We're Still Moving the Mail!
July 15, 2007

Mailer's Choice CEO Terri Hedges

Ask Terri Hedges for an update on her twenty-eight-year-old business, and she proudly replies, "We're still moving the mail!"

Two years ago, Hedges told us that she refused to lay off any of her employees during an economic downturn in 2000. Her company, Mailer's Choice Inc., has fully recovered from those tough times.

The Nashville, Tennessee-based direct mail and fulfillment firm enjoys stable growth despite recent changes in postal regulations that affect daily operations & changes that Hedges says are the biggest in ten years.

She should know. Launching the firm in 1979 with her husband, Hedges has weathered many business cycles.

In 2005 her company made a major move when its lease expired. After twenty-five years of renting, Hedges decided it was time to buy a building. That led to a six-month adventure & a series of highs and lows that culminated in the purchase of a 40,000 square-foot facility.

To secure a real-estate loan, Hedges revisited the business plan she wrote during her 2003 FastTrac program and updated the figures. Her banker reviewed the plan and declared it one of the most complete, comprehensive ones she had ever seen. The loan was promptly approved.

"I can thank FastTrac for that," Hedges says. "Having a business plan, a marketing plan, and a financial plan all ready made the process much easier."

Hedges' larger challenge was finding the right property to purchase. She wanted a site near the interstate highway and central post office. The facility also needed to accommodate her growth plans.

After a rigorous search, Hedges found a building to buy. She agreed on a price and prepared to move. But when someone offered her significantly more money to sell the property, she flipped it for a quick profit. "I didn't expect that, but I couldn't turn down such a great deal," she says.

Yet Hedges had to resume her search. She eventually found another promising building and bought it .even though it had an asbestos problem and required considerable renovation.

A hazardous-waste crew sealed off the site for two weeks to remove the asbestos. After nearly six months of additional renovation, Mailer's Choice finally set up shop in its new home. During the moving process, the company never missed a client's deadline.

When speaking to FastTrac groups, Hedges says she never anticipated using the business plan that she wrote in FastTrac "for something so important as getting a bank loan to buy a building." What's more, FastTrac helped Hedges develop new skills when she had already run her firm for many years.

"I tell FastTrac classes that after I graduated with a business plan, I thought, 'I wish I had done this years ago,' " she adds. "You never know what value it will bring."