What You Missed at Techmakers
Be more and give more.
I love that byline from Rainmakers. Tonight I registered with Techmakers, the technology branch of Rainmakers. Friends Doug Theis and Tony Scelzo are doing a fantastic service to the region with this new networking group.
Having had the pleasure of working with a number of successful startups and entrepreneurs in the region, I’m looking forward to helping provide others with insight to what I’ve learned. Watch the video for some additional information on Techmakers:
Tonight, Stan Bentley, founder of Diversified Systems (DSI) spoke. DSI is a regional manufacturer of high tech systems, circuit boards, and products… over 3,000 of them! They’ve got 250,000 square feet of manufacturing space that spans 25 acres. Most of their clients are billion dollar companies, so Mr. Bentley provided a lot of advice on how small companies can compete against very large companies:
No matter how inept, large companies have the money and time to outlast you. You must find other ways of distinguishing yourselves.
DSI has distinguished itself in manufacturing by being both innovative and creative. It’s fascinating that a large company like DSI with deep pockets, state of the art facilities, and is centrally located in the country for easy transportation has identified innovation and creativity as their core competencies!
Mr. Bentley also advised all businesses to identify and pay attention to their cash conversion cycle aka cash cycle. Mr. Bentley said that they’ve seen many great companies with superb products suffer because they didn’t have a strong cash cycle… some of which were purchased by DSI. According to Investopedia, cash conversion cycle is:
A metric that expresses the length of time, in days, that it takes for a company to convert resource inputs into cash flows. The cash conversion cycle attempts to measure the amount of time each net input dollar is tied up in the production and sales process before it is converted into cash through sales to customers. This metric looks at the amount of time needed to sell inventory, the amount of time needed to collect receivables and the length of time the company is afforded to pay its bills without incurring penalties.
This is solid advice that’s typical here in the Midwest. While other states are broke, with high unemployment and terrible housing… Indiana continues to do well. We have over a billion dollars in reserves, and a AAA credit rating. The reason is because of the outstanding business sense in the region, Mr. Bentley’s company is a perfect example.
Join Techmakers
If you’re a technology professional in the region, I’d recommend that you join Techmakers. Whether you’re an entrepreneur, a technology consultant, a developer or even a student – this is the network to join here in central Indiana to further your business and build some relationships with other leading technologists. Join Techmakers and I’ll see you at next month’s event.
