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September 28, 2006

Scaling the start-up mountain

By Jeff Lavery

Alpha Scale reinvents itself in Uxbridge

After working for 27 years in the scale industry under the management of others, Steve Riendeau and Jason Wielsma left to start their own company in the quintessential start-up environment: the garage. But when faced with the dilemma of building a client base, starting from scratch became a less attractive option.

John Rainey of the Clark University Small Business Development Center: Experience counts when acquiring a company.
Enter John Rainey, a senior management counselor and financial specialist at the Clark University Small Business Development Center. Rainey suggested purchasing a business instead of creating one. President Riendeau and VP Wielsma jumped at the chance to acquire the assets and client list of the former Alfa Scale Company, a scale specialist based in Mendon. The newly renamed firm both sells and services scales, ranging from bathroom scales to high capacity truck scales. With 175 clients in hand, the new owners set out to build a reputation of reliable service.

"The first customer I contacted said ‘Thank Heavens,’ " says vice president Wielsma. He adds that despite the company being recreated from the ground up, including all new shop space in Uxbridge, customers still recall slow service from the former owner, and want proof that the new management will make necessary improvements.

Alpha Scale president Steve Riendeau (right) and VP Jason Wielsma (left) almost became garage-based entrepreneurs before buying their own company.
When not dealing with its current customers, Alpha Scale works hard to find new ones. The firm will recalibrate a scale in a doctor’s office or hundreds of measuring devices at some of the largest plastics manufacturers in the region. Of course, going head to head with national firms like Toledo and Fairbanks makes for tough competition, but it’s a numbers game, says Riendeau. "We can work around it - we know their rates," he says.

Beyond attracting more customers, Riendeau and Wielsma recognize that all aspects of the business fall into their laps. Whether it’s making a sales call to a potential buyer or servicing a nursing home’s patient scales on a Saturday morning, a new business owner’s day is never done. "If a customer calls you at eight at night, we have to go there and fix it," says Riendeau.

At a glance:
Alpha Scale Company

Address: 980A Quaker Highway,Uxbridge

Year founded: 2006

Number of employees: 4

Training: Trained in ISO/IEC 17025 quality policies and procedures

Website: www.goalphascale.com


While more manpower is needed, Alpha Scale forges ahead with its current staff, but plans to expand its employee base are in the pipeline. The firm has made a $5,000 investment in new weights to ensure correct calibration of scales, and has trained in ISO 17025 procedures, an international standards system for quality. Though other outlays of cash will be limited until the business starts making more money, the SBDC’s Rainey notes that start-up headaches failed to discourage the new owners.

"These guys knew they were going to do some bootstrapping," says Rainey.

Jeffrey T. Lavery can be reached at jlavery@wbjournal.com

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