Detroit Trading Company

Michigan 50 Companies to Watch — Growing attention

Alison — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 14:58:06 +0000

Helping hands back up award-winning second-stage companies

April 15th, 2012

Detroit, MI — When the Michigan 50 Companies to Watch recognition program began eight years ago, only two of the 50 were clients of the Michigan Small Business and Technology Development Center. This year, 33 are.

That change reflects the growing importance of second-stage businesses in Michigan, said Jennifer Deamud, associate state director for the center and managing partner for the Michigan Celebrates Small Business awards, which includes the 50 Companies to Watch.The center helps second-stage businesses as well as would-be entrepreneurs. But the ratio of would-be businesses to existing businesses has changed. Five years ago, about 60 percent of the clients the center served were people with business ideas, and existing businesses filled the remainder.Now, that ratio has flipped.”We started to see that shift five years ago,” Deamud said.

More second-stage businesses are making growth a priority and seeking help to that end. The center helps companies with strategic planning, market research and access to capital, spending 35-70 hours with the business’ leaders in the first year. In 2009, the center formed a Growth Group Team to address the growing need for assistance among second-stage businesses in Michigan.

“We had developed the tools, we had the services for second-stage companies, but we needed a team,” Deamud said.

In another sign of a more active small-business community, the Small Business Association of Michiganreported this month a 22 percent rise in membership in March compared with March of last year. Total membership stands at about 14,200.

On May 3, small and second-stage businesses will be honored for their achievements at the eighth annual Michigan Celebrates Small Business event.

The event is a collaborative effort of the U.S. Small Business Administration, SBAM, the Michigan Small Business and Technology Development Center, the Michigan Economic Development Corp., the Edward Lowe Foundation and The Greater Lansing Business Monthly. Crain’s is a media sponsor.

PNC Bank is the founding sponsor of Michigan Celebrates.

To be considered for the 50 Companies to Watch list, companies had to have nine to 99 full-time employees, $750,000 to $50 million in annual revenue or working capital, and an intent to grow. The companies must also be privately held and based in Michigan.

DaySmart Software Inc., Wixom

GLENN TRIEST

Mark and Chris Jackson started DaySmart Software Inc. in their kitchen. Its four programs serve more than 45,000 businesses.

• Description: Business management software for salons, pet groomers and other businesses
• CEO: Co-owned by Mark and Chris Jackson
• Founded: 1999
• Full-time employees: 40
• 2011 revenue: About $5 million, up from $3.7 million in 2010. Projects $6 million this year.

Chris Jackson and her husband, Mark, share a home, a company and a healthy dose of entrepreneurial spirit.

Their venture, DaySmart Software Inc., began as an idea hatched during a salon visit when Chris Jackson’s stylist complained there was no good salon database software on the market.

This inspired the couple, both Ford Motor Co. engineers with master’s degrees in computer engineering, to build a software company that today caters to more than 45,000 businesses.

“When we first started out, Mark did the coding, and I would step in and help him,” Chris Jackson said. “I wrote the user’s guide, did software testing, customer service and all the sales emails.”

They posted the software online in 1999 and without any marketing began to grow their business. In 2001, Mark Jackson quit his job to devote himself to DaySmart, and in 2004, Chris Jackson followed suit. As they began hiring, they started to quickly outgrow their home office.

“We were all crammed into our kitchen and dining room, which we had to convert into an office space,” Chris Jackson said. “We moved to our office in Wixom in 2005, and we’ve been growing ever since.”

The company offers four programs. About 60 percent of its clients use Salon Iris, a database that provides scheduling, client history, marketing and accounting for salons and spas. 123Pet Software is tailored for owners of pet grooming and kennel businesses, and Orchid is designed for medical spas. InkBook, built for tattoo parlors, was launched late last year and has about 500 users.

Detroit Trading Co. Inc., Southfield

Campbell

• Description: Provider of automotive sales leads
• CEO: Don Campbell
• Founded: 2004
• Full-time employees: 18
• Revenue: $10.4 million, up from about $9 million in 2011. Projects $12.5 million in 2012.

Don Campbell got the idea for Detroit Trading Co. Inc. after his son, Mark, sold his online car sales business in 2004 for $48.3 million.

