C.H. Bull Co. experienced the typical misgivings companies have in the face of change, but overcame its fears and confidently embraced what e-commerce has to offer.

C.H. Bull Co. is a 70 year-old, family-owned general line industrial distributor based in South San Francisco.

Charles H. Bull moved to Northern California from Chicago in 1924 to sell engine parts for the Buda Engine Co. After six years in California, Buda asked Mr. Bull to move back to the home office. He told them he wanted to stay. Instead, they should make him an independent representative and pay him on commission. Thus, in 1930 the C.H. Bull Co. was born. Over the last seven decades, C.H. Bull has steadily expanded their inventory to include tools for the industrial and construction industries. Today, in the hands of the third generation, the company has 26 employees and operates engineered product and tool and equipment divisions. President Andy Bull, the grandson of the original founder, reflects that success did not come without weathering more than a few financially lean times.

C.H. Bull’s traditional sales approach was to provide their clients with enormous 3-ring binders advertising their products and by exhibiting at tradeshows. It was at the STAFDA (Specialty Tools & Fasteners Distributors Association) Convention last year that Andy Bull and his reps were bombarded with presentations on e-commerce. It frightened him to think that the buying and selling game had changed overnight and that his company was in danger of being left behind. As Andy Bull tells it, “The problem for us was, all these people were telling us it was something we had to do told us it would be an investment of thousands and possibly tens of thousands of dollars. They could not answer a real basic question every business owner asks: What is my return on investment? Without that answer it was scary at best to consider investments of thousands of dollars.” As a result, Andy Bull decided to hold-off until some of his questions could be appropriately answered.

Several months later, the specter of e-commerce was still haunting Andy Bull when he first spoke with a representative of Thomas Regional about their e-commerce solution, Order Online. The sales rep carefully listened to his concerns and, on a second visit, returned prepared to answer all of the questions that the previous e-commerce heralds had dodged. At this meeting, Andy Bull’s fears were laid aside and he signed up with Thomas Regional to assist him with the transition to e-commerce by bringing his product line online. He recalls his decision, “When Thomas Regional came to us with a potential solution, allowing us to get our hat in the arena, we were interested. By putting 2000 items online for a price that was substantially less than what we had been hearing, there was less risk and we would be able to offer a service many of our large industrial accounts have been asking for.” Mr. Bull adds that Order Online broadens his selling strategy by providing 24-hour service to the small contractor who works during the day and logs on at night to handle business transactions.

Andy Bull’s initial reservations regarding e-commerce are shared by many companies today, both small and large, and there is a lot to consider. However, companies such as C.H. Bull, who eventually come to view e-commerce as a way to enhance and grow their business, won’t find themselves soon left out of today’s rapidly changing marketplace.

To view C.H. Bull’s Co.’s Order Online catalog items, go to http://www.ThomasRegional.com/ncal/chbullco and click the Order Online icon.