My Story
November 19th, 2007
My name is Michael Thompson and I am the owner of Market Accelerators, LLC. I have always been interested in business. My first entrepreneurial adventure was when I was about 12 years old. I used to create plaster molds, melt lead and make creative weights that many of my friends bought and collected. Knowing what I know today, I am horrified about the health hazards of my youthful micro lead melting operation! Some might say it explains a lot about me!
The Importance of Marketing
During college I worked for a small shipping company in the UK that moved arts and antiques around the world. I loved working in a small company and how my work had a significant impact on the day to day success of the company. This company had a very high quality service, but its brand communications were terrible (it had an ugly logo and awful brochures). As a result, it lost significant market share to a new competitor who marketed well but had just an average service. I learned about the importance of customer perception and the role of marketing to shape that perception.
Shared Values
Also, during college, I met and married my wife who persuaded me to move to the US. I quickly adopted my new land and found a job in a small investment banking company. The experience was quite an eye opener. I was young and trusting, but the company culture was abusive to the numerous, cheap and recently graduated students. I learned that my values and those of the company were in conflict and that for me to be successful, I would have to move on. This is a lesson I carry around with me today. To be able to really help a client, we have to hold core values in common. These include honesty, mutual respect, and a passion to want to genuinely satisfy customer needs.
Your Job is Not Enough — Move the Business Ahead!
It was at Mattel Toys that I learned the importance of taking the time to be strategic. My boss was a great mentor. He always pushed me to “move the business ahead”. At times I was annoyed to be pushed so hard; pushed to go beyond the daily tasks in order to significantly improve the operations of the company. But looking back it was one of the best business lessons I ever learned. To move forward and stay competitive means to regularly step out of the daily routine to think and act strategically.
The Power of Small
When I moved to Hewlett Packard, I thought I had arrived at business nirvana! You might think of HP as a large company but in those days, it was run as a collection of individual small companies. I saw first hand how HP’s passion for meeting customer needs resulted in higher market share and profits.
Helping Small Businesses
In 2005, I decided to go into business for myself and I began researching small companies for sale. Over the following months, I met with many business owners. I discovered I could quickly see what each company needed to do to be successful but found myself more interested in helping the existing owner than in buying the company!
As a result, I opened Market Accelerators dedicated to helping small business. My 20 plus years of professional marketing experience and my love for helping people is a great combination. When I reach the end of my life, I want to be able to look back and see a thriving local economy populated with successful companies that I helped to grow.
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