Creating Consensus For Shared Success
by Jeremy Nulik
Most entrepreneurs start a business because they are good at a certain trade. Good roofers start roofing companies. Good accountants start accounting firms. The impetus behind the decision to start a business usually boils down to a phrase like this: I can do this so much better than that guy.
Eight years ago, Jim Edwards had a similar notion while he was working for an eye care provider. Except he did not want to stop at opening a business. He wanted to make his entire industry, eye care providers, better and more efficient.
“I saw that it was a fragmented industry,” says Edwards. “I found enough industry players and found out that their challenges were similar. I saw that an alliance was necessary to help their purchasing power and share ideas.”
So Edwards started Opti-Port, a national alliance of eye care providers. The alliance also provides a web portal, Opti-Port.com, where eye care professionals agree to purchase from a limited list of supplier partners. The suppliers provide goods to the alliance members at pre-negotiated prices. Because of the collaboration, independent eye care providers are more efficient and competitive with larger chain providers such as Wal-Mart.
Although Edwards was passionate about his vision, starting up was not exactly pretty.
“It’s always ugly when you start, but you have to be persistent and keep at it,” he says. “I got a fair amount of ‘not interested,’ but we were able to talk to enough companies that we got a consensus on the best model for the alliance, and off we went. It is never easy, but if it was easy, you would not appreciate it.”
One of the toughest obstacles Edwards faced was finding employees that would buy into his collaborative vision. To combat this, Edwards has applied the consensus-building approach that worked in finding members for the alliance.
“You have to find people that are a good fit,” he says. “You also need to clearly define a vision for your company as well as each individual so they know where they are going. Then let them go and get it. Touch base with what they want to do to improve the business. Creating the vision for the company is a collaborative process. My role is to have a thought of the vision, but I always need to be open to hearing how to improve it.”
Edwards says that in order to be successful, all young entrepreneurs need to listen and consider the thoughts of others.
“Listen more and talk less,” he says. “There is a level of respect that you gain when you give them the time and listen to people. You can say a lot of the right things, but what truly helps in business is listening and understanding the needs of others. Then you can determine what would be a good solution for both people.”