Growth, Like Love, Can Be A “Hurtin’ Thing”

“Love stole my heart, and stomped the sucker flat…” – old C&W tune, author unknown
Wheewww…

They say you know you are getting old when you start making sounds like this when you move around. I make them all the time now, especially after the last couple of months.

Our company, MATRI-X, has undergone an amazing expansion in the last couple of months. At different times this endeavor has been exciting, terrifying, exhausting, but at the same time, invigorating for us. Since the new year MATRI-X has launched a new, redesigned web site, held a major promotional event at an international conference, introduced an innovative new product called the “AirGo” to the industry, announced our new “UNBIASED ‘07” seminar, opened our online store and were shocked silly when we were awarded “Interior Restoration Person(s) of the Year 2007” by our peers and Mobile Tech News.

This is not to say everything is always “hunky-dory” in our world. We still have a lot of work to do as we continue to add products to our store and as we develop systems to address our customers’ needs. It takes an amazing amount of effort to do this while we achieve our primary goal of making sure our customers are never affected or inconvenienced by our developmental stage. So far, to our knowledge we have met every customer request promptly and efficiently, and all orders have been filled without any problems or even casualties. (The author tries to hide the look of astonishment from his face with no success.)

Not bad for a couple of guys spraying too much paint by the beach, huh?

This rapid expansion has taught us a lot. If you (or the company that you either own or work for) have gone through something like this, then you know what I mean. It brings out both the best and the worst in each person involved. One day you will look at everything you and your team has accomplished and be amazed and proud – the next day you will find yourself imagining using various tools in your toolbox on your partners to get them to comply with what you want them to do…

It is all part of the journey, isn’t it? I personally have learned more about our company in the last couple of months then I have the entire time we’ve worked together. Our team is simply amazing in what they are able to accomplish with limited resources and crushing time pressures. The talents and strengths of each person have risen to the challenge, despite how each person occasionally seems to get “stupid” about something or other, and then we work together to get through the problem.

This not only builds strength within about what we can do and accomplish in the future – it also forces us to develop a kind of “coping skill” that helps us to work with one another…and even without homicide! Some people call it “bonding”, but I think of it as “banding” instead. This is not unlike when a group of soldiers are cut off from the rest and group together to protect every person (regardless of how much they p*ss you off) with a diligence that might be less if they were with the main group.

Finally, I’d like to thank everyone that has supported our effort and helped us along. There are a lot of people and companies in this group, but we wanted to especially express our thanks to all our students over the last few years. Anyone who has attended a MATRI-X training knows how extensive our student evaluation process is – and the lessons we have learned have made us what we are. It is only through what we hear from you that helps us learn what you want from a trainer, a product supplier or just to progress our industry as a whole.

So we dedicate our expansion to you all – and try to catch our breath for a moment while we tie up the loose ends and move forward. Over the next couple of months you will see our online store expand tremendously and we will be able to reveal more and more about our upcoming “UNBIASED ‘07” training.

So…although growth, like love, can be painful – the benefits are exciting, intoxicating and wonderful (hopefully growth will be a little less expensive though…) – and I wouldn’t have it any other way.