e n T r e P r e n e u r o F T H e Y e A r 2 0 1 8 / T U R N A R O U N D
Drew Green didn't launch
Indochino, the menswear
maker founded in 2007 on
the premise that customers
shouldn't have to spend tons of
money for custom clothing. But
having built a successful busi-
ness of his own in Shop.ca, the
Scarborough, Ontario, native
considered taking over as
CEO
of Indochino in 2015 more
challenging than starting some-
thing himself. "The company
was losing US$7 million to US$8
million a year, had very little
runway and was in need of a
total revamp," Green recalls.
"The existing shareholders and
myself came together, essen-
tially reacquired the company
and started from scratch."
However, Green faced
pressures that wouldn't dog
a new business. "It's a lot dif-
ferent than starting your own
company from the ground up,"
he says. "But to be honest, it's
a little more stressful because
you're losing money from day
one and you don't have a lot of
time to Šgure it out."
Green has used his time at
Indochino well, reengineering
its supply chain, developing
partnerships with companies
like Postmedia Network,
building new showrooms—the
company now has 34 across
North America—and personally
overhauling the management
team. Since he arrived, the
business has grown from just
over 100 employees to about
600 through a combination of
online sales and bricks-and-
mortar stores.
The
CEO likes to share credit
for this turnaround. His pre-
ferred brand of o–ce culture—
cultivated with Shop.ca, sold in
2014 to Toronto-based Emerge
Commerce—hinges on recog-
nizing others.
"My companies have always
been known for daily stand-
ups, where you have everybody
communicate their top priority
for the day before and the day
that's happening," Green says.
"Then we have a weekly game
ball, which is a peer-to-peer
recognition mechanism, and
you feel great because some-
body's recognizing your e™orts.
Whether you're playing on a
team or building a company,
the more you can work as a
unit, the better things you
accomplish." —N.C.
W I N N E R
Drew Green
C E O , I N D O C H I N O
a p p a R E L
What do you do
to unwind/relax?
I spend time with my sons,
watching and helping
them become men
bCbusinEss.Ca 36 BCBusiness OCtObER 2018
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