Located in a shopping center in a northeast suburb of Detroit, Michigan, B.B. Trophy and Awards Company LLC has learned to weather any storm. From the recession of 2008 to the automotive industry crisis that crushed Detroit to the more recent COVID-19 pandemic, the small, family-owned business has persevered despite all the obstacles thrown its way.

Weathering the Storms

B.B. Trophy and Awards Company had to overcome a trio of hurdles before finding its stride.

By Caroline Heller

(Originally printed in the May/June 2023 issue of Insights.)

Located in a shopping center in a northeast suburb of Detroit, Michigan, B.B. Trophy and Awards Company LLC has learned to weather any storm. From the recession of 2008 to the automotive industry crisis that crushed Detroit to the more recent COVID-19 pandemic, the small, family-owned business has persevered despite all the obstacles thrown its way.

Sheila Kloski, president and owner, opened B.B. Trophy and Awards on Jan. 7, 2008, with her husband, Dave Kloski, vice president. “Going on our 16th year, we’re very proud of how far we’ve come,” Sheila says. “We knew when we opened our doors in January of 2008 as a start-up family business that there would be a lot of challenges.”

But they couldn’t foresee just how hard, and global, those challenges would be. However, Sheila and Dave kept their business alive—all while raising four kids. 

A Family and a Business

“We do have four children who are now adults, and our oldest and youngest are only five years apart,” Sheila says. “Our children practically grew up as we did with our business.”

During the summer months, there were study desks in the back for the kids to color, write stories and help assemble products and clean up. “Now we’re fortunate enough to have our grandchildren come visit us and see where Gigi and Papa work. They like to make their own ‘awards’ to give out to others,” says Sheila.

When they opened, the husband-and-wife team brought with them many years of experience in different industries. Sheila worked in human resources and accounting, which allowed her to run the administrative and customer service side of the business. Dave had over 20 years of experience working for a small bowling trophy company, so he was able to run the technical engraving work.

Sheila Kloski, president and owner, B.B. Trophy and Awards

“Dave started as an engraver in 1986 and had a lot of hands-on experience with product, assembly and delivery. He knew the salespeople from the awards industry,” Sheila says. “This was critical for establishing credibility with major suppliers when B.B. Trophy and Awards opened.”

Hard Times

Although B.B. Trophy and Awards survived the housing crash of 2008 during its first year of business and the automotive industry crisis in the years that followed, the COVID-19 pandemic was the business’ hardest challenge.

“The biggest change for us, as I’m sure it was for a lot of people, was COVID-19,” says Sheila. “As a small business entrepreneur, having someone tell me I was not essential was devastating. Intellectually, I understood it. It made sense to close stores that did not directly support the frontline workers or provide food and necessities. However, emotionally, it was another story.”

Like so many other businesses, B.B. Trophy and Awards was forced to close, and Sheila had to consider her options—either close for good or adapt. “During that time, which I would call a dark period for me, my conviction grew stronger that we are all essential,” Sheila says.
“I decided not to close my store for good because that was an option given to us and chose to learn everything I possibly could on how to survive.”

Essential Steps
The pandemic forced B.B Trophy and Awards to reassess what, why and how they were doing things, and Sheila made a lot of distinct steps to ensure her business would make it. 

“I went back to the Michigan Small Business Development Center in my local county and met with a consultant via Zoom,” says Sheila. “From this meeting, I was connected to more seminars regarding how small businesses could survive the pandemic.” From these meetings, Sheila learned how to apply for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans, as well as an economic injury disaster loan.

“I wanted to evolve and adapt,” says Sheila. During this time, she was accepted into the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program. “It was a 16-week program, and I learned so much about my business and the steps I needed to take to make sure I was going in the right direction.” Knowing her numbers, having detailed written and visual descriptions of processes and, most importantly, a clear and concise vision were Sheila's main takeaways. Despite the numerous setbacks, Sheila credits staying in business because of a willingness to change.

“When you’ve been in business for as long as we have, you get set in a certain way of how things are done. However, I’ve really done a lot of introspection since COVID-19 hit; I realized we needed to make changes.”

Part of that change is a desire to grow and expand the business’ three-person team and the website. “I’m currently working on my e-commerce site with NetSoft Studio, which solely focuses on the awards industry, so I am very excited about that relationship,” says Sheila. She is also working with NetSoft's OrderManager system and learning to streamline processes to work more efficiently.

Being a member of APA has also helped B.B. Trophy and Awards network and gain access to valuable education so that it can move forward successfully. “Being a member of APA has really helped me. I realized long ago that we couldn’t do everything on our own and that we need to constantly keep learning,” Sheila says. “In order to be successful in our industry, not just monetarily, we have to be able to get information about changes that are coming along the way and how we can help serve our customers.”

B.B. Trophy and Awards has a 40-foot by 12-foot showroom that spans the front of their store.

Sheila regularly attends the annual Expo and attributes a recent education class on effective management systems for helping her implement better procedures using her new SmartStore system. “I was still doing a lot of paper forms, some computerized, and the class made me realize that I needed to be all in on this,” says Sheila.

B.B. Trophy and Awards has also acquired new equipment. They added a more powerful, 80-watt Trotec 360 laser and a UJF-6042 MkIIe Mimaki UV printer to help meet growing customer demands. They are now able to add color to awards that they were not able to offer before.

Sheila is most excited to hire additional staff, making sure effective processes are in place to do that. “When I’m hiring someone, I’m hiring them so they can succeed, not so they can fail,” says Sheila. “The responsibility is on me to provide the proper training and have best practices in place so they can succeed. We’re going through our management system now and establishing what roles are best suited compared to what we had before.”

Driving Force

Repeat business makes up most of the orders that B.B. Trophy and Awards receives, but they’ve also had a lot of recent walk-in business. “We do get walk-ins, which I find very interesting because after COVID-19 we weren’t even sure if we were going to keep our storefront.”

Their 2,400-square-foot space has a 40-foot by 12-foot showroom that spans the front of their store. “We love our spacious windows, which also span the length of our store,” says Sheila. “As people walk by or pull up, they get a glimpse of what to expect.”

For Sheila, it’s the customers, whether new or old, referral or walk-in, that keep her in business—both in a monetary sense but also on a personal level. “The horrible feeling that I had, a feeling that I wasn’t essential, was such a horrible feeling that I never want someone to feel that way,” Sheila says. “If I can make any small gesture to let someone else know how much they are worth, then I will do it. My driving force is my customers.”