Chamber of Commerce

October, 2005

Small Business Week Expo magazine

RBC Small Business of the Year Finalist

“When you start off you have to have a vision and established goals.”

• Spindle, Stairs & Railings
• Kevin Halliday

Kevin Halliday is the President of Spindle, Stairs & Railings, a Calgary-based company that manufactures, supplies and installs custom spindles, stairs and railings. Incorporated in 1999, he began with nothing more than a truck and a cell phone. Although there was not much in terms of brick and mortar, Halliday was confident he would grow his business.

“When you start off you have to have a vision and established goals. You’ve got to start as if you’re going to be big,” says Halliday.

The company was able to get some small office space and Halliday was able to start stockpiling machinery. He purchased machines that he had no present use for, but he knew he would eventually need. Another growth strategy that has worked very well for Halliday is his hiring practices. Hiring and training new employees for a position htat may not yet be required allows Halliday to get the right people in the right roles and ready to hit the ground running as business demands.

“You have to monitor growth, that’s really important,” says Halliday. “I’m the visionary; I can see where we’re going. I don’t need to know the day-to-day operations. I have to trust my employees to do their job. If they make a mistake, so be it.”

Halliday mentions that one of the most important things for someone starting out is to realize that anybody can say ‘I want to do this’ but that isn’t enough. Once you put it down on paper it is vital to follow through with the plan – keep focused.

“You have got to believe in (something) so much that nothing can stop you,” explains Halliday. “What’s the worst thing that can happen? You have your health and you have your family. So your business fails? You start a new one.”

Halliday says the sky is the limit. “This was our goal from day one.”