The PosiSource Story

Before starting PosiSource in 1996 and after getting married and graduating from college in 1988, I’d had 5 total jobs in that 8-year period.  In retrospect, it took me too long to discover that working as an employee, stuck in some dreary cubicle, while wrestling with corporate bureaucracies and office politics, was not for me.  I gave it an honest try but after 8-years of being hired, fired, promoted, written-up and laid-off, I decided I’d had enough.  Subsequently, in 1996, I got the idea that launched PosiSource: I’d sell point-of-sale receipt printer supplies direct to retail businesses (the name “PosiSource” derives from Point-of-Sale supply Source).  Since all my previous jobs involved buying or selling micro-computers and point-of-sale systems and components, this career change seemed sensible.

From the beginning, my goal was to build my company around my customers and me, without any employees or bosses to muddle-up the relationship.  I also wanted to eliminate the inefficient aspects of “modern” customer service that annoyed me, as a consumer.  Like being told, “I don’t have the authority to make that decision” or “it’s against our company policy” or being transferred from person-to-person, in a vain effort to find someone willing-and-able to help.  Today, if you call some big companies, it takes 10-minutes of button-pushing, to get through all the robo-receptionists, just so you can speak with a human.  At PosiSource, there wouldn’t be any “buffers” – just me.  I would be the boss and I could do whatever I wanted for my customers.  PosiSource “company policy” would be whatever I decided was best for my customers.  I remember being asked how far I expected to take a “one-man company” and I laughed and answered, “Well, I guess a lot would have to depend on the one man.”  So, in August 1996, I put my first inventory order on my VISA - betting I’d be able to sell through it in 30-days, collect the money, pay my VISA bill and reload with order #2.  Then came the 16-hour days and the single-track, do-or-die focus, essential to single-handedly building a business.  Two weeks later, I remember how thrilled I was when I called my wife to announce, “I sold $100 today! My first $100-dollar day!”  Mind you, that was $100 in revenue, not profit - my office rent was $200!  I was fired-up and I put the pedal to the floor.  It seemed like I called every grocery store and restaurant within 1,000 miles.  My first “warehouse” was little more than a large closet with a small office in front, located in Glenn’s Ferry, Idaho - a dusty, tiny town, 60-miles south of Boise, where I lived.  My non-compete contract with my previous employer precluded me from operating my business within 50-miles of Boise, for the first 6-months.  I complied but the day after my 6-months ended, I moved PosiSource back to Boise, to a slightly larger warehouse.  After 5-years, I’d built-up my business enough to justify moving to an even larger warehouse, in Meridian, Idaho, 2-miles from home – my present location.

Other than some better numbers on my company’s balance sheet, PosiSource has changed little since 1996.  When folks call my office, its still me who answers the phone.  When I say an order has shipped, I know, because I entered the order, I packed-up the order and I shipped the order.  Sadly, business today has become incredibly impersonal, with an ever-increasing number of management layers and automation separating business owners and their customers.  If you have a problem, you’re shepherded to the company’s web-page FAQ’s or email.  If you do call, many times you’re stuck discussing your concerns with someone who is simply unwilling or unable to help.  In my opinion, nothing beats talking to the business owner, if you’re a customer with a problem.  Automation and the internet are great but they are not what PosiSource is all about.  These tools facilitate business procedures, they do not build relationships.  I have many customers I’ve known personally since 1996.  Sure, these folks email me but they know that if they ever have a concern, they can get me on the phone promptly or meet with me personally.  If I’m vacationing out-of-state and I drive by one of my customer’s businesses, oftentimes I’ll stop to say hello.  In my view, this is the essence of business – the most vital imperative.  I laugh today, because when I incorporated PosiSource in 1996, I wanted the word “Corporation” in my company name, so I wouldn’t look like a small one-man company!  Today, the one-man aspect has become a big part of what I hope my company’s appeal is based on.  So, after 16-years in the trenches, over 28,000 orders and 4,000 customers, what’s “new” with PosiSource?  Not much and, I hope, that’s a good thing.

-Mitch Fuller