Marc Reid | Barcs
A heritage brand, in recent times it has moved away from manufacturing and now operates a distribution model. Marc Reid has been CEO of the family business for 10 years and under his stewardship he’s diversified the Barcs offering, which now includes a full range of accessories, whilst moving more of the business online.
We talked to Reid about family legacy, the rise of ecommerce and chartering planes.
“We’re very information hungry. And having access to that is huge for our business. No one feels like they’re being left out.” Marc Reid CEO at Barcs
Marc Reid: Family legacy. We were established in 1948, so we’re a 70 year old business. It’s about leaving this company in a better place than when I joined. Barcs has a fantastic tradition and it’s just about making sure that it continues. And I’ve got four kids, so to make sure that it’s around for them if they ever want to join the family business as well.
Reid: There’s no point to technology unless it provides efficiencies. We’re very much a volume-based business. We’ll move over 11 million units this year. You have multiple data points that we’re touching on every single day. So, having real-time data and being able to get into the granular data that NetSuite provides us is absolutely key to making those decisions which drive our business. It’s the foundation for growth that we’re putting in place.
Reid: Everyone says I’m impatient. But I think I’m very calm and I’m non-emotional about things, so I can make rational decisions under pressure.
Reid: It’s about finding a gap in the market, and also the barrier to entry. During COVID-19, we adapted really quickly and launched PPE products. We started chartering our own planes full of PPE products. And one of the reasons was because the barriers to entry at that time were huge, and people couldn’t get access to supplies. The freight supply-chain was really broken. So, if I see that there is that real barrier to entry, for me that’s an absolute key to putting resources and investment into it.
Reid: We experienced a hacker attack a few years ago. So the security of a cloud-based system was a very big plus for me. And we really were positioned for growth at that stage. It was obvious to us that we didn’t have the right legacy systems or the right foundation for growth. We knew that we needed a new system that was going to give us flexibility, as we consider ourselves an entrepreneurial company that will grow in different directions.
Reid: Reporting was killing us. We were getting absolutely lost in Excel reporting before we brought on NetSuite. And we had really outgrown what SQL or an Excel-based system could give us. And we needed that integration with our partners that NetSuite has provided us to make those key decisions.
Reid: It’s actually empowered them. Now people want data in our business. We’re very information hungry. And having access to that is huge for our business. No one feels like they're being left out. Everyone’s got access to the data and that makes people feel engaged and part of the business.
Reid: Now, all of our reporting is standardised across all our brands, across all our channels. We get our weekly snapshots in terms of what’s working, what’s not working, which customers are working, which channels are working, which product categories are working, and then we can really deep dive into the granular information. Is it price point, is it colour, is it seasonality, and really make educated decisions based on the data that NetSuite’s able to provide us.
Reid: We work with over 20 ecommerce sites now. We’ve experienced over 200% growth in our ecommerce sales. We’re replatforming all of our sites to make sure that there is seamless integration within NetSuite, because ecommerce and dropship models are growing at an enormous rate. It will continue to become a more important part of the business.
Reid: Visibility is key, absolutely key. Make sure you know your metrics. Have a clear understanding in terms of how your business stays strong. How many weeks of cover you need to be sitting on, what your inventory performance needs to be in terms of your margins, and what revenue you're generating. If you’re not managing your stock, you're not managing your business at all. Make sure you have those real, hard rules in your business in terms of what your inventory needs to look like, because we have a saying in our business, "It’s not what sells that’s important, it’s what doesn't ." At the end of the day that’s what kills you. Dead stock, dead inventory is what’s going to really make you suffer as a business. So managing that is vital.
Reid: For me, it’s don't be afraid to fail. Everything’s just changed so quickly and moved so quickly. If the numbers stack up, go for it, and go hard at it.
Reid: Do your planning. Make sure you've got your business model, your business case down pat. The world is going to change very, very quickly. If you can apply the learnings from COVID-19, and the efficiencies which a lot of businesses have created. Learn from this and apply it to what we already knew. I think 2021 is going to be a pretty good year. To be ahead of the game, just make sure you've got your business plan. Get your modelling in place and keep reviewing and reforecasting. Keep analysing those numbers, make sure that the plan stacks up, and you’ll be alright.
