Chapter 6: What comes next?

Ian:

My fourth and final year at UBC was pretty uneventful. I had several dates with several different girls, but none of them were long-term girlfriend material. I was surprised that I shared a class in Computer Science with Debbie Cummings. She wanted to help her dad modernize his bookkeeping and inventory control at the hardware store. He was part of a buying group and they were putting a lot of pressure on to get him to get up to date and onto their new network.

I had similar ideas for Maxwell Marine Services if I went to work for them. They had quite an antiquated computer system that was functionally limited and couldn't be updated. I had some ideas of what could be done, but kept them to myself until I decided whether to join them permanently or not. It would be a big project and require a lot of manpower to make the change. If I went to work for Bob permanently, I felt it would be a worthwhile way for me to contribute something to the company.

So Deb and I became part-time lovers, I guess you could call it. It was great to be able to hook up with her again. We knew it wasn't permanent and it wasn't expected to be exclusive, but it was really nice to be with her once more. I got the impression she felt the same. She was my teacher and I'll always be grateful to her for helping me understand the female of the species. Girls like her are few and far between. I was also grateful to her for teaching me how to be a student. I don't think I'd have made it if she hadn't pulled me along that second year. Now, I had an ingrained routine and I was confident the good habits she had pounded into me would do me well in the business world.

I sat down with Bob Maxwell in April to have our talk that he promised me last year. I was in for a surprise.

"Ian, as you know, I have taken on two partners in the business. I've done that because there is no one in my family who can carry on for me. Essentially, I've sold two-thirds of the business, but it will remain Maxwell Marine Services, Limited. Ballinger and Thompson are venture capitalists and won't take an active part in the management of the business.

As a result of this partnership, we will be expanding the business by acquiring another business, Algonquin Diesel. That will give us two new locations. One in Ontario and another in New Brunswick. The Ontario operation is located in Guelph, while the New Brunswick shop is in Moncton. The Algonquin owners have sold the business lock, stock and barrel to us. We will probably rename it, but not right away. The business was failing because they didn't have the capital to modernize. Some of their lines are not a good fit for us, but some of them are a match for our existing products. It's going to take some doing to integrate the three locations into one smooth operation. I'll be working toward finding three managers, one for each location.

"You once talked about computerized inventory and sales systems. We're going to need that for all three locations. My question to you is, do you feel competent to monitor the installation of such a system for us? We know what both we and Algonquin have is outdated."

"No, I don't," I answered after some thought. "I know of off-the-shelf systems for both inventory and sales. You need a professional to make sure the installation of the system is done properly. In addition, you need to make sure it will fit in with your accounting and other future systems you might want. You will need help from all three locations. At least one dedicated person to take charge of the implementation, and the complete commitment of the existing staff to make it work. It's going to be a big job cataloguing and entering the data. It's going to take time and since we have to continue to operate the business day-to-day, overtime and weekends are going to be required. That's the difficult part."

Bob was nodding and I saw no indication of disagreement.

"One of our partners has been through this before and warned us that it was going to be just as you described it. We've set aside a substantial sum to get this done. You know our systems and you know our products. I'm confident that you can help us make this work. We will have this outside person work with us on the accounting package to make sure it is compatible with whatever systems you and he think are best. I want you to be the point man in either Vancouver or Guelph. I want someone who knows how we do things and won't let some hot shot steer us into a custom-made system."

"Okay. That's leaves a couple of questions, though," I said. "What happens when the project is done?"

Bob smiled. "You'll have a couple of options open to you, Ian. I see you as future management material. But it's really up to you. What do you want from this new company?"

I didn't answer him right away because I couldn't. I didn't know what I wanted ... yet.

"Bob, I'd like to think about that. You don't need an answer today. Assuming you can tell me more about the salary, I'm more than willing to take on the computer modernization job at one location. That should give me a pretty good look at the business and what it will become. I'll be able to give you a better answer then. I really appreciate your faith in me, considering I haven't yet finished school and have no experience at setting up computer systems."

"I'll make sure you have backup on that, Ian. Your job will be to see that the progress is kept on schedule and within budget. As far as the salary is concerned, you will earn four thousand per month for the duration of the project. Any travel expenses will be looked after by the company. If you decide to manage the project in Guelph, then we would provide a temporary living expense. How does that sound?"

