It’s no secret that business owners are committed and hard-working people. But there is working hard and there is hard work. Hard, physical, exhausting work. That’s just another day on the job at Horizon Cable. Thousands of pounds of cable, hammers, chisels, oil rigs, sweat; there’s nothing glamorous about it, but there’s nothing more rewarding for owner and manager Bruce Miller.
WORRYING IS ACCEPTABLE.
GIVING UP
IS NOT.
Bravely Onward Films: Horizon Cable
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For him, the hard work doesn’t end after a day in the oil field. It’s his commitment to seeing it through that has taken Horizon Cable from two small shops and ten employees ten years ago to seven shops and 80 employees today.
“You know, running a business is not just going out and doing your job. All the hands get to go home, but you are still working ... trying to settle the paperwork or put out fires. Then you are up early the next morning.”
– Bruce Miller
A long day’s work is difficult in any industry, but in the business of oil production, an industry known for its exhilarating highs and crushing lows, the numbers – and the outlook – can change overnight. Horizon Cable was among thousands of Oklahoma companies to feel the hit of the state’s oil bust in the 1980s. But it was also among the ones who stood firm, relied on the strength they had in reserve and arrived on the other side stronger. For Bruce, it was time to prove that the same hard, unglamorous work that gets you through the good times can get you through the rough times, too.
“It was really tough. I stuck to it. I just kept pushing. I got other jobs, I did other things just to keep in the business. Sticking to it. Being hard-headed. That is what it takes to be in the oil field.”
– Bruce Miller
Horizon Cable now has locations in Texas, Wyoming, Kansas, North Dakota and New Mexico, but for Bruce, Oklahoma is the ideal location for his company’s corporate headquarters. It’s not only rich in the natural resources that keep business flowing, it’s rich in the family values and honest, hard-working people that keep the company true to the integrity on which it was built.
As for the future, it appears to look a lot like the past: rapid growth in the size of the company – including possible international expansion – and, refreshingly, no movement at all in the commitment to work harder, push farther and to be just a little more “hard-headed” than the rest.