Executive Suite: Jeff Ehrlich, Fulfillment Plus

When he was in high school, Jeff Ehrlich would sweep the floors and drive a forklift at the company his father founded in 1983.

"I learned the business literally from the floor up," he says. Fulfillment Plus Inc., now located in Holtsville, warehouses, packages and distributes orders -- such as promotional or infomercial products -- for its customers.

Ehrlich, 41, an industrial engineer, worked at a major firm before ending up back at the family business. He became president in 2002.

Ehrlich belongs to the Direct Marketing Association of Long Island.

 What are your plans for growth?
The company has added business-to-business distribution to its core direct-to-consumer shipping. "The third avenue we've diversified into is events, where we're doing gift packaging or assembly of tote bags for big events, and we've seen some growth in that area." 

How has the recession impacted business?
"People are buying less, that turns into less order volume for us. However, it's also given us some opportunities in that there are companies that used to do their own fulfillment projects that have now realized that maybe outsourcing fulfillment makes more sense. They can control their cost. It becomes a variable cost as opposed to fixed overhead. So we've seen a lot of opportunities creep up because of the recession." 

How do you try to stand out from the competition?
"Price is becoming more and more important, and the recession has only helped that. We try to make the point that our services are superior to others. Our success over the last 28 years has been driven by that service level that we give." 

What qualities do you look for in hiring?
"I look for people who are willing to show what they can do more than talk about what they can do. We try and find people that are motivated about what the projects are, that they can get their hands around it and really run with those jobs." 

How did you learn how to manage?
"In all the positions I've had, I started at the bottom . . . so I was able to manage by showing them what needed to get done and leading by example." 

What's your leadership style?
"I've been accused of being too nice. I tend to give people the direction of the end goal of what needs to get done and leave it up to them as far as how to get there. I think it's important that the people are working because they feel a sense of ownership about that project. So how they want to accomplish the goal is fine as long as it gets done." 

What advice do you have for someone taking over a family business?
"Make sure they're going into it for themselves and not for their family."