Installment 1:1 of the CEO’s Corner: Dan Barnes, CEO recounts how the economy forced him to reconsider the value proposition of WiNet Global.
Everybody knows the devastating impact the economy has had on small businesses throughout the country. I am not going to offer a commentary on the economy’s slow recovery but I am going to make the unoriginal observation that when the will of a human takes over we learn things about ourselves that just cannot be taught in school. Recently I read an article where the founder of Trader Joe’s made a comment speaking of the days just prior to starting the company. He said, “when I ran out of money, all I had left was ideas”.
It is never fun to watch businesses close their doors during hard economic times but it is extremely exciting and encouraging to watch businesses triumph in the face of what appears to be certain failure. It is so hard to give up on something you have built when you can almost feel how close you are to success. Every day business owners are faced with that very decision. I write this not as someone who was flying high untouched by this difficult economy, but as someone who was at the point where all he had left were his ideas and didn’t have it in him to give up on something that meant so much to him. If you are a small business owner or service provider floating in a sea of uncertainty …I pray you will be encouraged.
Small businesses are the fuel of this economy and while it may seem like we aren’t going to get much assistance any time soon outside of our own ranks, now is the time for the small business community to draw even closer together. Small business service providers especially should take some time to objectively evaluate the value they bring to the table for their customers beyond the services being offered and challenge themselves to find creative ways to help drive their customer’s success even further.
The service providers who emerge victorious during these difficult times will be the ones who understand that small business owners aren’t looking for another vendor …they are looking for someone who can present cost effective, strategic solutions that will increase productivity and make the company more competitive.
This economically trying time forced me to re-evaluate WiNet Global’s value proposition as a break-fix support company. It started about 20 months ago when I asked myself, “What business problems were we solving for our clients in our current state of business?” The answer that came back in my own mind was not a very good one. I also considered what it was that compelled me to start my own business in the first place. Was I looking to ’be something’ or did I want to ‘do something’? I scrutinized my own leadership, my service offerings, pricing, infrastructure, emerging technology, trends and the business plan. All the while measuring how close I was to my original vision of creating a one stop shop for small business owners. It was during this time when I recalled my true desire to ‘do something’ and my unwavering belief that if you do the right thing by the customer the money is going to come naturally. This set off a firestorm of critical thought and collaboration. We completely transformed WiNet Global over the next twelve months from a reactionary break-fix technical support company into a pro-active, cost effective managed services provider whose promise is to deliver the right service at the right time for the right price, always.
“Value Beyond the Service” is not only a tag line, it is our commitment, vision, passion and unique perspective on delivering value to our clients.
Early in my entrepreneurship I learned the hard way that one person cannot be all things to a business. This realization came as a result of my near collapse physically, financially, personally and emotionally. As difficult as it was, I am grateful for having gone through those hardships because I am now a man who, to his very core, understands what it feels like to own a business that was running me rather than me running my business. I struggled so much with the work/life balance that it almost cost me my marriage and family. I experienced the overwhelming pressure of trying to share my love between the business that I put so much of my heart and soul into and my family, while the business seemed to have an insatiable appetite for my affection.
It does not have to be that way!
It is this experience in my life along with my knowledge of technology and marketing that drives my passion for providing small and medium sized business owners technology solutions that help them:
- Increase productivity and do more with less
- Simplify technology
- Easily project and budget their annual IT expense
- …and at the same time reclaim some time for those things in life that matter the most
Small business ownership challenges one’s life and intestinal fortitude to such an extent that no aspiring entrepreneur could ever prepare for what lies ahead. The last thing a small business owners needs today is another vendor. They need a partner. A partner who will take the time to understand the core focus of their client’s business, understand short and long terms goals, identify the challenges preventing them from getting there, engage in strategy meetings with the client, is consistently ahead of the technology curve ensuring that a technology investment is a stepping stone rather than a patch, is focused on solutions rather than the technology and most of all, one who can easily scale forward and backward as the client’s needs dictate.
While WiNet Global is a technology solutions provider, the value proposition is never about the technology. The value proposition is always about how our solutions will help our clients solve their business problems AND the lengths to which were are willing to go to ensure the solutions our clients employ are the optimal solutions at that particular time.
Further, added value came in the way we priced our solutions. Since technology is so unpredictable we had to determine how much of that unpredictability we were willing to absorb when deciding whether we could offer reasonably priced monthly subscription based solutions. Our ability to do so added a significant level of predictability for our customers allowing the business owner to focus on the core business while we monitor and manage the technology.
Our model of “Delivering Value Beyond the Service” is founded upon these key principals:
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Intimately understand our clients line of business, company vision and long and short term goals
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Meet with our clients on a quarterly basis to review infrastructure performance and to discuss areas of concern
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Simplify technology through cloud-based services providing a predictable monthly and annual IT budget
The exercise of scrutinizing WiNet Global’s value proposition was the most rewarding thing I have done for my business. During a time when the doors could have shut at any time, I found myself thoroughly energized with a vigor that far surpassed the energy I had when I first started the company.
In encourage every service provider to consider the value your company delivers beyond the services you provide and get back to the drawing board if the answer you get back is anything less that what you know it should be.
Thank you for taking the time to read this installment of the CEO’s Corner. I would love to hear your comments or feedback. In this economy, small business owners are going to have to come together to help each other grow. I am available to any business owner who would like to talk about transforming your business, I can be reached at dan.barnes@winetglobal.com or by calling 866-681-7068 x 801.
