Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Brittany Stovall. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Brittany, thanks for joining us today. How did you scale up? What were the strategies, tactics, meaningful moments, twists/turns, obstacles, mistakes along the way? We’d love to hear the backstory the illustrates how you grew the firm

What helped my company scale the most was creating a strategic growth plan. Our team and I made a five-year strategic plan that included key elements to obtain growth initiatives. We placed metrics around our goals to ensure we were hitting our targets each quarter. However, with change comes obstacles. I believe for everyone; the pandemic was an unforeseen time. We had to be strategic and tactical in a time of crisis. Managing furloughs and still maintaining our management and executive staff. My only goal was ensuring we had a company to come back to. One thing that I continue to preach is that relationships matter. The excellent relationships we’ve built over the nines years in business came in handy during the pandemic. Whether it was with our banks, our customers, or even our employees, all of these relationships allowed us to survive the pandemic and thrive as we continue to grow.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

Well, I’ll say it’s a funny story. I went to school to be a culinary artist. Ironically, I started a business in the male-dominated automotive manufacturing industry. I took a job over the summer in an automotive plant and quickly decided that this was my destiny. I love putting things together, whether it is food or parts. After being in the automotive manufacturing industry for a few years, I grasped supply chain knowledge quickly. I noticed that I was good at identifying risks and providing solutions. After the 2009 market crash that drastically impacted automotive manufacturing, I thought starting a company would be a good idea. I met my business partner Paulina Sandoval, and we quickly learned that our goals and ideas for a business-aligned. Shortly after, Assured Quality Systems was started. We start at a risk management firm that focuses on preventative and corrective action on non-conforming parts. Since then, we have evolved into providing several specialty services centered around quality control, such as sequencing kitting, engineering solutions, and technology. I’m most proud of our growth. We began two minority women in a male-dominated industry at our kitchen table to over 500 employees nationwide with a headquarters close to 7000 ft.² I would say that our customers really appreciate our company is customer-focused and community-centered.

Do you have any stories of times when you almost missed payroll or any other near death experiences for your business?

Some of my greatest lessons will always be my challenges and obstacles. My business partner and I had just started our business, not knowing we would get great service opportunities in our early stages. As we began to gain traction through word of mouth of our clientele, payroll started to increase. Naturally, as business owners, you want to take on every customer you can to grow your business, but naïvely, we quickly learned that that is not always the smartest. We had our first big project, and I noticed that our full-time employee headcount was a lot higher than what we were accustomed to paying for payroll. I started to get nervous and panic because I could see payroll becoming an issue to afford. We had this bright idea maybe if would offered our customers a discount they would pay early. Two weeks had advanced since the offer and payroll is due, and we’re about $20,000 short. I checked the mailbox daily to see if we got in the early payment checks, and nothing came in. So on the day before payroll, I was in complete panic. I told Paulina that we couldn’t afford payroll, but I would check the mailbox one more time before processing payroll or saying to our employees that we can’t pay them. I go to the mailbox, and we have a $22,000 check from a customer who decided to pay it early. I almost thought I would faint. From then on, my business partner and I said we never put ourselves in a predicament again. We decided to build a cash reserve. We have never had a payroll issue since.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

My number one growth rule is that people don’t buy from people they do not know. That goes from large corporations to small businesses. I knew that networking was vital for my clientele growth. We had to be visible to our potential clients. I understood we had leverage and access to being a woman minority-owned business. So I join the organizations like Women’s Business Council Southwest and Dallas Fort Worth Supplier Development Council. Those councils allowed me to network amongst my customers and other CEOs. The networking events allowed me to speak directly to my customer and understand how my business commodity is sourced. These councils gave me access to developmental classes to bid on RFP opportunities properly. Also, having access to other incredible CEOs, I was mentored by some of the best minds in business.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.assuredqualitysystems.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brittanyastovall/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stovallb

Image Credits
Aaron Pegg