Guided by Standards

Michele Moody became familiar with the document destruction industry while working for more than a decade for other people’s records storage and confidential shredding companies.

The experience she gained provided her with the knowledge base she needed to enter the entrepreneurial realm by starting her own document destruction company in 2003.

Today, San Antonio-based DocuGuides Secure Shredding counts several state and federal government offices and complexes in central Texas as part of its customer base.

Michele, meanwhile, says she is still learning, not as much about secure shredding as about the responsibilities and challenges of being a small business owner.

Secure shredding customers have all made the decision upon hiring a shredding firm that they possess documents that must be rendered unreadable.

Government agencies, as befits their reputation for having detailed policies in place, often take things a step further by specifying how their documents should be shredded or by specifying what the resulting shredded particles should look like.

While understanding and meeting these detailed specifications might seem like a hurdle to some business owners, upon founding DocuGuides, Michele decided to make this an area of expertise for the new firm.

"We have a hammermill truck with a customized screen," she says. The hammermill system makes the resulting pieces or particles much smaller than a strip shredder, a pierce-and-tear shredder or even most cross-cut shredders can acheive, she contends, making the process ideal for military bases and other government agencies.

"Because of the equipment we have, we have appealed to state and federal agencies, military bases—just a variety of government agencies," says Michele.

Many such clients are in the San Antonio area, but they are even more in abundance about 70 miles north in the Texas state capital of Austin.

DocuGuides has provided shredding services to a variety of state government and federal regional offices. With Austin being such a prime market for government clientele, the UltraShred Predator mobile shredding truck that DocuGuides owns usually makes the 70-mile trip north to Austin "at least twice a week," says Michele. "We’re on the road all the time."

She says, though, that DocuGuides seeks to serve customers located in any direction from its San Antonio base. "Austin is not the only place with government offices," she remarks.

The corporate sector offers clients south of San Antonio, nearer to the U.S.-Mexico border. "Along the border there are a lot of corporate locations where companies with facilities in Mexico may have offices in the U.S. or may make arrangements to contract their shredding out to a U.S.-based firm."

DocuGuides has been able to grow during its two-year existence in part because of Michele’s industry knowledge.

Apart from industry knowledge, though, Michele has had to absorb all there is to learn and know about running a small business. "The number of issues that comes up is astounding," she says.

Michele lists Texas Department of Transportation certifications for the DocuGuides truck and other regulatory requirements, ongoing insurance requirements, payroll, invoicing and collections—"all the things you did not give a thought to originally, it’s really surprising and it’s a bit humbling."

Her first two years in business have taught her respect for small business ownership and also have made her grateful for the support networks she has encountered. "It’s on-the-job training and trial by fire—but very rewarding."

Michele quickly adds that she has not been alone in the effort. Employees like Director of Operations Alfred Stremmel have helped keep DocuGuide’s mobile shredding truck on the road and productive.

Support has also come from a number of professional organizations with which Michele is involved, including the San Antonio Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Women Business Owners, the National Association for Information Destruction (NAID), the Central and South Texas Minority Business Council, the ARMA records management trade group, the South Central Texas Regional Certification Agency and the Chickasaw Nation Native American community based in Oklahoma.

Michele is a member of the Chickasaw Tribe who grew up in Duncan, Okla., and graduated with a marketing degree from Oklahoma State University.

Her Native American heritage has allowed her to register as a minority business, which has led to some bidding opportunities that DocuGuides may not otherwise have been aware of. "It puts you in the game to be able to bid. When they hear what we have to say, we can compete with anybody."

Each of the various business groups has been helpful, Michele says. "The Chamber has been a terrific small business resource, helping by providing small business educational seminars and networking opportunities. The networking generates a lot of business. Someone you talk to may already be doing business with a company that needs your services. We’re all supporters of each others’ businesses."

The moral support is encouraging as well. "In some ways, what keeps you going is knowing you’ve got a business group that is looking out for you and hopes you’re doing well."

Michele has also been pleased with the support offered by NAID and with the friendships she has made through the group. "It’s a really close-knit industry with friendly competitors who can help each other if we’re not competing head-to-head in the same market."

Even with the learning process involved, start-up companies don’t have room for much of a grace period: The revenue and the profits must flow in right away.

DocuGuides has tapped into the government and corporate markets to build a business base, and has also put operations practices in place to keep customers satisfied.

Michele says the company charges customers by the pound for documents shredded, using a portable digital scale that travels with the company’s mobile shredding truck.

On-site shredding has appealed to many DocuGuides customers, as it offers immediate proof of destruction.

Another way DocuGuides has appealed to customers has been by marketing the recyclability of its shredded paper. "Part of our mission statement is to make everything recyclable," says Michele. She says that sometimes this involves removing binder clips and other non-paper materials before files or documents are fed to the hammermill shredder. "Step one is always security, but step two is to be a good custodian of what we handle."

DocuGuides and the recycling center it works with track the weight of shredded material that is recycled by some DocuGuides customers, as a way for them to demonstrate their commitment to the environment.

DocuGuides also presents customers with small trees or saplings to be planted on their grounds as a way to further demonstrate their commitment to recycling and conservation.

"We’re working with the state Attorney General’s office and we’re planting trees at their location or at designated locations such as battered women’s shelters," Michele says. "It’s a way for them to do double the amount of good."

Such programs have helped DocuGuides to establish positive relationships with its customer base.

DocuGuides has many opportunities for growth, Michele says. Right now, DocuGuides does not handle electronic media destruction, choosing instead to work with an allied company that destroys hard drives and electrical components to military standards.

While she has not ruled out entering the electronic data segment, Michele also sees plenty of opportunities for growth on the paper side.

"I see us simply growing by awareness," she says. "There are so many companies still unaware that you can outsource shredding, or they don’t even know how dire the need is. Anyone who has employees needs to be shredding."

Once a business or agency is willing to try out DocuGuides, Michele says she believes integrity is the necessary ingredient to keep the relationship strong.

That philosophy is foremost among the lessons Michele has learned since founding DocuGuides. "I have learned the lessons of a lifetime. You’re calling on reserves you didn’t even know you had. There is a real sense of accomplishment to being an entrepreneur, and also a lot of headaches and sleepless nights," she says. "But it’s been rewarding in terms of life lessons learned."