Small Company, Big Contract
Publish Date: September 2005
The words were buried deep in the pages of the guidelines, but Sharon Wyse Boileau knew they would give her proposal the edge she was hoping for.
Social responsibility. Environmental stewardship. Sustainability. “They were in Appendix C, a very light reference to a commitment to sustainability,” said Wyse Boileau, director of business development and marketing for Mills Basics. “I knew we had what they were looking for.” Boileau wanted to win the contract to provide office supplies for the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympics Winter Games (VANOC), but she knew her company would be competing against huge corporations with millions behind them.
Mills Basics is a private, family-owned business in east Vancouver. It was founded in 1949 by Don Mills, who was 19 years old at the time, in the basement of his parent’s house in Kitsilano. The company now has 70 full-time employees at its warehouse and print shop on Clark Drive, and Mills’ son, Brad Mills, is the CEO. The company is also part of a consortium of independent office supply companies across the country, called Basic Office Products, which gives the smaller operations the purchasing power of the office-supply giants such as the U.S. Staples chain.
Mills Basics, Wyse Boileau says with a clear sense of pride, is 100-per-cent B.C. owned and operated. When she learned about the request for proposals for office supplies, Wyse Boileau jumped into action. The company had one month -- and one chance -- to develop a winning proposal."
The first question was, can we live up to the expectations of an event like this. We have experience with sports, and have worked with the Greater Vancouver Open, the Canucks and the Grizzlies. And we are experts in office supplies, so we were very comfortable responding to the proposal," she said.
There was also no question the company could offer proof of its commitment to the community. "Corporate social responsibility and social value are all words we live by," she said. "The community is where Mills Basics leads. We don't have the big dollars of the large corporations, but we do have an environmentally friendly office, warehouse and print shop and we try to help the community move forward environmentally, economically and socially."
Mills Basics is part of Vancouver's Fast Tracks to Employment, an employment program in the city's Downtown Eastside that assists unemployed and under-employed residents find jobs. The company has hired and trained youth at risk, the hard to employ, and recovering addicts, offering mentorships and health benefits to help them enter the workforce. So far, they have hired eight people, but Wyse Boileau says it's not enough. "We'd like to triple that number in the next 12 months."
The company is also a founding member of the Vancouver Social Purchasing Portal, a web-based service for business-to-business transactions between companies that value social responsibility and community development. Although it was important to highlight the company's credentials and expertise in office supplies, Wyse Boileau wanted to focus the proposal on what VANOC -- the customer -- needed from Mills Basics.
"We can all pick, pack and wrap," she said. "It may not be as fancy as others, but it's the same work. We looked at what they needed, what they explicitly said they wanted and also what they didn't say but could be read between the lines.
The result was that Mills Basics was the only small company on the short list for the office supplies bid, and then the winner of the contract. "We're a little tiny company, and we were competing against corporations with hundreds of employees, huge U.S. and European companies with billions behind them. Then you've got us -- a $10-million operation," Wyse Boileau said. "This was validation that small, independent, Canadian, family-owned companies can provide services to one of the most exciting events in the country. It makes us extremely proud." And if we can do it, so can others."
Wyse Boileau has a few suggestions to offer others who are making proposals for contracts for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympics Winter Games. First, do some research. Talk to people in the organization and suppliers who are already working with VANOC. Then, consider your proposal from the customer's perspective rather than from your business's point of view. And, remember read the fine print.
"Look beyond what they're asking for and really try to understand the key corporate objectives," she said. "What do they say they want, and what else do they want but aren't saying."
Mills Basics has already developed standard office supply kits for new employees that can be pulled together and delivered daily as the committee hires staff. The company is also planning a trip to Salt Lake City to talk to the suppliers involved with the 2002 Winter Games to find out what worked and what could have been done better. And even though it is nearly three years in the future, Wyse Boileau is already thinking about 2010 and how to set up temporary supply stores and keep the shelves stocked to meet hundreds of different daily needs during the games.
"We've got a lot of work to do to make sure we're as ahead of the customer as possible," Wyse Boileau said. "Our work is just starting. We have to make sure we have the systems and capabilities in place to meet their needs. Everything should be seamless. "We are just so excited."
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