I laughed. "For a kid just out of school, it sounds great. That's more than fair, but I know I'm going to be earning it with a lot of overtime and weekends. I'll give you my best effort, Bob. I really appreciate your faith in me. It's a big responsibility and I'll do whatever I can not to let you down."

Bob smiled and nodded. "That's all I can ask, Ian."

Deb, Renata, Terry, and I all attended our graduation ceremonies. It was a cloudy day with the threat of rain, but luckily it held off – since the ceremonies were outdoors. My parents were there, of course, along with Kenny, who had just finished his first year. Like me, he had no clue what he wanted from his education, but with luck, he would figure it out sooner or later. I'm beginning to realize he's a smart kid, but a bit lazy. College will either cure him of that, or he'll find himself on the street looking for a job.

"Who's that super-hot babe with the giant hooters you were talking to?" Kenny asked.

"That's Deb Cummings," I said. "She was in my chem class in second year."

"Are you kidding me? That's Deb Cummings? And you let her go? Are you nuts?" he asked, shaking his head.

"We are still good friends, Kenny," I smiled. He was obviously dazzled by Deb's attributes.

"It's my life mission to find and keep one of those," he said, making sure neither Mom nor Dad could hear him.

"Good luck with that," I smirked.

I think my status with my little brother had risen by quite a large amount when he saw Debbie. I had one more thing to do. Introduce my family to her.

"Debbie, I'd like you to meet my parents, Matthew and Sandra Kiernan, and my brother, Ken. Folks, this is my friend Debbie Cummings."

I watched the look on Dad's face when he was introduced. I don't think he could quite believe what he was seeing. Deb had that effect on most males. Kenny was acting like any other hormonal nineteen-year-old, stealing glances at her chest. Mom took it all in stride, showing a small smile as she watched her three men around this spectacular woman.

Debbie's parents arrived and we went through the introductions once more. Rick and Gail were with them as well. Her mother, Sharon, caught me alone and had something to say.

"Debbie has told me what a gentleman you are, Ian. She says you are the best thing that happened to her in her second year. I'm really pleased I got a chance to meet you and thank you for being a good friend to my daughter. Her father will tell you the same thing. She was a bit aimless for a while, but she's really done well in the last three years. I think you had something to do with that."

"I think you're giving me too much credit, Mrs. Cummings. In fact, Deb was the leader in our projects and she's the one who helped me learn to study and make my way in college. So ... maybe we helped each other."

"Did she tell you she's coming to help her father with the store?" she noted. "I didn't think that would happen."

"She told me about it a few weeks ago," I said. "I'm really pleased she wants to be part of your family's business. I know she'll be a big help."

We broke up and said our goodbyes. I got and gave a kiss on the cheek to Deb and thanked her once again for all the help she gave me when I needed it most. I couldn't imagine forgetting her in my lifetime.

"And you had her and gave her up?" Kenny asked as they departed.

"Yep. That's the way it goes sometimes," I said with a hint of regret.

I tossed a coin to see where I should choose to do my implementation thing with the new computerized system. Heads was Vancouver, and tails was Guelph. It came up tails. But first, we had to find a consultant or implementation leader for the overall system. Then we had to choose the programs.

I lost track of how many interviews we conducted looking for the right person to direct the project. Far too many of them wanted to create custom-made systems for us when we felt sure that wasn't necessary. The computer age wasn't that developed in 2001 and we had a number of impostors or pretenders who thought they were just the right people to do the job. I was sitting in with Dave Jacobs, Bob's Controller on these meetings and he was the guy to weed out the unsuitable candidates. He knew which questions to ask and could tell when he wasn't getting the right answer.

When it was beginning to look like we would spend even more time trying to find the right person, we found our man. Clarence (call me Clary) Trounce had graduated from UBC as well, but his major was business administration. However, he had been fascinated with computers and had dived with both boots into learning and understanding them. He knew enough about accounting to satisfy Dave that he could pick the right system, and he knew enough about COTS (Commercial Off-The-Shelf) systems that he wouldn't make a mistake in choosing the wrong one.

Unfortunately, he said he was unaware of any COTS system that would integrate with our accounting package. He said ours was no longer available and it made no sense to continue to support it. It wasn't what we wanted to hear, but he spent some time with Dave, explaining just why he believed what he did. In the end, Dave had to agree with him. That alone was enough to give me the feeling that we had found the guy to spearhead the new system.