by Kerissa Hollis,
Memphis Business Journal, February 21, 1994
STEVEN C. BRADEN PUT HIS business plan in writing long before startinghis company.
The president of Backstreet Couriers kept a notebook about what it wouldbe like to start a bicycle messenger service in downtownMemphis.
In 1988, his business moved from the notebook to reality when his firstbicycle -- with him aboard -- hit the streets.
Five years later, Backstreet Couriers was named a finalist in the MemphisBusiness Journal Small Business Awards competition.
This year, the second time turned out to be the charm as BackstreetCouriers was selected the 1994 Small Business of the Year in the 26- 75employee category. The company, obviously, has traveled a long way fromBraden's first bicycle. In the early days, the majority of his businesscame from a couple of downtown restaurants, but it wasn' t long beforethat changed.
"Quickly, then, it developed into a lot of legal, a lot of attorneys," Braden says. "I picked up a big account with Union Planters,then the advertising world came on like a storm."
The business grew, and so did the bicycle fleet.
"The bicycle messenger side of it stayed strong until October 1990,when we decided to take a leap of faith and go all over the city, "Braden says.
That turned out to be a wise decision for Braden -- his business morethan tripled from '90 to '91.
Since that time, Backstreet has taken on regional and national deliveryservices.
The delivery fleet now includes small pickup trucks and a bob-truckto handle larger loads.
Radios have been placed in the trucks to enhance communication effortsand improve delivery services.
Business has continued to boom, with over 100% growth last year. Bradenestimates the number of delivery transactions grew from about 250 to 450per day.
Accounts include floral deliveries for Seessel's grocery stores, aswell as handling industrial products for other area companies.
As the business has grown, so has the staff, including the additionof a new business partner for Braden.
Bill Simpson, now the managing partner and part owner of BackstreetCouriers, joined the company ranks last summer.
Simpson also has ties to the transportation industry. After a multiyearcareer at Federal Express, he was working as an operations manager in Memphisbefore climbing aboard at Backstreet.
Both being avid bikers and athletic in nature, the two had met at sportscompetitions.
Simpson says he saw Braden delivering goods one day on a scooter andthought, "What is he doing?" Subsequent business conversationsfollowed.
"I saw his business growing," Simpson says today. "Hewas looking for someone to help him out in growing, and I was looking forsomething to do on my own and be independent of Federal Express."
Braden says the two were not sure how well the partnership would workout. However, both say the new business marriage has been a positive stepfor them.
"Bill is good at the 'big picture'" and in managing largegroups of people, Braden says of his partner. "He basically runs thedelivery side of the operation, and I'm able to run the administrativeside of it."
"I guess I run the business day to day and hopefully set some visionfor where this company's going to go," Simpson says.
Part of that vision involves plans to expand the company's activitiesto other cities.
"We found a good formula here," Simpson says of the company."We want a Backstreet II, III and IV in Little Rock, Nashville."
"Hopefully, we can avoid some of the painful steps we had before"by having a parent company to learn from, Braden says.
In planning efforts to expand the business, Braden and Simpson are groomingcurrent Backstreet Couriers employees for management positions in otherlocations.
Braden plans to have a second Backstreet Couriers established in anotheryear.
"The base of the business, and really where we want it to stay,is here in Memphis," Simpson says.
Other business plans include expanding services so that the companycan accommodate delivery through other means, such as air freight.
Braden does say that such services will be ancillary to the currentdelivery business and will help make Backstreet more of a full-servicecompany.
"It's just another service we can offer," Simpson says.
And starting this spring, bicycles, which had been replaced by motorizedvehicles, will again be used for downtown deliveries.
Even with all the growth and success it has experienced, the companystill concentrates on customer service above all else.
"That's what we focus on, and I think that's what makes us successful," Braden says.
Braden gives ample credit to his employees for the strides the companyhas made over the years. He says he agrees with Corporate Copy's Tom Pease,selected as the Small Business Executive of the Year, about the importanceof workers. "He said it better than I could ever say it: The employeesmake the difference. But they have to have someone represent them, andI guess that's where I come in."
Other finalists in this category were B.B. King's Blues Club, Inc.;Halford and Sanders, Veterinarians; Pro-Tech Security, Inc.; and Tri- StateThermo King, Inc.
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