Richard Silk, Mirage
In 1993, Richard Silk left his family-owned business and started Mirage, a market-leading seller of portable machine tools, alongside his parents. In 2006, the family sold a majority stake of Mirage to Acteon, an oilfield services company that helped finance the growth of the business. BIC Magazine sat down with Silk to discuss Mirage’s recent international success and expansion.
Q: What led you to start Mirage?
A: Over 20 years ago, my father and I worked for a multinational service company providing tools and adaptations for its site machining business. This gave me great experience and technical insight into what was required from a service business to operate in challenging environments and deliver a “right-the-first-time” solution.
Some poor management changes and ensuing decisions at the company led us to leave and start a new venture as Mirage. I believe our success with Mirage is based on the quality of the products we produce and the technical support we offer our clients.
Q: What is the biggest news at Mirage right now?
A: We have recently successfully expanded our global presence with offices in Houston; Perth, Australia; and Singapore. Our office in Singapore has helped expand our reach into China, and we have won significant orders there against local competition that is significantly cheaper. Our capability to meet our customers’ technical requirements, along with the quality built into our products, has given us an advantageous market position.
Q: What are your goals for your position?
A: To grow Mirage globally and increase our revenue and profitability by growing market share and bringing in new business. A big part of this involves ensuring we have the same technical knowledge base in each region. A fundamental element of our customer service is delivering the technical support our clients require to make their businesses successful.
We have good people at Mirage right now with a broad skillset, and developing those skills across the senior management team will make the business far stronger in the future. Nurturing younger, talented but less experienced individuals — from senior managers to production staff — and letting them grow within our business is extremely rewarding, and I believe this also helps retain talent within the team.
Q: Are you looking to grow in new markets or expand in current ones?
A: I believe we have the opportunity to do both. Our new offices will help us expand our market share in their regions, and we also have new sales resources in Western Europe that will help us convert more business there.
Our next target for an office or representation will be the Middle East, where there is a large established market for our products within the petrochemical, power generation and oil and gas industries.
Q: What is your biggest lesson learned?
A: People are the biggest asset of any company. Always employ people you cannot afford; these people will nearly always repay the investment and the time you put into them. Set boundaries and a framework in which to operate and then allow them to make mistakes. Challenge but support their opinions, as you want to build a team around you that you can trust but also one that is not dependent on your approval for every decision.
For more information, visit www.miragemachines.com or call (281) 859-1234.
