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Jake Wolters
Nu-way Kitchens Inc.
CKCA President

Why should I as an owner of a kitchen cabinet manufacturing company join an association such as the CKCA? Don't you know that my time is valuable and I can't be wasting it going to some function about kitchen cabinets, after all I've got a business to run. What could possibly be more important than that?

Those were my responses when I was first invited by one of my supplier reps to attend a CKCA regional meeting back in 2001. In my mind I couldn't justify the expense of time and money to attend a function that I figured would have little or no benefit to me. If you're a business owner you will attest to the fact that you can't say yes to every invitation and demand of your time. You have to be selective as to what you say yes to. Needless to say, I didn't go.

I'm glad the story doesn't end there. To the credit of my rep she never gave up. She kept hounding me about going to one of the meetings. I kept saying "no" or "I'll think about it." Like a dripping faucet she finally wore me down after a year and I agreed to go to an event in Montreal in the spring of 2002. I don't remember a whole lot about the actual conference, just that I was sitting on a bus full of business owners like myself with a few crazy supplier reps. I will say that we had a lot of fun. The one thing I remember the most was some of the conversations I had with a couple of other cabinetmakers. We talked openly about how we ran our shops and some of the common problems that most shops have. They weren't all big things. I came away with some little ideas about how I could do some of the things in our shop a little bit better. I was also amazed that I was able to give a solution to the owner of a much larger shop than mine about setting up a jig to perform a certain procedure. He thanked me for the information. Who knew that an apparently successful midsize shop owner could learn from a small shop owner like me?

That conference I went to was the first of many and it really made me think about why it has the potential to be a benefit to every cabinet shop across the country. Let me say first that our Canadian culture is ever changing. I recently celebrated my fiftieth birthday and most would agree that our culture and lifestyle have changed a lot from the sixties when I was a child. Some things are better, some worse depending on your personal value system. And so it is with the kitchen cabinet industry. Things are constantly changing. What was good ten years ago in our business may not be relevant today. This is especially true in the world of technology. We need to constantly educate ourselves as to how we can improve our businesses. We do that in many different ways such as reading trade magazines; attending trade shows and watching our competitors closely to make sure they're not doing something better than we are. These are all good things and I would suggest that you keep doing these things to stay ahead. In essence we must become lifetime learners. We must never say, "I know all there is to know about my business". The reality of that statement was made real for me at our last national forum when our guest speaker, Sam Geist asked the audience a question of how we rated our shop in the area of communicating information and executing the important things that need to get done. Our average was a dismal 6.2 out of 10. That spoke volumes to me. It asserted to me the importance of belonging to an association like the CKCA that is committed to helping us become better at what we do. It won't change us in leaps and bounds or spring us into becoming a fortune 500 company overnight, but it can help us become a little better one step at a time. I can look back over the last eight plus years and say that I have a much improved business with happier customers and better profits and a large part of it was due to things I learned as a member of the CKCA.

Now I don't want to mislead you in any way. Being a member will not guarantee a benefit in itself. You do have to be proactive. I recall a conversation with Harvey Short who is former president of CKCA that "you get out of it what you put into it". You do have to take time away from your business and attend the events. You may have to go out of your comfort zone and speak to other shop owners whom you have never met. Another big plus is our supplier members. They have a wealth of knowledge about our industry and are more than happy to help you solve problems, offer solutions and help you succeed in any way they can. And of course when you get home from an event you have to put into action what you have just learned. But I shouldn't have to tell you that. As business owners we didn't get to where we are by letting life just happen to us. We made decisions based upon our knowledge and acted on it.

In closing I would like to say to you that if you are not a member and are still not sure about joining that CKCA I would invite you to attend one of our upcoming events. We have special rates for first timers and I can assure you that you will not be disappointed.

Thank you for your interest in the CKCA. I hope to see you at one of our events this year.