Scheduled Member Meetings are to be held in a relaxed private dining environment, as all of our meetings are much more about relationship and group integrity than small business matters. Many of our members are already understand the import business, and most business matters will be conducted by legal and financial representatives. Agenda items will be submitted by any group member, no less than seven days prior to the meeting.

In essence, the topics discussed in Member Meetings could be the following:

1. Sales – Reaching target of 5% market share of engineered in Texas within in three years.
   1. Internet Marketing Strategy
   2. Membership Marketing
   3. Design-Build-Sub channels – winning more bids with team-leverage.
2. Management – Organization / membership structuring and policy.
3. Suppler Strategy – Relationship, negotiation, and purchasing.
4. New Products – Trends, design, development, engineering, and quality.

items on these meeting agendas will beit’s about building a 5% engineered wood market share in the state of Texas within three years. The opportunity is only available for one reason – manufacturers and distributors either do not know how, or do not have the human resource capabilities to hire top-tier internet marketers to execute a marketing strategy to blast the brand to the right channels, on a localized basis. Their key missing ingredient, in either case is little to no website relationships (linked unique content) with the thousands of retailers that sell their products across the country, and at a localized level. to simply because their percentage sales of the items that they im import container items is easily duplicate this business model, or simply implement their own version of   Members will be aware of all agenda items in advance via simple login to  For members unable to attend, Agenda Items and Voting portions of the meeting may be conducted via live video and/or phone conference. Full attendance is a high priority, if not mandatory, at all Annual Member Meetings, and strongly encouraged at other scheduled meetings. No less than two Hub Members are required to be present at meetings in their respective markets / territories. Members are encouraged to engage with relevant agenda itemsschedule private conferences with other member, on their own time.

Meeting Schedule – 2014

1. Nov. 1 – Market Members Meeting, Dallas, Perry’s Steakhouse (Uptown)
2. Dec. 1 – Mandatory Annual Members Meeting, Houston, Perry’s Steakhouse (Clear Lake)

Meeting Schedule – 2015

3. Feb. 15 – Market Members Meeting, Austin, Perry’s Steakhouse (Downtown)
4. Apr. 15 – Market Members Meeting, San Antonio, Perry’s Steakhouse (La Cantera)
5. June 15 – Market Members Meeting, Dallas, Perry’s Steakhouse (Uptown)
6. Sep. 15 – Market Members Meeting, Houston, Perry’s Steakhouse (Clear Lake)
7. Dec. 1 – Mandatory Annual Members Meeting, Houston, Perry’s Steakhouse (Clear Lake)

Startup: Voting Schedule

1. Organizational structure & policy – Dec. 1, 2014.
2. Membership structure and policy – Dec. 1, 2014.
3. Supplier purchasing strategy / plan approval – Dec., 2014.
4. Select first four items for group trial order purchase – Dec. 1, 2014.
5. Membership structure and policy amendments – Dec. 1, 2015.

Startup: Communications & Structuring Schedule

1. Organizational structure & policy – Aug. – Dec. 1, 2014.
2. Membership structure and policy – Sep. – Dec., 2014.
3. Supplier purchasing strategy / plan – Sep. – Dec., 2014
4. Product sample review, inspection, and feedback – Oct. – Nov., 2014.
5. Accept trial order commitments ($call), minimum 1 item, $5k purchase – Dec. 1, 2014.
   1. Group minimum – 2 items, $100,000 (trial order only)
6. Final trial order purchase $call – Dec. 1, 2014

 

Hub Members (Ownership-Tier)

With a couple of possible exceptions, Hub Members are those who, with little to no interruption, can and continue to make purchases on pace with the 2015 T1 Purchasing Budget, a total of $450,000, graduated volume increases.

In 2015, Hub Members can hold a one-year license term for up to two urban zone territories and up to three rural zoned territories, a maximum of five territories for Hub Members in year one. This is to ensure that Hub Members have an incentive to build a strong brand in their respective local markets, as well as opportunity to expand the brand across town or other regions of Texas. The restrictive aspect of this licensing structure is good for the group and our brand strategy. All members will be encouraged to expand the brand. A correct attitude about this is critically important to our long term success. A joint effort in expanding the brand will not significantly encroach your markets. Licenses are one year terms that can be transferred to Hub Members upon ¾ majority vote. If at some point your company decides to open a location in a Zone Member’s territory, in most cases, it would be in the interest of the group to transfer that territory’s license to your company upon license expiration. Additionally, in most cases, particularly within the first year, a shared-territory solution can be worked out, whereby both the Hub Member and the Territory Member agree to sell differing items in their respective locations in that particular territory, according to the terms of “lfsdkfjljj paragraph”

rights to your this will improve our mutual and independent long term abilities to better control which products we buy, how much we pay for them, and most importantly, how aggressive we can be on price, at a level of competitiveness that only importers and distributors can match, the latter not having the same market accessibility that our group members have. Even a $.05/SF discount can help your sub relationships land bigger deals. In fact, you are likely to encounter a number of new relationships and will have more room to spend a few bucks on landing larger contract bids.

