For the past 20 years, I have deposited any change I have at the end of the day – dimes, quarters, pennies – into a jar at my home. These daily deposits have accumulated over the years.
Recently, my wife, daughter-in-law and three of my grandsons went to the bank to have them counted. The coins filled four huge boxes we could hardly lift. We tried guessing how much was there, but it was hard to say. We decided to let the coin counter tell us.
My daily habit of saving coins has led to an accumulation of small deposits that have grown over time. We all make deposits in our lives every day. They can look like the building of trust in our personal relationships with our family, friends and coworkers. They can also come in the forms of hard work, effort and perseverance.
I think it's important, especially at this time of year, to ask ourselves why we make deposits like these not only in our personal lives, but in our work lives, too. Why has Loffler Companies invested time, training and talent to increase success for our clients, employees, community and partners? It's to help you succeed.
Loffler Companies began 2018 by asking, "Why?"
Why do we do what we do? We asked this question of everyone in our company at the beginning of 2018, and we all seemed to agree: Loffler Companies exists to help our customers succeed. We took that notion and expanded it to Loffler’s new "Why Statement": Helping You Succeed.
The Why Statement is a concept introduced by Simon Sinek in his book Start with Why. As he explains in his famous TED Talk, most CEOs, companies and individuals can explain what they do, and some can explain how they do it, but not everyone has taken the time to define why they do what they do.
Helping You Succeed is our reason for getting out of bed in the morning. It is our message to our clients, employees, community and partners. I think of Helping You Succeed as a cyclical relationship. If we’re helping our clients, employees, community and partners, and everybody’s helping us as well, that circle goes both ways. It’s a beautiful thought that people actually care about each other. Maybe I’m in my own little dream world, but I believe we’re just here to help each other.
Helping You Succeed applies to everything at work and at home. For me, true success is found in the people you surround yourself with (family, friends), learning how to find joy in helping others and finding fulfillment in your work.
A Year of Helping You Succeed
It's been a good 2018. We've helped our clients, employees, community and partners succeed. Loffler Companies has welcomed many new clients and worked with them to improve their office technology. We have also welcomed new employees and helped develop our current employees' skills and expertise. Our Helping Hands Team, which plans community outreach and volunteer events, has held fundraisers, run a school supply drive, helped kids learn to skate and made 1,000 sandwiches for local people in need. I spent time in 2018 as the chairman of the Canon Dealer Advisory Council, a challenging job, but one that has helped others in our industry, from partners to suppliers, focus on strategies that will help us all succeed and serve our clients better.
Success doesn’t just happen. It requires daily perseverance to get through the good and bad times. Although we've only officially named our Why Statement this year, Helping You Succeed was our reason for doing business from the beginning and will continue to be in the years to come.
Paying It Forward
It turns out we had collected about $900 in coins. I always thought I'd cash in my coins one day and use them as a rainy-day fund. Instead of keeping the money, my wife and I decided to put it toward a sponsorship through World Vision for two children in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, named Rugaine and Rose. The sponsorship will help these children by providing food, clean water, medical care and school supplies. We intend to support this sponsorship for many years into the future. This year, it is a Christmas present for my grandchildren, to foster the spirit of giving and long-term commitment. We hope they will become pen pals and continue to deposit their time and care into the future of that relationship.
Success is the combined effort of everyday deposits, which may seem inconsequential in the moment, but build up over time. It’s a penny one day and a quarter the next. Holding steady is success. Keeping at it every day. It’s cumulative. I say it all the time: everything matters.
Jim Loffler is the founder and CEO of Loffler Companies. He started the company in 1986 with dictation machines, expanding to faxes, copiers, IP Phones, IT managed services and much more. Today, the company employs over 600 team members in 18 locations in six states, and focuses on long-term relationships. Jim is proud of the many awards Loffler Companies has received over the years, including ten years as one of INC 5000 magazine's "Fastest Growing Private Companies in America." Loffler Companies is also the official technology partner of the Minnesota Vikings, Minnesota Timberwolves, Minnesota Lynx, Minnesota Wild, St. Paul Saints and the University of Minnesota athletic department. In 2018, Jim was named one of Minnesota’s Top 500 Business Leaders. Jim has been married for more than 40 years to Darcy, his junior high school sweetheart. They have two children, four grandsons and one granddaughter. In his spare time, Jim enjoys golfing, boating, cooking, photography, music and traveling.
