30. November 2006

“Customers are very important. Without them, you will not succeed in business.”

I recently had an interview with the CEO of APR Consulting, Inc., Linda Stone. Background info: Linda Stone began as an IT consultant with a dream to be her own boss as the owner of her own company. Her entrepreneurial spirit pushed her to set and attain her goal and today, her company generates almost $50 million a year in revenue.

Interview:

Me: If you could tell your story about how you got to where you are…
L. Stone: I started out as a contract computer programmer for a large aerospace company. My client hired other computer programmers through my company. A couple of years later APR opened an office in Tustin and offered contract programming and other related Information Technology (IT) services to other large clients. To serve clients better, APR expanded its services to providing staffing (temp, temp-to-hire and fulltime placements), payroll, and vendor managed services.

Me: Where did you grow up? (try and paint a picture using only 3 sentences or less)
L. Stone: I was born and raised in the Philippines and immigrated to the U.S. as school teacher. I decided to change career so I went back to school and pursued a career in information technology.

Me: Do you feel like you are successful?
L. Stone: Yes, I feel very successful. If measured in dollars, the company grew from a one person shop with revenue of $125,000 to about 700 employees with revenue close to $50 million today, can be considered a success. While many of APR’s competitors were going out of business after Y2K in 2000, APR is still growing at a rate of 45% per year.

Me: What helped to make you become successful?
L. Stone: Our focus is on providing outstanding customer services by delivering what we promised to deliver on time in an ethical and cost effective manner.

Me: Any tips or tricks you picked up in your journey?
L. Stone: Make a list of your successes each year and pat yourself in the back. It helps you get to the next level.
Do not beat yourself up on mistakes you have made. Make plans so that you do not make the same mistake twice.
Customers are very important. Without them, you will not succeed in business. Your goals must be focused on catering to your clients.

Me: Any useful advice that someone shared with you, that has helped you and could help others that are trying to achieve what you have achieved.
L. Stone: Envision how your company will look like in the next 5 years. Develop strategy on how you can get there. Set attainable goals, list actions you should take to meet each goal you set, and work from this list. When you accomplish your goals, take time to celebrate, then set other goals and repeat the process. Make sure these goals are working towards your vision of your company. Evaluate your mistakes along the way and learn from them. Do not let your mistakes discourage you.