LEADERSHIP Conversations with the Captains of Industry Try Things, Fail Fast, and Take Responsibility
As founder and CEO of RepSpark Systems, Meghann Butcher focuses on understanding the impact the company’s solutions will have on both its customers and its customers’ customers. “Then, I have to understand how this could affect our long-term vision, which is to be the most effective partner for our customers and their customers,” Butcher says. RepSpark’s wholesale ecommerce platform enables brands, many of which are apparel companies, to connect with buyers and transact business, offering online order entry, digital marketing materials, and automated accounts receivable, among other capabilities. Butcher grew up in the apparel business, as her dad owned about six apparel brands. He had the initial idea for RepSpark. As demand for the solution expanded, he asked Butcher and another employee to take over. Butcher and her colleague have worked on identifying customers’ pain points and then offering the capabilities that can address them. Since its launch in 2007, RepSpark has grown to about 40 employees, along with a handful of outsourced engineers. Butcher discusses the challenges she’s tackled while leading RepSpark, the lessons she’s learned, and the value of humble con dence and grit. IL: What have been some of the most signi cant lessons you’ve learned as you’ve grown RepSpark Systems? One is that you can’t do it all yourself. You do become the bottleneck at some point, and need to bring on strong, trusted team members. Most of the time they can handle the job better, and love taking it on. Another is the value of communication, especially as your organization grows. If the ve people around a table are not aligned at the beginning of a meeting, they typically are by the end. You can decide what you’re going to tackle and tackle it. At 10 people, you have other opinions. At 20, now half the people aren’t even in the room when you make decisions. You need to put in processes so everybody understands not just what to do, but why it’s important, and how each role maps back to our goals. It has been a learning curve. I remember stopping a few years ago and asking, ‘Why isn’t everybody getting this?’ That was a kind of reset; recognizing that everybody needs to understand the ‘why’ and then buy into it.
Meghann Butcher, Founder and CEO, RepSpark Systems
RepSpark CEO Meghann Butcher shares her playbook for scaling a B2B ecommerce platform— from building a culture of radical transparency and ‘failing fast’ to optimizing the supply chain with real-time inventory and AI.
by Karen Kroll
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