What the trade paper 'Channelinfo' said about Principal

In 1987 Richard Cashman set up principal as a copier dealership and today the principal corporation incorporates seven trading companies and has a turnover of £14 million; Channelinfo met with Cashman to discuss the success factors that are behind the company's growth

Looking at the Principal Corporation of today, with its dynamic team of 100 people and high tech expertise, it is hard to cast the mind's eye back 20 years to when it was a team of three people. It takes a leap of imagination and plenty of energy to take in the expansion and diversification that brought it to its current size and status, and this is where CEO Richard Cashman comes in, a man who has always had his eye on the future, an appreciation for others' expertise and the conviction to take the necessary risks.

The organisation now incorporates seven trading divisions, with supplier accreditations ranging from Canon, HP, Minolta, Panasonic and Sharp through to Compaq, Microsoft, Novell Citrix and Borderware. As is evident by these established businesses and partnerships, technology convergence is not a new phenomenon at Principal but one that has formed the basis for its ongoing growth and development.

Principal was first established as a service priority company for volume customers. However in 1993 when Cashman made a trip to Japan with Sharp and saw the technology under development, he realised there were solutions on the way that were much more sophisticated than the products of that time. He says: "When I saw what was ahead, it was a rude awakening to how little prepared we were to adapt to deliver the future," and it was at that time that the company made the decision to diversify.

Initially the company cut its teeth on supportive, tame customers to refine the implementation experience, but it quickly picked up momentum. Other divisions have since followed, including the Cabling Division, which designs and installs voice, data and electrical cabling, the Supplies and Consumables division looking after the aftermarket, and Cameron Barclay, which provides project and workspace management.

A parallel drive for the company is investment in the Principal branding, and its 'purple P' represents care and quality service in the provision of integrated technologies and services. Cashman explains: "For a long time we were known as a company that sold someone else's product, now we are the product… while the products may change, the Principal image and standards won't."

Managing a growing and ever changing business has its trials and tribulations and there have been several disciplines behind Principal's success. One is financial control and from day one Cashman says the company adopted business disciplines that were lacking in many other companies at that time. While financial management is a science, Cashman says people management is both a science and an art that is difficult in a constantly changing environment. Principal has a very flat structure, but management are expected to lead from the front in terms of attitude, embracing and enthusing change and communicating objectives to the team.

Researching future trends and technologies is equally as important as managing current change and Cashman still keeps a vigilant eye on the key dynamics of the business, manufacturer R&D and finance, which he sees as the two factors that drive the market. He travels to the USA once a month, sits on an IT outsourcing committee, works in conjunction with other dealers and meets with manufacturers regularly to discuss new technologies and their impact, with networking a high priority to ensure that Principal remains fully aware and at the forefront of the knowledge cycle.

Providing complementary and new solutions to its client base is an ongoing objective, but in the long run Cashman is seeking to reach the threshold of achievement. The one certainty for the future therefore is that he will continue to push the boundaries of the Principal brand with the same vision and energy of the past 20 years, embracing change and opportunity with a vigour that underpins Principal's success.

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