 
|
|
|
 |
April 2003, Issue 4
|
By John T. Lau
The current sluggish economy has hit minority- and women-owned businesses disproportionately hard. As major corporations seek to reduce costs in supply chains, and squeeze budgets for first-tier suppliers, smaller businesses and second-tier vendors – often minority- and women-owned businesses – are frequently the first to lose contracts or see a reduction in sales.
In the thirteen years that DivTRAK®'s unifying company, Appliedinfo Partners, Inc., has been in business, we have been fortunate. We have grown to include multiple divisions that work successfully with many of the largest corporations in the world. In the spirit of community, I would like to examine what has aided our success and how the same principles might help other businesses.
Act Big
Companies earning under $15 million in revenue are often on the periphery of Fortune 1000 awareness. To get to the mainstream, the solution is to act big. In order to achieve a larger capital base, minority- and women-owned businesses should consider seeking strategic alliances, partnerships, mergers, or acquisitions with complementary businesses.
The need for size is frustrating, but understandable from the corporation's point of view. They are leery of working with any vendor that may not have the capital base to fulfill on the job. In our experience, the cost of our average sale to a Fortune 1000 corporation is typically $25,000, with an additional $15,000 for contract negotiation. If there are an average of six of these sales at any time, there is an outlay of about $240,000, with no guarantee that the sales will ever be completed. Without that capital base or other income, a company is unable to do the business.
Sell Solutions, Not Complications
Corporations are looking for cost reductions. They will respond positively to vendors who can simplify things and save them money by handling the whole process in house.
Because Appliedinfo Partners has in-house expertise in the areas of technology and hosting, diversity, communications, and business products, we are able to offer fully integrated, end-to-end solutions that meet all the needs of supplier diversity programs. This has served both our company and our customers very well.
Give Something Back
Minority- and women-owned businesses can achieve greater visibility and give something back to their communities by contributing services and products, or offering them at a reduced rate.
Appliedinfo Partners is proud to work with many key organizations in the minority- and women-owned business communities. Most recently, our media division contributed services at reduced costs to the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition 2003 Wall Street Project Conference, Women's Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC), and the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College.
There are those in mainstream corporate America who will still overlook minority- and women-owned businesses when procuring goods and services. But with determination and persistent effort, these businesses will increase visibility and further their success.
John T. Lau, president of Appliedinfo Partners, Inc., is a leader in the field of diversity supply chain management. Recently, John was honored as one of "The Fifty Influential Minorities in Business" by the Minority Business and Professionals Network.
Link to DivTRAK
Back to Top
|
|
|
|
| |
Diversity Tracking for All
By Elaine Perry
While attending the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition 2003 Wall Street Project Conference, I had an opportunity to speak with supplier diversity leaders and DivTRAK clients. Finding ways to improve efficiency – and tighten budgets – was foremost on everyone's mind. Now more than ever, DivTRAK is the perfect solution to meet these growing needs. And it is attainable on almost any budget.
We are offering a new package available for license at just $30,000. This package handles supplier diversity tracking enterprise-wide, enables online supplier registration, and generates detailed reports that track diversity spending by business unit, diversity classification, and minority classification. It saves supplier diversity departments time and money, eliminates double-counting, ensures accuracy, and helps businesses align their spending with their consumer base.
DivTRAK also offers leasing agreements that make it easier to fit into supplier diversity departments' yearly budgets. As always, money spent on DivTRAK is a safe investment because the software is fully guaranteed with reliable support and ongoing enhancements and upgrades. DivTRAK is a flexible solution that will grow with the needs of your program.
Elaine Perry, senior director of DivTRAK sales, is a key member of the DivTRAK team. She works with corporations to provide supplier diversity management solutions.
Link to DivTRAK
Back to Top
|
|
| |
 |
|
| |
The 2nd DivTRAK User Conference brought with it a great opportunity for the DivTRAK team to interact with our user base of supply chain diversity directors, managers, and coordinators. The three-day event provided our team of developers and implementation managers food for thought on how we can enhance DivTRAK to best meet customer needs.
"There was lots of interest in expanded reporting," explains Joshua David, an implementation manager who conducted training sessions at the conference. "One request was to allow automatic spend data reports to be broken into monthly and quarterly segments. This is well within DivTRAK's current capabilities for manipulating the data, so we've already begun work on it."
DivTRAK implementation manager, Brian Shek, added, "There were also requests to tally diversity spending by commodity, as well as by business unit. This is a whole new way of looking at the existing data, and it's a high priority for future enhancements."
Other requests included enhancing search functions with multiple parameter searches and enabling more robust second-tier reporting. "It's great that users are asking us for new options," says David. "Together, we are exploring the full potential of DivTRAK and supplier diversity as an integral part of business."
Link to DivTRAK
Back to Top
|
|
| |
|
|
|
New Clients
HBO Makes Another Hit With DivTRAK
Home Box Office (HBO), already renowned for its award-winning original programming, is on its way to similar success and acclaim in their supplier diversity program with the purchase of DivTRAK Basic Enterprise. "HBO knows that customer bases are changing, and as a business, we want to be at the forefront in reflecting that change," explains Piero Ruffini, supplier diversity manager for HBO. "DivTRAK is of great benefit to our diversity supplier program because it helps us effectively track and more closely align supply chain spending with our consumer base."
Read DivTRAK's HBO press release.
PepsiCo Supplier Diversity Program Contracts with DivTRAK
The PepsiCo Supplier Diversity Program is building on over twenty years of success by implementing DivTRAK, a leading supply chain diversity tracking software. DivTRAK will help facilitate tracking, registration, and reporting for PepsiCo's first- and second-tier diversity spends.
Link to DivTRAK
Back to Top
|
|
|
|
Events
To speak with John Lau and our DivTRAK team, or to schedule a DivTRAK demo, please come see us at the following events:
Chicago Minority Business Development Council
Chicago Business Opportunity Fair
April 15-17, 2003
Festival Hall "A" of Navy Pier
Sheraton Chicago Hotel
Chicago, IL
http://www.cmbdc.org/CBOFHome.aspx
Michigan Minority Business Development Council (MMBDC)
Michigan Minority Procurement Conference
May 2-9, 2003
Cobo Hall Convention Center
Detroit, MI
http://www.mmbdc.com/
US Pan Asian American Chamber of Commerce (USPAACC)
CelebAsian 2003 Conference
May 5-7, 2003
Hyatt Regency Washington, DC
Washington, DC
http://www.uspaacc.net/
National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC)
Leadership Awards Dinner
May 13, 2003
Hilton New York
New York, NY
http://www.nmsdc.org
Women Presidents' Educational Organization &
Women's Business Enterprise National Council
Women in Business 2003: Sharing the Vision
June 24-26, 2003
Sheraton New York Hotel & Towers
New York, NY
http://www.wbenc.org/wib2003/index.html
Link to DivTRAK
Back to Top
|
|
|
| ©2003 |
|