Mark Campbell sold Troy-based Stoneage Corp. and the coveted domain name Car.com (not to be confused with Cars.com) to Irvine, Calif.-based Autobytel Inc., which continues to operate the site.

At the time, Don worked for his son and had learned that the market for automotive lead generation was rapidly growing.

“I suggested that we set up a trading company, taking advantage of the contacts we developed with Car.com,” he said. “We helped buyers and sellers find each other, and whenever a lead sold, we’d get 10 percent. We’ve grown the business to an over $10-million business.”

DTC takes Internet queries and sells them to car dealerships, wholesalers and manufacturers. DTC has deals with more than 2,000 dealer customers and 24 manufacturers, including Toyota Motor Corp., Volkswagen AG and Chrysler Group LLC.

Don Campbell is no stranger to dollar signs: In 1985, he founded Campbell Services Inc., a developer of group scheduling software. He sold the company to Waterloo, Ontario-based Open Text Corp. for $6.7 million in 1996 and retired. But that, he said, was boring.

While Mark has taken an early retirement and now runs an avocado farm in the hills of Santa Monica, Calif., Don said he has no plans to retire again.

“Dear old Dad’s still working, but it’s hard to retire when you’ve been an entrepreneur,” he said. “Anyway, I figure if we can grow the company from zero to $10 million in eight years, why not try for $100 million in the next eight?”

Katech Inc., Clinton Township

Chue

• Description: Builds high-performance motorsports engines
• CEO: Stephen Chue
• Founded: 1977
• Full-time employees: 27
• 2011 revenue: $4.3 million, up from $3.7 million in 2010. Projects $5 million this year.

Dale Earnhardt and his son, Dale Earnhardt Jr., raced with a Katech engine when the two placed second in 2001 in the 24-hour Rolex 24 at Daytona race, in which they took turns driving.

The company builds custom engines for race teams, including General Motors‘ Corvette team, which has secured six championships in the 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race using Katech engines.

Katech only recently began to use its track record as a marketing tool, CEO Stephen Chue said. An improved website and social media strategy has helped grow revenue, he said.

“We finally started advertising our achievements, and it turned out that’s what people wanted to hear,” he said.

The company also does tuning work for individuals who want to improve vehicle performance. And it works on projects with manufacturers, particularly GM. Katech works with GM’s advanced powertrain group to help develop its next generation of engines in the pre-production phase, doing troubleshooting for the company.

“Whenever they have a problem, if we have any experience on it, we’ll jump in and help out,” Chue said.

Level One Bancorp Inc., Farmington Hills

Fehring

• Description: Local bank
• CEO: Pat Fehring
• Founded: 2007
• Full-time employees: 105
• 2011 revenue: $22.5 million, up from $8.7 million in 2010. Projects $25.3 million this year.

Opening a bank right before the recession is a recipe for financial disaster, right? Not quite. Level One CEO Pat Fehring was able to turn growing mistrust of big banking into a successful local business.

“When the financial services industry came under a lot of stress, it actually opened up an opportunity for us,” he said. “We were able to work with clients and borrowers in a creative and constructive way, and show off the benefits — the personal touch — of working with a locally owned bank.”

The company has helped Bloomfield Hills-based Great Lakes Coffee Roasting Co. and others grow, as heard in testimonial-driven radio spots for the bank’s advertising campaign on WJR AM 760.

“We didn’t fit the exact parameters of the perfect client, but Level One was willing to go the extra mile to create a banking relationship that worked,” said Greg Miracle, president of Great Lakes Coffee. “We came to Level One after dealing with a much larger bank, where we never experienced that feeling of having a relationship where they really understood our business model and were willing to work with us.”

Level One has about $500 million in assets and keeps growing, Fehring said. The bank ranked 13th among the largest Southeast Michigan banks and thrifts in Crain’s 2012 Book of Lists. The Farmington Hills-based bank has six offices and plans to open a seventh June 1 in Troy.

MedHub Inc., Ann Arbor

Orr

• Description: Tracking software for physician training programs
• CEO: Peter Orr
• Founded: 2002
• Full-time employees: Six, with plans to hire five in 2012
• 2011 revenue: $2.5 million, up from $2 million in 2010. Projects $3.6 million this year.

