For many years after hearing his words of wisdom I thought I understood the meaning. It went something like this: “never fall in love with your inventory.” The man making the statement ran a factory that made parts for water filtration systems. His filters, quickly exchanged for currency, brought more inventories and more profit with each turnover.

That perspective has one significant flaw that I believe separates the most passionate of today’s leading companies from the commodity makers that proliferate most industries. In those days, you could be disconnected from the product and competition wasn’t nearly as intense.

As a glass fabricator and manufacturer, we have explored so much about the abilities and constraints of glass as a platform for creativity. Our own personality truly resides within our brand and is realized in everything that leaves our plant.

We don’t think you can do that without falling in love with your inventory! You only have to look at products of significance like the Apple ibook, the Polaroid camera or the cure for polio to know that these achievements could only come from a passionate drive and thrill of the challenge. Love, passion, achievement, drive:  All have similar properties.

How do I bring passion to my products and what does it all mean to my customer?

Don’t get me wrong, I do thoroughly enjoy running all aspects of my company, but the real fun is bringing together several otherwise conflicting aspects of my personality into my products. Artistic expression and professional discipline are not always attributes that coexist with the best results.

Glass, stone and metal are versatile media for artistic expression. In my view, realizing true form and function using these materials is a relationship between great design and design execution, with superlative detail. I just don’t think a company can do that kind of work consistently without loving what they produce. A new color, finish effect or pattern can stimulate a complete design, while the steps required for a flawless production run are just as important or the project will fail to meet expectations.

Most of the designers and architects we work with have hundreds of details at the top of their minds. Their expectations are without compromise.  Every item, every decision is usually made to the same high standard. Love and passion create a reputation that expands one’s following and creates more passion; our customers want to work with people who think like they think.

These are the people we most want to work alongside. They really like the projects they accept and put much of themselves into the outcome. They count on us as content experts, secure in the knowledge that we share their appreciation for both the design and the integrity of every project.

What gets you going every day? We don’t expect everyone in the glass industry to have the same connection with their products or services as we do. We found this special segment and think we do what we do better than any competitor in our category. The success and future of our industry depends on other business leaders that have something in their product offering that makes what they do important to their customers.

Ask yourself “why do my customers buy from me?” Then ask them why they buy from you. Now, make sure the answer is powerful enough to survive a competitive challenge. Fall in love and be passionate about something your customers will feel is important about the relationship you share. Once you are sure it is strong and portable, make it your value proposition and an integral part of your business personality. You will find you can build a powerful and lasting business on the tenacious pursuit of fulfilling this requirement.

Thank you for your interest in my blog, I am eager for your feedback as well as the opportunity to build new business relationships. Please contact me at  polishededges@galaxycustom.com.