July 2018

340 341 pany’s growth begins in 1991, inside the Potomac Mills Mall in Woodbridge, Virginia. Shortly after opening as an electronics store, with an inventory of cameras, video cameras, televisions, and stere- os, “we saw a great number of customers coming in with wireless devices,” explains William Beg. “So we connected with Cellular One at the time to start selling their products and services.Within a year, we transitioned our business out of elec- tronics and into wireless communication.” The brothers hit the ground running. They also laid ground for the foundations of a regional sales network.With operations in six states; Mary- land, Virginia,West Virginia, North Carolina, Ten- nessee, and Pennsylvania, the company begs for, and boasts about, its management structure. As one of ten national authorized retailers for AT&T, Portables knows the importance of accountabil- ity. The company’s management structure oper- ates within four layers: store managers report to district managers, who then report to regional directors, who are overseen by the Vice President of Sales. This organized approach to management has led to ample opportunities for growth. Last AT&T PORTABLES Just a POS? Not even close. The intuitive and user-friendly design of RQ, our full-suite retail management system and POS, allows your wireless retail team to serve customers faster, more e ectively, and with greater confidence than ever before. Learn More: iQmetrix.com/RQ | RQ Retail Management year, Portables landed in the 36th Annual Inc. 5000 List of America’s Fastest-Growing Private Companies. John Beg, CO-CEO/CFO, believes it is the com- pany’s organizational culture that has attributed to its three-year sales growth of 122 percent. He explains that everyone at the firm enjoys and finds pride in their work. He describes the invest- ment in employees with, “We reward people who work hard. There is nobody here who can get in your way of succeeding except yourself. Every level of this organization gets the same type of treatment. He explains that he can validate Porta- bles’ organizational culture, as he’s held many of the company’s roles. In order to maintain success and fuel further growth, the company founders tap into the same intuition that helped them build their business. Because of their success in opening 45 retail locations to date, the company enjoys the trust of AT&T. As William explains, while the firm does seek out and bid on new endeavors, “AT&T usually comes to us because we are such a great opera- tor. They have us look at new opportunities where they feel they need distribution.” But it’s not just about the real estate acumen. For Portables, it’s also about understanding their partner’s needs and next steps.William describes the situation, “AT&T’s needs change on a day-to- day basis.We learned early on that to have the best relationship with your partner, you first have to identify your partner’s needs. Then you must address those needs and deliver.We’ve done that pretty well, and we feel that’s why AT&T contin- WILLIAM BEG CO-CEO/COO JOHN BEG CO-CEO/CFO