That MedHub Inc. even exists is serendipitous, said President Peter Orr. It formed in 2002 when Orr’s neighbor, a University of Michigan surgery professor, asked him to build a Web-based scheduling system for UM surgery residents.

The system that UM used at the time was redundant and time-consuming, Orr said. Government regulations were tightening, and in order to secure funding, residency and fellowship programs had to follow increasingly stringent regulations to document shift rotations and clinic schedules.

Orr said he and his partner, MedHub Chief Technology Officer Tom May, didn’t expect the project to turn into a profitable company, but MedHub’s early success in the surgery program revealed that a similar system was needed university-wide.

“The company grew organically,” he said. “We realized quickly that we should commercialize the product.”

About 50,000 users in 32 institutions use the software. MedHub provides services only to large academic teaching hospitals; clients include the Cleveland Clinic, Duke University and Stanford University.

Competitors include Uniontown, Ohio-based New Innovations Inc. and Minneapolis-based Advanced Informatics.

Detroit Trading Company Creates 3 New Jobs as it Adds Services

Alison — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 15:53:36 +0000

http://www.metromodemedia.com/innovationnews/detroittradingcompanysouthfield0251.aspx
April 12th, 2012

Southfield, MI—The Detroit Trading Company has traditionally focused on making online connections for new car sales and financing. Now the Southfield-based company is expanding its bottom line by adding used-car sales connection to that list.

The 8-year-old Internet firm posted $9 million in sales in 2010 and raised that to $10 million last year. It’s aiming for $12.5 million this year, a 25 percent jump in revenue due largely to the new used-car services it offers.

“That represented about $500,000 of our growth last year,” says Don Campbell, president of Detroit Trading Company. “We expect it to add $2 million in growth this year.”

The Detroit Trading Company creates technology that gathers, analyzes, and organizes Internet sales leads for car dealers. After the financial markets collapsed and credit lines froze, the company switched to selling its best leads with the best credit scores to dealer groups who signed on for the service. Now its offering a similar service for use-car sales, capitalizing on the existing good relationships it has with its existing customers.

“We identify ourselves at being very good at building relationships,” Campbell says. “We believe integrity is a very good way to cultivate business relationships.”

That has allowed the company’s growth to enable three new hires over the last year, rounding out the staff at 18 people and the occasional intern and independent contractor. It has also been named to the most recent list of Michigan 50 Companies to Watch.

Source: Don Campbell, president of Detroit Trading Company
Writer: Jon Zemke

Read more about Metro Detroit’s growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Detroit Trading Company Honored as One of the 2012 “Michigan 50 Companies to Watch”

Alison — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 13:52:01 +0000

Detroit Trading Company has earned recognition from the Edward Lowe Foundation and Michigan Celebrates Small Business for their exceptional leadership skills, recent growth, innovative technologies and community outreach efforts.

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2012/4/prweb9349429.htm
April 4th, 2012

Southfield, MI—Detroit Trading Company has been recognized as one of the 2012 “Michigan 50 Companies to Watch,” an awards program sponsored by the Edward Lowe Foundation and presented by Michigan Celebrates Small Business.

Detroit Trading Company will be honored at an awards ceremony during the eighth annual Michigan Celebrates Small Business event, May 3, 2012 in Lansing, Mich.

Detroit Trading Company currently operates the largest automotive lead exchange in the nation as a result of building solid relationships with hundreds of internet based automotive lead generators along with dealerships, aggregators and manufacturers across the country. Once an automotive lead is generated and bought by Detroit Trading it is passed through a proprietary algorithm that the company developed in conjunction with industry leader R.L. Polk. This process helps to weed out the poor quality leads so that dealers receive the contact information for those consumers who are most likely to buy a vehicle within the next 90 days. The breadth and efficiency of this system enables Detroit Trading to transact an automotive lead every 20 seconds. The company’s commitment to quality, relationship building and trust has positioned Detroit Trading as a leader in the industry.

Don Campbell, CEO, notes “We are very honored to be part of the this group of up and coming businesses in Michigan. Considering the other recipients and their achievements, it’s very humbling and rewarding be included. As a Michigan native myself, this award means a great deal and serves as yet another acknowledgment that entrepreneurship is alive and well in our great state. We look forward to continuing to grow our business in Michigan.”

