Bill Smith knows firsthand the excitement and challenges of operating a family business. He’s run delivery routes and managed sales territories. He brings more than thirty years of executive and family business to your service. Not only that, he invests back into the community by offering his insights as a board member to organizations and companies such as Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama, which insures medical care for qualifying people who need it.
Born William Smith III, he is a proud resident of Birmingham, Alabama, the same city where he grew up. He’s a dedicated runner and swimmer and even trains for triathlons and dares to skydive! With such enthusiasm for well-measured risk, he is well-positioned to help you navigate the challenges of owning a family business.
His pride for his community is evident in his consulting firm’s name—Double Iron Consulting. His hometown, Birmingham, has a storied history of iron and steel production. His commitment to fitness and adventure leads him to favor more than just the expected, which is why the firm is named Double Iron.
Educated at the Davidson College in North Carolina from 1987 to 1991, he earned his Bachelor of Arts in Latin American studies. After returning to his family-owned business to gain comprehensive corporate leadership experience, after returning to college from 1998 to 2000 to obtain his Master’s in Business Administration at Goizueta Business School at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia.
He was a third-generation leader of a major coffee-roasting business and distribution business in the Southern USA called Royal Cup Coffee and Tea (Royal Cup Inc.). He served as its President and Chief Executive Officer. This proud company of over 500 employees started from humble beginnings in 1896, and in 1950 Bill’s family purchased the company. In 2003, the company joined the Rainforest Alliance in order to join the movement to deliver environmentally friendly coffee.
During Bill’s leadership, he oversaw a major rebranding initiative and expanded the company into new directions for sales growth. For example, the corporate headquarters expanded significantly by 2016, including a 33,000 square feet facility to improve and automate the storage and movement of beans. The precision of the manufacturing process is so high. The coffee beans are ground to within a thousandth of an inch. Under his leadership, the company introduced four new coffee brands, with several flavors under each innovative brand.
In 2020, pleased with the company’s rapid growth, the Smith family, including Bill, and the board of directors jointly decided to hand over the reins to a non-family corporate leader, who had long served Royal Cup Inc. Treasured for his expertise and insight, Bill Smith stayed on as a strategic advisor and board director for the company.
Having led the company and wise enough to stay on for the transition of this important company to leadership outside the family, Bill feels he has a lot to offer to the nation’s family-owned businesses. Many small family-owned companies fail because they have goals that aren’t more than dreams and visions. That idealization is fantastic, but you also need more in order to convert dreams into reality. Bill Smith can discuss with you:
- Succession Planning
Due to the complex nature of family dynamics, succession planning in a family-owned business can be a challenge. Bill will advise on ways to “pass the baton” with clarity and conviction.
- Leadership Development
Despite the exemplary role models provided by your family in the business, everyone can benefit from a formalized and customized approach to leadership. Bill will analyze your family business and advise on what leadership style would be the best fit.
- Change Management
Bill will review your change management practices and consult as to his honest appraisal of what would be the best procedures for managing the family business in a market full of challenges and opportunities.
- Strategic Growth
This vital strategy involves setting benchmarks and then outlining clear, concrete goals to accomplish those benchmarks. Bill will use his past successful experience in attaining corporate goals and ensure that you benefit from his services as a coach and advisor.
- Customer Experience
In serving in successive leadership roles in his coffee-roasting company, Bill gained a valuable perspective of the customer experience and how to keep customers returning for more. He will do the same to advise you on how to retain and keep loyal customers for your unique family business.
- Internal Alignment
No matter what the goals of the company or what products it offers, the company itself has to be structured to best accomplish its tasks. Bill will review your company’s operations and consult if the organizational chart and skill depth in various departments are what it takes for your company to deliver.
To reach out to Bill, please check out his consulting firm website https://doubleironconsulting.com/. There’s also an engaging Facebook profile of this firm too, with updated tips you might find useful! Try looking up https://www.facebook.com/DoubleIronConsulting/.
