TEAM FUN!
Kenny and Norton Bell founded TEAM FUN!, a sporting goods and equipment store and manufacturer, 10 years ago. Kenny and Norton had always been sports enthusiasts. As stellar athletes through high school and college, these twin brothers knew they wanted to open a business that catered to the leisure sporting industry. Shortly after graduating from college, they presented to a bank the business plan they had developed as part of their small-business entrepreneurial course. They were given a loan, and with $15,000 they had saved between them, they started the company. Initially, they were the only two employees. Within the first six months of business, Kenny and Norton added three employees to help deal with a new contract they had just won. By the end of their first year, the company had more than $300,000 in revenues and six employees. Kenny and Norton were pleased with their initial success, but they anticipated more competitors and knew they had to diversify their product lines. As they did, it became apparent that they needed to add a couple of locations to better serve their growing customer base, as well as hire more people to meet customer demand. They now have 125 employees, 3 suburban branches, and annual revenues approaching $10 million. Overlooking their LAGOON, where employees try out new water gear (kayaks, swim fins, wet suits, racing suits, goggles), Norton says to Kenny, “Maybe we are getting too old for this. I got the prototype for the new soccer gear, and the labeling looks funny to me.” Kenny frowns. Norton continues, “Some funny language. Maybe two. Looks like Spanish. Agua is water, right?” Kenny slugs Norton’s shoulder. “Si!” Norton says, “Maybe French or German for the other. Why would SideKick do that? We’ve been doing business for 10 years.” Kenny scratches his head. “I dunno. Lots of things going on around here that I don’t understand. Carlos asked me if we could make a corner of the lunchroom into a