Companies making it to the “Michigan 50 Companies to Watch” list are a remarkable group of second-stage companies. Defined as having 6 to 99 full-time-equivalent employees and generating $750,000 to $50 million in annual revenue or working capital from investors or grants, these companies form the backbone of Michigan’s economy. In 2011, Detroit Trading Company’s sales exceeded $10 million. Representing all regions of the state and a diverse range of industries, companies like Detroit Trading are known for their exceptional entrepreneurial leadership, creation of innovation or use of innovation in creative ways, and their sustainable competitive advantage.

Winners were selected by Michigan-based judges from the banking, economic development, entrepreneurship development, industrial and venture capital communities.

Michigan 50 Companies to Watch is presented by Michigan Celebrates Small Business. Founding underwriters are PNC Bank, Michigan Certified Development Corporation, Michigan Economic Development Corporation, Accident Fund Insurance Company of America and Dynamic Edge, Inc.

Michigan Celebrates Small Business was founded by the U.S. Small Business Administration, Michigan Economic Development Corporation, Michigan Small Business & Technology Development Center, Edward Lowe Foundation, Greater Lansing Business Monthly and Small Business Association of Michigan

Information about next year’s Michigan 50 Companies to Watch program can be found at http://Michigan.CompaniesToWatch.org. For information about Michigan Celebrates Small Business, visit http://MichiganCelebrates.biz.

Visit Detroit Trading at www.DetroitTrading.com.

Detroit Trading Company Makes “50 Michigan Companies to Watch” List

Alison — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 15:41:17 +0000

Detroit Trading Company earns recognition from the Edward Lowe Foundation and Michigan Celebrates Small Business for exceptional leadership skills, recent growth, innovative technologies and community outreach efforts.

Detroit Trading Company Makes Inc. List of America’s Fastest Growing Companies

Alison — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 16:14:15 +0000

Detroit Trading Company Ranks No. 941 on the 2011 Inc. 500|5000
with Three-Year Sales Growth of 323%

http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/news.html?d=231817
September 8th, 2011

New York, NY— Inc. magazine has ranked Detroit Trading Company NO. 941 on its fifth annual Inc. 500|5000, an exclusive ranking of the nation’s fastest-growing private companies. The list represents the most comprehensive look at the most important segment of the economy–America’s independent entrepreneurs. Detroit Trading Company joins Spirit Airlines, television maker Vizio, Honest Tea, Dunkin Donuts and Metrokane, makers of the Rabbit corkscrew, among other prominent brands featured on this year’s list.

In a stagnant economic environment, median growth rate of 2011 Inc. 500|5000 companies remains an impressive 94 percent. The companies on this year’s list report having created 350,000 jobs in the past three years, and aggregate revenue among the honorees reached $366 billion, up 14 percent from last year.

Complete results of the Inc. 5000, including company profiles and an interactive database that can be sorted by industry, region, and other criteria, can be found at www.inc.com/5000 .

“Now, more than ever, we depend on Inc. 500|5000 companies to spur innovation, provide jobs, and drive the economy forward. Growth companies, not large corporations, are where the action in,” says Inc. magazine Editor Jane Berentson.

About Detroit Trading Company

Detroit Trading Company has been serving the automotive internet leads industry since 2004 under the premise of creating superior products and services based on the principles of efficiency, experience and integrity. They currently operate the largest auto-lead exchange in the nation.

Starting in 2008, Detroit Trading Company formed Detroit Trading Services (DTS) to provide automotive internet lead sales and marketing services to automotive retail dealerships and automotive manufacturers (OEMs).Since entering the retail space, DTS has signed more than 2,000 dealer customers and 24 OEM brands.In addition, DTS has partnered with data partners including R.L. Polk & Co. to provide a fresh perspective on improving lead quality and contactability within the industry.

DTCo. recently began offering inventory leads (in addition to their new car and auto-finance leads). This new program allows dealers and lead aggregators to advertise their used car inventory on hundreds of untapped consumer facing websites while lead sellers or generators are able to easily obtain this updated feed of close to one million vehicles through a single connection to the DT database.