Our group will target builders, installation firms, subcontractors, . h of , and all group members several expansion areas. 2016 licensing terms shall be determined by ¾ majority agreement.   invite new members to the program. his retail buddy on the other side of town.

Note:    Where a perceived conflict of interest exists, Territory Members (tier 2) can select a maximum of three items per container ordered.

1. (see rural and urban zoning example: Territory Zoning map in .xls, Sheet “Territory Management???”.   )

2. Sell program items to any consumer (end user / install) that makes a purchase at any physical retail location that is owned by the Hub Member and is within respective territory borders.
3. Sell program items to any flooring contractor or G.C. having a primary commercial place of business within respective territory borders.
   1. Retailers are not permitted to    sells the majority of items purchased within territory borders. at a physical location where any commercial located within the territory, place of business
4. No Hub Member shall sell items to flooring wholesalers or distributors (or any company determined by ¾ majority vote to be a significant competitive threat).
   1. Probable exception could be made for a member with a majority ownership in a small wholesaler.

 

 

Zone Members

Zone Members are not able to retain ownership in the company.

Qualifications:

1. Currently employ an internet-marketing savvy manager, one that understands, at very least, the basics of what some call SEO or digital marketing. (not to include the “SEO” geeks out there claiming to have marketing knowledge). Zone members with less than one retail store should have an actively developing plan and capabilities to open a new retail location within one year, assuming an increase in sales projections for the year to commence on first group purchase.   Zone members can purchase at the same price as Hub Members (this is critical for group integrity and brand expansion), but must purchase no less than ½ of a 40’ container on their trial purchase, with volume commitments that increase with each order, but at a slower pace than Hub Member order volume commitments.

Dealer Members

Tier 1

$150,000 is the minimum annual purchasing volume, per the 2015 budget.

There are several reasons for this

1. Each order increase is an opportunity for supplier relationship / trust development.

2. Our budet affords five months of purchasing activity prior to our first annual purchasing contract offer.

3. Purchasing rate trajectory is scheduled to escalate well above the first contract’s scheduled budget.

At the end of the first year, we will be the supplier’s top purchaser in Texas.

Then the 2nd round of contract negotiations commence.

2. Some members may be constrained under existing container-purchasing commitments

1. We want to attract price-competitive dealers to the group.

2. We don’t want to exclude small dealers with high growth potential.

3. Note: We really only care whether or not the owner understands the importance of building his online reputation and marketing channels.

This is the most important aspect of the program. Even if the dealer has only been in business for one or two years, newer dealers are more hungry.

They are actively looking for an edge against the veteran competitors. Marketing is always the variable that makes or breaks a new business.

If any member fails to meet any “minimum” purchasing deadline, he should submit a corrective action plan to the group within seven days.

If the group does not agree with the plan, a vote shall be called, requiring a 51% majority for member removal.

Members with personal or business disruptions will be given special consideration.

Removed members can reapply for membership no less than one year after date of removal.

Members can be permenantly banned from the group , only by 3/4 majority vote.

There are no membership dues.

We do not need to make a profit on members. It would be counterproductive to our aim of building volume discount relationships with our suppliers.

This is not to say that veteran flooring retailers are not primed candidates for this program, that is, if they have a strong understanding of digital marketing, at very least the importance of building your brand on your website, and helping people to easily and relevantly find your website, and do it better than the competition. That’s what we really care about in 2015 and we have already proven that we can do it better than the chain groups and franchises, on a local basis. The key is to take that same formula and apply it in multiple geographies, neighborhood / district, town, city, area, region, state, and beyond. There is only one way to do this, where the distributor and or manufacturer has unique (the key word being unique) communications channels with its customers that are engaging every retail location that they do business with. This is in effect the secret sauce of our organization. Only national brands do this, but they do not do it on a state or regional level, certainly not a local level, in the way that we are able to. Imagine the 5,000+ retailers that they would have to manage.   By implementing our strategy at the inception, we are in essence building a framework. Approximately 50% of the work will be outsourced at an average wage of ~$4.50/hour, wages ranging from about $2-$25/hour. If we select the right products, which I believe we (retailers) understand far better, in terms of customer preference, quality, installation, and all other attributes that we must assess when selecting new items, as a large group, to add to our program. On the other hand, many (not all, but many) manufactures just throw products together and . Compared to retailers, most manufacturers, especially those in China, have very little understanding of a localized consumer market, for example Texas. Manufacturers will design a new product, send it to Architects, Designers, Retailers, and Distributors in the U.S. for review. This process can take several months, and ultimately the factory has to “interperet” any written comments and suggestions for revision, but it’s easier said than done, communicating between cultures. This is true, even for the largest factories in China. That is why I will be staying at the factory, working with them every day on product design, color, stain techniques, distressing techniques, and other product development aesthetics. This is will be our keystone activity, as a group. We represent a very large market, the state of Texas, and this will be a very unique opportunity for our Chinese partners, who will make final decisions on any product designs that we share with them. In fact, we will not have any rights to the design, technically, but if the product is a success it would be almost certain, to save face (customary), to give us exclusive rights in Texas.