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Changing with the times, Madison Computer Works thrivesBy Pamela Cotant
The company was started by the Lisse family 25 years ago as Madison Typewriter Service. Later, the company moved into computers and then risked going under when one of its suppliers went bankrupt. Ted Lisse and his middle son, Steve, created the company in 1982 in the basement of the family's West Side home. It was a time when there was an IBM Selectric typewriter on every desk. "Ted sold accounts faster than Steve could service them," said Brian Lisse, Ted Lisse's youngest son, who joined the company later. After about a year, Ted Lisse's wife, Richelle, got tired of having the company in the basement so it moved to a 1,200-square-foot office on Old University Avenue. After another move and other name changes, the company created 8,000 square feet by connecting two buildings and remodeling them at the company's current location at 353 Island Drive. The purchase of the building was something Ted Lisse dreamed of but did not see before he died in 1994. Brian and Jeanne Lisse, who were first sweethearts at Madison West High School, joined the company in 1985 after they returned from living in Israel. He was 21 and she was 18. Richelle Lisse, who has since changed her name to Richelle Lehmann after a remarriage, started working for the company in 1986 on nights and weekends when she wasn't at her job at Wisconsin's Environmental Decade, now called Clean Wisconsin. She started full time a year later. Five years ago she semi-retired and now works part time. Linda Lisse, the third Lisse child, started at the company in 1986 and did sales for about a year. The oldest child, Jeff, did not work at the company. As the business grew, more people were hired. Steve Lisse's girlfriend and now wife, Sondra, also worked at the company. As the nature of the company's business changed significantly and Brian Lisse got more experience, he realized the potential of his computer and business management orientation and it resulted in a power struggle with his father. Eventually his father decided it made more sense to let Brian Lisse, who was about 24 then, to call the shots and Ted Lisse stepped back. Brian Lisse pushed to get the wives in the company. "I was adamant the women had to come into the company," Brian Lisse said. "In the end it worked out much better for everyone." Madison Computer Works had been getting equipment from Leading Edge by wiring money and then receiving the product. When the computer manufacturer folded, Madison Computer Works was waiting for $110,000 in products. The family had a big meeting and figured out a way to stay afloat. "We pulled together because we had to," Brian Lisse said. "It was survival." Brothers Steve and Brian Lisse complemented each other because of their different personalities. They worked harmoniously most of the time and were able to reach agreement. On rare occasions when a disagreement arose, their dad could help them come to a middle point, Brian Lisse said. "He was the glue," Richelle Lehmann said. "He was a fulcrum." After Ted Lisse died, the company reached another crossroads as the industry faced more competition and smaller profit margins. Steve Lisse wanted to go toe-to-toe with mass merchandisers and mail order. Others thought it made more sense to keep their normal margins and emphasize the service end, a change for the company that had been more sales-oriented. "We felt it was a survival issue," Jeanne Lisse said. When an agreement couldn't be reached, Brian and Jeanne Lisse and Richelle Lehmann bought out Steve Lisse. The company now has three equal partners. The company has worked with Smith and Gesteland, a Madison accounting and consulting firm that works with companies through its Family Business Services Group, on how to structure the company. No succession plan has been created but before he died, Ted Lisse made Brian Lisse promise that he would pay back the loans from his parents. These days, Brian Lisse's primary responsibility is resolving problems wherever they crop up in the company, which has 18 full and part-time employees. "I keep the gears moving," said Brian Lisse, now 43. Jeanne Lisse, 40, serves as a controller, handling the accounting, finances and purchasing. Richelle Lehmann, 69, does the marketing and print advertising and also helps out in sales. Brian and Jeanne Lisse's two daughters, Daniella and Michelle, spent a lot of time at the business, coming after day care when they were little and absorbing what they saw. In the beginning, Brian and Jeanne Lisse worked very long hours and it was not uncommon for their girls to fall asleep under the worktables and be carried out to the car. Daniella Lisse also remembers eating Chinese and then falling asleep at her grandparents' house when the family held meetings there. The girls officially started working at the company when they were in high school. Michelle Lisse, 19, is now attending the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute, Ind., where she is studying software engineering and computer science. Daniella Lisse, 22, who is studying English and French at UW-Madison, still works at the business on weekends doing graphic arts and clerical work. Her jobs include creating the comic strip ad the company runs in the Onion newspaper and helping at the youth summer camp at the store. "It definitely shaped a lot of who I am and my work ethic," Daniella Lisse said about working at the store. "I really appreciate it because they're very flexible about my work schedule." In the early days, Daniella Lisse was a saleswoman while not even knowing it. She once showed someone how to work a computer and customers saw Daniella Lisse and her sister play on the equipment. "They figured if she could do it, they could take it home," Jeanne Lisse said. Pamela Cotant is a Madison freelance writer. pcotant@mailbag.com madison.com ©2009 Capital Newspapers. All rights reserved. |
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