Detroit Trading Company Launches New Inventory Based Lead Program

Alison — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 14:31:35 +0000

http://www.autoremarketing.com/content/technology/detroit-trading-co-launches-inventory-listing-platform
August 24, 2011

Southfield, MI — Detroit Trading Co. recently revealed its new inventory advertising platform is now available to dealers.

The company noted the program aims to help dealers advertise both new and used vehicles on numerous automotive sites through a connection to its database.

“We are very excited about this opportunity for our dealer groups, many of which are focusing on advertising their used-car inventories as a result of increased market demand,” said Jeff Bonner, Detroit Trading Co.’s director of dealer sales.

“This is a huge win for dealers who want to get massive exposure of their inventory on a collection of some of the top automotive consumer facing sites, without the time and expense of creating and managing these relationships independently,” he added.

Here is how the program works. When a consumer submits their contact information through a dealer’s listing, the lead is then “delivered directly back to the dealer’s CRM within seconds,” according to the company.

Moreover, dealers also have the option to include a phone number on their listings, so the consumer can connect the dealership directly, if desired.

The Detroit Trading Co. went on to highlight that it standardizes the data of each vehicle listing, so dealers do not have to format inventory data beforehand.

Also, the company implements its lead data validation algorithm, which gauges each lead based on the accuracy and legitimacy of the consumer’s given contact information, among other consumer characteristics.

“The technology makes the process of posting inventory extremely simple. It requires minimal, if any, work on the dealer’s part to get it set up and starting to generate leads, and the management of inventory is handled by Detroit Trading,” company officials concluded.

Dealers interested in the program, please click here.

DT makes Inc. 5000 List of Fastest Growing Companies

Alison — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 17:53:13 +0000

Inc. magazine ranks Detroit Trading Company number 941 on its list of the nation’s fastest-growing privately held companies in America.

DT creates inventory lead platform

Alison — Sun, 01 May 2011 17:52:09 +0000

In May 2011, DT releases an inventory lead platform which allows dealers and aggregators to stream their inventory to untapped advertising websites, while this single point connection technology also greatly simplifies the method in which the advertisers obtain the standardized feed.

An Early Adopter: A Q&A with Pete Bonner

Alison — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 19:51:21 +0000

http://www.metromodemedia.com/features/petebonner0177.aspx

September 2nd, 2010

The three guys behind Detroit Trading Company didn’t originally plan to create a family business. A few Internet start-ups later, however, it’s clear that success and kin go hand in hand.

Pete Bonner began working with Don and Jon Campbell in the mid-1990s on Stoneage.com, one of the first Internet classified sites for automobiles. About that time, Pete also began dating Don’s daughter (and Jon’s sister) Becky, which eventually led to marriage. It wasn’t long after that the trio launched a second automotive Internet start-up called Car.com. After selling that enterprise, they founded what is now Detroit Trading Company, a rising star on the local start-up scene. Serial entrepreneurship rooted in Internet automotive firms has become the family’s stock and trade.

Detroit Trading Company, based in Southfield, gathers, analyzes, and organizes Internet sales leads for car dealers. It started out selling them on an open exchange until the financial meltdown forced the company to change up its business model. Today it sells its best leads with the best credit scores to dealer groups who sign on with the service. This has allowed the 6-year-old firm to grow to 13 employees, with plans to hire more. And Bonner and his in-laws are here to stay, preferring Metro Detroit to Silicon Valley’s start-up kingdom.

The trio, all born and raised here, first decided to build their Internet company in Metro Detroit because no one else was doing it in the mid-90s. This gave them nearly unfettered access to a great lake of automotive greenbacks from the Big 3 and nearly every dealership group. Metro Detroit proved central to everything they needed to do business, providing them with the high quality of life they desired, along with an eager customer base.

“If we would have started in Silicon Valley, we would have had to have opened an office here at one point or another,” says Bonner, senior vice president of Detroit Trading Company.

Bonner agreed to answer a number of questions about starting, growing, and selling a business in Metro Detroit and the general business climate here.

Your company’s business model is pretty innovative, very much in sync with southeast Michigan’s new economy goals. It’s something people would expect to find in downtown Ann Arbor or Royal Oak. How did you end up in a Southfield office tower?

