On this week’s Welsh Wire Podcast, sponsored by the Family Business Alliance, Sheri Welsh talks with Mark Kimball, President and CEO of Grand Rapids-based Moss – the inaugural award recipient for the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce Family Business of the Year in 2022.
Although Moss is currently in its 49th year, Kimball’s tenure with the company began a decade ago when he transitioned from a corporate career in banking to entrepreneurship.
He says the catalyst for this shift was his son Mitch (currently Chief Strategy Officer for Moss) who encouraged his father to build their own family’s wealth rather than continuing to work for others. The pair initially launched a physical security startup in a small conference room before acquiring Moss (a company they had previously hired for installation work) from a friend who was exiting the industry. Since the acquisition, the family has quadrupled the size of the enterprise in terms of both revenue and staff.
From a family business standpoint, Kimball identifies three elements that are crucial to success. “Number one is you have to be a subject matter expert. Whatever it is that you do you have to work harder, work longer, work smarter than your competition. A family business can outmaneuver super regional or national enterprises because we have the ability to pivot and we generally have the willingness just to roll up our sleeves and work harder. The second thing is customer service. Just being present and being responsive is so critical. And then the last one, and I think one of the fundamental core requirements of a family business is you just have to be nice. Be nice to everybody you interact with and it will create a little bit of grace for you when you give a little bit of grace to your customer base.”
Listen today about the key factors important to family business success when Mark Kimball talks with Sheri Welsh on this week’s Welsh Wire Podcast.
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