Mission: To turn Imprint Plus into a global brand
Assets: 10 years of continuous improvement at a company whose annual revenue has grown to $7.7 million from $2.6 million over the past decade
Yield: A contract with a major U.S. retailer and a new retail product set to launch in 2012
By Jennifer Harrison
A painting on the wall behind Marla Kott’s desk depicts a bucking bronco surrounded by the words, “No Guts, No Glory.”
The sentiment sums up some fundamental aspects of the life of the CEO of Imprint Plus, a Richmond-based company that designs and manufactures reusable name badges.
Born in Montreal to the owner of a successful clothing factory and his wife, Kott, now 56, had a comfortable upbringing.
She attended Brandeis and McGill universities and eventually became a chartered accountant. By the time she was 28, Kott had become the first female partner at an accounting firm that had 100 affiliated partners across the country.
She recalls “having babies on the fly,” noting that back then and in that position, women had little time for maternity.
She said it was also extremely difficult working in Quebec amid the unrest and insecurity caused by provincial threats of separation from the rest of Canada.
“In the chartered accounting field you’re supporting businesses that have to be successful locally. They need to experience a measure of success in order to give you success as a professional. During this time of unrest, issues of security in your profession were pervasive.”
Kott determined that she had other aspirations.
“I was entrepreneurial, even as an accountant. I love the way businesses are run and with all my manufacturing clients I was interested in advising them on how to run their businesses. Numbers are interesting, but they’re historical and by the time accountants go in they’re reporting on history.”
Kott said she was more interested in looking forward than backward.
In 1990, Kott jumped at the chance to invest $20,000 in keeping her childhood friend’s burgeoning name badge company afloat.
For the next five years, she worked during the day at her chartered accountancy practice and at night as an active silent investor in the badge company.
“Working on the East Coast with a West Coast business was great, because you had three extra hours in the day.”
She invested vacation time travelling to Toronto trade shows to promote Imprint’s product.
In 2000, Kott moved to Vancouver to take over as the company’s CEO.
She arrived to find an unproductive management team, thin capitalization and a balance sheet sporting a $700,000 debt.
“We owed a fair amount of money,” Kott said, “and it was all on me because I had signed on the bank. I had to come here and grow the business.”
The good news was that the company had done a lot of research and had a good product.
“But you have to market and sell [product],” said Kott, “and that’s where I came in and started running the company and really it was fun.”
Kott said Imprint’s name badge system is different from other products on the market because instead of engraved name badges, it provides clients with software and transparent insert sheets that capture a brand’s image and name. The inserts can then be peeled off and affixed to name badges.
Within a year at the helm, Kott had packaged and marketed the Imprint Plus product as the first all-inclusive name badge kit on the market. She repriced the product and cut expenses.
The company now services more than 30,000 customers in 66 countries. Its clientele includes UPS, Macy’s, Tiffany’s and Hyatt Hotels. Annual sales grew to $7.7 million in 2010 from $2.6 million in 2000. Company staff has increased to 60 from 26 and operations have expanded to include a Toronto sales office and a distribution centre in Blaine, Washington.
Jonathan Dowling, former director of selling services at Macy’s, implemented a universal name badge program at the retail giant in 2005.
He said he chose Imprint Plus because of the product’s flexibility.
“Badges could be printed in store, which gave us the ability to implement the new badges quickly and efficiently in every store across the U.S.”
Dowling added that Kott was extremely efficient and hands-on.
“There aren’t many companies where you can get a hold of the principal. And we’re a pretty big account. Not only could I call the office to speak with Marla, but I also had her cellphone number. I had easy access, which was very refreshing.”
Kott pointed out that in North America alone there are 500 million name badges sold every year.
“Our intention has always been to own this category.”
To achieve that goal, Kott said Imprint Plus, which has thus far been focused on direct selling, is moving into sales through distribution and retail outlets.
For the last two years, Kott and her team have been working on a prototype to package the name badges for the retail market.
“Up until now we’ve been packaging in brown boxes and shipping [business to business]. When you have a product, a large part of it is the box, which I never realized. It’s like you give birth to packaging. I didn’t realize what a challenging process it would be. You have to get it right.”
Kott is busy securing local representation with retailers and distributors so that her company can sell regionally, across North America and around the world.
Imprint recently landed a deal with a major retailer in the U.S. and expects to launch its retail name badge kits in 2012.
From there, according to Kott, the sky is the limit.
“It sounds so broad, but the truth is that we have a unique product and a unique system and we’ve spent a lot of time refining this. And we’re definitely confident.”