Names and ages: Mitchell Gold, 46, and Bob Williams,
36
Company name and description: The Mitchell Gold Co.
designs and manufactures cutting-edge furniture, specifically
slip-covered couches, chairs, ottomans and sleeper sofas.
Based: Taylorsville, North Carolina
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Founded: 1989, after both partners left stifling
corporate careers
Start-up costs: Less than $200,000
1998 sales projections: $40 million
Power of two: Williams designs; Gold orchestrates the
business end of the company. "I think it's very hard for
people to go out and do something 100 percent on their own,"
says Gold. "I like the idea of having a partner."
Catbird seat: Williams and Gold focus on selling to home
furnishing retailers such as Pottery Barn, Crate & Barrel, and
ABC in New York City. Their products are sold nationwide and
throughout Europe, Japan and South America.
Rx for success: The partners believe a healthy staff
equals heightened productivity. They sponsor yearly on-site
physicals and eye exams, educate their employees with regular tips
on healthy living, and recently introduced daily warm-ups and
stretching exercises to factory workers. They're also
constructing a new factory on 70 acres of land that will have a
walking track, gym and day-care center. Another
therapeutic gesture: Gold's English bulldog, Lulu, comes
into the office every day, visiting with customers and
employees.
No couch potatoes allowed: "We hire the best people,
and that's what makes a company grow. It's not just the
entrepreneurs on top--it's the people who make the team,"
Gold says.
Sofa, so good: "We've proven that doing the
things that show employees you care about them rewards you because
they end up working that much harder," says Gold. "And
the proof is in the pudding because our employee productivity is
really great."
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