Jim Estill is sitting on a box with his right leg resting on his left knee, his head turned to the right and his eyes looking straight into the camera.
Most people would look uncomfortable in this position, but he could be sitting in his living room rather than a photographer’s studio doing
an interview with CDN.
As each click advances the film to the next frame, the new CEO of Synnex Canada Ltd. reveals how the last several months have changed his life for the first time in 25 years.
The deal that catapulted him into Synnex is why Estill is this year’s top Newsmaker.
“”This is quite an honour,”” he said. “”(Press) is not really that relevant. What’s relevant is what you do in business and sales and profitability.””
Last month, EMJ Data Systems Ltd., the Guelph, Ont.-based distributor he founded in 1979 while a fourth-year student in systems design engineering at the University of Waterloo, held, its final stockholder meeting.
Shareholders approved the amalgamation of EMJ with Synnex effective Dec. 1. It will remain a division of its new parent as a brand for niche products but will stop trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange by year-end.
Since opening that company Estill has neither changed jobs nor worked for anyone but himself. Then this summer Fremont, Calif.-based Synnex Corp., through its wholly-owned Canadian subsidiary, Synnex Canada, purchased EMJ for $56 million in cash.
Synnex president and CEO Robert Huang, who had met with Estill several times before the acquisition took place, contacted Estill to make the offer.
Typically, he shrugs off the moment. “”I don’t remember, but (Huang) would have called me in my office.””
The bigger, the better
Looking back, Estill says he got what he’s always wanted — a larger business.
“”It’s more fun,”” he reflected. “”What you need to do is develop new skills to handle that volume. That’s what you need to do to grow in any situation. You always need to develop new skills, new habits, new systems to be able to deal with the volume that you’re currently dealing with.””
Tech Data Canada president Rick Reid is confident Estill will continue to succeed in his new role.
“”He has taken on a gigantic responsibility, which is quite different than what he’s had in the past,”” Reid said. “”Time will tell how well he adapts to that. But if history is any indication, he’ll do well.””
One thing that remains the same, however, is Estill’s entrepreneurial spirit. Similarly, Huang is also an entrepreneur, having founded Synnex in 1980.
“”We have quite a lot of rapport and understanding. Bob realizes that in order to grow, he needs leadership in different areas and in Canada,”” said Estill, adding that the acquisition has tripled EMJ’s business. “”An entrepreneur wants an awesome platform to grow from. Now I have that.””
U.S. business to grow
Before the deal, for instance, 95 per cent of EMJ’s business came from Canadian customers. But starting this month, Synnex Canada has been selling EMJ-branded barcode and point-of-sale products in the U.S. Estill appointed Marlene O’Grady, vice-president of sales at Synnex Canada and a 20-year EMJ veteran, to head up that unit.
With the Synnex merger complete, Estill said he can now grow his U.S. business more rapidly than he ever could in the past. “”When you’re small like EMJ, if you’re going to grow in the States you’re making decisions like do you open a 10,000 or 20,000 sq. ft. warehouse,”” he said. “”With Synnex, we can use their infrastructure. They have 11 warehouses. For them, it’s nothing to take tonnes of resources and put it into a project like this.””
Estill promises a blend of broad line and niche businesses for the new Synnex Canada. The key to doing it, he says, is having the right people on both sides of the organization. “”Everybody wants to hear, ‘There’s the super entrepreneur who jumps over big buildings,'”” said Estill. “”But that’s not the way it is. It’s the people who do the work. I just take the credit.””
But it’s Estill’s hard work ethic, in part, that has kept him away from doing anything with his wife, Elizabeth Waywell, to celebrate. “”Part of the problem is I run at a fairly high pace. The travel and the scheduling are pretty aggressive,”” he said.
But it’s also what keeps him going.
“”I work, but that’s because I love it.””
