Today we’d like to introduce you to Steve Horowitz.
I guess you could say “branding” is in Steve Horowitz’s blood. Back in the mid-1980s, Steve would watch his dad (Mel) and dad’s wife (Linda) take a single head embroidery machine out to the swap meet every weekend. People would come to their space, create and order an individual custom cap, walk through the swap meet for an hour and return to pick up their order. As word got out, people would come to the swap meet just to order their embroidery. Over time, the individual cap order became a dozen caps. Now people wanted polos and sweatshirts. Orders were being done during the week for pick up the following week.
After about a year, Mel and Linda decided to move their single head embroidery machine into a 400 square foot studio. Business continued to grow. More embroidery equipment was needed which meant more space was needed. Now in 2,000 square feet, Steve had graduated from the University of Miami with a degree in Entrepreneurship and came on board as a front office salesperson. Business was still on the incline. Within a couple of years, the embroidery business had taken over the entire block.
Years later, in 2000, Mel and Linda decided to retire. Steve was now running the business. In 2001, after outgrowing the block, Steve moved the company into an 8,000 square foot warehouse and introduced screen printing and promotional products to his now, primarily corporate clientele.
In the early 2000s, Steve decided it was time to dedicate himself (and his 30+ employees) to truly become experts in the “branding” industry. Fast forward to 2010. With 1000s of happy clients, ten years as an employee, and another ten years of running the business, Steve wanted something more. Realizing they heard the same problems from clients for over a decade, Steve was on a mission to solve these issues. How could CottonCause solve these ongoing problems? There has to be a better way of providing custom branded products. Without knowing what “more” was, Steve decided to dissolve his company and become a sales rep. With a lot less responsibility and a lot more time, Steve could work on his next chapter. Most people thought he was crazy.
Has it been a smooth road?
More like a bumpy ride (to put it mildly). Working for my dad after college, until the time he sold his half of the business to me, was quite rocky. He was ‘old school’ and I had a more progressive vision. After 7 years, my dad took on a (silent) partner and soon thereafter, I took out a loan from the new partner to buy my dad out and run the company.
For the next five years, I ran the business with the most debt of my life, while trying to grow the company and satisfy the new partners. Once my debt was paid off and systems seemed to be in place, I decided it best to buy out my partners. Another five years of debt; this time at a much higher, stressful commitment. Times became challenging, while the business was growing. The shell of the company looked great…tons of employees and the highest sales we’ve ever had. Yet cash flow was about to put me under.
Once I felt it things were ‘under control’, 2007 was here and I could sense the economy was taking a huge downturn. After starting and offering embroidery services for 20 years, I decided to close the embroidery dept and outsource to a reliable partner that we had a relationship with. It was very difficult to say goodbye to employees that we had for 15-20 years. A year or so later, I decided to do the same thing with our screen print dept. These were both big, stressful moves…. shifting our business model. Looking back, had we not done these production moves, we would have had to shut down after 20 years in business.
Finally, in 2010, I decided I had had enough of 100 hour work weeks. My son was now 6 and I wanted to spend more time with him. Within a month, I sold my company to a larger competitor and became a sales rep for the business I was bringing over. I did this for 3 years – the length of my agreement. This time allowed me to work 8-5pm and leave work at work and consider my next chapter. I wrote 8 business plans over a year. I started two companies (that are no longer active). When my 3 years ended, I left. Many of my clients had followed me to my new position and wanted to follow me to my next business.
With a clearer mind, I realized I had a good thing – great and loyal clients…. many who had become friends of mine. As I was leaving, and may not compete ended, the company I left sued me. I had been accused of taking their clients. The next two years were the most challenging. I had to seize all business activity (in the logo industry). The company suing me had sent a letter to every person I had ever worked with, telling them I was in a lawsuit. I was going to fight this to the end. After almost two years, both parties wanted to cut their losses. We settled for a small fraction of what they wanted. However, with this in my rearview, I had to start all over. I had no business!
Moving ahead to today, I have 80% of my old clients as well as 40% new clients. I work from my home office which gives me more freedom than I’ve ever had. My time is spent servicing my clients, not handling employees and admin chores. And most importantly, I don’t miss a single event with my 14-year-old son.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Cotton Cause story. Tell us more about the business.
Cotton Cause offers embroidery, screen printing, and promotional products. Everything is custom…. made to order. I’ve been in the logo/apparel/branding business longer than 95% of the local companies. We’re large enough to handle any size order yet small enough to have the flexibility to do pretty much anything the client needs.
No question… I most proud of the relationships I’ve built with my customers. I’ve “fired” many customers over the last several years. I only work with people I truly enjoy.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
With technology always changing, I see more and more online sales – like almost all industries. However, with the customization and numerous details, our job requires, having a person/company that you can truly trust; that is convenient and always available, cannot be overlooked. We sell tangible products, but the decoration requires knowledgeable live people.
Contact Info:
- Website: cottoncause.com
- Phone: 6198867379
- Email: steve@cottoncause.com
- Facebook: facebook.com/cottoncause
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