know who you are up against and hire a sales force with drive. They will gain market share for you in this industry.

Marcus Cudd
Residential Program Manager
Frankel Financial Corp.
Fort Washington, Pa.

Built to last?
In " If You Build It, Will They Stay?" in our June issue, senior editor Joshua Hyatt profiled Rick Kearney, CEO of Mainline Information Systems Inc., who spent close to $12 million on an "employee-centric office park" that he hopes will keep attrition at bay. One reader feels the idea is flawed, as was, according to him, our decision to run the article.

It is rare for Inc. to profile someone who is as clueless as Rick Kearney. And that you put him on the cover shows that the editors don't get it, either.

First, what he is building can only be called a "Rick Kearney-centric office park." It is all about him and his ideas. If it were really about his employees, then he would get their input on topics of more import than the color of the wall for the smoking area.

The fact that he is clueless comes through loud and clear when he says, "Five years from now ... I just don't know what business we'll be in." This guy has no vision, no solid plan, no idea if the company will even exist in a few years, and he wonders why he can't attract and keep good technology people! He thinks that his employees want nothing more than cushy surroundings and lots of toys. If he would talk to them, he might find out that the needs of today's high-tech employees are much higher on Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs than that.