Live Ambitiously
Watching CNBC, I saw an ad for millennials that carried that tag line, “Live Ambitiously”*. It stuck with me and I thought about it as I was getting ready for work. The phrase struck home as it kind of reflects how we do things here at PlastiCert.
That makes sense as it kind of describes my career leading to being a business owner. I know many businesspeople will cringe when I profess this, but for the most part, I am not a goal setter. Certainly, when there is an obvious task at hand like building our addition or acquiring a new piece of equipment once the decision to buy has been made, you set timelines/goals. For the most part, I am more of an opportunist. I believe in constantly moving forward and improving, but I do it in a manner where blinders are off and take advantage of opportunities as they present themselves. Because I do believe that while goal setting has its merits, it can also cause you to be focused further down the path and not see what is appearing right in front of you. Throughout my career, when I saw or was presented with opportunities, I usually took advantage of them. Offers to take on different responsibilities, different product areas, even changing companies, all eventually contributed to me being prepared for becoming a business leader, and then owner. Even though that was never a goal of mine.
PlastiCert too, has grown in capability and focus based on a “goal” of continuously improving at injection molding, but seizing opportunities as they presented themselves.
PlastiCert in its early days (our Pennsylvania roots) had numerous small tonnage presses and focused on making smaller, higher volume parts for automotive and consumer companies. Making a goal of improving on that, left an exposure to offshoring, and probably would have increased our exposure to the 2008 depression. Resulting in company failure (it did result in our closing that PA facility).
PlastiCert Minnesota long ago jumped on an opportunity that required acquiring a much larger tonnage press (that we have since replaced with an even bigger one). We then seized on other opportunities, like value add assembly and the bigger opportunity to focus on short and medium volume molding runs.
Today PlastiCert is a very successful composite injection molding service provider because we set goals when they are needed, but we listen to our customers, AND prospective customers about what their needs are and how we can help them. Our customers rave about our service and quality but being their preferred supplier for difficult composite small and medium volume parts and assemblies speaks louder than anything.
Does your injection molder listen to you, do they even respond in a timely manner? Give PlastiCert a call. We live ambitiously!!! We keep our eye on the ball, but we have a bigger vision outlook!
*At their website, the finance channel expounds saying “CNBC is where ambition meets opportunity. Our goal is to empower you, our audience, to realize your financial aspirations.”