Alasdair Mackenzie isn’t obsessed with large machines. He just knows a good business opportunity when he sees one.
Mackenzie is president of excavation supplier Viqan (pronounced “vy-quan”), and now the publisher of an industry publication. Viqan is four years old, founded shortly after he moved from Scotland.
Viqan sells parts for use on 4,500 types of excavators. Mackenzie had little experience in the industry; he previously worked in research with BCMS, a mergers and acquisitions company in London.
Now at Viqan, Mackenzie works 80 hours a week at everything from marketing to product repairs. The company has two full-time staff – a personal assistant and a sales rep – and might add sales and warehouse positions. Viqan moved from Officers Row to its leased location on 37th Avenue in Vancouver three months ago.
Products Viqan sells are made externally – many come from a manufacturer in Shanghai that Mackenzie declined to name. But the products carry the Viqan brand and have warranties and service specific to the company.
Viqan has about 3,600 customers that are mostly contractors and equipment rental companies, including about 40 locally.
Rubber track sales make up about 98 percent of Viqan’s sales. So far in 2007, sales are at $1 million, and Mackenzie expects to end the year at $1.4 million with a 50 to 60 percent profit margin. The tracks cost between $200 and $16,000, are six to 10 feet long and weigh up to 5,000 pounds.
On the horizon are the sales of steel tracks and hydraulic breakers, and the creation of a monthly publication for the excavation, utility and landscaping industries.
In a new twist for the company, the first issue of The Construction Gang, will be available in December at local businesses and by subscription. Mackenzie’s doing layout in-house; content will include classified ads for equipment and industry-related stories from local writing teachers and possibly college students. It will serve as a publicity tool for the company.
Mackenzie started the publication when he learned it was cheaper to print a 24-page newspaper than a typical batch of fliers for Viqan. In one day Viqan staff sold enough display ads to cover the first month’s printing costs of $2,200.
Its companion is a classified ads hub at www.theconstructiongang.com. Online ads are printed and vice versa.
Along with the classified ads, online parts sales bring Viqan customers from nearly every U.S. state and Canada too. But Mackenzie plans to keep his main focus local.
“I see Washington as a whole country in itself,” he said, noting that all of the U.K. could fit into this state. “I want to get a really good reputation in Oregon and Washington.”
Viqan
Alasdair Mackenzie, president
7206 N.E. 37th Ave. in Vancouver
www.viqan.com, www.theconstructiongang.com
360-906-0109
