Jeff Disher had a good job at Prince Corp., the automotive interior supplier that was acquired by Johnson Controls (JCI) in 1996. He’d joined Prince in 1989, and his degree in mechanical engineering (a program that had him studying at both Hope College and the University of Michigan) notwithstanding, before the turn of the millennium he was chief engineer in electronics at what was now JCI. There he was. A good job. Young family. Things were going fine.

But, he recalls, he kept asking himself a question, asking himself whether he could run his own design and development firm. In his job at JCI, he had the opportunity to purchase outside services of various types, so he knew what was out there. But consider: wife, two small kids, solid job with a world-renowned company: precisely the kind of situation that would have most people staying put, not taking the risk.

But he says that he knew that if he didn’t take the chance, if he didn’t start his own firm, he’d look back at his life and regret not having taken the opportunity.

Ten years ago, he took it. And has done well by doing so. And interestingly, he does good by doing so.

Huh?
Disher explains that they have a mission at Disher Design & Development: “Make a positive difference.” Internally. Externally. And they focus on that mission with two policies: “Make it right” and “Two extra things.”

Disher says that they have weekly meetings during which this positive difference-making is discussed. As he puts it, part of it is about how they treat one another inside the firm that has about 35 employees (as a company based in Michigan—albeit on the west side of the state, not the southeastern portion that is so heavily dominated by the automotive companies—he’s had to deal with staff adjustments due to the recession). It has a lot to do with attitude, with doing the fundamentals, such as being on time and about having enjoyment while working.

“We’re a service company,” Disher says. “Anybody can buy the same tools that we have”—and they have the obligatory CAD/CAE tools—“and anybody can hire the same type of employees.” But what makes the difference, he suggests, is the attitude.

About the “Make it right,” he says that if a mistake is made on a project—and note that the firm undertakes a variety of projects, including product strategy, marketing and research; engineering and design (“our bread and butter”); and manufacturing technical services for industries ranging from office furniture to pharmaceuticals, from food processing to medical goods (and yes, some automotive)—then three steps are taken:

1. Apologize—“take responsibility, in person”
2. Fix it for free
3. Offer a reason to continue to do business with the company.

“We don’t want to have to use this policy often.”

As for the “Two extra things,” he explains that this can be really simple. Say a Disher designer is at a client’s firm and spots a piece of paper on the ground. In that case, it gets picked up and thrown away. The focus is on finding the little things like that that can make a difference.

“It’s about out serving the competition,” Disher says. But he hastens to add that this isn’t just about “being nice”—you don’t get to about $4-million in sales simply by being responsible and caring—because there are also talent and ability required. “We hire for capability and attitude.”

One thing that’s rather unusual to hear from a business owner (he owns 70% of the company, with Innotec Group, which had been founded by some ex-Prince employees, owning the remainder) is that he realizes that his employees each have goals, and he thinks that it is his responsibility to help people move toward realizing those goals, whether it is related to achieving a higher position within the organization or buying a boat. By having this commitment, he believes that people will do a better job. And that is beneficial not only to the individuals, but to the overall company.

Another example of something that’s unusual—although he says with some degree of understatement that it is sort of like going to a grocery store and getting a free sample of cheese—is what they call, and have registered as, “Whiteboard Wednesday.” It is a brainstorming session with Disher staff members and clients or prospects that may last 1.5 hours. Free. They photograph the whiteboards when the session is over, then email the photos to the participants. They’ve been doing this for nearly nine years.

According to Jeff Disher, there are at least a couple of ways to compete. One is to do it on price, as in the low-cost solution. The other—and the most mutually beneficial—is to “do something no one else is doing.” It seems clear which one they’re pursuing.