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Success Express was founded in 1978 by "Kirk" Kirkpatrick to assist Consultants and Directors in Mary Kay Cosmetics to maximize their attendance at the annual Seminar. His innovative approach to meeting planning assured that each attendee would have the smoothest travel experience at the most economical cost available.
In 1992 the company was taken over by his son Kirby. This time coincided with the everyday acceptance of computers and fax machines into the business world. Kirby was able to captilize on these developments to further refine the meeting planning process and make the events even smoother for the attendees. While completing college and for several years as a teacher the company continued to operate on a "part time" status only providing assistance for the Annual Seminar during the summer. In 1998 the demand for services outgrew Kirby's ability to service his customers and continue to teach. Therefore the decision was made to take the business full time. Kirby soon "retired" from teaching and began coordinating events year round as well as continued to incorporate new technology into the process by launching the Success Express Web Site and began accepting registrations on-line.
The next major development came when the decision to add promotional products sales to our list of offerings was made. As more and more events were planned we decided we could help our clients by making the purchase of trade show give aways available from one source. It wasn't long before demand for planning services began to outpace the number of available dates to coordinate events and ways to further expand the business were explored.
In working to fulfill our meeting planning clients needs for awards we discovered that there was a local need for a high quality provider of engraving and trophies in Hendricks County. In February of 2002 we opened Success Express Trophies & More in Avon. This would allow us to fill the need of high quality recognition products and allow us to grow the company without increasing our time spent traveling to events. Additionally, as technology and sociological patters continued to evolve it became time to begin looking for ways to diversify the business as attendance at events has continued to decline over the first decade of the 21st century.
After opening the store in 1200 square feet of space at Prestwick at the Crossing God continued to open doors and provide opportunities for development. 2004 became a year of dramatic growth for the company as we expanded in several ways. Kirby begain offering training to corporations, churches and organizations by launching Success Express Training and Development. The store expanded to 2400 Square Feet and we added screen printing and embroidery to the products we offered.
By the end of 2006 it became apparent that we had outgrown our location in Avon both in equipment and staff and would be limited in our ability to grow sales without expanding. Therefore the decision was made to move to downtown Plainfield. We renovated and operated out of this location for three years. Unfortunately, the downturn in the economy in 2008 effected our small business like it did many others. Due to challenges with cash flow and the elimination of several forms of liquid financing due to the economic meltdown we were forced to reevaluate our business model. So effective January 1, 2010 we "rebooted" the business and moved it back to its origins. We are now a home based business serving the needs of thousands of people through effective event planning, providing high quality awards, developing marketing programs, conducting personal and professional coaching sessions, and providing training to groups, companies and associations of all kinds!
It is our pleasure to serve you!
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