We founded the Detroit Trading Company in April of 2004, and in an effort to keep our overhead low while starting out, we began renting modest quarters in a Royal Oak, Michigan office building. By early 2007, we were outgrowing our space and began searching for a larger office. It turned out that our current location in Southfield’s 2000 Town Center allowed us to really establish our brand and connect with many high profile companies.

The local auto industry is going through a painful evolution right now. The old models are being revised and even thrown out. How do you think things will look in, say, 10 years? How will your company have to accommodate that change?

We can’t really say for sure what things will look like in 10 years for the automotive industry. The business is constantly changing and adapting, and so are we. Right now, more and more consumers are turning to the Internet to conduct research and make decisions about their next vehicle purchase. As a result, companies are continually creating new spaces online which accommodate these actions. It is therefore necessary that we also keep up with these changes and determine where and how these individuals are looking for information – so we can provide our buyers with these leads. In the future, the way in which individuals acquire the information they are looking for may change, but the need for this information will not.

We recently went through a change that speaks to our ability to adapt. We began our company based on a business model that minimized account receivable risk by charging a fee for putting a buyer and seller together. This model led to the development of a lead exchange, called the Detroit Trading Exchange (DTX). By the middle of 2009, we had sufficient capital to actually buy leads and take on this account receivable risk. This step helped us provide better services as circumstances and finances allowed us to do so. Another one of our fundamental, unchanging objectives is to have a strong balance sheet with enough capital to fund our operations without any debt.

Your company has benefited from some angel investing to help with its growth, which is no easy feat in Michigan. How were you able to make this happen and what advice would you give entrepreneurs who are trying to land their own seed capital?

It helps to know the people from whom you wish to raise money. In our case, we knew our investors very well. As important as their investments are to us, we wanted to also learn from their many experiences and backgrounds, which could help us modify and build our own methods. Consequently, we think it’s very important to be selective in whom one seeks money from.

Entrepreneurs must also effectively sell themselves to investors by showing investors that they are hardworking and have the determination to make the business grow. Don Campbell, our president, was the founder of Campbell Services, Inc., a calendar software company. The success of this company was due largely in part to the creation of a compelling software product called OnTime. Sales increased from $1 million in 1990, the year OnTime was introduced, to over $10 million in 1996, when the company was sold for $15 million. This particular company successfully raised capital based on a belief in Don’s ideas, persistence, and determination.

Detroit Trading Company tweaked its business model when the recession hit. Can you explain what those changes were and how you made your decisions?

We certainly cut expenses wherever we could, but that was not enough. We went from being a facilitator of lead trading to an entity that actually bought and sold leads. Most importantly, we developed innovative techniques for buying high quality leads and sought out new buyers who could largely benefit from these pre-screened leads, including dealerships and manufacturers. Sales in 2009 were essentially flat, but our growth in 2010 has been the best in our company’s history.

As the credit market improves, could your business go back to its original model or is a return to normalcy in the market too far down the road to consider this option?
Our new business model is working very well for us, but we will always look for opportunities to exploit previously developed technology.

What’s one bad habit you would like to see Metro Detroit’s business community break?

Manufacturers in Detroit for a long, long time, in regards to Internet and interactive [technologies], were very close minded. They thought they had all the answers. They came around.

What’s one good habit you would like to see Metro Detroit’s business community take on or what is one that it already has but isn’t generally recognized?

Good, old-fashioned hard work.

You’re a father of three children. What would you like to see done to help attract and convince them and their peers that Metro Detroit is a place where they should sink their roots?

By my own example, I will attempt to show them that their father was successful at business here.

Jon Zemke is the News Editor for Metromode. He conducted and condensed this interview over email and the phone. His last story was “The Art Of Business: A Q&A with Jesse Cory”.

All Photos by Dave Lewinski

DTS partners with R.L. Polk

Alison — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 17:50:41 +0000

DTS partners with automotive intelligence experts R.L. Polk and Targus in order to greatly improve the quality of leads that are sold. Leads are now scientifically analyzed and then given a score based on the likelihood that they will result in a sale. Our staff works with buyers to determine which lead mix will offer . . . → Read More: DTS partners with R.L. Polk