Questions: Kindly give our readers an introduction to your business.
Answer: Renew Now CE is a continuing education company for healthcare providers of various disciplines. We are based in Gainesville, Fl but have staff across the United States.
Questions: Kindly give us a brief description about yourself
Answer: Kustura Technologies is a Managed IT Services provider founded in 1999 to help small businesses across the First Coast optimize their technology. Incorporated in 2000, Kustura Technologies was the first company in Jacksonville to provide a flat monthly fee-managed IT service – our Peace of Mind plan. Kustura Technologies is able to reduce the cost of managed IT services by employing cutting-edge technologies. Kustura Technologies’ monitoring system is housed in our privately-owned Level 4 data center, which allows us to proactively address customers’ needs, minimize system downtime, and better plan for future IT needs. We value our relationship with our customers and continuously seek to bring our partners IT Solutions, Cyber Security, and Comprehensive Support. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, and with offices in Gainesville Florida, Kustura Technologies is a proven IT leader in helping many local companies relieve their technology worries so they can concentrate on their company’s success.
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: Mirensky explains that in his many years working in IT, he encountered a continuous issue with service providers, the finger pointing. As John F. Kennedy once said: “Success has multiple parents, failure is always an orphan”. When a problem occurs in IT, it is typical for the Hardware provider to claim the problem is with the Operating System. The Operating System analyst will claim the problem is with the Application Software and the Application Software developer will assure the client it is a problem with the Hardware. Mirensky saw an opportunity in taking over the resolution of these issues, and with a better understanding of those issues than that of the usual Client, fix them, or address them with the party responsible to fix them. That is what makes Kustura Technologies’ Clients very satisfied Clients, Kustura Technologies’ takes over the IT problems and the problems get resolved, without the headache that they used to cause the Client.
Questions: What three pieces of advice would you give to budding entrepreneurs?
Answer: 1. Don’t oversell. Don’t sell equipment or services that the Client does not really need.
2. Keep it as simple as possible. Don’t implement overly sophisticated solutions that Clients have a problem maintaining.
3. Make sure you are there for your Clients. Systems going down can bring a business to its knees. You must have the sense of urgency that the Client is having.
Questions: What would you say are the top three skills needed to be a successful entrepreneur?
Answer: 1. You have to be very good at what you do. Keep up to date with the technology or changes that come about in the products and/or services you provide.
2. Be prepared to work hard. I read a comment somebody made a few months ago, that the problem today is that people think the cow gives us milk, when the truth is it is actually the farmer that gets up at 4:00 AM every day to tend to the cows and milk them the one that provides the milk.
3. Weigh every decision you make carefully, and when you are thru, rethink it.
There is an ingredient that must be present for a business to be successful, that ingredient is luck. But the percentage that can be attributed to luck is dramatically reduced when the three conditions I mentioned above are present and being able to take advantage of good fortunes, will be greatly increased as well when those elements are present.
Questions: How many hours do you work a day on average?
Answer: I work 10 to 12 hours. But truth must be said, it is not really work, because I enjoy my work very much. The way I see it, I play chess every day, and for the time being I am winning.
Questions: To what do you most attribute your success?
Answer: Meeting the three conditions I mentioned above. Studying and reading to excel in what I do, working hard to apply that knowledge to my work and weighing every decision very, very, very carefully.
Questions: What is the best way to achieve long-term success?
Answer: Whereas you own your business or you work for somebody else, find something you are pationate about, something you really enjoy doing. Success will surely follow. A job is a lot what you make out of it. If you enjoy it and you put the effort to excel at whatever you do, you will succeed.
Questions: Where you see yourself and your business in 5 – 10 years?
Answer: I am 71 years old, so in another 5 years, I would like to start slowing down and reducing my personal involvement in Kustura Technologies, passing the baton to someone younger who shares the same principles and ideas that I have upheld in managing this company.
Questions: Excluding yours, what company or business do you admire the most?
Answer: Apple. I think their ability to foresee people’s needs before people themselves are aware of those needs is what has made Apple so successful. That and their accent on Customer Service and Customer Satisfaction.