May President’s Message

Earlier this month EFBC had an event titled “Strategic Partner Night of Knowledge” at Ditka’s in Oakbrook and all of our stars were out! It turned out to be an amazing event as our Strategic Partner firms shared their wisdom and experiences on hot topics in their respective fields. The room was filled with 64 attendees. I appreciate the time and energy that our Strategic Partners put into this evening and this entire year. We are blessed to have some of the finest firms and individuals in their respective fields serving our community.

It is events like this that continue to bring our community together and make us stronger. When I began my term as President of EFBC, I felt it was most important to get as many members as possible to events. Forum is a cornerstone of the EFBC experience and one that nearly all members benefit from. Events are where we all have an opportunity to expand our EFBC community beyond the 7-9 members in our forum.

EFBC is filled with amazing individuals of varying backgrounds and vast experiences to share. If you didn’t make it out to an event this year, I urge you to make it a point to attend at least one next year. You won’t be disappointed.

Andy Sanghani
EFBC President 2022-2023

Experiences in International Outsourcing

This month, your EFBC president, lent a direct look into his companies experiences in outsourcing employees internationally.

2 weeks ago I traveled to Aguascalientes, a city in Mexico in a state with the same name. The name, “hot waters”, doesn’t describe the sunny shoreline and sandy beaches. Aguascalientes is located in north-central Mexico and unfortunately this wasn’t a vacation to an all inclusive resort. However, I did happen to be there during the San Marcos Fair which is the largest fair in Mexico and one of the largest in Latin America.

Over the past 2 years, we’ve been growing a team of remote employees. What started out as hiring 2 estimators in Aguascalientes has multiplied to 12 in various roles as well as 1 in Macedonia. The roles include estimating, engineering, graphic design, logistics and account management. If you would have asked me 3 years ago whether I thought it would be possible for us to have any remote employees, let alone 13 in a foreign country, I would have have said “No.”

Changes due to Covid, ease of access thanks to technology and shifts in lifestyle are a few reasons why a small business like ours even thought about nearshoring to Mexico. We quickly experienced the great benefits of moving specific operations to a nearby country with a qualified workforce, reduced cost of living and no time difference.

How did we take the first step? With a little bit of luck. A client of ours had offshored their entire sales support and purchasing team to India. I asked myself “If they can do something like that, why can’t we?” I initially felt like India would be tough because of the time difference and not having any business contacts there. We eventually thought about Aguascalientes due to connections that several of our team members have to the city as well as the international business presence – Nissan has 2 factories there which combined produce more than half a million cars per year.

Managing and training the team members in Mexico and Macedonia was the most difficult considering we’re in the Visual Marketing industry. We offer creative design solutions to our clients and follow through with manufacturing. We’ve created a structured onboarding process which incorporates training videos, reading materials and other visuals all kept well organized in Monday.com, a project management workflow application.

During this recent trip we began our search for an office space to allow our team members in Aguascalientes an opportunity to collaborate with each other a few days each week. While we’ve been faced with some resistance to this change but we feel it is key to our company success as well as the individuals.

We’re still learning as we move forward. It isn’t always perfect but it has been exciting to see the team grow in a way I never expected.

Andy Sanghani
EFBC President 2022-2023

President’s Message – January 2023

Happy New Year, EFBC. See a special message from EFBC President, Andy Sanghani!

January is a special month for many reasons. As the beginning of the new year, we have an opportunity to hit the reset button and start with a clean slate. The gyms are packed with those focused on improving their physical health. Businesses are implementing new plans to boost performance. The excitement of NFL playoffs is upon us. Last but not least, I am fortunate to call it my birthday month :). January 29^th to be exact. That makes me an Aquarius. I don’t know what that means but my girlfriend Tina reminds me of it all the time.

