Questions: Kindly give our readers an introduction to your business. Please include what your business is all about, in which city you are located and if you have offices in multiple locations/ cities.
Answer: Our company is ABS Payroll & HR, a human capital management solutions provider for small to mid-sized companies. While we are located in San Antonio, TX, we serve clients all over the country.
Questions: Kindly give us a brief description about yourself (it should include your brief educational or entrepreneurial background and list some of your major achievements).
Answer: I received my Bachelor’s Degree from UTSA in San Antonio and have been in the HCM industry for over 12 years. I originally started with ADP, where I worked for 7 years and led the South Texas region in sales year over year. I was the first person in the history of the San Antonio office to hit Board of Directors recognition, which was top 5 in the entire company, out of 2,200 associates.
Questions: What inspired you to (start a new business venture) or (to make significant changes in an existing business)? How did the idea for your business come about?
Answer: This was an existing business that had a great service model, but needed a jump start in terms of scaling and adding new clients. I was able to bring my expertise to expand the business to multiples states and grow the company by 120% in the first 12 months. Over the next two years, we grew by over 50% in revenue each year.
Questions: What three pieces of advice would you give to budding entrepreneurs?
Answer:
1. Have a clear business plan and a go-to market strategy.
2. Hire people that fit your culture, even if it means passing on much needed employees. 3. Work like hell; no one is going to care about your vision and ideas as much as you do.
Questions: What would you say are the top three skills needed to be a successful entrepreneur?
Answer: I believe to be a successful entrepreneur you simply have to have discipline, organization, and commitment.
Questions: How many hours do you work a day on average?
Answer: On an average, I end up working for around 10-11 hours per day.
Questions: To what do you most attribute your success?
Answer: I would say it has to be the ability to sniff out and leverage key events to generate opportunities for myself and for my company.
Questions: How do you go about marketing your business? What has been your most successful form of marketing?
Answer: Initially, most of our business was word of mouth and from our CPA partners in the San Antonio community. We have since expanded our clientele across the country with the expansion of larger partnerships.
Questions: Where did your organizations funding/capital come from and how did you go about getting it? How did you obtain investors for your venture?
Answer: At our company, we have zero outside investors and used our own capital to start this business.
Questions: What is the best way to achieve long-term success?
Answer: It is important to remember your core values and deliver for your clients. They will stick with you, as long as you continue to deliver.
Questions: Where do you see yourself and your business in 5 – 10 years?
Answer: In the following years, we would like to see our business grow 10X and serving multi-locations across the state/country.
Questions: Excluding yours, what company or business do you admire the most?
Answer: All fortune 500 companies! I admire all large organizations and the grit it must have taken to scale and grow their companies to the size they are today.
Questions: How important have good employees been to your success?
Answer: Our employees have been tremendously important to our success. We value each and everyone of our employees and do everything we can for them.
Questions: What motivates you?
Answer: While I have to admit that it used to be money that motivated me in the past, now it is my wife and two boys, as well as our community.
Questions: How do you generate new ideas?
Answer: I read books, listen to podcasts, and do my best to stay informed and up to speed on new market trends. This helps me generate new ideas on how to drive more revenue for the company.
Questions: How do you define success?
Answer: For me, the definition would include a successful business and excited/happy employees, all while having fun doing it!
Questions: How do you build a successful customer base?
Answer: In order to build a customer base, you have to treat your clients’ businesses as your own, and deliver the type of service you would want/expect from a service provider.
Questions: What is your favorite aspect of being an entrepreneur?
Answer: I love that it is my business and I am responsible for the direction and moves we make. I LOVE BUSINESS!
Questions: What has been your most satisfying moment in business?
Answer: I would say it was landing a large acquisition, which doubled our company in size. And most recently, we landed our largest revenue client to date.
Questions: What do you feel is the major difference between entrepreneurs and those who work for someone else?
Answer: Entrepreneurs have a knack for thinking outside of the box. I learned early on that was a unique skill I had, and once it happened, I could never turn it off.
Questions: What kind of culture exists in your organization? How did you establish this tone and why did you institute this particular type of culture?
Answer: We have a WINNING culture. Our team loves competition, games, and team events. I feel like it’s infectious with the type of core employees we had, and now it’s something we look for as we hire.
Questions: In one word, characterize your life as an entrepreneur.
Answer: HECTIC
Questions: If you had the chance to start your career over again, what would you do differently?
Answer: Honestly, I wouldn’t change a thing.
Questions: How has being an entrepreneur affected your family life?
Answer: I would say not at all! I have always managed to fit work around my family life. For me, family comes first.
Questions: What is your greatest fear, and how do you manage fear?
Answer: I think, deep down, it’s failure and my pride to not fail. I try not to look too far ahead and tackle the short-term goals/tasks that I have set for myself.
Questions: How did you decide on the location for your business?
Answer: I didn’t have to, as it was already established.
For more information visit us at https://abspayrollhr.com/