Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/306360
May 2014 | Boating Industry | 35 [ Time to grow? ] www.BoatingIndustry.com that works within the infrastructures of all six loca- tions. Fostering such an atmosphere has been one of the most enjoyable challenges along his path. "Culture, to me, is actually one of the fun things," he said. "The reason I travel is I like to get to the stores, I like to be with the people. I feel very blessed with our people and I sell at the shows with them, not because they need me, mostly because I really like to do it, and it's the one time when I get to do what they get to do year round." Aside from jetting between Wisconsin and Florida locations, as well as his family home in Iowa, Code takes his staff out boating whenever possible, and also uses dinners and the occa- sional evening cocktail as a way to get everybody in sync, share values and help develop a uniform culture regardless of location. His intent has been to create The Boat House culture without dictat- ing to his employees. "I don't want a bunch of team players who are told what to do," he said. "I want people to understand that ultimately the customer is first and for most of our customers you're building a dream, you're selling them something that they've looked forward to weeks on end, maybe weeks, sometimes years, and the more they un- derstand from the customer's perspective what they're doing, the more latitude they have to ac- commodate the customer." Strong also extolls the virtues of sorting out management processes and putting the right people in vital positions, as well as creating a uniform company culture among locations. "Every manager has their own style that adds a nuance and a little different feel to [locations], and we try to encourage that," Strong said. "We want the processes to be the same, but in terms of a manager's individual ability to add their per- sonality to it, we think that's a good thing." In weighing each of his company's expan- The Boat House caters to the Chicagoland and southern Wisconsin markets with multiple stores, including its location in Prairie Grove, Ill., at the left. On the right is its Cape Coral dry dock facility. P32x36-BI14MAY-TimetoGrow.indd 35 4/17/14 10:47 AM