Baker leaves Decorize to relaunch consulting practice

by Paul Schreiber

SBJ Reporter

pschreiber@sbj.net

Jon Baker, former president, CEO and chairman of the board at Decorize, has come full circle, reviving the consulting firm he founded in 1992.

Baker left Decorize last August and, with three other consultants, began "retro-remodeling" Baker McCormick Group in November.

Terming it an alliance of four senior-level consultants none of whom are considered employees Baker said each member excels in a "core competency." Joining ranks with Baker are Russ Richmond, Anita Marx and Steve Antisdel. Each member does individual consulting, as well.

Part of the 51-year-old Baker's rationale behind the enterprise has to do with personal empowerment. "When you do this you can control your life a little bit better, and that's really what I was, at my age, wanting to do."

Baker resigned as CEO, president and chairman from Decorize on Aug. 25. The company, founded in 2000, is a manufacturer and wholesaler of imported home furnishings with revenues of $15.4 million reported for its last fiscal year ended June 30, 2003. In getting products from Far East manufacturers to retailers stateside, Decorize utilizes a direct-ship model that allows items to be consolidated overseas and then separated here in order to eliminate costly distribution points.

Steve Crowder became CEO and president of Decorize in December. He was executive vice president of Springfield-based SRC Holdings Corp. and president of ReGen Technologies, an SRC affiliate.

In a Dec. 17 Decorize press release, it was announced SRC "has agreed in principle to invest $500,000 to acquire shares of Decorize Cumulative Convertible Preferred Stock."

Baker continues to pull for the company from the sidelines, however. "I am a large shareholder and hope that they do very well," he said.

Decorize trades as DCZ on the American Stock Exchange.

Baker McCormick

Baker McCormick consults in the areas of leadership training, customer loyalty and retention, database management, process and management improvement, strategic planning and business ethics.

Russ Richmond's connection with Baker goes back to when they were senior colleagues at Bethesda, Md.-based Earl Palmer Brown, Richmond said. He currently directs Richmond Group Inc., a consulting firm.

Richmond has held president posts at Grey Direct and at EPB Direct.

Anita Marx spent the last 25 years working for Anheuser Busch in St. Louis and Colgate-Palmolive in Kansas City in the areas of management processes and organizational development. She met Baker over a decade ago while working for Anheuser Busch when Baker consulted with the company on wholesale practices.

The newest consultant to join BMG is Steve Antisdel. His expertise in strategic planning derives in part from his CEO capacity at the e-commerce firm he helped launch in 1996 and sold in 2003 privately held Furniturefind.com.

The first connection between Antisdel and Baker was made at an international home furnishings market held in High Point, N.C., he said. "We were both CEOs involved in building bricks and clicks businesses."

Reimbursement for BMG services is determined once the scope of the project is defined, Richmond said. Options include advance payments, progress billing and milestone bonuses. Expenses are taken care of by the businesses hiring BMG.

Baker said BMG seeks to define the metrics the client will use to judge whether the project is successful or not. Each company has its own benchmarks for achievement, he added, and while the financial yardstick isn't always the immediate goal, it's typically the one businesses ultimately key in on.

Maximizing strengths

Each of the consultants involved in BMG brings particular strengths to the table. Richmond specializes in customer value analysis and retention. He has developed the "loyalty gene," a process assisting companies in understanding the connection between internal cultural factors and customer satisfaction. He also works in the areas of database management and market maximization.

A number of issues undermine business growth, Richmond said, and often involve managers. Foremost are blaming another department and not addressing one's own shortcomings; an accountant mentality where manager focus is "on cost and cost reduction rather than on revenue growth;" businesses lacking a finely tuned vision, especially regarding the human element and, lack of loyalty, on the part of both management or employees.

Marx developed the AIM process Analyze, Improve, Motivate using the performance enhancement principles of Malcolm Baldridge and Six Sigma. AIM process consulting is her emphasis.

Estimating the time necessary to achieve a company's aims depends on the project, Marx said. Identifying issues to be tackled can be done in a relatively short period, but "if it's a change management process, then it could go on for months, years," she added. The key is getting executive level managers to buy in to the process and establish a sense of urgency in making a change.

When Antisdel meets with clients, he assesses how a firm's strategy aligns with the marketplace, the customer and the company's capabilities and resources, he said.

Employing lessons won from both upper-echelon management positions, as well as experience in teaching officials who hold those slots, Baker will take his knowledge on the road to several locations a year. Using a program he developed called Leading Edge Leadership, he focuses on training senior-level management.

"We partner with select companies and have a goal of developing a deep understanding of their business as well as building relationships that go beyond normal service parameters," Baker said.

Baker previously operated BMG from October 1992 until June 2000.