"We have provided members with Networking events, Educational Tours, Mentorship opportunities and the possibilities just keep coming!"

VAUGHAN, ON, November 17, 2014 – TIM-BR MART Group (TIM-BR MART) member, The LumberZone, wins this year’s Steinbach Chamber of Commerce Business Excellence Award for Customer Service. Out of the nineteen businesses publicly nominated,  the LumberZone is recognized for setting the bar for quality and consistency of customer service after just a year and a half of being in business. 

"The LumberZone is a young company with a ton of drive and ambition," says Phil Temple, TIM-BR MART Group’s Regional Director of Member Services for Western Canada. "They’ve been a member of ours since they opened last year and have experienced immediate success – already ahead of their original sales plan over fifty per cent. We’re very proud to support them and confident they’ll grow a viable business well into the future, especially with their customer-centric approach."

 "We strive every day to look after our customers, and for the public to recognize the effort we put in is very overwhelming," says Joel Hartung, President of The LumberZone.  "Our business is based on relationships – relationships with both our customers and our suppliers. To us, TIM-BR MART is not just our supplier or buying group – they’re our business partner – a partner that adjusts and makes things work in our market, that has the buying power and the expertise to set up programs to make start-ups like us profitable and successful."

 "The LumberZone is a respected new business in our community," says Linda Peters, Executive Director of the Steinbach Chamber of Commerce. "Their staff have amazing passion and excitement, and are eager to make every customer feel as though they are their most important customer."

A member of the public who nominated The LumberZone for the award comments, "I have been dealing with the LumberZone since they opened their doors and have nothing but good things to say about their business.  The atmosphere when I'm in the store is always positive, and they are very quick to "jump to the pump" to serve their customers.  Their delivery service is very reliable and I can always trust that the products I have ordered will be on site when they have told me they would be.  Their pricing is always competitive, and their response time to phone calls and emails sent is very reasonable.  They deserve the customer service award hands down!"

The LumberZone received the award at the Steinbach Chamber of Commerce Annual General Meeting on November 6, 2014. The Steinbach Chamber of Commerce honors top businesses in the community each year through their Business Excellence Awards.  The Chamber of Commerce has various award categories aside from customer service, including awards for leadership, community involvement, and small and medium-sized business of the year.

The LumberZone is southeastern Manitoba’s newest lumber and building material retailer for contractors, home builders, and passionate do-it-yourselfers. A member of the TIM-BR MART Group, The LumberZone carries a wide assortment of high-quality building products that are competitively priced and always in supply.  Winner of the Steinbach Chamber of Commerce 2014 Business Excellence Award for Customer Service, The LumberZone ensures that their customers’ projects are completed on time, on budget, and beyond their expectations. For more information, visit www.thelumberzone.ca. 

In operation since 1967, the TIM-BR MART Group is Canada’s buying group of choice for independents. It is a member-owned organization serving building material and hardware retailers, commercial dealers and manufacturers. TIM-BR MART Group exists to help Canadian entrepreneurs involved in the sale of building materials and hardware grow profitable and sustainable businesses. For more information, visit www.timbermart.ca.

  

Many of the strategies that family businesses use for success are applicable to success for any business. Non-family businesses can learn a lot from family businesses. 

These are the top five success strategies for family businesses (that to apply to all businesses):

• Keep the lines of communication open. Schedule regular meetings to discuss issues of concern and topics such as business transition, business performance, and responsibilities. Include all of the family members, no matter where in the hierarchy their jobs fall – exclusion creates animosity. Create a manual that lays out the ground rules for how the meetings will take place to ensure everyone gets a chance to be heard and there are no impediments to communication.
  
  
• Assign clear roles and responsibilities. As a family member, it is natural to feel that everything is "my" business. However, not everything is every family member’s responsibility. Job definitions prevent everyone from jumping in to tackle the same problem and help ensure that everyone knows their role, which makes the business run smoothly.
  
  
• Keep good financial data. The downfall of many small and family businesses is not having solid data. Have a single point of contact to manage the finances. If you’re small enough, you can rely on a family member. Otherwise, you’ll need to bring in a qualified accountant. You may cringe at the cost for this but the difference between good financial data and messy data is the difference between knowing exactly where you are on the road and trying to drive with a mud-covered windshield.
  
  
• Avoid overpaying family members. Market-based compensation is fundamental and essential. Look on the internet for the pay scale of someone in a similar role to get an idea of market value. Parents in family businesses tend to overpay the next generation, or pay everyone equally despite differing levels of responsibility. Both are bad practices. The longer unfair compensation practices continue, the harder it will be to clean up when it blows up.
  
  
• Don’t hire relatives if they’re unqualified. Competence is essential. Family businesses are a conundrum: The family aspect generates unqualified love, while the business side cares about profits. Therefore, family members may be hired even though they’re not qualified. The remedy is to get them trained, move them to a role that matches their skills, or to have them leave.

To Register for the 2015 Buying Show or to Purchase Tickets to the evening events please visit: www.wrla.org/buying-show