Like most top executives, BostonCoach CEO Jonathan Danforth is quick to list growth on the top of his priorities for the ground transportation provider. His idea of growth, however goes beyond revenues, profit and footprint. Danforth's vision also includes a growth of the company's focus into uncharted territory for his industry segment.
"We're certainly focusing on growth of the organization, both organically and through acquisition," said Danforth, now at the helm of BostonCoach for a little more than one year. "Our real primary goal is to diversify the company into some lines of transportation services that we haven't been as involved in as we want to."
Rather than focusing solely on ground transportation, BostonCoach is working to grab a share of the meetings market. That process began last November, when BostonCoach purchased destination management company The Best of Boston, one of the top DMCs in the nation by revenue
(BTN, Dec. 5, 2005). It's a market Danforth knows quite well, as he is the former president of the Navigant Performance Group.
For now, the focus will be on the Boston market, and after a year or more the company will see how things work out for further expansion, Danforth said. While Danforth did not want to put any numbers down as far as how much he wanted the meetings market to grow within the business, he said the allure of the market is obvious.
"We understand that the market, when it comes to meetings and events, is a $50 billion market in the U.S.," according to Danforth. "Ground transportation is about $4 billion. We want to play on a bigger playground here."
Danforth also intends to grow the ground transportation side of the business. BostonCoach now is in 450 cities worldwide, but the company is aiming for more global expansion in the next two years, particularly in markets in China and India as well as expansions into parts of Russia, he said.
Danforth also wants to make sure the quality of BostonCoach's affiliates remains high. The annual grading system the affiliates are put through is changing this year, he said. "We're revamping the entire thing," Danforth said. "It's not necessarily to be more rigid, but to be more comprehensive."
At the same time, BostonCoach will put a large amount of resources into technology for the company, including the technology to manage fleets, communicate with passengers and for the passengers to use while in the car. He expects to come out of it with technological platforms that will be "pretty much unprecedented in the industry," he said.
Danforth said his vision is backed up by BostonCoach's parent company, Fidelity Capital. The ownership by Fidelity allows BostonCoach to leverage its technology and resources, and Danforth said Fidelity is strongly committed to growing BostonCoach.
"From my first year of experience, I can only say positive things," he said. "They're embracing change, they're embracing growth, they're committed to growth and they've been a tremendous partner."