I’m not sure how you all are in those days leading up to your birthday, but my mind gets filled with so many thoughts, mostly of reflection. At 42 years old, I’ve made more than my fair share of mistakes and poor choices. What has gotten me through each of those has been my family. My strongest feelings these days are those of unconditional love for my family. I’m happily in love with my partner in life (and lifetimes prior), Tina. Blessed father of two children, Ava and Ayaan. Spoiled baby brother of two sisters, Nisha and Grishma. Son of the most generous parents, Govind and Nalini.

With each of these relationships I’ve learned countless lessons. My children teach me everyday the importance of patience. Tina has taught me the growth that comes through feeling uncomfortable. My sisters have always provided mentorship – even when I didn’t care for it. Finally, my parents have shown me what it means to truly sacrifice and persevere.

As an owner of a 2^nd generation family business, it all starts with family. I’m excited to celebrate my 42^nd birthday with them and my other passion, pizza.

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	Andy Sanghani EFBC President 2022-2023

President’s Letter: New Connections

The EFBC is always looking to improve upon ourselves, Whether it’s internally through the Executive Committee, Board of Directors, Strategic Partners, Forums, fellow members, or via potential partnerships. I’m proud to announce that we have collaborated with Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program (10K SB). This program serves as an educational opportunity that was founded and supported by Goldman Sachs, to “help entrepreneurs create jobs and economic opportunity by providing access to education, capital and support services.” The “education” piece of this, along with the entrepreneurial base and job creation goals, aligns with the EFBC and our overall mission, vision, and values. 99% of all employer firms are small businesses, 10K Small Businesses is there to help these fledgling companies or businesses that are looking to take it to the next level. They do this by providing businesses with a practical business education and curriculum that covers the fundamentals of business growth. They also provide access to capital for organizations that need assistance for expansion.

Join us on Tuesday, May 24th at Goose Island Brewhouse for a happy hour with 10K SB associates and alumni. We’ll hear shared experiences from participants of both programs to learn how our programs support one another. Our hope is to enlighten 10K SB alumni on Forums and experience comradery with the EFBC community. As Liz and Patty would say, we want to “share the brilliance” that is the EFBC members and partners! I very much look forward to the opportunity to engage with fresh entrepreneurial cohorts of a top-tier program, that exists to help others, much like our own.

Neil O’Donnell
VP of Business Development, Progressive Industries
EFBC President 2021-2022

President’s Letter: Spring has Sprung!

Things are starting to warm up, the smell in the air is fresher, and Spring is about to kick off. I love spring. Springtime reenergizes me about business and life. Although the economic outlook is seemingly volatile for the near future, I am trying to remain optimistic, and the change in weather is definitely helping. Baseball and other seasonal sports are starting back up, the NCAA brackets are in full swing, and golf is back on the local menu. Of course, my kids are getting anxious to be closer to summer break and I too will be happy to put winter behind me.

As the clock “springs forward” this season, my wife, Annette, and I have a few trips coming up to the Southwest that we’re looking forward to taking. We’re stoked for the multiple opportunities to travel together again, because like many others, we haven’t taken a real trip in a while. I’m excited to be with the whole family for my sister, Kerra’s wedding in Scottsdale next month, and then we’re off to try our luck in Vegas with my dad the following month. The opportunity to be back to traveling is slowly feeling like a return to semi-normalcy. Again, it’s slow, but I’ll take it!

We have some really solid events this Spring, and I am fired up to see our members and engage with our community once again, face-to-face. On 3/23, a Wealth Management panel and Annual Leadership award is being held at Elements in Naperville. The award is celebrating my predecessor, Nirel Inman, who served on the EFBC Board of Directors for four years. I’m also looking forward to making up for lost time and celebrating our extraordinary organization at our >25 Gala Celebration on May 7th. We’re ecstatic to finally celebrate our members

Plenty of additional programming and content coming up. It’s my hope to see as many of you as possible as we continue to add more educational opportunities. Please keep in mind any of your business associates, internal or external, that might benefit in attending these upcoming events. Spread the EFBC word!

Neil O’Donnell
VP of Business Development, Progressive Industries
EFBC President 2021-2022