Business

Avia Collinder, Business Writer

From sitting in airports alone on her birthday and spending days in travel while her husband raised their first child solo, Karen Brown now works side by side with spouse, Wayne Brown in their own business.

Brown, a former director of sales with Red Stripe, says she has had no reason to regret the move.

The seven-year-old company, Copiers and Consumables Limited, this year took home three top awards from Kyocera, the Japanese copier maker from whom the Browns hold the local dealership.

In a recession year - and two years after buying their current showroom in the Winchester Centre on Hope Road in Kingston - the Browns managed to improve sales by 133 per cent for the period April 2009 to March 2010, and improve printer sales, in particular, by 155 per cent.

They were also awarded for "superior achievement in budgeting".

The company, said Karen, may not be seen on TV and other mass media but, as Copiers and Consumables' sales and marketing director, she has pursued a programme of direct marketing to information technology companies, heads of procurement, and others, which has brought results.

On July 21, Brown delivered to promoters of Reggae Sumfest touch screen, multi-function digital machines that photocopy, print, scan, fax and send emails, for the show's media centre.

Humble beginnings

The Browns started Copiers and Consumables in 2003 when Karen, then working at Red Stripe, encouraged her engineer husband - who was technical director of a company which sold and serviced photocopiers - to start a business, just in case the effort should go bottom up.

But, it was a project in which the couple became completely invested, using almost all their joint savings of J$1 million to invest in machines and parts, office space, utilities and salaries.

The couple rented a cheap location in Cross Roads, which Karen reflected, enabled them to reduce the heavy capital costs by which other firms in the market were affected.

The venue is now used as a storage centre and location from which Copiers and Consumables' technicians operate.

Personal service

"We could not allow customers to come to us because of the address. We would go to them, and they appreciated the personal service," Karen recalled.

The company's market entry was based on a low-price strategy - about 30 per cent cheaper than rivals. "Everybody sells printers and servicing. We had to find a way to stand out," said Karen.

With Wayne as engineer and one technician, the Browns worked in the first three years on building up referrals.

Karen said the breakthrough came with the securing, over time, of customers who appreciated their personal 24-7 service style and set about helping them through word-of-mouth recommendations.

The next break came in 2006 when the company landed its first government contract.

Today, some 50 per cent of the business of Copier and Consu-mables comes from the state, with contracts for 12 agencies and departments.

In September 2006, Karen left Red Stripe to join her husband in Cross Roads, and they decided together to purchase a showroom in the new Winchester Centre that October, financed by mortgage.

The new space was ready for occupancy in early 2007 and coincided with the securing of the deal with Japanese firm Kyocera which, Karen recalled, was impressed by the business plan which she had sent to them.

Two Kyocera executives flew in to inspect the showroom and discuss business which, the sales manager says, has absolutely transformed the operation

The Japanese, she added, thought it an advantage to the company that the couple had the primary skills - engineering and marketing - needed to make the Kyocera brand succeed in Jamaica.

"The only thing missing was accounting, which was outsourced," said Karen.

Business loan

Thus began the capital-intensive phase of the company's development, because the shell at Winchester needed to be customised to suit the brand, but with Kyocera sales targets, inventory requirements and training, the company saw a profit for the first time.

TheBrownsthenfeltcomfortable enough to use the property, owned and valued at J$15 million, as collateral for a business loan to build inventory.

Karen gives kudos to National Commercial Bank, which, she said, provided loans when others sneered at their collateral in the early years.

The property used to get the loan, she said, is now worth J$20 million, appreciating in value, while the loan itself is being paid down.

The company, which continues to operate from both Cross Roads and Winchester, now has 14 staff members, including four technicians.

The couple is considering expanding to other Caribbean islands, but is wary of losing the personal appeal on which Copiers and Consumables built up market share.

avia.collinder@gleanerjm.com