EAST GREENBUSH, N.Y. >> The U.S. Small Business Administration recently saluted a truly American success story in Rensselaer County.
When U.S. Army veteran Michael Cronin was laid off from his metallurgic engineering job in Latham 20 years ago, he took his side business of selling American flags full-time and never looked back. From there, Gettysburg Flag Works was born.
As a result of defense budget cuts in 1996, Cronin was left without a job, so he thought long and hard about his next move.
“I was laid off on December 4 at 4:30 p.m., and it took me until December 10 to decide what I was going to do,” he remembered. “I had been selling flags as a hobby, but a little more than that. I sold flags out of my car for two more years, including a year where I worked 365 days straight without stopping, but it wasn’t work, it was fun.”
Advertisement
Cronin was fearless in pursuing sales opportunities, stopping at every flagpole he passed to drop off a catalog and ask for their business. In 1999, he hired his first employee, who still works for him today, and moved into a 500-square-foot office on Columbia Turnpike. Signing a four-year lease was a risk, but Cronin had confidence he could continue to grow the business.
“Mike Cronin re-engineered his future and discovered the freedom and independence of small business ownership. His dedication and perseverance is truly inspiring to all who continue to pursue the American dream,” said Bernard Paprocki, Syracuse District director for the U.S. Small Business Administration, who recently toured Gettysburg Flag Works and saluted the continued success of the company and its important contributions to the local community.
As the company continued to evolve, Gettysburg Flag Works was an early online retailer and used search engine optimization tactics to earn a high Google ranking. Gettysburg’s pay-per-click online ads helped customers around the world find their website during the overwhelming demand for flags after 9/11. Cronin’s focus on e-commerce led online sales to grow to 80 percent of company revenues.
Gettysburg’s internet success wasn’t unnoticed by other companies, either. In 2007, a customer called Cronin to let him know they couldn’t find the product they had previously purchased on his website. To Cronin’s surprise, a competitor had added an ‘s’ to his company’s website, setting up a new site to redirect customers to their flag retail website.
Cronin turned to SCORE, an SBA resource partner that provides no-cost business counseling and advice to firms like Gettysburg Flag Works.
“I called SCORE and asked them what to do. They gave me advice and recommended I seek legal counsel,” he explained. “After $8,000 in legal fees, I now own 11 different versions of my company’s website to account for all the different misspellings of my business name.”
“When Mike encountered a potentially devastating threat to his business, he turned to SCORE, one of SBA’s most trusted counseling resource partners for the right advice,” Paprocki said. “As an entrepreneur, knowing when to ask for expert guidance can make the difference between business survival and failure.”
Cronin’s gamble paid off, and since then, the business has grown at a rate of 20 percent per year. He added sewing staff to offer custom flags and banners and moved into an 1,800-square foot space next door for the next three years, before buying a 6,400-square foot building down the street in 2004 that was quickly filled with more staff, equipment and inventory.
Cronin’s engineering background has helped differentiate his company from the competition. When no other flag dealer would install a 100-foot flagpole for a local bank, Gettysburg Flag Works used 7,000 pounds of steel and 3 1/2 truckloads of concrete for the installation.
Cronin’s problem-solving mindset has helped him guide the business into a Rensselaer County mainstay, now 24 years in business with 18 employees and $2 million in sales each year. Gettysburg Flag Works’ sales have more than doubled this spring, as approximately 280 shipments were processed per day in May, turning 2017 into a banner year.
More information about Gettysburg Flag Works is available online at www.gettysburgflag.com.