Growing Into the Presidency
Bev Snyder
President and Co-Owner
Stonebraker Rocky Mountain Fireworks Company
www.stonebraker.com
TAB member since 2006
On working with Blair Koch: "Blair has great insight," says Snyder. "She can ask a question or bring out something that you really hadn't thought about." Snyder especially appreciates Koch's ability to keep the group on track and on task. "She has a way of zeroing in on what the essence of something is," says Snyder. In addition to facilitating the TAB meetings, Koch meets with each member each month privately. "Having that coaching session once a month helps me focus and stick with the plan," says Snyder.
The client: Bev Snyder is President and co-owner of Stonebraker Rocky Mountain Fireworks, a Denver-based company with six employees and approximately twenty contractors. Ninety percent of the company's business consists of providing public fireworks displays, the majority of which occur on the Fourth of July. "It's very seasonal," says Snyder.
The business challenge: Snyder's primary business challenge was that of growing into her role as President of the company. She'd taken the reigns of her family-owned business upon the death of her father in 2004. Having had no formal business training, Snyder was learning as she went about everything from financial management to marketing. In addition, she says, "When my Dad died I felt more responsibility and wanted to grow the business." Because of the seasonal nature of the business and because the company likes to keep its full-time employees on board year-round, landing more non-July 4th clients would have to become a priority.
On considering TAB: Initially, Snyder didn't think TAB would be a good fit for her because, in her words, she was a "novice in the business world." Snyder actually wasn't a novice at all (her father had been grooming her for five years), but she was relatively new to being in a leadership position. "I went to a couple of sessions where Blair Koch presented what TAB is about. I got to see the other people. It wasn't as threatening as I thought it would be," says Snyder. One thing Snyder realized as she investigated TAB was that her situation was similar to that of many other business owners – she had a great deal of responsibility but didn't have access to confidential, objective feedback and sound advice about how to manage and grow her business. Snyder was also concerned that TAB might be too expensive, but when she met with Koch one-on-one to go over the details she found that cost was not a barrier at all.
The TAB experience: Snyder appreciates the consistency of meeting with the same group of people each month. "You have a sounding board and there is a level of trust there," she says. Every month she brings an issue to the board for discussion, as does each member of the group. They give and receive feedback and set goals that they'll report on the following month. The ideas and advice Snyder has taken away from the board meetings have proven invaluable, but the accountability factor is just as important to her. "It's really one of the reasons I joined," she says. Saying she'll address something in her business and knowing that she'll be asked to present her results in 30 days to the group helps keep Snyder motivated. The other members recognize, however, that – just as it is in their own businesses – occasionally competing priorities and the demands of business make keeping a commitment impossible. "If you don't accomplish something it's not like you get an ‘F' and have to take the course over," laughs Snyder.
The results: "Focus," says Snyder. "If you know where you're going with something you push a little more to achieve your goals." Prior to joining TAB, Snyder never had a formal budget for her business. Now, she reviews her financials and goals on a quarterly basis with her fellow board members. "It's nice to be able to verbalize it. Before, I knew internally what we were doing, but I wasn't looking at it in-depth as I have this past year." The result is that she is now more intent on increasing off-season sales and gets ideas from the board on how to do that. She has also, with the help of the board, come up with ways of pricing services to drive more revenue to her bottom line. Like many TAB members, Snyder's investment to participate on a board is more than paying for itself. "We share our results . . . the best and worst of the month . . . when you focus on the good and the bad and verbalize it, you realize you've been doing something and that you've made progress," says Snyder.
On the personal side, Snyder says that before she joined TAB, she felt like she was working all the time. "I was feeling underpaid and overworked. At the very beginning, Blair had us set our business and personal goals." Snyder set a goal to work no more than 30 weekend days a year (a necessity in her line of work), and was happy to report to the board recently that she'd worked even fewer weekends than she'd limited herself to. "That's been great. I have more balance between my personal and business life than I did this time last year," says Snyder.
