by Kerissa Hollis,
Memphis Business Journal, February 21, 1994
STEVEN C. BRADEN PUT HIS business plan in writing long before starting his company.
The president of Backstreet Couriers kept a notebook about what it would be like to start a bicycle messenger service in downtownMemphis.
In 1988, his business moved from the notebook to reality when his first bicycle -- with him aboard -- hit the streets.
Five years later, Backstreet Couriers was named a finalist in the Memphis Business Journal Small Business Awards competition.
This year, the second time turned out to be the charm as Backstreet Couriers was selected the 1994 Small Business of the Year in the 26- 75 employee category. The company, obviously, has traveled a long way from Braden's first bicycle. In the early days, the majority of his business came from a couple of downtown restaurants, but it wasn' t long before that changed.
"Quickly, then, it developed into a lot of legal, a lot of attorneys, " Braden says. "I picked up a big account with Union Planters, then the advertising world came on like a storm."
The business grew, and so did the bicycle fleet.
"The bicycle messenger side of it stayed strong until October 1990, when we decided to take a leap of faith and go all over the city, " Braden says.
That turned out to be a wise decision for Braden -- his business more than tripled from '90 to '91.
Since that time, Backstreet has taken on regional and national delivery services.
The delivery fleet now includes small pickup trucks and a bob-truck to handle larger loads.
Radios have been placed in the trucks to enhance communication efforts and improve delivery services.
Business has continued to boom, with over 100% growth last year. Braden estimates the number of delivery transactions grew from about 250 to 450 per day.
Accounts include floral deliveries for Seessel's grocery stores, as well as handling industrial products for other area companies.
As the business has grown, so has the staff, including the addition of a new business partner for Braden.
Bill Simpson, now the managing partner and part owner of Backstreet Couriers, joined the company ranks last summer.
Simpson also has ties to the transportation industry. After a multiyear career at Federal Express, he was working as an operations manager in Memphis before climbing aboard at Backstreet.
Both being avid bikers and athletic in nature, the two had met at sports competitions.
Simpson says he saw Braden delivering goods one day on a scooter and thought, "What is he doing?" Subsequent business conversations followed.
"I saw his business growing," Simpson says today. "He was looking for someone to help him out in growing, and I was looking for something to do on my own and be independent of Federal Express."
Braden says the two were not sure how well the partnership would work out. However, both say the new business marriage has been a positive step for them.
"Bill is good at the 'big picture'" and in managing large groups of people, Braden says of his partner. "He basically runs the delivery side of the operation, and I'm able to run the administrative side of it."
"I guess I run the business day to day and hopefully set some vision for where this company's going to go," Simpson says.
Part of that vision involves plans to expand the company's activities to other cities.
"We found a good formula here," Simpson says of the company. "We want a Backstreet II, III and IV in Little Rock, Nashville."
"Hopefully, we can avoid some of the painful steps we had before" by having a parent company to learn from, Braden says.
In planning efforts to expand the business, Braden and Simpson are grooming current Backstreet Couriers employees for management positions in other locations.
Braden plans to have a second Backstreet Couriers established in another year.
"The base of the business, and really where we want it to stay, is here in Memphis," Simpson says.
Other business plans include expanding services so that the company can accommodate delivery through other means, such as air freight.
Braden does say that such services will be ancillary to the current delivery business and will help make Backstreet more of a full-service company.
"It's just another service we can offer," Simpson says.
And starting this spring, bicycles, which had been replaced by motorized vehicles, will again be used for downtown deliveries.
Even with all the growth and success it has experienced, the company still concentrates on customer service above all else.
"That's what we focus on, and I think that's what makes us successful, " Braden says.
Braden gives ample credit to his employees for the strides the company has made over the years. He says he agrees with Corporate Copy's Tom Pease, selected as the Small Business Executive of the Year, about the importance of workers. "He said it better than I could ever say it: The employees make the difference. But they have to have someone represent them, and I guess that's where I come in."
Other finalists in this category were B.B. King's Blues Club, Inc.; Halford and Sanders, Veterinarians; Pro-Tech Security, Inc.; and Tri- State Thermo King, Inc.
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