Business Services
Keeping it simple
How Greg Muzzillo did the little things right to lead Proforma past the $300 million barrier
By Kristy J. O’Hara
Smart Business | June 2009
Page 1 of 4
Greg Muzzillo is a simple guy and believes business is the same way. He doesn’t want to waste your time and expects the same from you. So if you’re not going to buy from him, don’t give him the runaround.
“Just tell me, ‘I’m buying from the president’s brother, and he owns a print shop, so you don’t have a ghost’s chance in a ding dong of getting business here,’” says Muzzillo, president and co-CEO of Proforma. “Tell me that, and let’s get it over with.”
The same simple philosophy also applies to things like mission statements: Don’t make it long and drawn out with big fancy words that are impossible to remember.
“If they actually thought about the core element of what drives their business and the two or three or four things that they absolutely have to do well and that all of the other paragraphs and pages of their strategic plan hang off of and just focus on those two or three or four elements, then that would be simple,” he says. “Sometimes people don’t think in an outline fashion. They think in a paragraph and book fashion, and all those key elements are on page 45 and 83 as opposed to being a heading of two simple outlines.”
Case in point: Muzzillo’s mission is to make his franchise owners’ dreams come true. That’s it. Short, sweet and to the point.
“I think business is very easy, and I think business is very simple, … ” Muzzillo says. “If you make it simple and don’t make it complicated, then you can communicate that easily. They get it, and they get on board with it because it’s simple and easy to understand.”
This methodology has served him well. He started the print and promotional products supply company 31 years ago with just $200, and then expanded it with a franchising model in the mid-1980s to create a network of independent distributors who could work together to build stronger supplier relationships. His approach worked so well that Proforma has twice been named to the Inc. 500 list and today has more than 650 owners and sales of $350 million.
“We recruit great franchise owners and help our franchise owners’ dreams come true,” Muzzillo says. “That’s not complicated. It’s very simple, and there’s a lot of power in simple.”
Here’s how Muzzillo has grown his business through the years by sticking to the basics.
