How many Staples do you have in your neighborhood? I count three of the ubiquitous office supply stores within a 2.5-mile radius of my place. I’m about to introduce you to a man who doesn’t just provide an alternative experience to the titanic chain, but runs an incredibly successful business.
But first, let’s understand how big Staples really is. As the largest office supplier in the world and pioneer of the office superstore concept, Staples netted $23 billion in sales in 2008, or twice as much as Office Depot.
So how does one man earn a chunk of Staples’ market share by doing good and earning a profit?
I interviewed Mike Hannigan who founded Give Something Back with Sean Marx in 1991. Give Something Back is now the West Coast’s largest independent office supplier with corporate offices in three cities and 12,000 clients and 40 distribution centers nationwide. You’re reading about Give Something Back now, not because of the company’s overnight delivery or tremendous selection of recycled products, but because it donates all after-tax profits to nonprofits through a balloting system that involves its customers and employees. Based on Newman’s Own business model, Give Something Back has donated more than $4 million (80% of its accumulated profits) to nonprofit organizations in the last 18 years. In 2007, Mike and his team did $26 million in sales.
If you’re inspired by Mike’s success in running a profitable business and doing good in the world, I offer some guiding principles to get you started:
Stand for something beyond profit.